The Christmas Inn. Stella MacLean

for his dad, too.” Marnie checked her watch, wondering where Luke could be.

      “I see we’re in the same boat.” Cindy nodded at Marnie’s watch. “We’re both waiting for the men in our lives.” Cindy smiled at someone behind Marnie. “And here’s mine now.”

      Marnie turned on her stool and nearly fell off. Coming toward them was Brad Parker, the man she’d nearly married eleven years ago. The man who told her he couldn’t marry her because he didn’t want a wife who put her career first. What he really meant was he couldn’t give up the playmate he’d stashed away in an apartment in downtown Boston.

      For about ten seconds Marnie considered walking out of the bar to avoid him. But she hadn’t done anything wrong, unless you counted falling in love with a loser. A love that died the evening she’d grown suspicious of his frequent business demands and followed him across town to his girlfriend’s place. She’d nearly turned her brothers loose on him, but she decided that he wasn’t worth it.

      She watched, waiting for his phony smile to come her way, as she knew it would. Brad could never resist sizing up the women in any room he entered. And sure enough, after a smile tossed his wife’s way his eyes swerved to her. The muted light of the bar was still bright enough to expose the sudden blanching of his skin and the rigor mortis smile claiming his handsome features.

      “Marnie, this is my husband, Brad Parker. Brad, this is Marnie.” Cindy looked from Marnie to her husband, her face beaming.

      Feeling nothing for the man standing in front of her, Marnie waited for Brad to say something to smooth over the awkward moment, something Brad was very good at when he wanted to be. If he used his usual technique, he’d make some remark about where they might have met, and she’d take her cue from him.

      He hesitated. Then he moved in between them, his arm going around his wife’s shoulders as he stared at Marnie. “Do I know you?” he asked.

      “You look familiar,” she said, her smile easy, despite her shock at seeing him and his refusal to at least acknowledge her.

      “I’m often mistaken for other people. Don’t know why,” Brad said, his cautionary gaze fixed on Marnie.

      Leave it to Brad to take the coward’s way out, but Cindy clearly loved her husband, and Marnie wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. She forced a smile. “Probably that’s it.”

      There was a long pause during which Brad waved the bartender over. “I’ll have a double bourbon.”

      Cindy finished her drink in one long swallow, and placed the empty glass on the bar. “Honey, I’m going to the ladies’ room, but I’ll be back, and then the three of us can have a drink together.”

      “I’ll be right here, waiting for you,” Brad said, pulling her hard against him and kissing her on the mouth.

      Marnie waited until Cindy left the bar. “Brad, I—”

      “What are you doing here?” Brad asked, as he looked her up and down.

      For years she’d dreamed of meeting Brad somewhere and calling him out on his scandalous behavior, but not tonight. Tonight she intended to rise above all the pain that he’d caused her.

      But as she gazed into his eyes and saw not a hint of remorse for what he’d done the words spilled out. “I’m here to enjoy myself, and that means staying away from you. Remember me? I’m the woman you almost married. Let me see, it was just a couple of weeks before our wedding day as I remember it, and you and…what was her name?” She frowned to cover the hurt she was feeling inside. “You had an urgent meeting in her bedroom. I believe she was a lawyer from the law firm your company dealt with—Mary Ellen something or other.”

      He downed his drink. “Marnie, I’d really appreciate it if you’d not mention this in front of my wife.”

      “Give me a little credit,” she snorted.

      He glanced past her, frowning as he twirled his empty glass. “We’re here for the Christmas getaway, or whatever the hell they call it.”

      “Trying for a few brownie points? Is she catching on to your story? The one where you pretend to be so busy at work that you can’t be at home with her?”

      “Your bitchiness is showing,” he muttered.

      She caught the bartender watching her, bringing her back to her senses. “Brad, I want you to know that as angry as I was back then, I now realize that marrying you would have been the biggest mistake of my life.”

      “Okay, so can we leave it there?” he asked, anxiously glancing around.

      “Is everything okay?” Cindy asked, appearing around the corner of the bar and startling them both.

      “Everything’s just fine, darling.” He put his arm around Cindy, towering over her. “I’ve got a surprise for you. I was saving it for tonight.”

      “What’s that?” Cindy asked, her face turned up to his.

      “We’re going back to our room and ordering champagne, followed by room service, followed by a little rug time in front of the fireplace.” He winked at Marnie behind his wife’s back.

      Cindy blushed and smiled sheepishly at Marnie. “I’m sorry, but can we have a rain check on the drinks? I’m sure we’ll see each other again during our stay. Maybe you and your boyfriend can have dinner with us some evening.”

      “Sounds lovely,” Marnie said, dredging up as much sincerity as she could muster.

      “Then it’s settled. Maybe you and I could go into Wakesfield to shop tomorrow?”

      “Maybe,” Marnie said, making a mental note to steer clear of both of them.

      “Let’s go,” Brad said urgently.

      Cindy giggled and linked her arm through his as they moved off toward the door, and Marnie immediately started planning how to stay clear of Brad and Cindy for the remainder of her stay. Since they were here on their anniversary they wouldn’t come down early for breakfast, she figured. As for lunch, she’d be sure to arrive early and sit at a table for two, and for dinner she could always order room service—whatever it took to avoid them.

      She was still mulling over her plan when she saw the bartender approaching her.

      “Are you okay?” he asked.

      “Yes, why?”

      “You looked…anxious, a little upset.” His squint was quizzical. “Are you friends with the Parkers?”

      “No. No, I… We were just talking,” she mumbled, struggling to remember if either she or Brad had raised their voices.

      She didn’t want any reports going back to Luke about her behavior at the bar. He was already far too paranoid about her being here alone. Learning that she’d had some sort of interaction with one of his precious getaway couples could wreak a whole lot of havoc. And she was definitely not into havoc.

      Jack hesitated. “Can I get you anything?”

      “No, I’m waiting for Luke. He must have been delayed.”

      Upset and out of sorts over her altercation with Brad, she took a good big sip from her glass of wine and gave the drink menu the once-over as she planted a pleasant expression on her face and offered up a prayer that Luke Harrison would make an appearance soon.

      * * *

      LUKE SIGHED AS HE LISTENED to Jack describing a woman at the bar, a description that fit Marnie McLaughlan perfectly. Why had he agreed to meet her there of all places? Why had he agreed to have dinner with her? “Yeah, that’s her.”

      “Still no indication as to when the husband’s arriving?” Jack asked, over the din of the bar.

      “None, and I talked to her not that long ago.”

      “And what did she say?”