CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

The Grand Finale.

“Mom?” Elle ran out, covered in Chase’s leather jacket. “What just happened?”

Veronica turned to face her daughter. “This,” she said, showing Elle the text from Mark:

Was at a Christmas party last night and your real estate agent, was there. She got a little tipsy and let something slip when someone asked her about your house being for sale. The person who’s made an offer on your house is also the same person who bought the Hidden Mountain Lodge and Campground. You didn’t mention this, so I figured you might not know it.

“What?” Elle stared at the phone. “Why does Cullen want our house?”

“That’s what I plan on asking him,” Veronica said, her mind brewing with anger, pain, hurt, and betrayal. She didn’t have words for the heated rush moving through her system. Had he deliberately wooed her to get inside her house? To win her over so she’d be thrilled to sell it to him. He’d opened up to her on so much, but he’d purposely withheld the most important thing—buying her house. How had he been able to do that and pretend he cared about her? And why hadn’t she seen this? It was so obvious now.

“You need to talk to him,” Elle said. “Fight with him or fight for him, but don’t walk away without knowing everything. You don’t need him, and you don’t need that house. You need to live again, really live. I want that for you.”

This was her daughter, forcing the issue again. Veronica loved Elle so much at that moment. Loved her courage and her determination, her effective mandates.

Veronica hugged Elle tight. “Thank you.”

“I love you,” Elle said. “Now find him and get this straightened out.”

Veronica nodded and wiped her eyes. Elle was right. Veronica had been manipulated by her husband and his mother in her married life, and she’d let it happen to keep the peace. She wouldn’t keep the peace with yet another manipulation, and one from a man she’d finally began to trust.

The front door opened, and Cullen walked out, his jaw tight, his eyes full of something she’d never seen there before. Fear mixed with disappointment. “Veronica?”

Elle gave her a pointed stare on her way toward the door. “Mom?”

Cullen stood there, his hands in his pockets. Lulu rushed past him and barked, thinking it must be walk time.

Except the two humans weren’t moving. They stared each other down while they stood far, far apart.

Veronica stood still, wondering how she could have been duped so badly.

He came down to meet her there in the snow. “What’s going on?”

She gave him her phone. “This. Mark didn’t do an exposé on you, but your biggest secret is out now.”

He read the text and then glanced back up at her.

She cringed when she saw the truth in his eyes. “My house, Cullen? You want the house?” Whirling, she wrapped her hands against her sweater. “I can see it all now. You saw the advance sign announcing a sale would be coming soon, and then you saw me going into the house. And I wasn’t supposed to get the flyer. But I did, didn’t I? So you tried to win me over, and guess what? You did. I thought I’d finally figured it all out after Troy showed up, but no, you had one last secret. One very important little secret. You want my house, not me.”

“That’s not true.”

“You made an offer, Cullen. Over the asking price. How much are you willing to pay? Name a figure and let’s see if we can negotiate.” She pushed at her hair. “Does taking my heart make this a sweeter deal?”

“No. You need to understand—”

“I do understand,” she replied, pushing past him to go back inside. “More now than I ever did. I understand you wanting to keep your painful childhood a secret. I got over this quirky club you set up to meet people, and I even let it go that you didn’t level with Bethany the night you met her, because you did get Troy home and give him a promotion. But this—all those times you were in my home with me, knowing everything about me and how difficult this has all been—and yet, you never bothered to mention you were interested in my house. I can’t forgive that. I’ve finally found my footing again and I won’t let you take advantage of my grief, so you can finally let go of yours. Buying that house won’t make you happy, Cullen. You’ll still be alone.”

He placed his hands on her arms. “I don’t want the house anymore, Veronica. I want you.”

How could she believe those lying blue eyes? “You still can’t be honest, even after I see the truth so clearly now.”

“And what truth do you see?” he asked, the warmth of his hands burning against her sweater.

She yanked herself away. “I see a man who still wants to prove himself, and what better way than owning what used to be one of the best homes in Hidden Mountain? You knew my father-in-law, worked for him at the house. I found old receipts where he paid you. I should have guessed then, but I think I blanked out what I didn’t want to see.” She pivoted and then walked back. “That invitation wasn’t for me, because it was for my deceased father-in-law, right?”

“No, it was for his wife. The invite was for Nadene. I thought she was still alive and a widow. But it was you. You were the Mrs. Cearley still living in the house.”

