Mix-Up under the Mistletoe (Glenbriar #11)

Chapter Five

Rafe

‘ I am so sorry,’ Genevieve said before Rafe even had the chance to put his bag down.

‘About what?’ He slung the bag off his shoulder and put it down beside a small case in the entrance hall.

‘For not believing you about Tilly.’

‘Oh that… Well, you know that—’

‘It’s ok,’ Hilary said. ‘She’s already here. A complete shock, of course, but a wonderful one.’

‘She’s so nice,’ Genevieve said. ‘I love her already and I’m so glad she met you. She seems so sweet and…’ She shrugged. ‘Like someone who needs a hug.’

Rafe frowned and shook his head, trying to take in what they were saying. He ran his fingers through his hair, raking out some of the damp snow. ‘What do you mean, she’s here?’

Was this their idea of a joke? As jokes went, it was quite a good one, and he probably deserved it, but he wasn’t about to fall for it.

‘You didn’t know either?’ his mum said with a clap of her hands. ‘She must have wanted to surprise you.’

‘Yeah, yeah.’ Rafe pressed his fingertips into his cheeks and pulled a fake shocked face. ‘Am I surprised enough yet?’

‘Don’t joke.’ Genevieve took his arm. ‘Because she is genuinely here. So if you didn’t know she was coming, you really will be shocked in a minute.’

‘Of course I didn’t know she was coming and I know she’s not here, so you can stop the joke now, Ok? You’ve had your revenge.’

‘Why would I want revenge?’ Genevieve and Hilary exchanged a look full of meaning, and Rafe wasn’t sure what to make of it. But clearly they planned to milk this charade until he caved and confessed he’d made up his relationship with Tilly Thorpe.

‘Listen. About Tilly…’

‘Ta-da!’ Hilary threw open the kitchen door.

Rafe’s eyes almost popped out of his head. He gaped and silently mouthed, ‘ what ?’ Was this possible? Why was she here? It was actually Tilly Thorpe. The same woman he’d seen on the 1-Quick website a couple of weeks ago. Her smiley face now had a rabbit in the headlights look and she was sucking on her lip and fiddling with a ring. Across the kitchen island sat his grandma, her mouth stretched wide into a smile like she’d just bought him the biggest remote-control car in the store for Christmas and was about to hand it over.

‘Mum… How?’ Had his mum and Genevieve somehow engineered this? Had they lured the poor woman here so they could prank him? Surely no one would have gone along with that.

‘Nothing to do with me,’ his mum said with a grin. ‘She came here herself. Such a wonderful surprise for us all.’

‘I can explain.’ Tilly rose to her feet.

‘No need to explain,’ Grandma said. ‘It’s wonderful. Come and give the girl a kiss; she’s missed you terribly.’

‘What?’ both Rafe and Tilly said at the same time.

Genevieve laughed. ‘Oh my god, are you embarrassed?’ She glanced at Rafe. ‘Should we leave you alone for a private reunion?’

‘Actually, yes. Can you give us a minute?’

‘Are you for real?’

‘Let’s do it, Genevieve,’ their mum said. ‘We’ll have plenty of time for a catch up later. Let’s give them a moment. It must be hard not seeing each other for so long.’

‘Does that include me?’ Grandma asked.

‘Yes, Mum.’ Hilary bustled over and helped the older woman off the seat. ‘You two take as long as you need.’

‘Just be good,’ Grandma said.

Rafe bit his tongue as his mum closed the door behind her and his grandma. He gazed at Tilly, who was still smiling though a little vaguely, and she looked back, holding eye contact. It was almost painful but not all bad, kind of electric.

‘What’s this all about?’ He unbuttoned his coat, trying to sound casual, like this sort of thing happened every day.

‘I could ask you the same thing.’ Her cheeks reddened a little. ‘Why do your family know who I am?’

‘You first. Why are you here?’ He removed his coat and hung it over the back of a barstool.

‘Do you even know who I am?’

He nodded. ‘Tilly Thorpe and you work for 1-Quick Getaways, which doesn’t fill me with confidence.’

She half-nodded and blinked like she was surprised he’d done his research.

Yes, I’ve done my homework. But it still didn’t explain anything.

‘So, are you going to tell me why I have an admin assistant from 1-Quick Getaways waiting for me at a house you shouldn’t even know about, never mind be in?’

‘Um, yes.’ She fidgeted with her ring a bit more and Rafe saw for a moment what Genevieve meant about her being someone who needed a hug. She looked completely lost. ‘I’m not here as an admin assistant. I was sent with a colleague to meet you yesterday.’

He folded his arms. ‘Oh yeah?’

‘Yes.’ She took a deep inhale. ‘I just wanted to beg for a moment of your time to talk to you and open up a dialogue. I have some ideas on how we—’

He held up his hand. ‘No. I’m not opening up a dialogue with a 1-Quick employee. And the fact they’ve sent you to my family home makes me certain I never will. These underhand methods go against everything I stand for and I won’t ever work with a company that condones business like that. Corporate espionage is bad enough in itself, but this—’

‘It’s my fault,’ she said. ‘The managers didn’t find out this address. I did. And it was pure chance. I didn’t even know if you’d be here. I just wanted to talk to you and show you that we’re friendly.’

Rafe huffed out a laugh. ‘You’re joking me, right? You think tracking me down at my parents’ home and infiltrating my family Christmas is friendly?’

Her smile faded and died. She covered her mouth. ‘Sorry. When you put it like that.’ Her voice cracked. She turned her back to him and lifted a red coat. ‘I should go. And I apologise for the mistake.’

‘Apology accepted.’ It was Christmas after all, and if she was just an admin assistant, then people higher up should be taking the flak. ‘How are you travelling? I didn’t see a car.’

‘I’ll call a taxi.’

‘Ok. I’ll leave you here and give you a moment to call, then if you wouldn’t mind waiting in the hall.’

‘Right.’ She pulled out her phone. Her eyes were covered by large glasses that reflected the kitchen lights. Without her smile, the sadness of her expression cut him deep. Was he being unreasonable?

No!

She shouldn’t be here. For all he knew, she was just a great actress playing her role to tug on his heartstrings. But her eyes betrayed her. Even through the glasses, he saw pain, and he knew she wasn’t doing this out of malice. A longing stirred in him to take her, hold her and soothe the pain away, but he couldn’t do that. Not my place. She didn’t belong here.

‘How did your family know who I was?’ she asked quietly.

Rafe rubbed at the back of his neck, the absurdity of the situation pressing heavily on him.

‘I, um… It was a mix-up. I’ll leave you to call the taxi.’

As he turned to go, the top of his head collided with something in the doorway. Mistletoe? Who the hell hung that there?

Honestly, his family was the limit sometimes in the lengths they’d go to for matchmaking. He wouldn’t like to pick which one of the three women who’d just left the room had hung this here. He resisted the urge to rip it down, and also shoved away stray thoughts about kissing anyone under it… No, definitely not Tilly. She was a 1-Quick spy, and he certainly wouldn’t be kissing her under the mistletoe anytime soon.