Page 4 of A Newport Christmess

I tapped my curled fingers mindlessly on my bottom lip, weighing my options. I refused to let Ashlee sacrifice Christmas with her family, flying home on her own dime, only to dry my tears and keep my thoughts from perseverating on Cody—on why he’d left me and how different this Christmas was supposed to be.

No. As it stood, I was going to be alone, so I might as well be somewhere that would prevent me from having to attend my family’s annual Christmas party, ease Ashlee’s unnecessary guilt, and render a healthy dose of CPR to my struggling social media account. Besides, it would be good to be away from all the memories that threatened to make this the most miserable Christmas in the history of my life—and that included the one when I got food poisoning from those darn eclairs and ended up in the hospital on IVs. My stomach protested at the memory.

I met Ashlee’s watchful stare. “I’m going to go.”

“If you’re positive.”

“I am.” I pressed the mute button. “Ms. Garrity?”

There was no answer.

“Ms. Garrity?” I said again before noticing it was still on mute. Hitting the button, I tried a third time. “Ms. Garrity?”

“I’m here.”

“I’ll be able to do it after all.”

“I heard the conversation. You didn’t actually mute the phone—at least not until a moment ago.”

“Oh.” My face grew hot with embarrassment. So much for a good first impression, though, honestly, I’d pretty much sabotaged any chance of that from the get go. I drew in a deep, calming breath. “I’ll need three weeks to complete all the gingerbread houses.”

“I can get your flight out for December first?”

My palms grew clammy on the phone gripped in my hand. “Okay.”

“And your return flight?”

I hesitated. “Sometime after Christmas would be ideal, if that isn’t too long.”

“I’ll double-check with Nikki, but I’m assuming that would be fine. How about, for now, we say the morning of the twenty-seventh?”

The lump forming in my throat attempted to thwart me. “That will work.”

“Wonderful. If you could reply to the other questions in my email, I will send the itinerary as soon as I discuss this with Nikki and book the tickets. Good day, Ms. Cook.” A click sounded, and the words Call Ended flashed briefly on the screen before it dimmed to black.

“Are you sure about this?” Ashlee asked, pulling my blank stare from the phone. “Because you don’t look very sure.”

I pasted a smile onto my lips. “Oh, I am. It’s going to be the perfect distraction.”

It was official. I’d spend Christmas in Newport, Rhode Island.

Alone.

What had I done?

TWO

LANDON

The Los Angeles sun shone like it forgot it was nearly December. I could get used to the idea of no snow, but the eighty-degree weather was a little harder to accept. Not that I was mourning the freezing temps in Rhode Island, but it felt strange blasting the car’s AC when Christmas was just around the corner.

My stomach grumbled as I drove past the Thai place that opened last week. Reports were that it was worth the twenty-minute line, but I was eager to get back to the office. I had a few things to finalize before my two o’clock meeting, so eating would have to wait. Again.

The parking lot was relatively empty, but considering it was noon on a Friday, I assumed my fellow employees were actually satiating their hunger or had taken off early for the weekend. I nabbed a spot close to the front, grabbed my laptop bag from the passenger seat, and shut the car door.

“Hey, Landon!” Shawna beeped the car fob to her white Audi Coupe and flashed her attractive smile. “Are you coming back from lunch?”

I groaned inwardly at her approach. Her knack for arriving at the same time as me was growing suspicious. This was the third time this week. “No. I went to the Planning Commission hearings.”