Finding Me in the Storm (Sweet Christmas Kisses)

Chapter Eighteen

Nate

“Wow, you finally decided to call and give me a piece of your mind?” Luna says the second my call connects.

My sister is someone who always keeps you on your toes when approaching. She is a live wire, full of sass, and the biggest personality I’ve met in all my years. She is also the big soft spot in my heart, and it is her advice I trust on the current topic of worry I’m struggling with.

“I have no idea what meddling, terrible thing you could have done lately to deserve my anger,” I sarcastically question her, not wanting to give up that easily in the face of her slight taunting.

“I’ve heard twice from Elaina that you are acting the gentleman that I know you are. I hadn’t wanted to get in the way of things there or push for details before you were ready to offer them up,” Luna says.

“Since when have you tried to stay out of something that was none of your business, especially when it comes to me?” I quip.

“Considering she stayed longer than expected, I’m assuming all is good, and I was just hoping maybe we would get some big announcement at Christmas. I haven’t told Mom or Dad what I did yet.”

“Oh, that should be a fun conversation,” I reply with a chuckle. “Speaking of Elaina, have you heard from her today? Maybe did she call about her plans to return home—or not?”

“No, what did you do to chase her away? Did you kiss her and prove that all the hype wasn’t what you have always claimed?” Luna asks.

“No. I did kiss—well—does a peck on the cheek count?” I offer back as I realize just a few minutes before I had done just that.

“Come on. I know you have game, so what are you waiting for?” Luna groans into the phone.

“You seriously sent your best friend up here trying to be a matchmaker for your handsome brother?”

Suddenly, gagging meets my ear. “I love you, but you might have a healthier ego than you should.”

“Luna, we need to get serious. You could have truly hurt Elaina with your stunt. She ended up arriving in the middle of a storm, trying to make her way up the drive where the cabin is,” I start slowly, trying to keep the panic that rises inside me from turning to anger.

It was in the rearview mirror now, and yet the feelings of that moment when I found Elaina is just as strong now, reliving it in my mind. She had been a pile in a snowbank, and had I not seen something out the window, it could have ended so much worse. Even then, the only reason I was focused outward that day was my expectations of Luna—who was a master at traveling in these unfavorable conditions—joining me for some vacation time.

“I know. She told me,” Luna says. “I just wanted to see about forcing the two of you together. I thought that given a little time to see the other in their best environments, you would fall in love.”

“This is coming from the woman that herself hardly dates,” I counter her argument.

“Exactly. I need to live vicariously through my super cocky brother and lovely best friend somehow. You two are my favorite people, and yet neither of you was having luck in the love department. I just thought this would be the gentle nudge you needed.”

“This experiment of yours was more like a sledgehammer, with absolutely no stealth,” I tell her.

“Now, in my defense, you have more than once played games with my love life,” she retorts. “Do you remember Danny Glen back in high school? You were just here for a weekend and managed to get me on the wrong end of the popular quarterback that every girl wanted to date.” She reminds me.

“The man was a bit too cocky, and I worried he wouldn’t treat you right,” I defend myself, though I’m biting hard on my lower lip as that entire episode from the past plays out in my mind. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Mom tell me you were found making up with Danny under the bleachers a few months later?” I retort.

“Harumph. We were just talking, nothing else,” she says, as I can see her face in my mind going different shades of red.

She continues, “I mean—so about Elaina. How are things really going?”

I have to choose my words carefully here, or I might cause some tension without meaning to. Knowing that Elaina is meeting with Derek, I am feeling kind of off balance at the moment. I was only half-teasing when I told her not to fall for him.

“Well, Elaina is on a date with another man at the moment?” I sputter.

It’s the most immature thing to come out of my mouth in a decade, and for some reason, I was unable to hold it back. This is simply ridiculous that I can’t get a grip on this overwhelming unease I’m experiencing. I’m an adult business owner and should long be past all this craziness.

“I’m confused,” my sister says slowly. “How exactly did you mess this up? I mean, I literally gave you the perfect woman and my top choice for your future wife. Now, the friend I have known for a decade and never dates—is out with another man?”

