Joseph was sitting on his huge chair, a couple of children on his lap at all times, and several more perched at his feet while he read a Christmas story. Tanner’s cousins were mingling happily with his siblings, and his father could be found laughing at something his brother George said more often than not. That was last year.
Tanner had missed all of that this year. The decorations he saw outside the mansion now weren’t about joy to the world. They were about endings and beginnings. The excitement was of a different sort. Did he really want to face this? He thought seriously of turning around and leaving, but that didn’t happen. He walked from his car and moved up to the front steps.
Once again he followed the sound of laughter, and this time he was in the big ballroom, with masses of balloons overhead. Those balloons seemed oppressive enough in his dark mood, but even more upsetting was what was beneath them.
Seeing the couples locked in each other’s arms was too much for Tanner, who suddenly felt more alone than he could ever remember feeling. And that made no sense. He didn’t need another person in his life to make him happy — he hadn’t felt that way for years, not since his childhood — so he didn’t understand this absurd sense of sadness that seemed to be washing through him.
He’d made a mistake in coming to this place. He turned around, planning to sneak back out before anyone spotted him. But he was too late.
“Tanner! I can’t believe you actually made it!” Crew was quickly approaching, his beautiful wife, Haley, sweetly glued to his side.
“I’m so glad you did,” Haley said. “We really missed you at Christmas, but I figured the ladies’ man would be too busy with his lady friends.” She detached herself from her husband, threw her arms around Tanner, and gave him a big hug.
“Tanner doesn’t go for ladies, exactly,” Crew said. “He likes his women a little more down and dirty.”
“Shut up, Crew. It’s good to see you again, Haley.” He turned to his brother when she released him. “I’m not staying long. I just thought I would stop by, bro.”
“Oh, nonsense,” Crew said. “What in the world is more important during the whole Christmas season than family? Better late than never. Anyway, we’re just about to have dinner. And there are a few single ladies nearby who wouldn’t mind giving you a kiss at midnight to ring in the New Year.” After nudging Tanner in the back, Crew led him to the bar and had a drink poured for him.
For the first time in what felt like at least a week, Tanner’s lips twitched. He knew without a doubt that there was one single lady who wouldn’t let him get his lips anywhere near hers, no matter what time of the year it was, and no matter how many other couples were kissing all around them.
Tanner had gone back to the jeweler and purchased the box Merinda’s necklace was in. And then he’d written her a note — a clever note, if he did say so himself. He could almost — almost, but not quite — picture the rage flaring up in her eyes when that lid came open and she read his words. He’d simply placed an identical plastic necklace in the box, one designed for a child, and thanked her for reminding him about the true meaning of Christmas. A donation in the amount of one hundred fourteen thousand dollars was being donated to the Seattle Mission, the exact cost of the necklace she’d more than hinted that she wanted.
His only regret was that he wouldn’t be there to see her face. His mood did instantly improve, though, just thinking about it. Enough that he accepted the glass his brother had brought him and he downed it, delighting in the slow burn of fine scotch as it traveled down his throat. He got another one and sipped away contentedly as more family members found him.
“How was your stay at that old apartment building?” his cousin Mark asked.
“It was awful,” Tanner replied. “I’ve never been so happy to leave a place. That judge was seriously out of his mind.”
“It couldn’t have been too awful, not with such a hot neighbor,” Lucas said with a wink.
“A hot neighbor? Something you want to tell me about?” Lucas’s wife, Amy, added a teasing smile to her question.
“Well, of course she didn’t even come close to comparing to you,” Lucas said before grabbing Amy and kissing her, making her giggle.
“Hey, kids. Save it for midnight,” Tanner grumbled.
“Oh, you’re just jealous,” Crew retorted as he planted a kiss on his own better half.
“Ha! I don’t want the marriage-and-kids thing. I like my freedom way too much,” Tanner said. He finished his second glass of scotch and went back for more.
“Yeah, that’s what we all said,” Lucas told his cousin. “I’ve certainly changed my mind about that.”
“It seems all the good women have been snatched up already, so I’ll just have to deal with my sad bachelorhood status,” Tanner said, breaking out an arrogant smile, and hoping it came through just fine. “Or did I mean revel in it?”
“The harder they fight, the more it hurts when they fall,” Joseph said in his booming voice as he joined them.
“Happy New Year, Uncle Joseph,” Tanner said. He’d only known this man for about a year, but the guy was larger than life and Tanner couldn’t imagine anyone on the whole planet who didn’t instantly love him.
“Happy New Year to you, too, Tanner. I’m sure glad you decided to show your face. I was a little offended you weren’t here last week,” Joseph said in his gruff manner, making Tanner feel instantly like a child who was being scolded. “But you must be so glad to see the last of that apartment and those kids in the mall. At least that’s what your father said would happen.”
“It wasn’t all bad.”
“No?”
“There was someone I met who was really nice. Maybe two people. And I worry about them. But there’s nothing I can do to help either of them. Not now.”
Tanner didn’t even realize he was going to say any of that until it popped from his mouth. Who in the hell was he? When he finished speaking, though, he was surprised to see a gleam in his father’s eyes. Those couldn’t possibly be tears.
“You have grown a lot this past year, son. I’m proud of you,” Richard said.
“You might feel that there’s nothing you can do, Tanner, but you’d be surprised by what can happen when you put your mind to it,” Joseph added.
Tanner shifted uncomfortably on his feet and was relieved when the topic changed. Still, he couldn’t get Kyla from his mind, or Billy, for that matter. Amid all the laughter, he felt even more alone than ever before.