Home for Christmas (4 page)

“You’ll feel better in the
morning,” Courtney crooned sympathetically. “Take a nice long soak and when you
come out, I’ll have a sandwich tray on your bed. We’ll talk later.”

Gratefully, Savannah acquiesced and
before long, had soaked away her tears, put a little something in her stomach
and was fast asleep in her temporary and borrowed room.   

A dark and drizzly morning greeted
both Savannah and Courtney the next morning as they each made their way to the
kitchen and the welcome aroma of freshly brewed caffeine. Both had red rimmed
eyes; one from an emotionally packed night filled with silent tears, the other
from a sleepless night spent planning campaigns and promotions. With barely a
nod of greeting, they each moved toward the steaming pot that promised a good
morning.

With a huge and wide mug filled to
the brim with espresso, they each found their way to the living room and the
panoramic cityscape beyond. After a few minutes of mutual silence, Courtney
chuckled, “We’re going to make great roommates,” she mused, “total silence.”
They both chuckled, knowing the absurdity of that statement as both were known
by their friends to chat with each other for hours. Smiling, Savannah realized
how tight and puffy her face felt.

“I must look awful,” she grimaced.

“That you do,” Courtney agreed with
a smile. “Absolutely
horrible
and I must admit, I never thought
you
could look like that. You’ve made my day.” Savannah threw a fur pillow at her
long time friend.

“Was your room comfortable?”
Courtney inquired.

“It was wonderful … and you’ve been
so kind,” Savannah murmured in response. “I really don’t want to be any trouble
for you, Courtney. I’m sure you have times when you want your privacy or you’re
inviting someone special home, just tell me and I can make myself scarce,” she
said with a small smile, hating to feel like a charitable burden.

“I wish there
were
someone
special,” Courtney said, wrinkling her nose in the exact same way her friend
Savannah did. “After Steve,” she said referring to her long-time boyfriend, son
of one of the families in their old neighborhood, “I’m just not ready to make
myself vulnerable again.”

“You will,” Savannah replied
confidently, “when you meet the right one. You won’t even have to think about
it.”

“Such wisdom,” Courtney teased.
“And you know this, how?”

Savannah blushed and rolled her eyes.
“I’ve had … friends.”

“Exactly,” Courtney said with more
enthusiasm than Savannah thought necessary. “Friends … unless there is someone
I don’t know about,” she inquired with arched eyebrows.

“Well Robert and I …”

“Oh, please,” Courtney exclaimed, rolling
her eyes. “Robert Winslow doesn’t count. You have absolutely no passion where
he’s concerned,” she continued authoritatively, “and furthermore, I know you’ve
hardly seen him since last Christmas.”

Savannah felt indignant. “We’ve …
spoken. He is really very sweet … and comfortable. I suppose we fit together
perfectly. And no, I haven’t seen him for months because he’s been traveling
overseas for their company, which you well know. But I’m sure when he returns
…” She had decided to forgo any conversation regarding passion. It wasn’t
Courtney’s business, whether or not she was correct.

“Forget about it. He’s
too
perfect for you. You’re already the personification of perfection; you
certainly don’t need an
ideal
man to go along with it. Besides, take your
own advice. If he was the
perfect
one for you, you’d be married by now,”
she finished, stirring her espresso with a self satisfied smile on her face.

Savannah stayed silent, knowing
Courtney was correct with her assumptions. Robert would never drive her to
passion, never fulfill all the secret dreams she’d had of the man she wanted to
spend her life with. But sometimes, dreams didn’t work out and rarely did they
even come to fruition, at least for her. She could point to the last couple of
months as a
perfect
example.

Courtney watched the emotions play
over Savannah’s face. It was exactly the kind of mood she’d hoped to begin
their conversation. She had plans, big plans and she needed Savannah’s
assistance. And Savannah needed hers as well, whether she knew it yet or not.
It was time for Savannah to get a great big wide, realistic picture of exactly
where her life stood before she could inspire her to change it, to take a
chance. And as long as she’d known Savannah, that could be a difficult
prospect.

