Love Under the Mistletoe: A Small Town Christmas Love Story Page 14

  He pressed her body against the door, kissing her while he blindly searched his pockets for his key. Finally, he found it, stabbing it into the door.

  The door opened, and together they tumbled into his bedroom.

  Chapter 28

  Nathan

  “You want to come to school with me today?”

  Nathan lay naked in bed, his body exhausted but mind serene. Holly stood in the light of the bathroom brushing her hair. She wore the same pants as the night before, but she’d pulled out a clean sweater from the backseat of her car. It was good enough that it made it look like she’d gone home and changed.

  He loved watching her. She moved with careful grace as she checked her face in the mirror.

  “Did you hear me?” she asked again, coming to the bed with a smile on her face. “Do you want to come to school with me today?”

  He reached out and traced a finger along her cheek. “I have meetings this morning. What about lunch?”

  She thought about it for a moment and then leaned over and kissed his forehead. “I’ll save you a seat at the cool kids’ table.”

  He chuckled, watching as she picked up her bag and slid into her boots. She gave him one last smile before disappearing out the door and into the early morning.

  The room felt empty without her. When he’d checked in, the room had felt tiny. It was smaller than what he was used to. Now that Holly had left, the room felt much too large. He wished she were back in the soft bed with him, her hair falling across her face as she snuggled with him.

  He was falling for her. He knew it deep in his soul. She was perfect for him. The fact that he’d found her at all was sheer luck. It felt like some kind of magic that they’d managed to cross paths time and time again.

  A sigh escaped him as he leaned back, spread eagle on the bed. What was his plan here? He wasn’t sure. His job was in California, and he didn’t want to do a long distance thing. He could afford the plane trips, but his schedule wouldn’t. Lucy was already chiding him for the missed meetings at home. He was behind.

  Nathan ran a hand across his face. He needed to think. He needed to focus and come up with a plan. He thought about putting on his gym clothes and utilizing the gym on the second floor, but that didn’t seem like enough. He needed something for his brain more than his mind today.

  So he put on his clothes and told Hal to get the car. They were going to Elements Computer Technologies Campus. Hal drove while Nathan made phone calls and answered emails.

  The campus was quiet when Nathan arrived. With the upcoming holidays and the company moving to California, many employees had taken leave. Nathan could feel the uncertainty hanging in the air as he walked around. Many employees were debating if the move was worth it, and if they’d even have a job in a year if they did move.

  Nathan passed the photo of young George without looking at it. He walked quickly and with a purpose down the hallway and to the left. He already knew which corridor to turn down and he had his access card ready before he hit the door.

  The innovation area. It was for research and development and testing out new ideas. If Nathan had to start all over again, this is where he would begin. This was where he loved to work.

  The department was empty. Nathan wandered around until he found a mostly empty desk. He sat down and stretched out his legs. Soft winter sunlight filled the small room. There were rows of computer parts along the back wall along with various tools. Nathan opened up his own desk and found it full of mismatched tools. There were pliers, screwdrivers, wire crimpers, spudger and pry bars, and more.

  It reminded him of his work space when he first started years ago.

  He started when the door beeped and swung open. A young man in casual clothes sauntered in, a thin black laptop under his arm. He dropped the laptop on Nathan’s desk.

  “Oh, hey. I have this laptop. It’s busted,” the man explained. “My supervisor said to bring it to you guys since you always need parts and stuff.”

  “Thanks.” Nathan decided not to reveal that he was actually the big boss. No need to freak the guy out. Everyone he'd met here so far had been kind and friendly.

  The man waved his hand and exited the door, leaving Nathan alone with the busted laptop.

  Nathan looked at it for a moment and then picked it up. He inspected the casing and the power inputs. He tried turning it on. The laptop was definitely busted. He rolled up his sleeves and went to work.

  Nathan’s hands knew what to do. He opened the casing and pulled the computer apart. His hands found the tools he needed and his fingers remembered how to use them. Fixing the laptop barely took any conscious effort.

  It felt good.

  Ideas started to come to him. He could make the laptop slimmer by reducing the fan size. Tweaking the ports would allow more efficient use of the wiring.

  He was transported back in time to when he was just starting out. He used to do this under a single light bulb in a storage rental. It was there that he’d created the Quad-ram. He’d been the first to come up with it, and now it was standard. He had his fingerprints on nearly every computer in the world, simply because he’d tinkered while fixing another computer.

  It was easier to think back then. There were less complications. Nathan reached for a pair of pliers, bending a piece back into place.

  What if he stayed here? What if he didn’t move Elements Computer Technologies to California? The campus was set up and running. They had some of the best talent flowing in by way of the college. The town supported them.

  And that would mean that he had a legitimate reason to stay out here as well.

  The possibility tugged at him.

  He shook his head. It would cost too much. It wouldn’t work. The board wouldn’t go for it. There were a million reasons, most of them dollars, that it wouldn’t work. He pushed the idea away. He would lose money doing that, and money was what mattered.

  “There,” Nathan said, putting the laptop back together. He plugged it in and the screen flickered to life. Nathan sat back, admiring his work. Pride filled him, rushing and heady.

