Read the book: «Santa Brought A Son»

Chapter One

The wedding invitation sat in the middle of Reed Connors’s desk. The embossed ivory card should have blended in with the other pieces of paper competing for his attention, but the invitation might as well have been printed on orange fluorescent paper. No way could he ignore it any longer.

Reed had received the invitation a month ago. His best friend from high school was getting married. But Reed had been too busy to reply, had shoved the damn thing in his briefcase and forgotten about it. Until now.

He replayed the voice mail message.

“Hey, Reed, it’s Mark Slayter,” his best friend’s familiar voice said. “Long time no see, bud. I know you’re busy, but we’re trying to get a final head count for the caterer so I need to know whether you’re coming to the wedding or not. All the guys will be there and we’d love to see you. It’s been too long. Don’t know if it makes a difference, but Samantha Wilson will be there, too. I know you remember her, even if you forgot the rest of us losers. Take care, dude, and let me know ASAP.”

Mark would mention Samantha Brown Wilson. No one else knew about Reed’s special friendship with the most beautiful, most popular girl at Fernville High School, and Mark had never told a soul, even though the group of nerds they’d hung out with pretty much shared everything. Reed had never had a friend as loyal as Mark had been. Reed doubted he ever would.

Thinking back, he remembered what a fool he’d been with Samantha—a lovesick fool. Not surprising. He’d been the stereotypical geek and could have written the book on being a high school loser. He’d come a long way since then.

As Reed stared at his schedule for December, he tapped his pen against a stack of manila folders. The rapid tattoo helped him concentrate when he brainstormed the newest marketing strategy and tried to build brand equity for Wintersoft Software, but in this case it was only making an annoying sound. A trip to Frankfurt, a conference in San Jose, a tradeshow in Las Vegas. Meetings with investment analysts. A trip to Fernville, Virginia, for Mark’s wedding was impossible.

“Working late…again?” A cheery, feminine voice asked from the doorway of his office.

He didn’t have to look up to know it was Carmella Lopez, Executive Assistant to CEO Lloyd Winters. She reminded him of everyone’s favorite aunt except she dressed like the perfect professional in stylish jacket and skirt ensembles, cooked the most amazing rice and beans this side of the Rio Grande and was easier to confide in than an anonymous bartender.

“It’s not that late.” Reed glanced out the window behind him and saw lights from the other Boston skyscrapers in the night sky. He’d not only missed the sunset, but dinner. Worse, he was still wearing his jacket and tie. “Lost track of time.”

“Seems to be a habit of yours.” The warmth of her smile echoed in her voice.

“You shouldn’t talk. You’re here, too.”

“Lloyd likes me to be around when he’s in the office.”

“You treat him too well.”

“He’s a good…boss.”

“Exactly.” Reed grinned. “Don’t want the boss to think I’m a slackard.”

“With the hours you put in, no one would think that.” She walked to his desk and handed him a folder. “Lloyd wants you to review the latest info on the Utopia project.”

Reed placed it on the top of the media plan and advertising-effectiveness reports in his jam-packed in box and made a mental note to call Nate Leeman, Senior V.P. of Technology, to see if Utopia was on schedule or not. “I’ll read it tonight.”

“It’s already so late.” Carmella’s gaze clouded with concern. “You have to sleep sometime.”

“Who needs sleep when I have all this?” He motioned to his office full of artwork from the countries he’d traveled to with his job—a job he loved more than anything. Ensuring Wintersoft’s product names and marketing strategies were meaningful and translatable into all markets and cultures was challenging. Dealing with all the planning surrounding a new product’s introduction when he could never count on the delivery date could be a huge headache and stress, but he wouldn’t change a thing. At twenty-eight, he was the youngest V.P. at the company and he wasn’t about to stop there.

She pointed to the top of Reed’s cluttered desk. “Is that a wedding invitation?”

He nodded. Carmella stuck her nose into everyone’s business, but he didn’t mind. She truly cared about her coworkers and dispensed advice with motherly warmth.