“What are your plans, Savannah? I
mean, aside from what you told me yesterday. And don’t tell me you don’t know.
You’ve always had a written five and ten-year strategy, remember?”

“It’s true,” Savannah agreed with a
smile, “I still have my five and ten-year-plans, in theory. It’s just the
details that are a little cloudy,” she smiled. “The next two months … that’s
another story.”

“You’re going to get horribly bored
unless you come up something to do,” Courtney predicted confidently. “And with
boredom comes depression and I’m too good of a friend to let you go there. So,
let’s come up with something together.”

Savannah wrinkled her eyebrows as
she scrutinized her friend. One couldn’t be too careful around Courtney, she
was always talking people into things they’d rather not do. When they were
children, it usually spelled trouble, as they got older, the dynamics had
changed; sometimes it was helpful, other times it was disastrous.

“I’m not going to be bored,” she
answered carefully. “I’m still on my mother’s committees, I’m supposed to chair
a couple of events in December,” she replied with waning enthusiasm.

“But they’re your
mother’s
charities, it’s time for you to move on to what you want to do,” Courtney said
leaning forward in her club chair. “You’ve spent your life working for everyone
else; it’s time that you started working toward what you want to do.”

“Obviously you have something in
mind, Courtney,” Savannah replied wryly. “For your information, I’ve been
doing
what I wanted to do. I wanted to make the stores successful again and I could
have done it with more time. This holiday season …”

“Spoken like a true retailer,”
Courtney interrupted sarcastically. Savannah’s eyes dropped to her lap as her
faced reddened. Courtney berated herself over her clumsiness and over
exuberance, apologizing when she saw the hurt expression cross her friend’s
face. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “Sometimes I get carried away,”

“It’s okay,” Savannah answered
quickly, shaking her head. “I’m just a little sensitive right now. It’s not
your fault; you’re only trying to help.”

“I am trying to help,” Courtney
answered brightly. “And yes, you know me well. I do have something in mind.
Something I stayed up half the night working on and all of yesterday afternoon
too!”

Savannah quickly slipped on a
polite mask, hoping to hide the instant alarm she felt over Courtney’s
excitement. She hated to become the object of one of her friend’s plans,
wishing desperately she had somewhere to rush off to thus avoiding the entire
conversation that she knew from experience would cause discomfort. Somehow,
someway, Courtney would plead and plead for her involvement with some scheme
and in the end; Savannah would give in, against her better judgment.

Suddenly, Courtney’s phone began
vibrating, singing a silly little song. Savannah was overjoyed as she gave her
friend a quick wave and disappeared into her room, locked the door and turned
on the shower. A reprieve? Short-lived, Savannah knew.

Savannah took an inordinately long
time to dress, trying desperately to outmaneuver Courtney and was almost giddy
with excitement when she eventually entered the kitchen to pour yet another cup
of coffee and saw the note she’d left. True to form, Courtney was off like a
whirlwind and Savannah was left in peace.

The note was simple.
“Meet me at
Starbucks (you’re favorite) at 1:15 and we’ll finish. Clear your schedule cause
I’ve got a new one for you. Smiley face. Cort.”

Savannah checked her watch.
Unfortunately, she could make it. She had a ladies auxiliary meeting at the
club for an early luncheon to status their December event. They would be done
in time for that 1:15 meeting. She sighed and closed her eyes, remembering that
without her friend, Savannah would be waking up to a very different world this
morning. Perhaps it was for the best. Perhaps Courtney’s plans would fill in
her calendar and time nicely. January was months away and decisions had to be
made. Perhaps activity would help keep her thoughts optimistic, thus putting
her in a better frame of mind to make those critical decisions.

