A Mountain Springs Christmas

Chapter 16

sixteen

JACK

Jack walked into the office, unlocking doors and turning on lights as he went. Yes, it was Christmas Eve. No, he hadn’t planned to work. But there was work here he could do, and he couldn’t be at home all day, thoughts of how many people’s Christmas Eve he’d ruined running on a loop.

Or how he had managed to find the perfect woman, the only one he’d ever imagined having a life with, the one who made his entire being happy to be alive, yet lose her just as they were getting started.

Or how he wanted to spend every single occasion with her—extraordinary or ordinary—but he had closed himself off from celebrating Christmas Eve and her birthday with her.

Or was he just not looking deeply enough for a solution? He wandered through the main office area, running his fingers along each of the desks as he meandered. Maybe he could hire a manager to run the day-to-day business, and he could take a step back. Could he give all of this up? Not be a part of it all? Could he find someone who would care about the business as much as he did? And if he did, could he pay them as much as they would be asking?

As he was thinking through the logistics, a thought popped into his mind. Even if you did, you would still be her boss .

A frustrated growl escaped his mouth. There had to be a way. He couldn’t experience a glimpse of what life would be like with Noelle and then just live life without her. She had changed him. Now that he knew what was possible, he knew he couldn’t turn his back on her. He had to find a way.

He turned to head back to his office, then stopped at Noelle’s desk. A single hand-painted card was leaning against her monitor. He picked it up to get a closer look—it must be one of the cards she’d received from her gran-gran. He couldn’t believe she’d left it there over the break. A woman—probably her gran-gran—was with someone who had to be Noelle. Christmas decorations filled the background of the scene. Noelle held in front of her a big cupcake with a lit candle on it. Her cheeks were full of air, her lips making an O as she was preparing to blow out the candle.

He turned the card over.

Only the most special people are born on Christmas Eve. You celebrate the day with all you've got!

Every year.

He put the card back and went into his office.

An hour later, not only had he not come up with a solution, but he had barely made a dent in the emails he was trying to get through. His senses went on high alert when he heard what he thought was a door opening. None of his employees worked today, and the building’s cleaning staff wasn’t in, either.

He was just standing up to go check on everything when Noelle appeared in his office doorway. “I thought I might find you here.”

“Noelle. Why are you at work today?”

She stepped forward and held out an envelope. “I just came to give you this.”

He took it from her hand but didn’t so much as glance down at it—he didn’t want to take his eyes off hers. “What is it?”

“My resignation letter.”

Oh, no. Had he messed up so badly that he made her want to quit? “You know I can’t accept this.”

“I need you to.”

He swallowed, afraid to ask the question but needing to anyway. “Why?”

“Because I think I might be in love with you.”

He was too stunned to move.

“And I think that you might have been feeling the same things over the past few weeks, too.”

“I’ve been feeling them over the past year and a half.” The words were quiet. He couldn’t believe they actually came out of his mouth.

Her eyebrows shot up. “ A year and a half? Why didn’t you ever tell me?” She paused. “Oh. Right. Because you are my boss.” She gave a single nod like maybe pieces in her head were clicking into place. “Which is exactly why I need you to accept my resignation. Because now that I know what it’s like to have you in my life, I don’t want you to ever not be in my life.”

Emotions pricked at his eyes. “I can’t ask you to do that.” He set the letter on his desk.

“Ahh, but you’re not asking me, so it’s okay.”

“It’s not, Noelle. You can’t just quit your job for me. I’ll—”

“Jack,” she said, stepping forward and putting a hand on his forearm. “I appreciate you being all chivalrous and wanting to fix this, but you can’t. It’s impossible for you to fix this. Sure, you could be the one to quit, but then I would still be out of a job, and so would the seven other people who work here. Or you could change who you are as a person and ignore your rules about dating an employee, but I don’t want you to change. I love you exactly how you are.”

She took another small step forward. “But it’s not impossible for me to fix it.”

He looked down at the envelope on his desk, running a finger over the corner of it. He hadn’t expected this at all and was so not mentally prepared for it. “You’re the best ad copywriter that we’ve ever had.”

“But I’m not the best one there is, so you’re going to find someone else, and they’re going to be awesome. Now here are the terms of my resignation. I’m not giving a two-week notice because I don’t want to wait that long to see you again. But feel free to hire me as an independent contractor for two weeks to cover my job while you find someone new if you’d like. I’ll be my own boss then, so there won’t be any boss/employee anything going on.”

He chuckled and shook his head, looking down at the ground. Could this really work? And if it did, would he always feel guilty that she had to leave because of him? “So you haven’t started looking for another job yet?”

“Um, it’s Christmas Eve.”

“What if you don’t find something?”

“Jack, I’ve been copywriting since I was old enough to talk. I’m going to find something quickly. Trust that I’m strong enough and capable enough to make this choice.”

“I’ve seen you work, and I’ve seen you play. I know that you’re more than strong enough and capable enough.”

She smiled, and there was something else behind it. A playfulness. A confidence. Maybe even adoration. “You’ve got my resignation letter. It’s up to you to choose whether to accept it or not. I’ll know your answer by whether or not you show up for Christmas Eve dinner tonight.”

Then she turned and walked to the doorway. She stopped right before going through it and turned her head just enough for him to see her cheekbone. “But tell Rachel and Aiden that they’re welcome to come whether or not you do.”

And then she left, and he stood there in the middle of his office, grinning so big it made his entire body happy.