Page 86 of Embrace
“Babe, we’re here,” he whispered.
Hearing the emotion coloring his tone, I reached over to massage his solid bicep. Asher had been nervous about arriving at his childhood home. Bryn had completed final renovations in February of that year. It would be the first time he would lay eyes on the gory mansion.
Even though Bryn had become one of my closest friends, I’d never seen the mansion, either. I wanted to experience it with Asher, and at that very moment, the day before our wedding. Most of our guests would be staying in town at an inn owned by the Christmases. However, all of our family members would have rooms at the mansion. For me, that included Aunt Christine, who was bringing a date, and Zara, who was like a sister to me. Kirk, who was her boyfriend, would be staying with us well.
All of Asher’s siblings and their partners would be in attendance. Beth McConnell, Asher’s biological mother, would also be there. We were both excited about that. In April, he and I tore ourselves from our work at the hospital and flew out to California to see her. Leading up to our visit, Bryn had sent him plenty of pictures of his mother. He had told me her appearance was starkly different than he remembered. She’d put on a healthy amount of weight, when before, her skin hugged her bones. Also, the scant number of teeth she had left were rotted. But in the photos, she flashed smiles with a full set of perfectly straight and pearly-white teeth. I had finally read the biography,The Dark Christmases, and from it, I learned how Asher and his siblings came to know of Beth’s existence. One night before our trip, after we had made love, he confessed that as Jake Sparrow, he had wiped Beth out of his memory. From the moment he ever laid eyes on her, he wished he’d never met her. The fact that his father was a pedophile, and his mother, a former prostitute and drug addict, was too much to bear. Bryn was the one who stuck with Beth, getting her the help needed. It had taken four stints in rehab before Beth could wrap her mind around the fact that she was not trash. She was a human being worthy of love, respect, and happiness.
We had taken Beth to brunch at Tutto Pao, an Italian and Chinese fusion restaurant in Bel Air, which had breathtaking views of the westside. During the car ride to the restaurant, she and I mostly talked about my work as a surgeon. It was as if she was afraid to say anything to Asher as if the wrong words would send him away from her forever.
But at some point, I mentioned a procedure that Asher and I were working on perfecting, and I was thankful he was a chemist because he was able to use mathematics to get us past barriers. That was when Beth mentioned one of her brothers was also a mathematician.
“Brothers? I have uncles?” Asher asked.
She smiled. “Yes. They’re younger than me. They didn’t know I existed until Caroline, my therapist, reached out to them.”
And from that moment on, Asher and Beth couldn’t stop talking to each other. Over dinner, she told us everything—the bad, the worse, and the ultra-ugly. But she shared the good too, which occurred the moment Bryn walked into her life and changed it forever.
I would always remember every aspect of what happened next. Night had fallen, and the lukewarm air carried the scent of the Pacific Ocean. We’d eaten dinner and were having dessert when Asher said, “I’m sorry, Beth…” He cleared his throat. “Mom. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you like Bryn was. But that’s Bryn; we can always rely on her in that way. But I’m here for you.” He took my hand in his and looked me in the eyes. “We both are.” He nodded.
I nodded back.
As it was that night at Tutto Pao, it was hard to rip my eyes away from Asher’s face then, and put them on the famed mansion that had launched Bryn’s new career as an interior designer. His lips were parted as the sight rendered him speechless. Gawking at his beautiful profile was like being lost in the allure of the form and fitness of Michelangelo’sDavid.
Then he turned to me, eyes glistening, smile perfect. “Wow, I didn’t expect that.”
I moved my lips towards his and closed my eyes as we engaged in a delicate but rousing kiss. Our persistent tongues wanted to continue brushing and tasting each other, but it was now time to see what had made the man that loved so emotional.
* * *
Julia Valentine
The Day After The Wedding
I'd been waitingfor The Daily Chronicle to post captures of Asher’s wedding. There he was, holding her hand—Penina Ross. My sister by blood only. Her dress was white, of course. But how tacky—a plunging neckline. If I were marrying a Christmas, my dress would’ve had a boatneck or a Queen Anne neckline. They were all in attendance—Jasper, Spencer, Bryn, and even Gina had been invited.
“Fuck!” I shot to my feet and turned my back on the computer screen.
I closed my eyes and filled my lungs with air. I thought about the day I followed Penina into the restroom at the hospital. My intention was not to set her off that way.
What was my intention then?
I just wanted to talk to her. I wanted to know if Asher truly loved her. But I should’ve kept my distance.
My eyes quickly open as I touch my throat. A sweetheart neckline. Yes, that was it. My dress would’ve had a sweetheart neckline.
Then I remembered the Monday morning when Jasper threatened to ruin me forever. I was actually ecstatic about getting to work on the press release touting the new sports medicine wing of the hospital. I liked my job. I was good at it. But I knew I had fucked up when I threatened Asher with exposing Bryn's drug dealing. I wouldn't have told anyone. And I wished that on Monday morning when one of the Christmases showed up to threaten and fire me, it wasn't Jasper. He was the one man I hadn't wanted to face.
Imposing and intimidating, Jasper Christmas's frame filled the doorway.
"Stephanie, leave us," he said without looking at her.
Stephanie, who wasn't one to be pushed around, let her survival instincts guide her.
"Of course, Mr. Christmas," she muttered. Then, without question, she got up from her desk, her high heels pitter-pattering out the door.
My breathing went shallow, my skin warmed, and my head felt as if it detached from my body. Jasper smelled good and looked sexy in a pair of heather gray slacks and a white crisp button-down shirt. But I couldn't let his appearance fool me. He was an avenging angel, sentencing me to destitution.
"What can I do for you?" I mustered enough courage to ask.
