Page 62 of Hope and Hot Chocolate on Mistletoe Lane

‘Everyone is watching,’ I told him quickly, taking a step backwards. My heart was now racing but I couldn’t back down. I gestured to the glass window. I could see employees looking over, curious as to what I was doing here.

Grant stopped but he still looked furious. ‘Fine,’ he snapped. ‘I won’t tell anyone else that you stole money; you don’t need to go to the Board about anything, okay?’

‘You admit then that I never stole anything from this company?’

He sighed. ‘Yes, yes, if that makes you keep quiet.’

‘And the reason you’ve been telling people this is to stop my company from being successful?’

‘I taught you everything I knew and you threw it back in my face!’ he cried, advancing again so I backed up against the door. ‘I had to teach you a lesson,’ he snarled.

‘I told you from the beginning that I wanted to set up my own company and you said you supported that! You suddenly changed your mind when I was leaving and I think it was because I rejected you when you made a move on me.’ Even though he was glaring at me, I had to get my words out. ‘This was all revenge for that, wasn’t it?’

‘You’re an ungrateful bitch,’ he snapped. ‘Yes, I wanted to stop your business before it even began,’ he said, looking smug again. ‘And I succeeded. I’ve ruined your reputation in this city. No one wants to hire you in case it upsets me. You lost your chance at being with me, Holly. And you paid the price.’ He shrugged. ‘I get what I want; I always have.’

‘It’s funny, though – you didn’t get me, and you never will. And it sounds like you might lose all this too,’ I said, pointing to the office behind us. ‘Maybe everyone you stomped over on your way to the top will turn their backs when they see you on your way down.’

‘I’ll bounce back; I always do. I’ve been taking money for years; I have enough to retire on. I’m going to sell this shitshow and walk away with loads of money. I’ll be just fine, Holly, but good luck trying to claw back your reputation. If you tell anyone about this, I will make your life hell.’ He spat those last words before turning around and walking back to his desk. ‘I’ll warn the Board to ignore any communications from you in case you try to tell them what I’ve been doing.’ He looked away from me. ‘It was nice knowing you.’

‘It definitely wasn’t nice knowing you,’ I replied before clasping at the door handle behind me, yanking it open and rushing out. I hurried back through the office, my hands shaking and my heart thumping.

I dived for the lift and it wasn’t until the doors closed that I was able to suck in a breath. I reached into my coat pocket and pulled my phone out. I sank against the wall in relief when I saw that our conversation had been recorded okay like I’d hoped. I stopped it and listened back. I had managed to hold my phone slightly out of my pocket to pick up everything without him noticing. With the volume turned up, every word Grant Rivers had said was now clear. I emailed it over to Karl and also to Angela and to the Board of Directors too. Everyone who needed to know exactly who Grant Rivers was. And when the lift reached the ground floor, I ran out of that building, vowing I’d never go back ever again.

Outside in the cool air, I walked past the city’s big Christmas tree. It was lit with thousands of lights with a sparkling star at the top. It twinkled against the light-grey clouds. It was getting colder by the hour and I wondered if snow might be on the cards. I couldn’t help but think of the Birchbrook tree as I passed this one. The lighting ceremony was only two days away now. Paul had asked me to be his date but I had come back here instead. What if he saw someone else under those lights and gave them a Christmas kiss instead of me?

I knew I wasn’t ready to go back yet, though. I hurried over to where Georgia was waiting inside a café nursing a coffee anxiously, on hand in case I had needed her with Grant. She waved with relief when she saw me, and I smiled, so glad she was in my corner.

And now I needed her help with one more thing.

40

PAUL

Elliot came outside of the ice rink when I messaged him, waiting while I parked the café van and jumped out, ducking my head to get through the snow and meet him under the covering. He wore a thick, polo-neck jumper and corduroy trousers, and visibly shivered. ‘Shit, it’s really coming down now.’ He looked out as the snow started to lay thicker and thicker on the ground, soft and powdery and a perfect white.

‘Yeah, we’re going to need to work hard at the farm to keep the winter wonderland open.’

‘I’ve called a gritter but they’ve been booked by the council for the main roads so Lewis is getting us some salt, otherwise it’ll be like an ice rink out here, which is going to put people off coming into the actual one.’ He led me inside. ‘You’re worried about the farm then?’ He gave me a look that I could easily interpret.

‘Holly isn’t here but she’d hate to see it all shut down, not to mention Willow is freaking out and we don’t want her stressed. Plus, no Mistletoe Lane means no extra business for the café after shutting for a week so yeah, I need to do something.’

‘Holly isn’t here?’ He looked back at me as he led the way to the maintenance room.

‘Went back to the city,’ I replied in a tone that I hoped would put an end to any questions about her.

‘I’m sorry, mate,’ Elliot said. ‘I saw the way you were looking at her.’

‘How?’ I asked. Despite wanting the subject to be over, I was curious.

Elliot opened the door to the ambience room and I followed him inside. ‘Like you were hooked.’

I snorted. ‘Me? You always said I was commitment phobic.’

‘Yeah – “was” being the operative word,’ Elliot said, heading for the back while I lingered. I hated that Elliot had been able to see how I felt about Holly so easily. I was used to keeping my feelings from everyone. This was unsettling. ‘Maybe all it takes is finding the right person for you.’

‘Didn’t you hear me? She’s gone back to the city,’ I called as he disappeared from view. Holly might have been the right person for me but she clearly didn’t feel the same way as I did. Yeah, she had asked for time but once she left, I just couldn’t bring myself to hope she’d come back. Because I knew how hard it would be if, or when, she didn’t.

Elliot returned carrying a large battery, larger than you’d find in a car, and handed it to me. I puffed as I took the weight. ‘You’ll work it out. She was looking at you the same way.’