Millionaires' Destinies(55)
“Indeed we do,” her father agreed. “And she’s never stopped laughing at my jokes. Laughter may be the most important thing there is in a relationship, aside from love.”
“And trust,” her mother said. “Don’t forget that.” She hesitated. “I don’t suppose you’re asking because there’s somebody special in your life?”
Melanie sighed.
“There she goes again,” her father said at once. “Say goodbye, Adele.”
“It was worth a try,” her mother grumbled. “Merry Christmas, darling!”
“Merry Christmas,” Melanie said, slowly hanging up the phone, her eyes suddenly stinging with tears. Now she was deceiving her parents, too, at least by omission.
She was still swiping at the tears when she went to answer the door. Richard took one look at her and pulled her into his arms without comment. She clung to him and let the tears flow.
When she finally stopped crying, she backed away, avoiding his gaze. “I’m sorry.”
“Homesick?” he guessed.
That was only part of it, but she nodded, surprised by his understanding. “I just got off the phone with my folks.”
He studied her face, then brushed away one last stray tear. “I could have you in Ohio in an hour.”
She stared at him, astonished. “You would do that?”
“If it would put a smile back on your face.”
Once more she was reminded of what it was like to know someone who could make such an offer so casually. “You will never know how much it means to me that you would do that, but I’m okay. I’ll get home soon.”
“You sure?”
“Yes,” she said, feeling a hundred-percent better knowing that she could have gone home if it was what she’d truly wanted. It made the waiting easier. “Let me check my makeup and get my presents, then I’ll be ready to go. I’m dying to see what you got your family for Christmas.” She grinned. “I’ll bet you’re dying to see them open their gifts, too.”
“I’ll have you know that I went shopping,” he called after her as she went into the bathroom.
Melanie laughed. “But did you actually buy anything?”
“Yes,” he insisted. “You’ll see. I promise you, you’ll be impressed. I even did my own gift wrapping.”
“I can hardly wait to see it,” she said as she finished touching up the mess her tears had made of her makeup.
On her way back to the living room, she picked up her own token gifts for the Carltons and grabbed her coat.
“Did I mention that you look lovely?” Richard asked as he helped her on with her coat.
“No, but maybe that’s because I was bawling my eyes out when you came in.”
“You looked lovely even then,” he assured her.
Feeling suddenly lighthearted, she patted his cheek. “Just for that, I hope Santa is very good to you.”
His gaze caught hers and lingered until she felt heat rise in her cheeks.
“Something tells me it’s going to be the best Christmas ever,” he said quietly.
Melanie had that exact same feeling.
Brunch was yet another gourmet meal, evidently prepared by Destiny herself. She’d given the cook the holiday off.
“Why should she be working on Christmas, when there’s nothing I enjoy more than cooking for my family?” Destiny explained.
“Well, it’s all wonderful,” Melanie told her honestly. “I’m impressed.”
“It’s nothing, really,” Destiny said, but she looked pleased, probably because she wasn’t used to getting a lot of compliments from the nephews who took her cooking skills for granted.
“Can we stop talking about the food and get to the good stuff?” Mack pleaded, sounding as if he were at least twenty years younger.
Destiny gave him an indulgent smile. “What are you hoping to find under the tree, Mack? They were fresh out of bachelorettes where I shopped.”
“How about the keys to a new Jaguar?” he asked hopefully.
“Dream on, little brother,” Richard said. “You’ll be lucky if you get ashes and switches this year. We all know how badly you’ve misbehaved.”
“I could find you a dozen women who are grateful for that,” Mack retorted.
Destiny laughed. “Oh, I managed to do a little better than ashes and switches.” She smiled at Melanie. “Even at this age, they’re little better than greedy hooligans on Christmas morning. I don’t know how I failed them.”
“You didn’t fail us,” Richard assured her. “You taught us the joy of giving…” He paused, then added with a grin, “And receiving.”