“Is another V.P. getting married?”

“Not that I know of.” In the past three months, three of Wintersoft’s male executives had gotten married or engaged. First Matt Burke, then Grant Lawson and the latest, Brett Hamilton. The whole thing made Reed wary. Marriage was the last thing on his mind. Work left little time for casual dating, let alone anything more serious. “Brett had better be the last one or I’m going to stop drinking the water around here.”

“Now that Arianna has had her twins, we’ll have to see if that’s in the water, too.”

“Not funny.” A girlfriend was a time drain, but children? Forget it. His job left no room for a family. He had the perfect life. Why spoil a good thing?

“So who’s getting married?” Carmella asked.

“My best friend from high school.”

“Sounds like fun.”

About as much fun as a four-day marketing blitz through ten European countries with your boss at your side. “I’m not going.”

Carmella sat in the chair opposite his desk. “Why not?”

“Too busy.” Work was the way to achieve all he wanted. Reed had tasted success and wanted more. That took a sacrifice—his personal life—but it was worth it. “I’ll send a nice gift.”

“But if he was your best friend…”

Reed shrugged, though blowing off Mark’s wedding might be a bigger deal than Reed was making it. “I was close to Mark and the few others we hung out with, but we all drifted apart after high school.”

“He still invited you,” Carmella said. “That has to count for something.”

“I get invited to a lot of weddings.” Reed stared at the invitation. “Co-workers, work-related acquaintances who just want something from me.”

“Your friend only wants a day. That isn’t a lot to ask of a best friend.”

“If I didn’t have so much work—”

She tsked. “Work is an excuse.”

Reed didn’t—couldn’t—answer. Carmella had a way of seeing through a person. She considered it a gift, but on more than one occasion, like now, he wished she’d returned it and exchanged it for another.

“It’s the same one you used when I asked why you haven’t been in a serious relationship since you started at Wintersoft.”

“I date,” he said finally.

“But never the same woman.”

“Nothing wrong with that.”

“There is if you don’t want to spend the rest of your life alone.” She stared at him with an observant gleam in her eyes. “I’m wondering if there isn’t another reason. The only woman you’ve mentioned by name is Samantha, your high school sweetheart. I know that was years ago, but are you sure you got over her?”

“Yes.”

Carmella didn’t look convinced.

“Samantha wasn’t my sweetheart,” Reed admitted. Only in his dreams had she been his. Except for six wonderful days. “We were only together a short time when I was in college. I was too much of a geek to have a girlfriend in high school. Brainy not brawny.”

“You must have been a late bloomer because you have both now.”

“Thanks.” Reed had struggled and worked hard to become the man he was today.

“So…will she be at the wedding?”

“Yes.” He thought about Samantha. Her long, silky blond hair. Her sparkling blue eyes. Her warm, seductive laughter. Reed’s collar felt a little tight. He loosened his tie. “And so will her husband,” he added more for his benefit than Carmella’s.

Her eyes widened. “Samantha got married? When?”

“I’m not sure. She was two years younger than me.” But Reed knew who she’d married—Art Wilson, the one she’d chosen over him. In a way, Reed owed Samantha. If she had chosen him instead, he doubted he would have been so focused in college and in making his dreams a reality.

“When was the last time you saw her?”

“Spring break of my sophomore year of college,” he answered. “That’s the last time I was in Fernville. Once my parents moved here to Boston and my friends went away to college, there was no reason to go back.”

“Your friend’s wedding sounds like a very good reason.”

Patrick, Wes and Dan would probably attend, too. Reed hadn’t seen them in years. Or Mark for that matter. The wedding would be a lot of fun. Reed stared at his schedule. There had to be a way….

Carmella picked up the response card. “You’ve missed the deadline, but don’t let that stop you.”

If Reed sent someone else to the conference in San Jose, he would free up enough time to go to the wedding. “I won’t.”

As she handed him the response card, her brow wrinkled. “So you’re going to the wedding?”