  He played around on the laptop, making sure it really was fixed. He liked the idea of leaving ECT where it was. He’d look into what the cost would be. He worried that he would lose money, but for the first time in a long time, it didn’t eat at his soul.

  He shut down the laptop and carefully set it up on a shelf. He looked around, hoping for another busted computer that he could fix. He liked fixing. His mind was able to find solutions not only to the repair, but also to his business.

  He should have done this for RentTech. He’d botched that addition to the company. He was surprised the board hadn’t fired him on the spot. Millions of dollars lost because of him. He’d made the wrong choice. It was all fixed now, but he still felt the sting of near failure.

  He’d lost money because of it.

  He found another discarded computer. This one was a desktop model, probably a couple years old. He already started making mental checklists of things to do: new memory, a new processor, check the wiring...

  And then it dawned on him. It was estimated he earned around one hundred thousand dollars an hour at the minimum. He’d spent an hour putting this laptop back together.

  This was the world’s most expensive laptop. And it wasn’t even that good.

  He set the desktop back down and took a step back.

  His phone beeped. It was time for his meeting.

  Nathan groaned. He wanted to stay and fix the worthless computer. He hated these meetings. He hated the financial speak and the smarmy handshakes. It was as far from fixing and creating things as he could get.

  Yet, it paid well.

  And money was what was important. Money was everything.

  He sighed and straightened the sleeves on his shirt. He glanced over at the now working laptop one last time before leaving the room and turning out the lights.

  It was time to get to work.

  Chapter 29

  Hol
ly

  Holly checked her watch for the millionth time that day. She wanted it to be lunch time. She wasn’t even all that hungry. She just wanted to see Nathan. She wanted to show him where she worked and what she did all day. She wanted to share her world with him.

  The morning dragged on. Even her students said that it felt like lunch was taking forever. They complained more than usual and no one wanted to stay in their own seats. It made for a very long morning.

  I’m bringing lunch.

  Holly read the message from Nathan and grinned. The cafeteria food was decent, especially since today was tacos, but it was mass produced and geared toward children. She tried to bring her lunch as often as possible, but she still ended up eating chicken nuggets or macaroni and cheese at least once a week.

  “Ten more minutes, and then it’s lunch time,” Holly called out to her class. “Please finish up the math worksheets and clean up your math blocks.”

  She was answered by the sound of blocks falling and scattering all over the floor. One of her students looked up at her with big eyes and an empty bucket. The blocks littered the floor by his feet. Holly sighed and motioned for him to start picking up.

  The kids were restless. They needed to eat and go out and burn off some of their energy. It was the second to last day of school before break, and the kids were ready to be out.

  Only one more day and then they’d all be free for a couple of weeks. Even though Holly adored teaching, she was excited for the break. Sleeping in and eating things that weren’t chicken nuggets sounded wonderful.

  The kids were busy putting things away and preparing for lunch when the principal walked in.

  “Hello, Mr. Sheppard,” the kids chorused as soon as they saw him. He was a big man with kind eyes and no hair on his head. He reminded Holly of a magic genie, if genies went into education.

  “Ms. Jones,” Mr. Sheppard said, his face stern and hard. “You and your class need to go to the cafeteria right now.”

  Holly frowned. The look on Mr. Sheppard’s face was unhappy and that meant whatever happened next was not going to be good. This was the face reserved for troublemakers and suspensions. This was the face he used when there was bad news.

  Holly swallowed hard and herded her kids into a line. They all moved quickly and quietly, seeing the look on Mr. Sheppard’s face. Several of the kids whispered quietly, falling silent whenever Mr. Sheppard turned to look at them.

  They walked down the hallways with Holly’s heart rate speeding up with every step. Was she having her award taken away? Was there an emergency? Was her father okay? Was this about the extra glitter she’d spilled on the floor last week making posters?

  Mr. Sheppard crossed his arms and stood in front of the double doors leading into the cafeteria.

  “Ms. Jones.” His low voice was dangerous. Holly hurried up quickly from the back of the line. “You go in first.”

  Holly swallowed hard, unsure of what was going to happen. She pushed open the doors and was greeted by the scent of pizza. And not school pizza, but real pizzeria pizza.

  Standing in the center of the cafeteria was Nathan. Behind him, dozens of boxes of pizza stood waiting for hungry children to come eat them.

  Mr. Sheppard clapped a hand on her shoulder, laughter spilling out of him. ‘You should see your face,” he told her. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it.”

  Holly looked around, slow on the uptake.

  “I brought lunch,” Nathan explained, coming to greet her. “I just brought enough for the whole school.”

  “You brought pizza for the whole school?” Holly asked, looking around. The kids started streaming in through the doors, cheering with excitement and rushing for the boxes.

  Mr. Sheppard shook Nathan’s hand. “Thank you for sponsoring this.”

  “It’s my pleasure,” Nathan told him. “I have to make my end of the year donations somehow, right?”

  Mr. Sheppard laughed and went to help guide some lost kindergartners to the pizza.

  Holly went over and kissed Nathan on the cheek. She didn’t want to do more in front of her students, but Nathan blushed like she’d frenched him.