It was 1:23 in the afternoon and
the 6
^th
and Union Starbucks was starting to settle down after the
noon-hour rush. Round tables were vacating nicely as Savannah waited
impatiently for Courtney to appear, unusually late. She checked her phone
again, waiting in vain for a text that hadn’t come, at the same time, hoping
her friend wouldn’t make the scheduled appointment.

Taking opportunity to answer a few emails,
Savannah didn’t see Courtney rush through the door with hair, scarf and
raincoat blowing in the wind. Savannah heard rather than saw her friend’s quick
approach.

“Sorry!” she apologized, pulling up
a third and then a fourth seat.

“What?” Savannah asked with
amusement, “How many of those do you need?” she teased, glancing at the two
additional vacant chairs crowding around their small table.

“Two,” Courtney answered hurriedly.
“Now shush and keep an open mind – there’s not a lot of time! I’d hoped to get
her sooner so I could explain some things to you before … Oh shoot,” she
whispered as she glanced toward the door and the two individuals entering the
building. Savannah became instantly alert and extremely wary. With Courtney,
you never knew what was coming next, it was part of her appeal, she supposed.

“Just follow my lead,” Courtney
whispered as she quickly rose, plastered on her
professional
smile and
walked gracefully to the door, trying valiantly to tame her wild hair en route.

As the two individuals came into
Savannah’s view, her eyes widened as she recognized Austin Douglass. Biting her
tongue in exasperation over Courtney’s tardiness, she valiantly tried to
camouflage her surprise as she watched him approach their table. She couldn’t,
however, control her stubborn heart beat, accelerating simultaneously as his
eyes found hers. He was an incredibly handsome man, one that made her feel
things she didn’t like to feel. Her eyes slid to his companion, a beautiful
woman who obviously knew him quite well, and was old enough to be his mother.
Thankfully, that thought helped cool her blushing cheeks as she realized how
embarrassing it would be to appear flustered. She was sure it was an
all-too-common occurrence with the women in his life.  

Once it became evident that
everyone at the table, except for her, was aware of this seemingly impromptu
meeting, Savannah became decidedly uncomfortable, out of the loop, and at a
disadvantage. She hated being at a disadvantage. Biting her bottom lip,
Savannah thought of all the things she’d like to tell Courtney later, how she’d
like to exact revenge.

After introductions were made
between the four individuals, they all sat at the too small table in the corner
of the café. “Well,” Courtney said expressively as her hands encompassed the
entire table, “I, uh, I gathered us all together because, as you know, I’m
really good at solving problems.” Savannah and Austin’s eyebrows rose
simultaneously.  Courtney, to her credit, blushed.

“You’re going to have to excuse me
for a moment,” she breathed. “Savannah is a childhood friend and I had intended
to get her up to speed and status with her on this project prior to our
meeting, but I was unavoidably detained and she was unavailable earlier,” she
finished glancing at Savannah, noticing her scowl, answering it with a scathing
one of her own. “So, if you don’t mind, I’ll just fill her in quickly on the
details.”

Austin found himself amused as he
watched the body language and silent, encoded messages bouncing between the two
women, who’d obviously enjoyed a close and long-term relationship. While he
knew much of what Courtney was going to propose, it was evident that Savannah
knew nothing. He sensed her reluctance.

Priding himself in his ability to
accurately read others, which had given him enormous success in business, he
knew this project might well fail if he didn’t intervene, and quickly. Last
night, Courtney’s proposal occupied much of his attention. He couldn’t get it
out of his mind … and he couldn’t really come to a decision either. The same
was true this morning. The indecision frustrating enough that he was tempted to
call the whole idea off. That was before, however, he looked into Savannah’s
luminous, amber-colored eyes moments before, knowing deep down that he couldn’t
stop this thing,
whatever
it was, from happening. Her reluctance only
solidified the whole proposal in his mind. Unexplainably, he was compelled to
make it happen.