Reed smiled. “I’m going.”

“He’s going,” Carmella whispered to Emily Winters when she stepped into the crowded elevator about to descend from the fiftieth floor.

Emily knew the “he” in question was Reed Connors. Handsome, ambitious and a few years younger than her—Reed was not only a co-worker, but also one of the potential husband candidates her father most likely had in mind. No way did she want her father telling any of her fellow co-workers they should take an interest in her. Talk about embarrassing. Not to mention the fact she wasn’t interested in getting married, period.

The other passengers exited on the forty-ninth floor. The doors closed. Emily hit the stop button. No one could eavesdrop on them here. “What about the girl from Reed’s hometown?”

“She’s going, too,” Carmella admitted. “But she got married.”

So much for that plan. Emily massaged her temples.

“Who knows if she’s still married,” Carmella said. “But if she is, Reed needs to get her out of his system so he can fall in love with someone else. He’s not as over her as he thinks.”

“And if she’s not married?”

“Then your job got a whole lot easier.” Carmella laughed. “Chances are we’d have one less bachelor to worry about.”

Emily sighed. “If only we didn’t have to worry about any of them.”

“I agree, but we’re halfway there.” Excitement filled Carmella’s voice. “Three bachelors down, three to go.”

She made it sound so easy, and in a way it was. Carmella researched the men using their personnel files, and Emily found them their perfect match. But she hated having to resort to this. “I guess.”

Carmella’s brown eyes narrowed. “Isn’t this what you wanted? To make sure all six of the single male executives were off the market so your father couldn’t marry you off to one of them?”

Emily hesitated, torn by conflicting emotions. “Yes, but this whole matchmaking plan seems so crazy. I’ve been feeling…selfish.”

“Have you considered the alternative?” Carmella asked.

“Yes. And I’m not going to marry one of the three remaining bachelors.” Emily raised her chin. “They’re great guys, but I’m not ready to settle down. I just got the promotion and I need to concentrate on my career.”

“Work won’t keep you warm on a cold winter’s night.”

A smile tugged on the corners of Emily’s lips. “You sound like my father.”

“He loves you.”

“I know,” she said. “That’s why he’s so concerned about my marital status. But I already made the mistake of letting him pick out one husband from the company roster. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life alone, but I won’t marry another co-worker that he chooses for me.”

“Speaking of your ex-husband, Todd stopped by to see me.”

“Me, too.”

Carmella raised an arched brow. “And?”

“Nothing,” Emily admitted. “He’s upset over losing his job. The golden boy’s rocket isn’t climbing so high anymore and he doesn’t know what to do about it.”

“That’s not your fault.”

“If we hadn’t gotten married he’d still be working here and wouldn’t have had to take a job with another company and be laid off.” Frustration laced each of her words. Worry creased her forehead. “I wish my father understood why I don’t want to get into that situation again. It’s humiliating and wrong.”

“You mean the world to your father, Emily. He’d never do anything on purpose to embarrass you.”

“Then he should realize I’ll marry when I’m ready.” She pulled the stop button out and the elevator descended. “Not anytime before that.”

“What about our plan?” Carmella asked. “Should I keep researching the final three or stop?”

Doubts swirled in Emily’s mind. She thought about the three remaining bachelor executives: Reed Connors, Nate Leeman and Jack Devon. Nate was a brilliant workaholic who seemed to live at the office. Jack was a ladies’ man according to Boston Magazine, who named him one of the city’s “Fifty Hottest Bachelors,” and a mystery to all who worked with him. And Reed worked hard and had lofty ambitions that could play right into her father’s hand. “Let’s see what happens with Reed first.”

Samantha Wilson stood midway up the aisle of the empty church holding the bridesmaid bouquet she’d found on the altar and surveyed her hard work. On the end of each pew, a miniature wreath decorated with tiny berries, cinnamon sticks and pinecones hung from red-and-green-plaid ribbon tied in bows. At the front of the church, potted red and white poinsettias created a cascading effect on the steps leading up to the altar. And the altar was decorated with fresh pine boughs and garland. Pinecones, holly, berries and the same red-and-green-plaid ribbon from the pew wreaths provided a splash of color and texture to the greenery that filled the church with a christmasy pine scent.