  “Thank you,” she told him.

  “Did I ever tell you my favorite teacher was in second grade?” he asked her. She shook her head and he leaned in close. “I like you better, though.”

  She chuckled and grinned. “You get me cheese pizza?”

  Nathan reached around and held out a box. He popped open the lid to reveal a beautiful cheese pizza. Her mouth watered.

  “I have plates at a table.” He looked over behind him and shrugged. “Well, I had plates. It looks like some fifth graders swiped them.”

  He chuckled and they found an open space to sit down. The room was full of cheerful kids. Everyone was excited about the free pizza. Nathan had even ordered a couple gluten free pies and some without dairy to include the kids on diet restrictions.

  Holly picked a slice up out of the box and ate it without a plate. Nathan grinned and copied her. They sat on long benches that were made for children rather than adults.

  “Ms. Jones, can we sit with you?” Molly North asked her. A girl and a boy stood behind her, all of them holding plates full of pizza and looking hopeful.

  “Of course you can,” Holly said. “Come sit with us. I’d like you to meet my friend, Nathan. He’s the one who brought the pizza today.”

  “You brought all this pizza?” Jake Bennet asked, his dark eyes going wide. “That musta cost, like, a million dollars.”

  “It wasn’t a million dollars,” Nathan told the boy. “But, what if it was? What if I got enough pizza to fill this entire cafeteria?”

  “We’d have to swim in it,” Natasha Aldovi replied. She took a big bite of her pizza and looked thoughtful. “Would a life jacket work in pizza?”

  “Probably not,” Nathan answered. “But it might work in Jello. Maybe we could fill the cafeteria with jello.”

  The three kids giggled and they started calling out foods that they could fill the cafeteria with, each one becoming more outrageous than the last. Nathan was right there with them, coming up with ridiculous ideas and spurring them on.

  In essence, Holly was sitting with four second graders. She loved it.

  “Chocolate chips,” Nathan told the girl sitting next to him as he munched on a piece of pizza. “Then we could make cookie ships.”

  “I like to make chocolate chip cookies for Santa,” Natasha answered. “Do you like chocolate chip cookies?”

  “I do,” Nathan said, nodding his head.

  Natasha’s eyes narrowed and she looked him over. “Are you secretly Santa?”

  Nathan’s eyes went wide and he choked a little on his pizza. “No, I am most definitely not Santa. Why would you think that?”

  “Because you like chocolate chip cookies and you brought us all a present. And you brought Ms. Jones a present too,” Natasha explained. “I gotta make sure of these things.”

  Nathan tapped on his chest, still recovering from inhaling pizza. “That’s a good thing to do.”

  Holly couldn’t stop herself from laughing.

  Soon the pizza was gone and the kids headed out to the playground. Holly helped the kids pick up their plates and empty boxes, getting them into the trash cans.

  “I’m on playground duty today,” she told him. “You’re welcome to stay if you want.”

  Holly bit her lower lip, hoping that he would. She didn’t want him to leave. Ever. Having him at school was combining two of her favorite things together and she found she was enjoying it immensely.

  “Mr. Nathan, sir,” Jake said, appearing out of nowhere and tugging on Nathan’s shirt. “Will you come play with us?”

  “You know what? I haven’t been on a playground in ages,” he said to Jake. “I think I need to change that.”

  Nathan flashed Holly a grin. Jake’s small hand wrapped around Nathan’s and the boy pulled him out of the cafeteria and out onto the playground. Holly followed, chuc
kling behind them.

  Sunshine filled the playground. The snow had mostly melted, leaving random puddles of cold wet surprises at the bottom of the slides and in soggy patches of the fields. The children all wore their winter coats and mashed hats onto their heads. Random gloves lay scattered like fallen soldiers near the door, casualties of not being put on fast enough.

  Nathan ran out to the playground and the children quickly called him into a game of Groundies. Six children tried to explain the rules to him, all of them jumping around from rule to rule without rhyme or reason.

  “Help?” Nathan asked as Holly came over.

  “It’s a combo of Marco Polo and tag. The ‘it’ person has to have their eyes closed while they are on the playground equipment. You can open your eyes on the ground,” Holly explained.

  Nathan looked at the slide and plastic bridge. “Wouldn’t it be safer to have your eyes open on the equipment and closed on the ground?”

  “Yes, but way less fun,” Holly agreed. “If the not-it players touch the ground, the it player can call out ‘Groundies” and if the not-it player is still on the ground, they become it.”

  Nathan looked over at the kids. “I’m guessing I’m it.”

  All the kids’ heads nodded in unison.

  Nathan jumped up the ladder and screwed his eyes shut. “Okay. I’m coming for you!”

  The kids shrieked with delight and scattered across the play-structure. Nathan played like he was seven years old, except that he was happy to be it and chase the kids around.

  The kids adored him. She knew that several of them knew who he was, yet they welcomed him. They didn't ask him about their parent's jobs. They just accepted him since he brought pizza.

  Holly watched with a smile on her face. Nathan was good with the kids. They loved playing with him. He seemed to love playing in return. Over the course of the recess, she watched him lose the stress around his eyes. He laughed. He ran.