He wished, in hind’s sight, he
hadn’t brought his assistant to the meeting. It was habit to bring her to
anything that required follow-up and attention to detail. She was a lifeline
for him; she loved putting pieces of a puzzle together, he liked to create the
puzzle. Together, they were an amazing team. Old enough to be his mother, she
was a bit more traditional than he; and tradition was what this project was all
about. It had been his intention to let his assistant take the lead on the
project details, bringing to him only the important decisions to be made. And
those decisions, or so he thought, would be few.  

His marketing group had determined
and Courtney had confirmed that Austin needed to personally entertain wealthy,
investment savvy individuals during the upcoming holiday season. It was a chore
because until yesterday, he didn’t even own a home, didn’t have a wife, family
or significant other to help him entertain.

He also, in his mind, didn’t have
time to focus on this entertaining scheme, however personal it was. He had an
IPO to offer, a young company to run; fast-paced and able to flex and grow and
contract and change directions … immediately as the data charts dictated. 
His personal life was something he’d given nearly zero attention to. He
couldn’t afford it. Now, somehow, he couldn’t afford not to.

Austin leaned back in his chair and
watched Courtney. She was the best public relations expert in the city, many
believed perhaps in the country and she had a robust string of accomplishments
attached to her name. But on this project, she needed help because at the
moment, it wasn’t selling well.

He took the opportunity to once
again study Savannah Wentworth. Prior to this meeting, he had his people gather
information about her family’s retail company. There hadn’t been a lot to glean
as it had been privately held. But he’d studied what he could find and had to
wonder if one of the reasons for its demise was its inability to keep pace,
technologically and even culturally. In his opinion, there wasn’t a lot of room
these days for the old ways of doing business. However, here he was full circle.
It was exactly those old ways that might very well propel the success that
Austin needed to stay competitive in his very contemporary world. Apparently,
and perhaps, hopefully, he needed Savannah’s help to do that.

He must admit, she was absolutely breath-taking.
Looking at her press image, you’d only guess at her beauty. He’d had the
fortunate opportunity to observe her in an entirely different light. He’d come
by her house Halloween night, not knowing he would actually meet her. In fact,
he’d expected the house to be vacant, never believing she herself would be
there; creating and working and serving the neighborhood children. Most people
in his circles
had
people who did that for them. She was an anomaly. It
was that memory,
that image
he couldn’t get out of his mind.

He would always be attracted to her
public image, she was an incredibly striking woman, but what captivated him was
not the veneered surface, but the glimpse he’d caught of a true beauty
underneath that polished persona she showed the world. The fulfillment and
happiness he’d seen radiating from her eyes that night would stay with him for
a long time.

The table had grown silent,
successfully gaining his attention. Uncharacteristically, he found his mind
wandering, distracted as he studied Savannah in the bright light of day;
watching her expressive eyes, appreciating her flawless complexion, her sense
of understated style and her grace. He enjoyed watching her many and varied
expressions clearly evident to those around her, amused that she didn’t seem to
realize how transparent she was. He glanced around the table to find three
female faces staring at him expectantly. One determined, one amused, and one
guarded and defensive. “I didn’t catch that,” he admitted cautiously.

Courtney gazed at him strangely. “I
said,” she repeated slowly, “do you want to explain to Savannah about your
project or shall I?”

Glancing at Savannah’s very closed
and distant expression, it became instantly and personally urgent to him that
she accept the proposition. He couldn’t explain why, but he’d built nearly an
empire by following his gut and he wasn’t going to stop now. Besides, there
were some things she didn’t yet know and it was time he was honest with her.

Ignoring the women on either side,
he leaned toward Savannah. He doubted anyone else noticed her infinitesimal
move toward the back of her seat. He smiled his most charming smile.

“I’d like you two ladies to give me
a couple of moments with Savannah.” And when they both sat staring at him, he
said more forcefully, “Now would be good.”

