A Tiara Under the Tree

Alisha offered to come to the town meeting with him, but Dominic was almost thirty-one and did not need his younger sister to accompany him. He made his bed and he was going to have to face the music. Hopefully it’d be holiday music.

“Mr. Crowne.”

Dominic looked up from the business plan in a leather folder in front of him. A sweet-faced older woman with crinkles and wrinkles at the corners of her dark eyes spoke his name with a smile.

“Miss Annie.” Dominic greeted the woman as he rose from his seat. He extended his hand but she leaned in for a hug, wrapping his arms under his suit jacket. The top of her bluish hair reeked of hair spray, the same kind he imagined his grandmother used to use—the burn-a-hole-in-the-ozone kind.

“Welcome back, Mr. Crowne.”

“Please, call me Dominic.”

“I’m so glad you returned to town,” said Miss Annie. “My grandson is going to return since you’ve reopened your garage. I wasn’t sure he’d amount to much, but you inspired him to return to school for his engineering degree. Thank God he won’t have to spend the rest of his life with grease under his nails.”

Dominic grinned beyond his cringe. He’d hired her grandson, Billy, as a mechanic—a damn fine one, but still someone who grabbled under the hood and came home nightly with dirty nails.

“Billy’s a hard worker. I’m glad to have him. And I apologize for any work Billy missed in my absence.”

“Are you on the agenda for today?” Miss Annie asked. “I don’t recall seeing your name.”

“I believe there was a change sent out via email yesterday morning.” Dominic went to find the green sheet handed to him at the entrance. He pulled it from underneath the minutes from last month’s meeting. In his absence, Dominic had kept up with the agenda from the biweekly meetings.

Miss Annie scoffed and waved her hand. “I don’t check that whole email thing. My grandson’s tried to teach me but I’ll never learn.” She clasped her hands over Dominic’s. “It’s so good seeing you here. I can’t wait to hear whatever you have to say.”

“Hopefully everyone else will.” Dominic patted her hand and flashed a smile. She said a few more flattering words and squeezed his biceps once more before joining her group of friends.

Dominic sat back down and opened his folder. His financial advisor thought he was crazy, but having one of his frat brothers managing your money helped. Craig Cozier, a financial wizard, knew what drove Dominic’s Christmas spirit. Taking care of John and his estate gave Dominic an insight into living with the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Future. Dominic never wanted to be like his father, even more so now. John had gone to the grave with few to no friends and no family. Alisha and the twins had come but they had no interest in mending their relationships. The only woman he claimed he ever loved, Dominic’s mother, hadn’t bothered coming to the funeral. Dominic and his siblings didn’t blame her. John never remarried and only lived to collect old-fashioned automobiles that sat in his field, collecting dust. Dominic’s life wasn’t too different from his father’s. It was time for a change.

“Waverly,” someone said in the room.

All eyes turned toward the holiday-decorated doors of the council room. People clapped at her presence and crowded around the beauty queen. A bare white pine Christmas tree stood next to a six-foot table filled with a cornucopia and fall-colored pinecones from last week’s Thanksgiving meal. The best feature in the room, however, took Dominic’s breath away.

Waverly Leverve stood straight and tall in a gray skirt, which stopped at her knees, and a tight-fitting, deep red short-sleeved sweater and a pair of matching heels. A tiara was perched on her brown tresses. Dominic’s heart stopped. In the Ghost of Christmas Future’s visit, he’d pictured Waverly in her condo, crying herself to sleep, and it had been his fault. He’d helped her earn the crown on top of her head now and then disappeared from her life. He promised himself he would never let that happen again. Insight into John’s life had taught him well.

Like a graceful gazelle, Waverly glided across the dark gray carpet of the room. She stopped at each long table filled with Christmas committee members. Occasionally she’d flip her hair off her shoulders to laugh lightly at what someone said. Dominic admired the way she was attentive to everyone in the room. He’d never possessed the ability. Dominic liked being told what people needed and being left alone to the task at hand. This was not going to be the case here in Southwood. He needed to incorporate himself into the town. If he’d learned anything from his father’s death, it was not to die alone.

“Hi,” Waverly said, finally coming toward his table.

Dominic shifted in his seat in anticipation of finally having her to himself. He rose to his feet, not sure how to greet her. Last night they’d kissed. If you wanted to call it a kiss, he thought. It was more of a telling promise of how great they could be together. Hell, watching Waverly disappear through the front door of her condo was torture. As soon as she disappeared, he shut down the garage and took a cold shower in the back locker room.

Waverly extended her hand toward him for a shake. Automatically she also leaned in to kiss his cheek. How inappropriate it would be to greet her the way he wanted...by throwing everything off the table and kissing away all her lipstick.

“Waverly.” Dominic swallowed down the excitement. What was he? Fourteen again? “Does your presence here mean you’ve agreed to help me out?”

“Hey, are you aware you’re not on the agenda, Dominic?” Waverly said in a hushed voice. Her tortoiseshell-colored eyes darted around the room.

“I submitted a request to Mayor Ascot last night.” Dominic reached in his pocket for his phone. He swiped the front and

pulled up his email. No one had responded, but he did receive notification his message had gone through. “Are you going to answer my question?”

Waverly chuckled lightly and shifted her belongings. Dominic took her briefs off her hands and set them on the table. “You need to stop calling him that.”

“Maybe.”

“After careful consideration,” Waverly said, “I’ve come to the conclusion your idea is sweet. Sure, I’ll do whatever you want.”

As a man, he was turned on by the words. He must have made a face or raised his brows because Waverly flattened her pouty lips and shook her head. “Behave yourself.”

Dominic held his hand in the air and spread his fingers. “Scout’s honor.”