Page 79 of Christmas with the Elkin Billionaires

“Bring her back,” she said into his shoulder.

“I will,” he said. “If I can bring Anna back, I will.”

19

ANNA

Forty-eight hours of nothing but bingeing Netflix hadn’t done a thing to cure the ache in Anna’s heart. After returning home, she’d showered and dropped into bed, exhausted. And once there, she hadn’t wanted to leave. Instead, she opted to take the blanket off the bed and drag it to the sofa, where she’d camped out. She hadn’t even bothered getting dressed. Pajamas were good enough for staring blindly at the TV. Two days, and still she missed Gabe.

And not just him. Anna missed Elk Lodge, and even the way Gabe bickered with his brothers. She missed baking cookies with him. She missed sitting down with Elin in her beautiful apartment. And she missed—

A knock at the front door of Anna’s one-bedroom apartment was the first thing to jar her from the routine she’d fallen into. But she wasn’t ready to return to the real world. Better to ignore it.

Another knock, this one louder and more insistent. “Anna? I know you’re in there. I can hear the TV.”

Elena.“I’m coming,” she hollered, but didn’t lift her head off the pillow. It was so far from here to the door, and her limbs felt tired and achy like she’d recently finished running a marathon. Anna had run a marathon once, just because it had seemed like something she should try. Something she could make conversation about with clients. This was worse.

But after a few more heartbeats, she took a deep breath, hauled herself out from under the cocoon of blankets and headed for the front door. Even the lock seemed to resist her, sticking a few times before it finally came open.

The doorknob turned before she could open it. Anna stepped back as her friend barged in the way she always did. Elena stepped into the kitchen, separated from the living room only by one countertop, and set an armful of bags from her restaurant on the counter.

Turning back to face her, Elena gave her a once-over look from top to bottom. “You look terrible,” she announced. “I thought you might be dead.”

“I’m not dead.” Anna shrugged.

“Your phone hasn’t been on in days.”

“Yeah, well—” She gazed off into the distance. Leaving the phone off had seemed like a far better idea. If her phone stayed off, she wouldn’t be forced to acknowledge Gabe hadn’t called to make things right. The flip side was she couldn’t see if anybody else called, but that was a small price to pay. “I didn’t feel like talking.”

“You can’t send a single text that says, ‘flying back sooner than expected, lots of work’ and then go off the radar for two days,” Elena scolded. “People worry about you. Namely me.”

Anna pushed a hand through her hair.

Elena seemed to read her mind. “You smell. Go take a shower and change into some fresh clothes. I’ll be here when you get out, and we’re going to talk.”

Anna did as she was told, knowing it was useless to argue with Elena once she started down the motherly path. The hot water felt good. Even the steady draw of the brush through her hair felt good. She twisted the locks into a neat bun and pulled on a pair of yoga pants and a top. Her suitcase sat glaring at her from the corner of the room, a painful reminder of what happened. “I’ll return you soon enough,” she muttered. “Wow. I must be losing it. I’m talking to a suitcase and myself.”

She headed back to the living room, only to discover Elena had cleaned up the place. Her stackable washer rumbled in the background, Elena obviously washing the blanket since it was nowhere in sight. She’d also swept the minimal food wrappers away and lit a candle. But best of all were the plates on Anna’s coffee table.

Two enormous burgers with all the condiments and a generous stack of fries greeted her like a long-lost friend. Two containers with slices of cake decorated the corners of the table. The smell filled the apartment, and for the first time since she’d gotten home, Anna’s stomach growled with a genuine hunger.

Elena bustled out of the kitchen with a wine glass in each hand, put them carefully on the table, and dropped onto the sofa. She patted the seat next to her. “Have something to eat. You’re so pale.” It didn’t matter that she and her friend had disagreed during their last phone call, Elena’s voice still held raw concern.

Anna sat down next to her and reached for a plate.

“TV or talk?” Elena asked.

Anna bit into the burger. It was perfect—medium-well with sweet onions and the homemade ketchup that Elena made in huge batches at the restaurant. It flooded her mouth with something like comfort. “Talk,” she said around the food. Of course Elena would wait patiently until she was ready to explain, but waiting seemed worse than getting it out in the open. Far worse. “Obviously, I’m back in town.”

“Obviously.” Elena ate a few bites of her own burger. “What happened?”

Anna’s chest squeezed. “Well, I didn’t tell you the whole story about the holiday vacation.”

Elena made a noise. “I figured as much.”

“The reason I went is that Gabe asked me to pose as his fiancée.”

“He asked you to dowhat?” Elena exclaimed, the burger only making it halfway to her mouth as she froze, her eyes wide in surprise.

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