A satisfied feeling settled in the center of her chest. The bride and groom had wanted a Christmas wedding theme, and Samantha had done her best to give it to them. Not only here, but at the reception site, too.

She ran through her mental checklist. Almost everything was ready. Soon the church would be filled with friends and family, witnesses to Mark Slayter’s and Kelli Jefferson’s exchange of wedding vows.

A lump formed in Samantha’s throat. As a girl, she’d dreamed about having a big wedding in a church overflowing with everyone she’d ever known, walking down the aisle with her father, wearing a white gown fit for a fairy princess. But reality had been a wedding at city hall with only her future in-laws, Helen and Frank Wilson, in attendance. Samantha’s parents hadn’t given her the courtesy of an RSVP. The only white on the floral-print dress she’d normally worn to church had been the collar.

No diamond ring or bouquet of roses or exotic honeymoon, either. She touched Helen’s strand of pearls for a moment and let go of them. So she didn’t get the wedding of her dreams. She got something much better.

Samantha noticed a crooked bow on a pew wreath. She shifted the bouquet to her left hand and adjusted the ribbon until it was perfect.

“Sam?”

The name echoed in the church and she froze. No one had called her that in years. As she glanced toward the back, a man in a navy suit stepped from the vestibule. Dark-brown hair, warm chocolate eyes and a smile that made her legs feel like wilted rose stems. She tightened her grip on the bouquet. “Y-y-yes.”

“It is you,” Reed Connors said.

The closer he came, the harder it was to breathe. She clutched the end of a pew and took deep breaths until she was strong enough to face him.

His looks had matured. His nose was the same, straight except for a bump where he’d gotten hit with a snowball junior year, but his cheekbones looked chiseled, more defined. His jaw looked stronger and his lips seemed more full. He’d grown taller and filled out, too. His suit fit perfectly, accentuating his wide shoulders and perfect posture.

“Reed.” With her heart pounding in her chest, she struggled to remain calm. He’d never called, never wrote, never returned to Fernville in almost nine years. And now to walk back into her life…An odd combination of fear and resentment made its way down her spine. “What are you doing here?”

“Mark’s wedding.”

Samantha had forgotten Reed and Mark had been best friends in high school. She’d pushed that, and a million other little details from the past, to the back of her mind. Sometimes it was too painful to remember.

Reed glanced at his watch. “Look’s like we’re both early. Mark wanted me to stop by before the ceremony.”

“I’ve been here for hours. I’m doing the flowers,” she said a little too quickly. “I mean, I’m a guest, too, but I’m also the florist. I have my own flower shop here in town.”

His eyes widened, but returned to normal in an instant. Strange, he had never been this calm and collected before. He’d been so shy and adoring whenever he helped her with homework. It had made her feel feminine and cherished. A way she hadn’t felt with anyone else.

But the man standing in front of her didn’t look as though he got nervous about anything or anyone. And man was the only way to describe him.

Reed Connors had gone from brainy looking and skinny to gorgeous and a hunk. Had it taken a kiss to turn him from frog to prince? She swallowed. Hard. Not that she had any intention of falling under his spell again.

Besides she’d never cared what he looked like. She’d seen beneath his being too thin with thick glasses and a bad case of acne to the caring person underneath. At least, she’d thought he’d cared. Thought he’d loved her. But she’d been wrong. About Reed, about so many things. She stared at the bouquet in her left hand.

“You stayed in Fernville?” he asked.

“I…I…we stayed.”

She waited for him to ask about Timmy. Her son.

Their son.

But Reed didn’t. Damn him. After all this time, she thought Reed would have been at least curious about Timmy. She pushed her disappointment aside for the millionth time, but a permanent sorrow bore down on her. Reed must have ice running through his veins. Nothing else would explain his actions.

