Page 36 of My Darling Christmas

I looked up at the clock and frowned. “What are you guys doing here? I thought you weren’t coming until mid-month?”

“Connor, dear, don’t be silly. It’s the fourteenth. It is mid-month.”

I glanced at my wall calendar; it was indeed the fourteenth. I’d even circled the date with black marker, so I didn’t forget. I turned and looked back at Bill and Paula and nodded. “Guess it is.” I shrugged.

“Are you sick, Connor?” Paula asked, stepping forward and placing her hand on my forehead. “Ella always said you were up before the sunrise. Her being gone has really affected the way you function, hasn’t it? That's okay, it has for me too. Don’t worry, we will get you back to waking before the roosters,” she said, moving toward the coffeemaker to brew a pot of coffee.

I heard the floor creak above my head and sat down at the kitchen table, my cheeks heating as guilt flooded through me. What would Bill and Paula say when Cadence appeared?

“Connor, you look a little flush. You sure you’re feeling okay?” Paula questioned as she looked over at me. “Bill, I think he may be sick.”

Bill stopped unloading my dishwasher and looked over at me. “He looks a little flushed. Perhaps he should visit the town doctor. I can take him in an hour,” Bill added, reaching for more dishes.

“I don’t need a doctor,” I bit out. I really wanted to go back upstairs to be with Cadence and forget that they were here. In reality, all I needed to do was get up there and warn her before she came down.

Just then, Paula glanced toward the back door as it slammed shut. I frowned, looking over in the same direction to see a blond-haired woman step into my kitchen. I’d never seen her before but could tell instantly that she knew both Bill and Paula. She stepped up into the kitchen and walked over beside Paula, finally looking at me.

“What the hell is going on?” I roared.

“Connor, meet Olivia. We were really hoping that this year would be special,” she said, stepping over toward this woman who stood in my kitchen.

I glanced over at her. She couldn’t have been any more than twenty-two or twenty-three. A kid really. I frowned. “You wanted what to be special?” I glanced over at Bill, who stood there looking proud.

“Connor, meet my sister’s daughter. She lived with her father out in the Midwest and has finally come home to her mother’s place. You may know her mother, LuAnn Billings. Anyway, Olivia has had a recent string of bad luck in the love department, so I offered to introduce the pair of you.”

“Introduce us?” I roared, my anger getting the best of me. “What are you talking about?”

“See Bill, this is why I didn’t mention anything. I knew he would instantly tell me not to bother bringing her.”

“You’re damn right I would have.”

“That is why I decided to surprise you. Bill said you’d probably be angry at that, but I figured it was better to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission.”

This was all just too much for me to handle at the moment. I wanted to rewind time, to go back up to bed. I wiped my face with my hand and sighed. When I looked back over at Paula, who stood beside Olivia, I noticed she was staring at something behind me, a funny look on her face. “Paula, are you…”

When she didn’t acknowledge me, I turned around to see Cadence standing in the kitchen doorway wearing one of my T-shirts, nothing more. Her eyes were glassy as she stared at Paula, then Olivia, and then at me.

“Get dressed,” I muttered, not an ounce of warmth in my voice. The situation before me had pissed me off too much to be anything but cold. The instant the words had flown from my mouth and I saw the look in her eyes, I knew it was the wrong way to handle the situation. Especially after the night we’d spent together, but I didn’t have a choice. Bill and Paula had always made me feel on edge. Now was no different. Especially now as I turned back to face both Bill, Paula, and now Olivia.

“Connor, what is Cadence doing here…dressed…dressed…like….” Paula covered her mouth as her eyes filled with tears.

“Like some whore,” Olivia interrupted.

Anger flowed through me. Who did she think she was coming into my home and treating anyone that way? “That is enough out of you,” I yelled, staring her in the eyes, letting her know I meant what I’d said. “Bill and Paula, I’m sorry. I should have mentioned something to you.”

“Are you sleeping with her?” Paula asked, anger spreading over her face.

As Bill and Paula stood there looking at me, I knew I’d gone about this all wrong. What did I think they would say when they found out Cadence and I were together? Hell, she and Ella had been best friends. I’d seen the way Paula had hugged her when she’d returned to Willow Valley for the funeral. It was the same way she would have hugged her own daughter. They’d treated Cadence like one of their own. Even I knew that. Then my thoughts switched immediately to Cadence. What was she going to think as I stood here facing Ella’s parents?

“Look, I’m sorry—”

“You should be sorry. Honestly, I’m going to pretend that I didn’t just see Cadence in your T-shirt in the doorway because—”

Paula stopped speaking as we all heard the front door slam. I didn’t bother caring what they thought as I ran through the house to the front door. I shoved my feet into my shoes and took off toward Cadence as she made her way to the truck.

Grabbing her, I spun her around. “Wait a minute,” I said, finally meeting her eyes, trying to catch my breath.

“Connor, please…I need to go,” she cried, her voice shaking as she looked at me.

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