Page 121 of Scrooged for the Holidays
Greer smiles at it warmly before her gaze catches another ornament. A look that I can only describe as recognition and confusion lights her features. She lifts the ornament, and I see it’s a glass angel, much like the one hanging as decor in the inn.
My lips part as I suck in some air, and a brief zing of fear zips through me thinking that she has forgotten about us. But then she smiles and stares out the window, her eyes warm as if she’s thinking of us.
My heart stops beating, and for a brief second, I think she sees us, but that would be impossible. Then Avery calls her name, and she blinks several times before she turns to meet her friend. They exit, leaving the living area empty now as they go to another room.
“Let’s go home,” Remi says after another moment.
“I don’t want to leave her,” I admit.
“I know. None of us do, but this is her time to heal and be with her family. We need to hold on tightly to our hope now and have faith that Elysian Pines will let her return when the time is right. It sent her to us—let’s have trust in its magic to bring her back.”
I stare at the spot where Greer was just standing then to the tree where the ornament was—key word beingwas. She took the small glass angel with her.
I grip both of my lovers’ hands, happiness and renewed hope pulsing through my aura. “Okay, let’s go home.”
Sam and Remiel both squeeze my hand, and just like that, we disappear into the night, ready to wait for our reformed Scrooge.
Chapter thirty-seven
Greer
I’msittingatmydesk, unable to sleep. My stomach is full, yet that voracious hunger has returned in full force.
I came back to my condo after spending the day and well into the night with Avery and my family. We had many discussions, ones that weren’t exactly easy but needed to happen. We still have more to talk about and fences to mend, but we settled on an understanding and reveled in the happiness of being all together again. I even spoke to Tim, who was shocked but grateful to get my call.
I celebrated Christmas with people I thought didn’t care about me but do. I spent time getting to know them again, feeling their love and giving them back love in return. I feel whole and alive in a way I haven’t felt since I was a child.
Yet something’s wrong.
When I got home, I didn’t shower or change. I went straight to my computer and started drafting a new email to Mr. Cross.
After what I saw and experienced over the last three nights and after speaking with Holly, I not only saw but also felt the forgiveness and empathy of those that I hurt. Because of that, I started to formulate an idea.
I know I can’t go back to Northlight Capital and continue as usual. I can no longer help clear towns of small businesses orleave them with soulless enterprises that only care about their bottom line.
I also won’t give up my job; I don’t want to. But I can change how I do business.
It may not work for Northlight Capital, but if it doesn’t, I can build my own company. Not like the one I saw in my future but a different and better one, a business that truly cares about people and their livelihood, one focused not only on monetary wealth but also the kind of wealth that Remi spoke of.
I finish my email to Mr. Cross explaining what I’ve done, the apologies I’ve already made to Holly and Tim along with the ideas I want to implement in the new year. I know my ideas can save Holly’s Restaurant and the few remaining businesses that still stand from before Northlight infiltrated Garland. It’s a project I can oversee, one that will create more revenue for them but also bring back the heart and soul of the small ski town.
I schedule the email to go out in the morning and close my laptop, then I stand from my desk and walk to the large picture windows that look out toward the mountains. The snow has long since stopped, but the ground is a picturesque white. Now that my brain is quiet after getting my ideas out and I’m truly alone for the first time in days, I let out a breath that feels bigger than my lungs can hold.
My home is stark like the one in the future, just on a smaller scale. I have no holiday decorations, and the rooms are too empty.
I haven’t been away from Elysian Pines for long, but it feels like I have. I never thought I’d say I miss the sound of people or Christmas music—or the gaudy Christmas decor or bright lights or Christmas trees. Yet, I do. More than that, I miss the three Nephilim who have changed everything for me.
The entire time I was with everyone at Avery’s parents’, I kept thinking about them. Several times, I almost mentioned them but thought better of it because how do I explain what happened to me? I can’t.
I stick my hand in my pocket, and my fingers meet cool glass. I suck in air, remembering what I put there. Pulling out the small glass angel, I rub my fingers over it. It looks nothing like the beings I know, but I felt compelled to have it.
I meant to put it back before I left, but I forgot. I’ll have to return it in case it’s sentimental to Avery’s family—I just wanted it while I was in the house.
The more I look at the glass angel’s face, the more I feel as if it looks familiar. A flash of the decorative angel on the mistletoe I grabbed from the door in the inn comes to mind. It looked like this, and I’m pretty sure I broke it when I tossed it on the bathroom counter.
I cringe at my carelessness and decide I need to replace it. Not with Avery’s, of course, but a new one—that’s the right thing to do. It will also be a good reason to go back to Elysian Pines. The town will let me in to give it to them, right? Remi said if I needed them, they’d be there.
My skin prickles with excitement at the idea of returning, and I take the angel with me to my bedroom and get ready for bed, a plan formulating in my mind. Tonight I’ll sleep, and tomorrow morning, I’ll pump myself full of coffee and go to the first store I can find to get a replacement angel after I drop this one at Avery’s.