“Okay, so he runs a local concierge doctor service, and he might have prefaced the lunch as a job interview. I know that she believes it is all about the business, but I’m telling you, Derek is a player. He is going to have her number, and a second date all lined up by the end of lunch,” I mutter.

I’m not sure why this is the situation that I’m deciding to escalate to such a degree in my head. I’ve never been one to overthink things, and I tend to live freely from drama. With Elaina, though, I’m a jealous, overly concerned boyfriend—without the benefits of the title. I wouldn’t have tagged along or anything that drastic, but I would feel a lot more confident than I am at this moment. Derek is absolutely someone I’ve heard women chatter about over the years, even if I do consider him a friend. Elaina is smart, beautiful, and his age—who wouldn’t snap her up?

I slap a hand to my head as I realize I’m that idiot who didn’t have a serious talk with her already about my feelings. How this lady has me tied in this many knots, I’ll never completely understand. After years of fighting with her, Luna absolutely hit the nail on the head with this surprise trip. A little time with Elaina, just the two of us, has been a life-altering revelation.

“Hmmm, concierge doctor service, huh? What is that exactly?”

“It is a small private group of doctors here in town, and in other places, they are popping up all over. They make house calls for the rich and those who don’t want to risk the elements but need medical care in resorts and private homes. I hear Derek does very well with this service out here and keeps a small team of rotating doctors employed,” I offer back.

“So, she is having lunch to discuss a new job?”

“That’s what he told her, but the second the man sees Elaina or talks to her for ten minutes, he will be a goner,” I tell her.

“I see,” Luna retorts with a light giggle. “Is this something you would know from firsthand knowledge? I mean, the last time I was in the same room with you and Elaina, I do believe, you nearly tore each other’s heads off. So, has something changed between the two of you?”

“I thought we were talking about Derek and her interviewing for a role with him,” I growl in response, knowing that the statement might have a double meaning. “Aren’t you curious about the fact she is considering a move out here so random?”

“It’s not random or unexpected at all. I’m grateful that Elaina is actually thinking outside her comfort zone, as I feel she has lived a rigid, small life so far. If that is her choice, I wouldn’t judge it, but Nate, it has been hard these last two years watching the joy in what she does evaporate. After her last birthday, I know she has been doing more introspection on what she wanted from life and trying to reconcile that with a pretty tough career. I do know the relationship with her parents is complicated, and they have even been slightly standoffish with me. Yet, Elaina is a wonderful daughter who tries to please them at her own expense time after time.”

“She actually did set some boundaries with them just last week,” I interject.

“I’m sorry—are you kidding?” Luna questions with the most incredulous noise. “She has been talking about that for years, but in the end, always relented to their demands.”

“I know she made the call, and they had what she described as a terse but productive conversation,” I tell her. “We had a super long conversation over dinner, and I know she was in a good spot with how she handled it.”

“Amazing. I guess this little prank of mine, sending Elaina instead of me on vacation, might work out for the best after all. I would imagine the two of you can now be in the same space for longer than five minutes, batting each other around like kittens fighting for the same catnip, right?”

“Sure,” I tell her, and then hesitate.

All kidding aside, Luna knows me better than anyone. I realize that revealing my feelings to her is a slippery slope, but I feel like I might explode if I don’t talk to someone. I’m not sure if I should encourage this little crisis of Elaina’s and get her to stay. Or is it so out of the realm of possibility that she truly does want a change? Maybe I should let her decide and then lay this pile of feelings on her. I’m just not sure of anything right now and don’t know what direction is up or down.

“Talk to me,” she says unexpectedly.

“What?”

“Nate, I can hear those gears grinding in your head over the distance,” she grumbles. “What is on your mind? Did you call because you are genuinely concerned that Elaina might fall in love with this Dr. Derek Love Child or just to hear my voice?”

“You know that isn’t his name, and you calling him that doesn’t help at all. I need serious Luna for a moment, fair?”

“Yep. What’s on your mind?”

