Christmas with the Best Man

His father quickly stood. “Eli, it’s not what you think.” Panic filled his voice.

Elijah didn’t wait to hear more. He made it to the sidewalk before his arm was caught and he was turned to face his father.

“Son, I never wanted you or anyone else to find out like this. Think twice about what you’re going to do. This could destroy your mother. The rest of the family.”

His father should have been the one to think about that. “So what do you want me to do?” He was yelling. His heart was pounding. All he desired was to run.

“Calm down. We don’t want to make a scene.”

How like his father to worry about the family name while he was out ruining it. Protect the family name at all costs, Elijah had heard all his life.

“I want you to keep quiet about this. The affair ended long ago but... I do have a responsibility to Miranda.”

Elijah leaned toward him and all but spat the words, “You have a responsibility to Mom, to me, Charles, Penny. Your other family.”

“And I’m meeting that responsibility. What would be gained by telling everyone about Miranda? Hurting your mother?”

Stepping back, Elijah glared at his father then turned and walked off. The event changed his life and his relationship with his father forever for over the next five years Elijah carried his father’s secret. It’d gnawed at him like a rabid dog all that time until the day had come when the media had found out and all hell had broken loose. But with that Elijah had found relief yet he still carried the weight of having known and not said anything. Blamed himself for the lack of strength to tell everyone that the head of their perfect family was not perfect.

Elijah had been taught not to show emotion. His family was so well-known the media were interested in them. If he displayed his feelings they could be used against him or his family. Elijah had perfected concealing how he felt over the years of keeping his father’s secret. The skill had served him well when it came to his personal relationships also.

By all appearances, his parents, his father in particular, had gone on as if nothing had ever happened. His parents’ marriage had been one to admire by anyone looking from the outside but Elijah knew better. After the media had gotten involved and all the smoke had cleared, his parents had remained married but it was just for looks. His father did his thing and his mother hers.

They remained devoted to the hospital and fund-raising that went along with the Davenport legacy. For generations the Davenport family had been associated with the hospital both as physicians and philanthropists and his parents wouldn’t let that change for any reason. Now his parents showed up as a couple and smiled for the pictures but there was nothing real between them any more. Everything looked all clean and shiny on the outside but was rotten to the core on the inside.

Elijah wanted nothing to do with that kind of relationship. How could he ever trust anyone on an intimate level? His father had been bigger than life in Elijah’s eyes until he’d tumbled far and broken. It was safer not to get involved with anyone. Caring too much hurt. Going from one woman to the next meant his heart never became entangled and that suited him just fine. Appearances meant everything to his parents. Their example of love was a hollow thing. Nothing he was interested in being a part of.

As the years had passed he’d learned to first accept then love his illegitimate half-sister. What he hadn’t been able to set aside was his father convincing him to keep the ugly secret from his brothers and sister, and especially his mom. Elijah wasn’t sure who he was more disappointed with, himself or his father.

These days he and his father managed to remain civil, just barely.

“How’re things in the ER?” his father asked, sounding genuinely interested.

At least they had that in common. His father had been the head of the ER before he’d retired and Charles had taken over after him. Elijah only wished his father had given his family as much attention as he had his patients. “Busy, as you can expect during a storm.”

“I remember those days.”

“Hey Eli, it’s time to go to work,” Charles called. “The bride said I was to be up there, waiting for her, at six o’clock sharp.”

“Then we should be headed that way.” Elijah started around the fire pit toward Charles, tugging at his scarf. Whoever had come up with the idea to wear this get-up and have a wedding in freezing weather must be crazy. Or in love. That was Charles. And he was so in love that he would agree to anything.

Miranda and Penny had already disappeared. He assumed they had joined Grace. The chairs had filled up while he had been greeting his family. The wedding wasn’t a large one but a number of important people in the city were attending. He recognized some of the staff from the hospital as well. Each was bundled up as they waited for the ceremony to begin. They would be as relieved as him to get inside the tent for the reception dinner.

