Page 94 of Take Me Home for Christmas

He looked across the inn’s grand salon at Kitty.His wife.She was radiant talking with the judge who had married them earlier in the day. The fifteen-foot Christmas tree behind her paled in comparison. The platinum band she wore on her ring finger was studded with diamonds, causing it to shimmer in the lamplight every time she moved her wrist.

“Oh, Mr. West is my most famous groom, by far,” the judge told Kitty and Patricia. “Although I once officiated a marriage that included the guy from those fried chicken commercials you see ten times a day on football Saturdays.”

“You hear that, West,” Lamar murmured when he walked into the room carrying a tray of champagne glasses. “You’re more famous than a fried chicken pitchman.”

“I’ll be sure to have my agent include that in my bio,” Everett joked.

Just then, Claire Lovell charged into the room, her husband in tow. “You got married? Without me?” The woman looked dejected.

Kitty took her sister’s hands in hers. “It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. We didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. Especially around the holidays.” She smiled in Everett’s direction. “And we didn’t want to wait.”

Lamar popped the cork on a bottle of champagne. “A toast doesn’t count as a big deal, does it?”

“A toast works for me,” Everett said.

“Hear, hear,” Tim Lovell chimed in.

When Lamar had filled the glasses, Patricia passed them around.

Claire’s eyes were shiny as she accepted hers. “But you’re my sister. I should have been there. At least as a witness.”

“They had two fine witnesses present,” the judge announced.

Everett moved over to stand beside Kitty. He wrapped his arm around her waist, anchoring her to him, knowing that what came next wouldn’t sit well with her sister.

“You did? Who?” Claire asked, sounding even more hurt.

“Hayden stood up for me. It was only fair since he wasn’t around for my first marriage.” Kitty tried to make a joke of it.

Her sister wasn’t buying it. “Hayden? And who else?” The lack of color in her face told them all she already had a good idea who the other witness was.

“My assistant, Elinor, stood up for me,” Everett said.

Claire’s hand began to shake so hard her champagne nearly sloshed over the rim of her glass. Her husband quickly removed it from her grasp.

“Well. Then I guess it was a good thing I wasn’t invited ifshewas there.”

“Don’t be silly, Claire. No one was ‘invited,’” Kitty insisted. “And don’t you think this grudge you’ve been holding against Elle has gone on long enough?”

“Grudge?” The woman bristled. Tim lifted his hand to her shoulder to calm her, but Claire shook it off. “Is that what you think this is?”

“Yes,” Patricia added tersely. “And you’ve taken it too far, Claire. It’s time you stop persecuting my daughter for something she wasn’t responsible for. She didn’t coerce Hayden to that party. In fact, she left well before he arrived.”

“That doesn’t matter. She was always doing something to get him in trouble. It wasn’t enough that she already had a boyfriend. She wanted to keep my son on a string, too.”

Patricia opened her mouth to protest, but Tim beat her to it.

“That’s enough, Claire,” he told his wife.

“That girl ruined our son’s life!” she cried.

“If it wasn’t for ‘that girl,’ your son would have done time in prison,” the judge interjected.

The air in the room seemed to still. The judge sighed heavily. He pulled a folded piece of paper from his suit jacket.

“Since Hayden was a minor at the time, the court documents are sealed. I know because I was the one who signed off on his plea deal. Meeting him today, and seeing the man he’s become made me feel justified in my decision not to sentence him to prison. And it’s thanks to this letter from his best friend that I changed my mind.”

He handed the letter to Tim. He scanned the page. “Elle wrote this.”

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