That stopped her cold. “What?”

“I wanted to show her that I’d become a better person,” he said, his voice low and husky, shaky. “She scorned me and told me I would not ruin her son. Josh and I had developed a tenacious friendship when I worked at the house. He helped me with some legal things, helped get me into Concord Place. He was a good person, even back then.”

Veronica hurried to the porch and sank down onto the steps, some of the wind knocked out of her sails. “You knew Josh?”

“Yes, before you and he got together. I had left by then, so I guess he probably didn’t see any need to say anything.”

“Wow. Again, you never said a word about knowing my family.”

“I didn’t think it mattered. I was nobody, nothing important.”

“Back then, you might have thought that, Cullen. But now, you’re successful and can afford any house you want. Nadene’s opinion shouldn’t have mattered to you anymore.”

“I can see that now,” he said. “I didn’t plan on any of this. I didn’t plan on you. Your opinion is all that matters now.”

She stood and turned toward the front door. “Well, I’m done, Cullen. Done with your secrets, done with your betrayal, and done with you. You made me believe again, brought me out of my seclusion, and now, I find out it’s all based on your need to . . . what? Own a house? That’s fine, but you can’t just throw me into the bargain too. I’m not that woman anymore. I’ve realized a lot these past few weeks, and I’m done with going with the flow. From now on, I’m the one who makes decisions in my life. And right now, I can’t see you in my future.”

His eyes gentled a bit, but a burn of anger haloed his gaze when he caught up with her. “You’re right. I made it easy for you to doubt me. But I promise, I had planned to sit all of you down and explain about how this mission started and now, how I want it to end. My whole plan changed after I saw you, Veronica.”

“I don’t believe you anymore, Cullen. You like to play games with people’s lives, because you learned how to survive by using your wits. But you didn’t learn how to communicate very well. It ends here and now. You need to confess to everyone. They all deserve the truth.”

She hurried back into the house and ran upstairs before anyone could confront her, Lulu following her with a confused woof. Veronica wanted to go home, and she just might take the hike all the way into town, her loyal dog with her.

She’d be okay spending Christmas alone. She’d certainly done it before.

Cullen stood in the kitchen, drinking coffee while he watched the sun’s last rays beaming across the snow. The hushed trees and quiet woods glistened like a portrait, while his heart and head both pounded like a storm crashing across the mountain.

He’d messed up. Him, with his grand plans and high notions of getting even with Hidden Mountain.

This town owed him nothing and he didn’t owe this town any explanations. But his scheme to swoop in and say “Take that!” to anyone who’d wronged him had floundered in about ten different ways.

Dead in the water.

He should have slipped in, gone over the lodge and acreage and made his assessments in a hurry. He could be on a sunny beach right now. But no, he’d gotten the bold idea of inviting some of the townsfolk to spend Christmas with him, only because it was the one holiday when he hated being alone.

When he saw Elle and Chase walking in the moonlight, his heart did a bump. He wanted that—the feeling of new love and all sorts of possibilities.

Hillman and Trudy walked in. Hillman said, “I take it things didn’t go very well.”

“Nope,” Cullen said. “And you don’t have to say you told me so.”

“Then I won’t,” Hillman replied.

“I will,” Trudy said. “You know I used to keep secrets as a living, working as a lawyer and judge most of my life. But what you did to Veronica—If I were still a judge, I’d sentence you to at least five years of groveling and sending lots of chocolate and roses—from your jail cell.” Her dark eyes burned fire. “What man in his right mind decides to buy a house right out from under the woman he’s been chasing all month long?”

Cullen winced at that. “I’m sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing, and I’d be able to explain that I’d planned to call the real estate agent and tell her I no longer wanted the house.”

“Should have done that the minute you two started all that goo-goo-eyed stuff,” Trudy replied. “Veronica cares about you, but that woman went through the worst kind of pain. And she relives it every day, but especially at Christmas. She begged you to talk to her and when you did, things changed for her. She’s strong under that widow’s shadow.”

Cullen glanced from Hillman to Trudy. “Is that a long-drawn-out way of you saying, ‘I told you so’?”

“Yes, it is,” Trudy said with a wry smile. Then she turned to Hillman. “The others are gathering to finish decorating. Cullen, I think you should find Veronica, start on an apology, maybe grovel a little, and then join us.”

