Page 10 of The CEO's Christmas Wife

A small smile lifted my cheeks just as an older lady stepped out of a store, shifting the bags in her arms. “Emmanuel Kayn. Is that you?”

He bobbed his head and mumbled, “Yes, ma’am, Ms. Green.”

“It’s good to see you again, son,” she stated. He kept walking and didn’t bother to reply.

I frowned, but I could tell by the scowl on his face that he wasn’t accepting any questions from me. We had only walked so far before an elderly man who stood hanging ornaments on the door of a hardware store chuckled.

“My, my, my. If it ain’t Emmanuel Kayn returning to grace us with his presence. It’s so good to see you back, son. How long are ya here for?”

“Not long, Mr. Collins.”

Now, I was extremely puzzled.

“Well, stop by the shop and see me. Don’t be a stranger, ya hear?” he commented at Kayn’s back as he kept up his stride and crossed the street.

I ran after him, trying to keep up.

“Kayn?” I called out.

His shoulders were hunched forward, and he grumbled, “Don’t.”

I could tell that he was uncomfortable by the way his lips were turned down, and he briefly stopped to tug up his coat collar around his ears. It was almost like he didn’t want to be recognized anymore. What was this place? Who were these people?

I continued to follow him as I took in the décor of the beautiful little town. “This place is amazing. It looks like something straight out of a Hallmark movie.”

Every lamp post was wrapped in about twenty-plus feet of garland. A different decoration hung from each of them, from elves and Santa Claus to Frosty and Rudolph. The windows of every store, boutique, or restaurant were festively decorated with bells, garlands, ribbons, and poinsettias. Trees sparkled brightly with tiny white lights and ornaments.

“Look over there!” I shouted like a child at Christmas.

I pointed across the street and up the block a little bit. There was an ice skating rink decorated around the edges with swans. Families and teens were ice skating and having a great time. My heart threatened to explode in my chest.

“I thought these things only existed on TV,” I stated wistfully.

“No, there are towns where this madness actually exists,” he murmured. The bad mood that had set in when the elderly woman and man greeted him remained.

I looked up at Kayn and angled my head. “Come on, Kayn. You can’t tell me that this hasn’t touched you at least a little bit.”

“Nope.”

I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. I smiled at Kayn, popped my fingers, and rocked my shoulders and hips while singing an old classic by Brenda Lee, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”

It took a few seconds, but I finally got to him. I saw the smirk crack on his face and how his eyes lit up. After a few more seconds, he chuckled. “You’re silly,” he remarked.

“No, I just love the season. If we’re absolutely honest, I love life. You have no reason to walk around frowning all the time. Enjoy the time you’ve been given. Do you mind if I ask a question?”

“No.”

“Are you going to answer?”

“It depends on the question.”

“That man and the woman back there. Obviously, you know them. Have you visited before?”

“I have.”

“So, is that why you chose to drive through here?”

“I didn’t choose to. You were on the highway with me. You saw that they directed us off the exit because they were shutting the highway down.”

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