Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 66453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Kind of like I’d done with Dominic. I’d had an inkling, but I’d ignored it. I wanted to believe too much in the magic.
I pushed that thought aside. I might go back to bed for the rest of the year, but I wasn’t going to let anything ruin my pleasure tonight. Mrs. Kloss, Christi, and I had worked too hard on it.
I found Mrs. Kloss in the center of the festivities. She had a gingerbread martini in one hand and a candy cane in the other. She looked a bit like naughty Mrs. Clause with her red velvet dress trimmed around the cuffs and hem in white fur. The neckline dipped low enough to show off a decadent multi-string necklace of rubies and diamonds with pearl accents. I smiled at her, my heart filling with so much affection it strained the seams. I hoped I looked half as good at ninety-two, and I hoped I did half as much good in my lifetime.
“Selena!” She pulled me into her circle. I was standing next to a man who owned half of California and an Oscar winner who came from a long line of famous actors, but Mrs. Kloss only had eyes for me. “Darling, you look absolutely beautiful. Where is your young man?”
There was a twinkle in her eye. She was amused with her description of Dominic. I nearly told her that he wasn’t coming, but I stopped myself just in time. If I told her that, she’d know something was wrong, and I wasn’t going to let anything impair her enjoyment tonight. This was a magical night. A time out of time.
“He’s coming after he finishes dinner with his sister,” I said, referring to the original plan, the one we’d made before Jake walked in on us and everything fell apart.
“I do hope he’ll save me a dance.” Mrs. Kloss beamed as one of the elfin waiters came by with a circular tray of martinis. “Gingerbread or candy cane?”
“Oh, no. Neither for me. I want to check in with the caterer and the event coordinator first.” I made a graceful retreat from the group before Mrs. Kloss could insist. I was glad there had been a convenient bit of truth handy and that I didn’t have to reach for a lie. I’d never been good at them. I found the caterer who grumbled at me in French what sounded like a list of complaints, none of which I understood, and then said in terse English, “I’m fine. Please, go back to the party.”
The event coordinator was so zen it was as if she was in a trance. I lowered my voice to a yoga-studio whisper to ask her if she needed anything. She shook her head slowly, eyes fixed on the ice sculpture of Rudolph. A single teardrop was poised to drop from his hoof onto the bacon-wrapped shrimp. She made a graceful gesture with her left hand, and like magic, a man appeared beneath it and smoothed the droplet away.
I slipped away, afraid of breaking her concentration. It was like she could see everything happening in the room at once, and she was picking and choosing which situations to manage. It was eerie and impressive, and she clearly didn’t need me.
After making a couple more rounds of the party to make sure everything was going smoothly and everyone was having a good time, I found my sister. She was dancing with a group of other girls right up in front of the band. She was bouncing around, seeming younger and more carefree than I’d seen her look in a long time. Her face was flushed with happiness, her hair falling out of the careful updo she’d put it in.
See, I thought, there is life after heartbreak. I couldn’t really put her deadbeat ex-boyfriend on the same level as Dominic, but she’d certainly loved him, and she’d certainly had her dark days after he left. But look at her now. She was glowing, and I realized it had been a while since I saw her sigh mournfully or even mention her ex’s name. I would get there, too, one day.
I felt the man come up beside me. My heart clocked him, got his measure, and dismissed him even before my brain had a chance to hope he was Dominic. He couldn’t be. He was tall, but he was elegantly lean instead of powerfully broad. He had a nice smile though, and I smiled back reflexively.
“You look like you want to dance,” he said, pitching his voice below the music so that it reached my ears and my ears only.
I considered it. Did I want to dance? Yes. Did I want to dance with any other man than Dominic? No, but Dominic wasn’t asking. He’d never ask again. I had to move on, and Christmas Eve was no time to wallow in the past.