Cullen finished his coffee. “I’ll get right on that, if she’ll listen. The power’s back on and the roads should be clear by morning. I don’t want her to leave mad.”

“Then we can all go home,” Hillman said. “But I won’t be alone anymore. And I hope you won’t either.”

He and Trudy walked out, leaving Cullen in the kitchen, his memories hanging like icicles in his mind, the warmth he’d felt every Thursday night since forming this club now a numbing cold. Maybe he was destined to be alone.

But he went into the big, rambling lodge den and faced the people he’d come to care about. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I need to explain.” But where was Veronica?

Bethany stood and walked toward him. “I had a long talk with Troy. All this time, Cullen, and you knew about me already. That’s why I got the invitation, right? Because you knew my husband couldn’t come home yet.”

Troy stepped forward. “Bethany had no way of knowing I worked for you because I never mentioned your name.” Troy looked around the room. “Piedmont Industries has a strict privacy policy. I work in the Atlanta Division, the main office, but I act as a scout for the investors, so I had to sign a confidentiality contract.”

“Which he obviously knew,” Trudy said, glaring at Cullen.

Cullen rubbed a hand down his face, his gaze on Veronica, as she took her time strolling into the room. Then he turned to focus on Troy. “You had your current assignment long before I came here. I had already bought this property before you and I got to know each other better. Other than asking you a few questions early on, I tried to keep you out of my plans.”

Then he gave Veronica an imploring stare. “And I have never lied about anything. I withheld information, yes, but I did not lie.”

“But you demand secrecy, including all the secrets you’ve kept from us,” Trudy said, her eyebrows doing the “Trudy” lift. “Hillman wouldn’t tell me what he knew, because you asked him not to, but you saw how upset Bethany was, and you could have explained to her that first night.”

“I didn’t know Bethany had been struggling,” Cullen said. “But once she arrived and told us her situation, I immediately went to work to rectify that. I didn’t want to tell Troy about the pregnancy, not before she got the chance to.”

“You did get me straight to HR,” Troy said quietly. “That explains why they rushed my resume through so quickly. I appreciate the promotion, but even more, I appreciate you getting me home for Christmas, because I got the best gift a man can have—a baby on the way.”

Bethany teared up. “I’m grateful for that, but I feel a little cheated and embarrassed. It’s hard to hear you’re the power behind Piedmont Industries. You listened to our secrets while you held yours inside.”

Cullen took Bethany’s hands in his. “I’m truly sorry, Bethany. I’m going to make it up to all of you.”

“Do you expect us to believe that?” Veronica asked. “You never panic, not the way I’ve panicked since this whole thing started. You’ve been in complete control the whole time.”

“No,” he replied, tired and confused. “No, I don’t expect any of you to accept that I’m sorry, or to believe anything else I say or do. But I do have a plan and I will follow through on that plan.”

“So, Merry Christmas, everyone,” Veronica said, her expression full of the old snark and attitude.

Cullen watched as she headed into the kitchen, her head held high. But when she passed him, he saw her eyes were red-rimmed and misty.

He’d done that to her. He’d hurt her. He’d hurt all of them.

He stood and stared at the fire. When Veronica came back into the room with a glass of wine, he turned and faced his friends. “Nothing will be left out. If you don’t like what you hear, I’ll understand. But I hope you’ll hear me out.”

Veronica held up her glass in a salute. “We’re all ears.” Then she took a long drink, her eyes still misty as she stared him down.

Cullen sat down and ran a hand through his hair. She’d wanted to leave earlier, but Trudy and Bethany had talked her out of that. Then Trudy and Hillman had gone to talk to Cullen.

She chose a seat away from Cullen. Lulu trotted back and forth, sensing her humans weren’t in the best of Christmas spirits.

Hillman sat by Trudy, and Bethany found a chair close to her husband, her frown in contrast to the smile she’d had this morning.

Cullen took a deep breath. “I grew up outside of town, not far from Concord Place. I used to walk by that old Victorian house every day, going to school or work. Then one day, I found myself living there.”

Veronica set her wineglass on a nearby table, something in his voice, a catch, a huskiness, holding her. She remembered the plaque in the lobby of Concord Place, in memory of Fiona Murdock Nolan. He was about to tell them the truth. At last.

But even knowing the truth now didn’t matter to Veronica. He’d held out too long. He wanted her home, but had he ever really wanted her?