The Billionaire's First Christmas - Contemporary Romance (20 page)

“I have a present for you,” I told her
at last.

“Really? I have one for you too,” she
said.

I laughed, “You already bought me one,
remember?”

“That was a silly joke,” she said.
“This one is the real thing.” She went over to her tree and took
out a square box and handed it to me. I handed her the one from my
pocket. “You go first,” she said.

I started un-wrapping it. I was going
slowly, distracted by her watching me. Now that I’d gotten a real
taste of her lips, all I wanted to do was kiss her
again.

“Do you need some help?” she
asked.

I laughed, “No, Miss Impatient, I’ve
got it.” I finished taking the paper off and found a white box. I
lifted the lid off of it and inside I found a beautifully framed
photograph. I lifted out the silver frame and looked at it, in
shock. “How… Where…?” She laughed.

“They take them all along your ride.
When you’re finished you can pick out the best one and buy it. I
went back that day after you left and bought this one.”

“You are… incredible,” I told her,
honestly as I looked at it. It was a photograph of her and me,
cuddled underneath a blanket in the snow riding in the carriage in
the park. “This is the most thoughtful gift I’ve ever gotten,” he
said. “I love it.”

She looked so happy that I was
pleased. I really was. I’d never gotten a gift that I would cherish
so much.

“
I was planning on leaving
it for you on your desk when you were gone,” she told
me.

“You didn’t think I would show up
today, did you?” I asked her. I felt bad about that.

“I was hoping you would,” she
said.

I leaned in and kissed her again. I
couldn’t seem to stop myself. “Okay, your turn,” I told
her.

She looked like a child as she began
taking off the wrapping. She had her tongue hanging out to one side
in concentration. She was so damned beautiful that sometimes I
could hardly contain myself around her. She finally got it opened
and pulled the little lid off the box. She pulled out the bracelet
and tears instantly sprang into her eyes.

“Santa Claus!” she said. “Oh my God, I
can’t believe you did this.”

The bracelet was made of delicate
silver and held four antique silver Santa Claus charms. One of them
had a diamond sack across his back. When I saw the bracelet, I knew
she had to have it.

“It reminded me of you,” I told
her.

She had tears running down her cheeks
now and she threw her arms around my neck and hugged me tight. “I
love it, Aaron! I love it so much! Thank you!”

I laughed, “You’re
welcome.”

She held out her arm and said, “Will
you do the honors?” I took the bracelet and slipped it around her
delicate wrist. Fastening it was a little tricky with my big
fingers, but I got it.

“There,” I told her. “It looks
beautiful on you.”

She threw her arms around me again. I
couldn’t help myself, this time I had to hold her there and kiss
her. I felt like my life was starting over and everything else in
between had been only to lead me to this moment.

After we kissed for a really long
time, she said, “Okay, it’s about time.”

“Time for?”

“Caroling, remember? For a big wig
CEO, you don’t have a very good memory,” she said with a
grin.

“It’s selective,” I told her. “I
really am an awful singer.”

“It’s not about the singing, it’s
about the song,” she said. I wasn’t sure what she meant by that,
but I didn’t argue. I was finding that with Robyn, it was pointless
most times anyways.

We bundled back up and she handed me a
little book as we started out the door. It had the lyrics to all of
the most famous Christmas songs inside. I followed her along the
sidewalk and down the street. We came to a large, beautiful church
and she stopped and said, “This is where we start.”

We stood in the archway where it was warm and within fifteen
minutes, people began arriving. They were a wide array of
characters, from a woman who would later tell me that she was
ninety years old, to a man in a wheelchair and a little boy of
about eight. Everyone seemed to be excited. The pastor of the
church invited us all in before we left and offered us hot drinks
and cookies. Robyn introduced me to everyone as her “friend” and
for the first time in a long time, I was in a crowd of people who
had no idea who I was. I got the feeling after I’d spent some time
with them that even if they had, they wouldn’t have cared. They
were all like Robyn, genuinely nice and genuinely enthusiastic
about Christmas. I was beginning to feel it myself.

We climbed into the back of a flatbed
truck with wooden railings built on. I couldn’t help but think if
my business associates could see me now, as we were hauled down the
streets of New York like happy, chatty cattle. The truck took us to
a residential area that didn’t look very festive. It was one of
those areas that looked like it had been hit hard by the recession,
track houses that were sorely in need of repairs.

“Why do you carol here?” I asked Robyn
as we stepped off the truck.

“The pastor does a survey of the city
every year. He finds a neighborhood that seems to be in need of
some cheer and that’s where we go.”

I nodded, it was the same
premise as Robyn’s Santa Claus efforts and I liked it. We started
walking, stopping at the first house at the end of the cul de sac.
The pastor began singing
“Silent
Night”
and we all joined in. I realized
that with all the beautiful voices around me, I didn’t sound as bad
as I thought I did. At that house and the second one, no one came
out to see us. I think I did see the curtain move in the second
one, but only briefly.

At the third house we
sang,
“Deck the Halls”
and a little family came out to see us. It was a mom and three
kids. The pastor slipped an envelope in her hands when we were
finished and said, “Merry Christmas and God Bless.” After we left
to go to the next house, I asked Robyn what it was.

“They’re gift cards for the grocery
store. This neighborhood was hit hard by the closing of the
furniture plant last year. A lot of these people have been out of
work and on unemployment since then. This is how his church gives
back to the community.”

Once again, I was touched and warmed
to the bone by the generosity of the human spirit. I had no idea
that people who seemed to have so little were so willing to donate
to those who seemed to have left. I knew the furniture plant that
she was talking about. I’d read about it in the financial pages
when it closed down. They had employed over five hundred people,
but had been unable to compete with large conglomerates like the
one I owned myself. I made a mental note to look into it. Maybe it
wasn’t too late to breathe some new life into an old
business.

We stayed out caroling until well
after nine o’clock. Each time I saw the light in a family’s eyes as
we sang, or as the pastor slipped them an envelope the magic of the
season rooted inside of me a little deeper. I promised myself that
now that I had it back, I’d never lose it again. I was also going
to do my best to keep it in my heart all year long, the way that
Robyn did.

When we got back to her apartment and
stripped out of our coats and hats, I took her hands in mine and
said, “This Christmas will go down in my mind and my heart as the
best ever. Thank you for showing me what it is really all
about.”

She smiled and said, “I knew that you
still had it inside of you. You just needed to be reminded.” We
kissed and I held her in my arms for a long time. After a while,
Mr. Pibbs joined us on the couch and the three of us sat there and
reflected on the day.

When it was time that I felt like I really needed to go so she
could get to bed I said, “Robyn, could we start over? Can I ask you
out on a date and we can start from scratch getting to know each
other?”

She smiled and said, “I’d love nothing
more than to date you, but you can’t ever start over. You have to
take what you have and start from where you come from and move
forward. The key is to never stop moving and when you look back, to
remember what every moment of your life taught you… even if that
moment wasn’t pleasant.”

“How did you get so smart?” I asked
her.

“I’m a descendent of Mr. and Mrs.
Claus she said with a grin…

Holly Rayner