Page 53 of Christmas in Vines

“What about the Christmas thing?” I swallowed. “Was that a lie?”

“You know it wasn’t,” Cole replied. “I truly never understood the rave and racket about Christmas. Now that you know I’m a Vega, I suppose you might assume that my holidays were more clinical than anything. It was a big tree, big presents, and a bit of dinner but… nothing more. You showed me what it was about, especially when we went to the homeless shelter.”

I knew he was right. I remembered his reactions that night, how he had almost cried in my hair. My heart stuttered a little and the emotions in my chest nearly broke through—but I kept them in check. It was still so much.

“Why—” I paused. “—why did you stop Winslow?”

“Because I didn’t want you to lose your legacy,” Cole replied. “It’s what your father built for you, sweeth—Willow. You deserve to have it and not have it swept out from under you by a jealous uncle and a criminally greedy bastard.”

My breath hitched at his near slip. Sweetheart—my kryptonite.

“I am sorry I ran out on you in the middle of the night,” Cole said. “It was not the right thing to do but my emotions were cutting off my air for one and before that, I had already started to dig into Maximillian’s affairs, and I wanted to finish it.”

“Your emotions.” I deadpanned.

“Guilt, fear, and regret for tricking you,” Cole said, “Affection, delight and warmth for falling in love with you.”

“You just can’t. I’m not…I’m not…” my stomach plummeted. “You just can’t fall in love with me. It’s…in three weeks? I…”

“Loose cannon, remember.” He shrugged, gave me another wry smile then ducked out of the bathroom.

When he left, it felt as if all the air in the room suddenly went with him. I’d gotten a few answers, but those answers gave me more questions. I needed time—and probably a bottle of wine.

* * *

“…What?” Jackie’s mouth dropped as I stared at her Facetime video. “You’re telling me… it was…what?”

I gave my friend a dry smile. “He is really Cole Vega. The man from the family that I told you didn’t give a shit about ours, or well, I had thought so. A couple weeks ago, before Christmas Eve, out of the blue, we got a call from Ethan Vega apologizing for his father ignoring us and offering to partner with us. I suppose that was his doing too.”

“I get that,” Jackie replied. “But what about him literally saving your dad's business from that asswipe Winslow?”

With a tiny smile, I told her how Cole had swept inside the conference room like Superman sweeping in to grab Lois inches from the ground. “He came with guns loaded, Jackie; voice notes from my uncle, Maxwell and his dad discussing how to take over our business was the smoking gun.”

“Sounds like a good guy to me,” Jackie replied. “Yeah, how he got into your life was fucked up but… I don’t think he planned for all this to turn out the way it had. But… it kind of snowballed a bit.”

“I know,” I rubbed my face, “But why not just tell me?”

“Well, he did say he was there to pay up after that bet,” Jackie replied. “And if he had come right out and told you he was a Vega, would you have accepted it? I mean, you didn’t like his family from the start.”

Jackie was right—I wouldn’t have.

“I just don’t know who I fell for,” I said, my stomach squirming at my admission. “Was it Tyler or Cole?”

“I think he was himself, just not in name,” Jackie said, “You didn’t fall in love with a name, Willow, you fell in love with his heart, his wit… you fell in love with him.”

“Stop throwing the L-word around,” I grumbled. “I don’t love him.”

“And the moon is neon purple,” Jackie laughed, “Keep telling yourself that, Willow. It’s clear as day how you feel about him.”

“I suppose what hurt me the most was him just leaving after our first night together,” I admitted. “It hurt waking up alone with a note and a faint memory.”

“Memory?” Jackie asked.

“I remember him saying, don’t hate me, before he left and then he left a note saying he would explain it all, and he did. I just didn’t expect what would happen. I never thought… he would be someone else.”

My best friend was quiet for a moment before she asked, “Did he make you laugh?”

“Yes?” I frowned. Why was she asking me this?

---