A Blazing Little Christmas(7)
Lord, what a mess.
For at least the hundredth time he wished he and Jess could just hop on a plane and go to Vegas and get married. He’d suggested as much to her, but she’d demurred, saying she just didn’t have the heart to disappoint her mother that way. In truth, he didn’t want to disappoint Kelley by running off to Vegas, either. But with each passing day, he grew closer to believing he could find a way to live with it.
But he wasn’t sure Jess could. Even though she was twenty-five and her own woman, her family meant a lot to her and they were really putting on the hard-court press and doing their damnedest to interfere in her life. And even though he knew Jess loved him, he was afraid she might think the chasm forming between them might prove irreparable. Which meant they had to fix it. Now.
Reaching for the doorknob, he tried to remind himself that Jess’s family loved her, that she wouldn’t be the vibrant, wonderful woman she was without their support. But sometimes, like right now, it was damn difficult to remember that.
He opened the door and Carol and Marc marched in amid a swirl of fat snowflakes and icy air.
“Hello, Eric, Kelley,” Carol murmured as she walked past him and his sister on her way to envelop Jess in a hug, blobs of snow plopping off her coat with each step. “Are you all right, dear?”
“Of course.” Jess accepted a brotherly peck from Marc, who offered Eric a terse nod and his usual glare. Jeez, did the guy ever smile? Eric felt his own tension rise at the frosty hello and frowning scowl Marc bestowed on Kelley—as if she was Public Enemy Number One. Kelley’s greeting to him was equally curt and her glower just as forbidding. He could almost see the sparks of animosity bouncing between them.
Great. Just another happy family reunion .
“What are you and Marc doing here, Mom?” An anxious look crossed Jess’s features. “Is something wrong at home?”
“Everything’s fine,” Carol assured her. “I needed to speak to you but you didn’t answer your cell. Marc offered to drive me to the lodge, so here we are.”
Jess shook her head, clearly confused. “If nothing’s wrong, what on earth did you need to talk about that couldn’t wait until after the weekend?”
“Why, the wedding, of course. When I couldn’t reach you, I called Kelley’s office hoping she could give me Eric’s cell phone number.” Carol flicked a glance toward Kelley whose frown resembled a thundercloud. “That’s when I learned that Kelley was on her way here.” This last statement was said in an unmistakably accusatory tone. She then turned fully toward Kelley and hiked up her chin. “Since it was obvious you were coming here to discuss my daughter’s wedding plans, I figured I’d best get here as quickly as possible.”
Eric could almost hear Kelley bristle, like a porcupine extending its quills. “They’re also my brother’s wedding plans, and since I have all the contacts—”
“Listen,” Eric broke in, knowing this was about to escalate into another nasty argument. Looking at Kelley, he said, “This is exactly why Jess and I came here this weekend—to get away from all the stress.”
“There wouldn’t be any stress if we could just nail down the details,” Kelley said. As much as Eric wished that were true, he knew the wedding details were only part of the problem. “It needs to be done. Now. Then I’ll happily go home. It’s not as if I don’t have a life besides this wedding, you know. I actually have a date tonight.”
Eric raised his brows at her defensive tone, but saw that she wasn’t even looking at him. She was glaring at Marc, who stood in tight-lipped silence, glaring right back at her. Good God, he needed a machete to cut a swath through the tense undercurrents clogging the room.
He glanced at Jess who looked like a teakettle about to spew steam. He knew exactly how she felt. He wanted nothing more than to tell all three of their uninvited guests to scram and leave them alone, that the only voice he wanted to hear between now and Christmas Eve was Jess’s. Unfortunately he knew that would only lead to World War III, which would only upset Jess, which would only lead to more tension. Damn, it was like the freakin’ Bermuda Triangle of ulcer-inducers.
So in an effort to keep peace, he swallowed his frustration and said in as pleasant a tone as he could manage, “As long as you’re all here and this has to get done, why don’t we go up to the lodge, order some hot chocolate and take care of this so we can all get back to our plans?”
Right. Because hopefully no one would cause a scene in the lodge. But instead of hot chocolate he might have to opt for a stiff drink. Or two. Or twelve. Not exactly the chilled champagne he’d planned to share with Jess in the cabin’s jet tub, but the sooner he got rid of their uninvited guests, the sooner he and Jess could get back to their weekend.