Savannah glanced uncertainly at
Courtney, to which she responded with a shrug. “We’ll be back in fifteen,” she
said grabbing her bag and avoiding Savannah’s pleading eyes. Austin replied,
“Thirty,” in a voice that brooked no arguments.

“Savannah,” Austin said when they
were alone. “I didn’t catch all of what Courtney was telling you, I’ve got a
few things on my mind,” he said self-effacingly. “Sometimes my mind wanders,”
he continued with a smile. She smiled in return, warmed by his admission.

“It happens,” she answered simply.

“It wasn’t you, well it was you,”
he continued, clearly his throat, “but it wasn’t due to a lack of interest in
this project Courtney’s been trying to tell you about. I was actually thinking
about some things you need to know that Courtney doesn’t.” And at her quizzical
expression, he looked down at the wooden round table between and hoped his
words could smooth a potentially uncomfortable conversation.  

“On Halloween night, when we met
for this first time,” he began as she watched him guardedly, “I wasn’t
completely honest with you,” he admitted, again letting his eyes drift to the
table between them. She crossed her arms in front of her as she became very
focused and distant.

“I don’t know if you’ve connected
the dots yet,” he said, “but I’m founder and CEO of the company that just
purchased your house.”

He watched as myriad expressions
passed over her face, her eyes both widening and then narrowing as she digested
this information. Shock, anger, hurt, distrust and other emotions he couldn’t
identify played themselves out in mere seconds before his eyes. Quickly,
however, they slipped behind a professional mask he suspected she wore most of
the time.

“And when you came over to
my
house that night,” she finally said, clarifying, “you didn’t think to reveal
that? Or just chose not to?” And after a few silent moments, she questioned
icily, “Why? You had possession the next day. Why did you need to come and spy
on me the night before?”

“I didn’t come to
spy
,” he
quickly answered, shaking his head. “I never thought anyone would be there.”

“You just wanted to gloat? Why did
you lie and tell me you were a neighbor?”

“I didn’t say I was a neighbor,” he
interrupted quickly. “If I remember correctly, I said I had recently
purchased
a house in the neighborhood, which was true, but I didn’t correct your
misinterpretation. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again …”

“And that made it okay?” she
replied angrily. “Your deceit is okay as long as you never see me again? That’s
how you run your company, Mr. Douglass? Wouldn’t the press be thrilled with
that information?” she replied smugly.

“Savannah …”

“Miss Wentworth, if you please.”

He smiled, despite her anger. “Miss
Wentworth?” She had the grace to blush. “And we’re in what year?” he
questioned.

“I don’t like the sound of my name
on your lips,” she said and when a devilish smile lit his blue, blue eyes, she
blushed again. “And what might you like on my lips?”

“Stop it.”

“You’re right. That was very
unprofessional,” he answered with chagrin.

“Yes it was. That was
inappropriate.”

“I agree it was … but I couldn’t
help myself. Could you just …
listen
? We only have a few minutes before
those women come back and I really want this to come from me.”

Austin took the next several
minutes to explain his company to her. She listened silently even though she’d
read about it in detail a couple of years before when it first garnered the
public’s attention, learning about its history and proposed future. He
explained their forthcoming IPO offering, detailed the several millions of
dollars they planned to spend in marketing and his personal attempt to attract
more investors.   

Savannah couldn’t help but admire
his business astuteness. The more she listened, carefully, the more her
irritation with him mellowed. Caught up in his enthusiastic description of his
business made her temporarily forget how keenly aware of her own loss she had
become. She’d been equally as passionate, equally as enthusiastic, but
ultimately with very different results. She loved his dedication and
appreciated the easy praise he gave to his management team and their efforts to
build a strong company.

“Thank you, Austin,” she finally
said. “I appreciate your time in explaining your business, and I’m impressed
with what I hear. But truly, my background is in retail, I’m not sure what I
can do for you. As you know, we no longer have any assets. While your company
may have been one I would have invested in the past, I’m afraid that is
impossible now.”