Minutes later Elijah took his position beside Charles at the front of the ceremony area near the arch of bright red poinsettias with greenery and lights. Snow drifted down as the harpist began to play a Christmas carol.

Who in their right mind got married outside in the middle of winter in New York? Elijah tried not to make a show of stomping his feet but they were freezing. This couldn’t be over soon enough for him.

CHAPTER TWO

THIS WAS THE most fairy-tale-like wedding Helena had ever seen or been a part of. Grace looked lovely. A more beautiful bride Helena had never seen.

Grace wore a long-sleeved, high-necked white dress, with a long white faux-fur cape. A circle of the same fur encircled her head with a small red poinsettia pin attached. She carried a bouquet of poinsettias. Grace had planned a perfect holiday wedding.

The event director began to line up Charles’s sisters, Penny and Miranda, while the harpist played “Silent Night.” Helena took her place just ahead of Grace and her father. When the wedding march music filled the air and the director sent the first attendant down the winding path through the trees, Helena adjusted the short white fur cape around her shoulders and put her hands into the matching muff, making sure the flower attached faced forward. Glancing behind her, she smiled at the picture Grace made as she bent down to speak to Charles’s boys, both in black double-breasted coats and paper-boy hats.

Helena walked down the path when told and out into the open. It was snowing. Under the trees, she hadn’t realized that. After lifting her face to the sky for a second, she continued to the top of the aisle. Charles and his groomsmen, Zac and Peter, also ER doctors from the hospital, were all waiting at the end. But none of the other men held her spellbound. Only Elijah. The corner of one side of his lips lifted as she met his gaze. Heavens, he was handsome. Hat and all. He was an old-world duke, dashing right up to the red rose in his lapel. Even his wayward hair was in place. Elijah had applied more than a little effort to making himself presentable. The results were impressive.

As she made the turn to where she was to stand, he winked at her as if to say, See? I made it on time. She couldn’t hide her answering smile. She took her spot and watched as Grace, escorted by her father, came forward to meet Charles. She glanced at Elijah. His playful appearance of earlier had disappeared. He had taken on a shadowy look. What was his problem?

Her focus returned to Charles and Grace yet sh

e kept glancing at Elijah as the vows were being exchanged. One corner of his mouth did finally quirk upward, as if he found humor in the proceedings. The best she could tell, he liked Grace. Did he have a thing about weddings? Some men believed they were silly and a waste of time. Then again, maybe he was just cold.

For her, weddings were a new beginning. A beautiful outward expression of love, security, and a promise of tomorrows to come. Despite how deeply she’d been hurt in the past, she still dreamed of having that happily ever after. The right man, children, grandchildren and growing old together. She couldn’t give up believing her dream mate was out there somewhere.

Helena focused her attention on Grace and Charles and the soft smile between them. She wanted that silent communication, that bond. She’d been asked out, had even had a few relationships, which had lasted no longer than a couple of months. Still, she was cautious and she wasn’t ashamed to put up front what she wanted in an intimate relationship. She knew well what a superficial connection looked and felt like. Never again! Everlasting love was what she was looking for, someone who would be there for her through the happy as well as the tough times.

A few minutes later she stood beside Grace and facing Elijah as the bride and groom exchanged rings. She smiled as the minister pronounced them husband and wife before they kissed and headed up the aisle. She looked at Elijah, who stepped toward her. He had a smile on his face now.

She grinned at him as she took his offered arm. It was strong, secure, and steady. Even through his thick coat she appreciated his warmth. A hum of awareness zinged through her body. What was going on?

They’d taken a couple of steps when he leaned down close and said, “I was watching your face. You love this stuff, don’t you?”

He’d been watching her? “What’s not to appreciate about true love?”

He snorted. “You do know that a wedding is the only funeral you go to where you smell your own flowers.”