But, the part that stuck out to him most was that he could come home to Holly every night. He could have dinner with her whenever he wanted. They could talk about books and lay in bed all morning on Saturdays. He could help out at school functions and see the kids.
He thought about Molly, Jake, and Natasha. He wondered if Santa would be coming to their houses tonight. He thought about the parade and the town.
And he found that he ached for all of it.
He wanted it.
“But that’s not what I chose,” Nathan said aloud to no one in particular. Irritated, he pulled out his phone and opened the app for his bank accounts. He needed to be reminded what he was working for.
His fingers paused on the log-in screen. He found that he didn’t actually care. That it didn’t matter compared to Holly’s smile. Instead of the bank account app, he opened his camera and scrolled through his pictures.
Holly’s smile gave him the rush he was looking for. Her soft green eyes and laughing mouth gave him more happiness than seeing one-hundred mi
llion extra dollars in his bank account.
The money didn’t matter.
Money wasn’t everything.
Holly was.
Nathan’s eyes snapped open. He knew what he needed to do.
He checked his watch. If what Fauna said was correct, he had ten minutes to get up to the board room and make his case. It was crazy, but he found himself excited for it.
For the first time all day, he had the energy and drive to do what needed to be done.
Now that the idea was in his mind, he wasn’t going to be able to stop. He certainly couldn’t stop the smile on his face or the laugh that started deep in his stomach and worked its way out into the world.
He was going to be happy.
He was going to make this a Christmas to remember.
Chapter 41
Holly
Holly sat before a roaring fire, watching the flames jump and dance around a yule log. She wondered if it would be appropriate to put another shot of rum in her hot cocoa or if three was already too many.
She wanted to feel happy. It was Christmas Eve. She was warm and full of good food. Her father had made his famous pot roast and she’d eaten enough mashed potatoes that she was probably at least fifty percent potato herself. There would soon be presents and cookies.
There was every reason to be happy and content. But, all she could think about was Nathan.
So, she sat on the floor in front of the fire and drank rum.
It was her annual place to sit on Christmas Eve. Holly and Mark had already watched the old Claymation version of Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Now they would exchange books as was their tradition.
When Holly was a little girl, they used to do this every year. Her mother would pick out an educational book with beautiful pictures for her. One year, she got an encyclopedia of dragons. Another, it was a compendium of North American flowers. Once, she’d gotten the most amazing picture book full of deep sea fish. That was the last one her mother had given her.
Mark always picked a fiction book for Holly. One year it was Lord of the Rings. The years where new GRR Martin books came out, she knew exactly what book he would give her.
As a girl, she would crawl into bed after setting out cookies and milk and stare at the pictures before reading the book from her father. She’d read until her eyes gave out, and then she’d dream of dragons and flowers until it was time for Christmas presents.
This year, she sat ready with a book for her father. It was wrapped neatly in wrapping that matched the one still tucked under her tree at home. The fact that she’d left it there made her sad all over again.
“You doing okay?” Mark asked, joining her on the floor. He groaned slightly as he settled his old bones in front of the fire. “You need some more rum?”
She shook her head yes, feeling her brain slosh a little. She was tipsy, but she still needed to drive home. She could sleep here in her childhood bed, but she didn’t want to cry into her childhood pillow. She was a grownup now.