“I think I might be falling for Elaina,” I start, as I hear a little squeal but nothing more over the line. “I don’t want to mess up your friendship, though, and as I’m not sure if she even feels the same—I’ve stayed mute. Now, with her looking at jobs here and with Doctors Without Borders and possibly not taking the New Edge Specialty Medicine role, I’m conflicted. Do I tell her how I feel before she decides—after—or never because she doesn’t feel the same? Will you be mad at us if we do try and give this a whirl? What will her parents think, and ours for that matter?” I quickly fire questions at her before stopping to take a deep breath.

“Wow, first maybe take a breath,” Luna tells me. “I mean, I think Elaina is the bomb diggity, and I hoped you might fall in love with each other. If you treat her right and vice versa, we aren’t going to have any issues in our relationship. Next, I would absolutely tell her how you are feeling, and before she makes a life-altering decision.”

“Are you sure? What if that information just sends her into a tailspin? I don’t want her to feel I’m trying to pressure her, or worse yet, it makes her incapable of deciding on the job. I mean, that just seems like such a monumental thing I should probably bring up afterward—or maybe never,” I tell her, finding myself slightly lightheaded as I sit down in the chair at my desk with a thud.

“Okay, big brother—here comes your truth bomb. You and Elaina both have amazing careers, good heads on your shoulders, and are stupid when it comes to love,” she says, as my head bounces back a solid three inches at her harsh words.

“Hey, now that seems a bit harsh.”

“Really? You sound like a moonstruck teenager, bemoaning when to tell your secret crush that you are in love with her. Man up! Elaina is a doctor, and you are a businessman, both very smart and capable of a conversation about feelings. You both have not had the best time finding partners in life, but that should make this particular development all the sweeter for both of you. I need you to tell her how you feel and not dance around the topic. I didn’t put in all this work throwing the two of you together for you to blow it at the last minute.”

I chuckle, “Oh, we wouldn’t want you to be upset about the outcome of your little prank.”

“Exactly.”

Silence for a couple of seconds.

“Nate, I love you more than nearly anyone on this planet, and Elaina is my best friend. I truly believe you deserve so much more out of life. Please tell her how you feel and make me the happiest woman on the planet—as you know, I’m going to be the maid of honor at your wedding.”

“Whoa. I can’t even confess my feelings—dropping to a knee and walking down the aisle forever might be a touch premature.”

“Well, you should get on that then. Do not let Elaina get on a plane back here and get railroaded by the force of nature that is her mother without you telling her how you feel.”

“What if she doesn’t feel the same?” I question.

I realize I’m certain of my heart’s desires, but shouldn’t I be just as concerned with the state of affairs with her as well? Luna appears to be solely focused on my doing the right thing, but this can still blow up in my face if she isn’t interested in what I’m offering.

“You are a catch, my brother, and you need to take a risk someday on a woman. Is Elaina that person and worth it?”

I don’t even truly have to give it more than a cursory thought. “Of course she is,” I tell her.

“Good. The next call better be a winner-winner chicken dinner conversation that I’m about to be the happiest woman of all time. I’m coming for Christmas, and you don’t want me to have to box your ears or find a way to get even for you not telling my bestie you think she is the best thing since sliced bread. Do I make myself clear?”

“You sometimes have the most unique ways of saying things,” I tell her.

“I do what I can to keep you hip with the lingo,” she retorts, which makes me shake my head, which she fortunately can’t see.

Luna is one of those people that always finds humor in the little things. She is quick-witted, funny, and doesn’t always care what others think. She is so unique herself; I continue to find it mind-boggling that her and Elaina are such good friends—as their personalities are near polar opposites.

“Have you always been this bossy?” I question Luna.

“Definitely. Gotta run. Good luck,” she says. “Oh, and if it is any consolation, I love you to the moon and back—even if you fumble this play.”

“Thanks. Love you too,” I reply as the line goes dead.

I sit staring at the device for the longest time. “This is so bad,” I mutter to the space in the office.

I know what I have to do. I’ve tried to keep this information from ruining time spent with Elaina, but the clock is now ticking. I’ve never been so scared in all my life or as excited to see where this big reveal might actually lead. I know this evening will be my last chance, and I will need to work myself up to this big announcement—and I hope I don’t bumble it completely.