“Nice touch right?”
“It’s all you.”
She bubbles with a laugh. “I’m always looking for a classy move to impress you.” Laney gives a playful wink because I happen to know she thinks the word “classy” is a joke.
“I like the sound of that.” I pull her in by the waist as we make our way through the parking lot. “The Big N.P. can’t wait to hook up with your Red River Valley.”
“Ewwand no to the not-so-cute moniker.” She swats me over the arm with her flowers. “How about the Door of Life?”
“Too formal.”
“Grandest Canyon?”
“I think we’ve safely determined you’re more of a tight little ravine kind of a girl.” I plant a kiss over her forehead. “How about, Slice of Heaven?”
“Aww. I love that.” She tightens her grip around my waist.
“Just a few more hours, and I’ll be in paradise.”
“Me too, Ryder.” She leans her head on my shoulder, and the roses crush between us. “I’m always in paradise with you.”
My mother has a habit of going all out for the holidays. She puts most public displays to shame with her extensive and thorough ninja decorating skills. Of course, she didn’t lift a finger to actually deck the halls. She has a small army of staffers who live to grace the house with miles of garland, lights, enough trees to qualify it as the Capwell forest, and, of course, a thousand little knickknacks anywhere and everywhere you’d think to look in the event you forgot it was Christmas. Green, red, silver, and gold—it’s all here, present and accounted for, along with miles and miles of garland.
We bypass the oversized nativity on the lawn, with the manger still empty, waiting for the little king to make his debut tomorrow at midnight.
“You ready?” I nod at the cut glass doors. Even from this vantage point we can see a room full of people, the laughter of the crowd echoes right through the walls.
“I’m more than ready,” she assures, pulling me forward as if she were looking to get this over with, and, truth be told, I couldn’t blame her because so am I. The next stop after this is Heaven, and I can’t wait to plunge inside those pearly gates.
I pull her in for one last embrace before we descend the gates of, for a lack of a better word, hell.
“Let’s do it.” I don’t bother knocking, we just head on in, and the sound of holiday music and laughter goes up several octaves. The scent of fresh cut pine and cinnamon infiltrate the air, and the hint of something delicious and far more packed with protein is layered just beneath that—prime rib. “You want to grab a bite?” I’m already pulling her toward the buffet.
“I’m not that hungry.” She looks around at the crowd, and you can practically see the nerves jumping in her eyes. Figures. Laney can perform to a crowd of thousands, and yet the thought of being in a room with my mother has her crawling out of her skin. “Maybe we should say hi to your mom first?”
“You always were the smart one.”
“Says the one who runs a multi-billion dollar company.” She gives my hand a squeeze.
“Not quite, but someday.” It’s true. I’ve been grinding the gears down at the farm since middle school, and I know damn well how to make Capwell Inc. run like a fuel-efficient machine. In addition to that, I’ve bought and traded enough stocks and assets over this last year alone to create a nice financial cushion for Laney and me. A smile tugs at my lips at the thought of a future with Laney. I’m already living the dream.
We spot my mother over by the fireplace with a group of investors. I recognize them from a meeting the other day. Dad is still in Japan, but he’ll be home tomorrow night, so Mom is flying solo this evening. She looks calm, cool, and collected. She has her fingers coiled around a glass of wine and a wide painted smile stretching across her face. It looks like a good time to catch her.
The group she’s with shares a laugh before disbanding, and we come up on her quick before she’s pulled away by the crowd.
“Look who decided to show up?” Her eyes expand as she gives a toothy smile, and I can’t for the life of me figure out if she’s thrilled or pissed. You’d think I would have decoded my mother’s many moods by now, but I’m not even close. Not sure I want to be.
“It’s nice to see you, too,” I chime in.
“Great party.” Laney marvels at the guests a moment. “And the decorations! Your home is to die for.”
“It is a stunner.” She pulls back and examines Laney from head to toe. “And look at you.”
I wrap my arm around Laney and wait for my mother to follow her observatory remark with something nice, but it doesn’t come. I think we both know that’s as close as my mother gets to doling out a compliment, she tiptoes to the border and ventures no further.
“Oh, the chancellor from the auxiliary league is making her way to the door. I’ll catch up with you two later.” She zips off to tend to her guests, and I breathe a sigh of relief.
“That went well.” Laney glances at the ceiling as if she were considering it. Come to think of it, she was probably posing a question.
