Page 40 of A Christmas Negotiation

At this point, Jeremy was prepared for anything. “Do you have news for me?”

“I do.”

“Am I going to be happy about it?”

“Depends on what you were hoping for.”

Was Jeremy ready for the answer? He had to be. Because the truth was that he wanted to put this whole thing to bed and turn his attention to Isabel and the baby.

Isabel arrived back at Jeremy’s place, and of course, it justhadto be snowing. Again. As if the sight of his beautiful brownstone, with the grand steps and stunning front door, didn’t hold enough vibrant reminders of what had happened between them. They’d not only fallen into bed, she’d fallen into the Christmas spirit for the first time in years.

Funnily enough, the most pressing thing she could think of as she looked at the facade of Jeremy’s house was that it needed a wreath with a big fat red bow. She needed to rein herself in. There was no telling what that afternoon might hold. Jeremy was having a showdown with his father and Mr. Summers. There were too many things that could go wrong.

As she climbed out of the car and zipped up her coat, she had to admit to herself that despite her predicament, she wasn’t feeling truly pessimistic right now. She accepted the reality of her situation. Jeremy had never asked for this—an undeniable tie to her, forever. And that was fine. She was strong and independent. She could care for a child on her own. And she’d wanted this more than anything for so long. Nothing was going to keep her from building her own little family. Life was once again proving to be quite unlike what she had hoped for, but she wouldn’t put herself or her future on hold. She’d done that after Garrett left, and the pain of losing her first pregnancy had made her tread water for years.

But as she ascended his front steps, she was overcome with another wave of melancholy. She and Jeremy could be good together if they had a chance. They could be great. She cared for him deeply, and was holding on to feelings that sure felt an awful lot like love. Such was the case with bad timing. Only some things in life lined up perfectly. Not everything. At least not for Isabel.

She unlocked the door with the key Jeremy had given her and flipped on the light in the foyer. After taking off her coat, she made her way upstairs to check on Cat and the kittens.

“Hey there, Mama,” she said when she carefully pulled back Jeremy’s dress shirts to reveal the cardboard box. Cat was half-asleep with her eyes part open, the kittens nursing and kneading at her belly. Cat looked up at Isabel and blinked—such a simple thing, and yet Isabel was so taken by the beauty of the moment. There was this sweet and beautiful creature caring for her babies, at utter peace with the world. Isabel hoped that her future could be like that.

She hoped more than was probably reasonable.

“Hello? Isabel?” Jeremy’s voice came from downstairs. “Are you home?”

Home. She was home. She wanted to believe she was. “I’m up here. With the cats.”

She heard his steady footfalls on the stairs and moments later, he appeared at the closet doorway. “Of course you’re up here.”

“I had to get my kitten time.”

“I’m wondering if I can steal a minute with you. Or maybe more.” From behind his back, he produced a huge bouquet of red roses. “I’m hoping these will convince you.”

Isabel popped up from the floor, planted her face in the flowers and drew in the heavenly smell. “I don’t need convincing to talk to you. Although I appreciate the effort. They’re beautiful.” She then worried there might be a specific reason for the kind gesture. “Mr. Summers. Did you talk to him? Is he throwing down the gauntlet?”

“I did talk to him. For quite a while, actually. Turns out that when he got so mad about the story yesterday, he hadn’t actually read the letters. After I talked to him this morning, he finally did.”

“And that made things better or worse?”

“Better. Much better. He called and told me that he realized just how much his father loved Victoria Eden. Truly loved her. I guess that in the end, he stopped seeing it as this salacious affair and more as a love story between two people who met at the wrong time.”

Isabel blinked several times, struggling to catch up. “So what does that mean?”

“He’s agreed to the terms. A lump sum of the original loan amount by January 1 and 10 percent of the Eden’s online business in perpetuity.” Jeremy shrugged his way out of his suit jacket and hung it on a hanger. “So I guess what I need to know from you is whether the Eden family is definitely on board.”

“They are. I heard from Mindy on my way back here and it was Sophie who leaked the letters to the press. I told her that they had to agree to the terms if we had any chance of wrapping this up.”

“See? What a shark you are.”

“I’m not. I’m just like you, Jeremy. I wanted this to be over so we could deal with the real-life stuff that’s sitting in front of us. I know that I unloaded a lot on you today, and I’m not trying to let you off the hook, but I do want you to know that there is no pressure from me. You can take all the time you want to think about this and decide what you want.”

“I already know what I want.”

Isabel was surprised by his quick response. She only hoped that he wasn’t going to say that he’d decided he didn’t want her. “You do?”

“Yes. And it all came to me when I had it out with my dad this morning.” He reached for Isabel’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go sit on the bed so I can tell you the whole story.”

They traced into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the mattress. He held her hand the whole time he was recounting what had happened with his parents and how relieved he was to finally clear the air.