Christmas Kisses Collection. Louise Allen

serious in that she really hadn’t wanted him to attend. Certainly, she hadn’t contacted him last night. He’d checked his phone several times, thinking she might. She hadn’t. He’d told himself that was a good thing, that McKenzie sticking to their original agreement made it easier for him to do so too.

      Their two months was over.

      The music changed and everyone stood, turned to watch the bride walk down the aisle to her groom.

      Lance had never met McKenzie’s mother, but he would have recognized the older version of McKenzie anywhere. Same green eyes. Same fine bone structure.

      Seeing McKenzie made his insides ache.

      Part of him wanted to ask her for more time, for another day, another week, another month.

      But he couldn’t.

      Wouldn’t.

      He’d vowed to Shelby that he’d remain committed to her memory.

      To spend more time with McKenzie would be wrong.

      He wasn’t free to be with her and never would be.

      “You invited Dad?” McKenzie whispered, thinking her knees might buckle as she took her mother’s bouquet from her.

      Her mother’s smile was full of merriment, but she didn’t answer, just turned back to her groom to exchange her vows.

      The exchange of wedding vows was brief and beautiful. McKenzie cried as her mother read the vows she’d written for a man she’d known for less than two months.

      Less than the time McKenzie had been dating Lance.

      McKenzie outright wept when Yves said his vows back to her mother. Okay, so if the man loved her mother all his days the way he loved her today, he and McKenzie would get along just fine and her mother was a lucky woman.

      The preacher announced the happy couple as Mr. and Mrs. Yves St. Clair and presented them to their guests.

      A few photos were taken, then the reception began. McKenzie spotted Lance talking to a tall blonde someone had told her earlier was Yves’s cousin. A deep green pain stabbed her, but she refused to acknowledge it or him. She headed toward her father, who was downing a glass of something alcoholic.

      “I can’t believe you are here.”

      He frowned into his empty glass. “She invited me.”

      “You didn’t have to come.”

      His gaze met hers. “Sure I did. Today is a big day for me, too.”

      “Freedom from alimony?” she said drily.

      For the first time in a long time her father’s smile was real and reached his eyes. “Exactly.”

      “She seems really happy.”

      That had her father pausing and glancing toward her mother. “Yeah, she does. Good for her.”

      “What about you? Where is your wife?”

      He shrugged. “At home, I imagine.”

      He excused himself and went and joined the conversation with Lance and the blonde. No doubt he’d have the blonde cornered in just a few minutes.

      He must have because Lance walked up shortly afterward to where McKenzie stood.

      “You look very beautiful,” he said quietly.

      Okay, so a smart girl wouldn’t let him see how his words warmed her insides. A smart girl would play it cool. McKenzie tried. “Cecilia works wonders.”

      “She is indeed talented.”

      Their conversation was stilted, awkward. The conversation of former lovers who didn’t know what to say to each other.

      “I see you met my father,” she said to fill the silence.

      Shock registered on Lance’s face. “That was your father?”

      McKenzie laughed at his surprise. “Yes. Sorry he moved in on Yves’s cousin while you were talking her up.”

      “I wasn’t talking her up,” he replied. “And, for the record, had I been interested in her no one would have moved in, including your father.” He glanced around until his gaze lit on where her father still chatted with the blonde, who laughed a little too flirtatiously. “Isn’t he married?”

      She nodded. “Fidelity isn’t his thing. I’ve mentioned that before.”

      Lance’s expression wasn’t pleasant. “Seems odd for him to be here, at your mother’s wedding.”

      “I thought the same thing, but my mother invited him and he came. They are a bit weird that way. Something else I’ve mentioned.”

      Lance’s gaze met McKenzie’s and locked for a few long seconds before he glanced at his watch as if pressed for time. “Sorry to rush off, but I’ve got to head out to help with the Valentine’s Day dance tonight.”

      “Oh. I forgot.” Had her disappointment that he wasn’t going to stay for a while shown? Of course it had.

      He reached out, touched her cheek. “McKenzie, there’s so much I could say to you.”

      “But?”

      “But you already know everything I’d say.”

      “Not everything.”

      His brow rose and she shook her head. Now wasn’t the time to ask him about Shelby. That time had come and gone.

      Apparently he agreed because he said, “It’s been fun.”

      She nodded, hoping the tears she felt prickling her eyes didn’t burst free.

      “Your car door was unlocked and I left something for you in the front seat of your car.”

      Her gaze lifted to his. “What? Why would you do that?”

      “Just a little something for Valentine’s Day.”

      He’d gotten her a gift for Valentine’s Day? But they’d ended things the day before. She had not bought him the standard card. “I didn’t get you anything.”

      “You didn’t need to. Our two months is finished, just as we are.” He glanced at his watch again. “Goodbye, McKenzie.” Then, right there in the reception hall in front of her mother, her father and her brand-new stepfather, Lance kissed her.

      Not a quick peck but a real kiss. Not a dragged-out one but one jam-packed with emotion all the same. One that demanded the same emotion back from her.

      McKenzie blinked up at him. He looked as if he was about to say something but instead shook his head and left.

      “Who was that man, McKenzie?” her mother asked, immediately joining her as Lance exited the building.

      “That’s what I want to know,” her father practically bellowed. “Why was he kissing you?”

      “Why is he leaving?” Her mother asked the more pressing question.

      “He’s just someone I work with,” she mumbled, not wanting to discuss Lance.

      “She gets that from you,” her mother told her father. “The idea she’s supposed to kiss people she works with.”

      “Violet,” her father began, crossing his arms and giving her a sour look.

      But her mother seemed to shake off her thoughts and smiled. “Come, let me introduce you to your much younger, more virile and loyal replacement.”

      “Sure took you long enough,” her father gibed.

      “Some of us are more choosy than others.”

      McKenzie