But she had to remember it was for the best. No one knew the truth about her son. No one except her, Art and Reed. And she had to keep it that way.

Reed’s assessing gaze made Samantha feel tongue-tied and self-conscious in her found-on-sale-at-the-consignment-store black dress. She pushed back a stray hair that had slipped out of her French twist.

The tables had turned.

She was no longer the girl she’d been. No longer the daughter of the wealthy Browns who could never live up to the example set by her perfect older brother. Samantha had known her parents’ love had to be earned, but she never thought they could harden their hearts against her so easily and kick her out of the house when she’d told them she was pregnant, a month before high school graduation. She’d been alone, penniless and homeless. Thanks to Reed, her entire life had been altered.

Shattered.

But she had picked up the pieces, and with help from Art and his parents, moved on. She was now part of the Wilson family, and had to be careful so nothing she did would change that. But Reed’s presence was another living reminder of her biggest mistake. If Frank and Helen found out…Samantha squared her shoulders.

“Has life gotten more exciting here?” Reed asked.

“No, but I like it.”

“You never used to like it.”

“True.” In high school she couldn’t wait to leave the confines of Fernville. The small town had threatened to suffocate her and her dreams. Now someone would have to drag her away from the comfort of the town she fondly called home. “Things, people change.”

“Not you.” One corner of his mouth lifted. “You look the same. Only better.”

His compliment sent an unexpected rush of emotion through her. Her cheeks warmed, and she smoothed the skirt of her dress. “You’re only being polite.”

“I’m not,” he admitted. “You look great.”

“So do you. In your suit and everything.” Darn, the more she said the stupider she sounded. That wouldn’t do at all. So what if he wore a designer suit and expensive leather shoes and looked like a male model? Reed, of all men, should not be having this effect on her. Not that it was really an effect. She was merely flustered by his sudden appearance. “I mean—”

“I know what you mean.”

Reed and she might have been different back when, but Samantha had believed he understood her like no one else, not even Art. She could be herself and not worry whether he would like her or not. But when push came to shove, Art had been the one who’d known what she needed in a way that defied logic, not Reed. The fact he still hadn’t asked about Timmy proved how little either of them had understood or known about each other. Well, she wasn’t about to offer any information.

Reed glanced around. “You’ve done a beautiful job transforming the church into a holiday wonderland, but what happened to moving to the big city, becoming a lawyer and fighting to right the injustices of the world?”

A teenage pregnancy, being disowned by her parents, getting married the day after high school graduation, a part-time job at a grocery store and a baby at age eighteen. “Life.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“Not really.” He knew some of the story, but hadn’t cared enough to do anything. And he still didn’t care. It was better this way. She had to protect her family and would—no matter what the cost. She straightened, wishing she’d worn high heels so she could even out his height advantage. “What about you? Have you taken the business world by storm?”

“Not quite. I work for a financial software company in Boston. I’m V.P. of global marketing.”

His dreams had been the most important thing in his life. More important than her and their baby. She hoped the price he’d paid was worth it. “Still planning to make your first million before you turn thirty?”

“We’ll see.”

No, he would see. There was no room for him in her life. What they had shared the spring of her senior year of high school had been like a dream—a dream come true for a few short days. He’d come back from college and she’d seen something different in him, felt things she’d never felt before and done things without a thought to the consequences or the future. Reed had swept her off her feet and stolen her heart.

Until their time together, she had never felt loved. Not by her parents who wanted her to be perfect, not by her then ex-boyfriend Art who didn’t want her unless she had sex with him, not by anyone. But Reed had made her feel the way she’d longed to feel—loved only for who she was. As if no matter what she did or said, he would still love her. Or so she thought. Samantha had been wrong. Their story hadn’t had a fairy-tale ending. No happily ever after for them.

But she was older and wiser. She would not repeat the mistakes of the past. And that’s where Reed belonged.