Holiday Kisses

“As his sous chef, yes.” Her chin inched up in pride. “And I accepted. I start the second week in January. Once he’s back from his honeymoon. Feel free to be impressed. Jason Corwin just hired me.”

He was impressed. But still not totally convinced. “That doesn’t solve your other problems. Where are you going to live?”

“Calliope said I could stay with her and Stella until I got on my feet.”

“Of course she did.” Up until this moment, he’d found Calliope’s “interference” charming. Now it just irritated him. What had she been thinking, talking to Alethea about this without discussing it with him first? She knew how he felt about his family. How hard he’d been fighting to keep them together. Could she not relate? “I suppose you already accepted the job?”

“Yes.”

“And I’m supposed to go along with this. Because you’ve decided.”

“Yes.”

Xander’s mind buzzed. What was it about this town that turned people like Alethea, people like him—staid, stoic individuals—into starry-eyed dreamers?

“You know Mom and Antony are going to lose it over this, right? You’re only a semester away from graduating. What’s wrong with finishing your degree and then coming back here for a break before graduate school if you still have this cooking thing in your system?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Because it’ll be six months of wasted time and I don’t want to waste a minute more. I know they won’t understand. I definitely know that, given your reaction, but if there’s one thing Calliope’s taught me, it’s that I have to do what’s right for me. No matter who might disagree.”

“Right.” There was no arguing with her. How could he even try when he’d lectured both his brother and their mother about letting Alethea take the lead and decide where she wanted to go with her life? But that didn’t mean he could go along with these choices. “Okay. Good talk. We need to leave.”

“You’re mad.”

“With you? No.” But there was an interfering redhead he wanted to have a few words with. “I promised when you came here that I would support you in whatever decision you make. And I will. But not financially. You want to do this, you do it on your own. No plane tickets home. No help with rent or food. If this is what you really want, then you go all in. Alone.”

“I already knew that.” She flinched but nodded. “You can come back, too, you know.” Alethea called after him as he headed to get his keys and phone. “I’m not the only one who can follow their heart.”

He’d be lying if he said the thought hadn’t occurred to him. But as much as he cared about Calliope and Stella, as much as he’d enjoyed his time in Butterfly Harbor, this wasn’t his home. He didn’t belong. He couldn’t afford to belong. Not with so much hanging in the balance. He had the Costas family legacy to think about; without him, the firm his grandfather had built would disappear and he couldn’t allow that to happen.

“Unlike you, I have responsibilities back home, Alethea.”

“Even if there’s something or someone you want here?”

“Calliope probably neglected to mention this, Alethea, but in the real world, we don’t always get what we want.”

* * *

CHRISTMAS MUSIC FLOATED out of the outdoor speakers Luke and Matt had set up around the farm. Dozens of stalls and fabric tents had been erected around the perimeter of the gardens and Calliope’s home. Butterfly Harbor residents were selling everything from handcrafted tree ornaments to homemade jams and baked goods to crocheted rugs and wraps. The crowd was steady and had been since before they’d swung open the gates.

Calliope inhaled the aroma of hot apple cider and freshly roasted chestnuts. Popcorn exploded in the old-fashioned machine manned by Jake Campbell as he raised money for the teen youth facility.

Despite the uncertainty swirling inside of her, the evening was shaping up to be absolutely perfect. Thunder rolled in the distance. Deep and dark. Threatening. And yet...not a cloud in the sky.

And not a sign of Xander.

“Uh-oh. Someone’s on a rampage.” Holly, halfway through her second piece of pumpkin pie, nudged Calliope’s arm and motioned to the front gate. “You and handsome have a fight?”