Father Christmas (Kringle & Co #4)

Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

N oel took a deep breath as he shut the door to his condo, leaving Mindy inside. He wished the door locked from the outside so that she couldn't leave. He was choosing to go after his son, but staying with Mindy for the rest of his life was a nonnegotiable factor. He had to hope she sensed that's where their relationship was going.

Their relationship. Which had followed a relationship she'd had with his son. Noel did not prefer to think about that too much.

Hurrying down the stairs, Noel found Elvin in the foyer. His son looked down at his phone, his features screwed up like when he was a toddler and was told he couldn't have a treat.

Noel had far too few memories of his son as a young boy. He hadn't been ready to become a father when Shailene told him she was pregnant. Noel had done the right thing and married her. Which turned out to be the very worst thing that he could have done.

Shailene hadn't loved him. She hadn't truly liked him. What she did like was the comfort and security and credit cards Noel could provide her.

She'd stayed married to him just long enough to ensure the law was on her side to take half of his earnings. The problem was, the Kringle family had much more practice guarding against gold diggers. Shailene got far less than she'd bargained for. She'd retaliated by keeping Elvin from Noel.

It hadn't been hard to convince a judge to grant Shailene the lion's share of the custody. Especially with Noel's workaholic tendencies. Not only had Noel missed out on many of the formative years of his son's life, he also didn't get the chance to override the money values his mother instilled in him.

"Son, we need to talk."

"Don't you son me. What kind of father sleeps with his son's girlfriend?"

"Ex."

"What?"

"Mindy's your ex-girlfriend."

"All because of you." Elvin pointed a finger at Noel's chest.

Noel shook his head. "We met yesterday."

"She works fast." Elvin's lip curled, and he let out a derisive laugh. "For all your talk about gold diggers, you succumb to the one who was after me."

Noel couldn't keep up with Elvin's line of thinking. First, he was a victim. Then Mindy. Now back to him. But it always came back to Elvin. He'd never learned to see beyond himself and his needs.

"Mindy and I have a real connection."

"Sure, old man. You go on and delude yourself with that. She'll just drain you dry like she did me."

"You don't have any money."

That brought Elvin up short. He pursed his lips like he was about to throw a tantrum. Noel even glanced down at the floor to see if Elvin would stomp.

Noel moved closer, his voice softening. "I know this is difficult for you to accept. But you and Mindy were over."

Elvin scoffed bitterly. "You expect me to just step aside for you?"

"I expect you to abide by her wishes. She doesn't want to be with you."

"Because now she has you to pay her bills."

Technically, Elvin was right. Noel was Mindy's boss. He would be the one signing her paycheck. But he'd been confronted by many a gold digger. Mindy did not give off those vibes. Though he'd been wrong once, and he was still paying for it.

Noel watched his son with a mix of frustration and disappointment. This wasn't how he’d imagined their relationship would be at this stage of their lives. Last year, Elvin had come to work with him to learn the ropes of the business, but it seemed like he had other plans. He had stopped paying Elvin's rent in hopes that it would spur him to take responsibility for his own life, but instead, it seemed to only fuel Elvin's sense of entitlement.

"I didn't raise you to be like this."

"You didn't raise me at all," Elvin shot back.

There was some truth to that. Noel had always tried to instill a sense of independence and hard work in his son, but it seemed like somewhere along the way, Elvin had lost sight of those values.

"I'm going home to Mom." Elvin pushed past him and out the door.

Noel let him go. There was nothing else he could do for the kid. Deep down, he knew that he had done everything he could. Now all he could do was hope that one day, Elvin would find his own path and learn to stand on his own two feet.

In the meantime, there was something Noel had to do. He'd have to go into the office to make it happen. So he pushed out the door and made his way through the snow to grab the necessary paperwork to start his relationship with Mindy.