Not Just for Christmas

Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

L ewis only managed to say a quick hello to Erin before she headed upstairs to call her parents. It was another couple of hours before she returned and took a seat at the bar. He poured her a glass of wine, then lingered to chat with her and was still there an hour later when the first guests arrived for their Christmas dinner. Lewis left the other staff to wait on them.

“I’m still pretty full from breakfast,” Erin told him. She gave a little wave to Mr and Mrs Ward as they walked in and went straight to their table. “I usually don’t bother with breakfast on Christmas Day to make sure I’m really hungry for Christmas dinner, but it seemed rude not to today.”

“Definitely.” Lewis wiped down the bar with a damp cloth. “Besides, you’ll still manage the roast. It’s so delicious that you don’t even need to be hungry.”

“That’s true.” She swivelled on her stool and surveyed the room. Lewis couldn’t be sure, but he thought her gaze snagged on her table – set for one. “Do you know what’s cool about eating Christmas dinner alone?”

“What?” he asked with a gentle smile, anticipating a joke .

“I know for definite I’ll win the gift in the cracker. If I’m pulling it with myself, it’s a sure bet that I get the bigger half.”

“And the smaller half too,” Lewis pointed out. “You will both win and lose.”

“Oh, I didn’t think of that,” she said, smiling as she turned back to him.

Not for the first time, he wondered if it would be appropriate to invite himself to join her for lunch. He didn’t have to wonder too much, since he already knew the answer. He worked at the hotel and she was a guest, so it definitely wouldn’t be appropriate.

“Are you working for the whole day?” she asked, breaking his thoughts.

“Most of it. I’ll take a break and visit my family later.”

“Will you eat with them?” she asked. “Or do you eat here?”

“Um…” Was that a hint? Did she want him to eat with her? There was no way he could ask in case he was reading the signals wrong. And it would be inappropriate, regardless. “I’ll eat at my parents’ place, I guess.”

As though she could sense he was talking about her, Lewis’s phone rang with a call from his mum.

He made an apologetic face for Erin, then moved down the bar to answer it.

“Happy Christmas!” his mum crooned as though she hadn’t already spoken to him twice that day.

“Happy Christmas,” he echoed, with significantly less cheer.

“What time will you arrive? Anna is here already and Carla shouldn’t be long.”

“I’ll try to get away soon.”

“Also, I was thinking, why don’t you bring your new friend?”

“Excuse me?” His eyes went to Erin. “What are you talking about?”

“Erin. Bring Erin with you. ”

“To your place? For Christmas dinner?”

“Yes. She seems lovely, and it must be weird for her, spending Christmas Day in the hotel. Bring her over here and she can have some good old family time.”

Lewis glanced along the bar. He assumed Erin couldn’t hear the conversation – or his mum’s side of it, at least – but he couldn’t be certain. If she could hear, she wasn’t reacting.

“I think that might be a bit weird,” he whispered, turning away from Erin.

“I don’t see why.”

“Because I hardly know her.”

“You came running into midnight mass holding hands with her! Also, Anna said Erin doesn’t know about your situation…”

“I met her a few days ago,” Lewis pointed out. “I’m sure there’s a lot we don’t know about each other.”

“It’s good though, isn’t it? She’ll get to know you without any prejudice or anything.”

“Prejudice,” he echoed. “How come you make me sound like some hardened criminal?”

His mum’s laughter rang down the phone and brought a smile to his face. “You know what I mean! Are you going to invite her for Christmas dinner, or what?”

“No. I already told you it would be awkward.”

A frustrated growl emanated down the phone. “Is she there now?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Put her on the phone and I’ll ask her. If it’s too weird for you to invite her, let me do it.”

“No way. I have to go, Mum. I’m really busy here, but I’ll see you soon.”

“Don’t hang up on me. This conversation isn’t finishe––”

“Bye.” He cut her off and hung up.

As he walked back along the bar, Erin shot him a smile that made him contemplate doing as he was told and inviting her to eat Christmas dinner with his family.

“Was that your mum?” she asked.

“Yeah. Asking when I’ll be over.”

“It’s good that you can take some time off and hang out with your family. This is the first Christmas that I haven’t spent with my family.”

“How’s it going so far?”

“It’s actually fine.” She raised her glass. “I’m enjoying myself.”

“Glad to hear it.”

Five minutes later, Warren walked out of the kitchen, giving Lewis a look he couldn’t read before pouring himself a Coke. “Could you do me a favour?” he said. “Let your mum know I’m going to be very busy in the kitchen for the next few hours and that she shouldn’t call me again.”

“Why was my mum calling you?”

“To ask me to send you home.”

“She just called me,” Lewis complained.

“Apparently, she doesn’t trust you.” His lips twitched upwards and his eyes brimmed with amusement. “Also she said that she forgot to mention it, but you should invite Erin.”

Lewis could have sworn the entire restaurant fell silent. “What?” he muttered, shooting Erin a nervous glance.

Warren addressed Erin with a smile. “She said she really enjoyed meeting you last night and that she wanted to invite you to eat Christmas dinner with them.”

“At their house?” Erin held her wine glass awkwardly in front of her.

“Yes.” Warren turned squarely to face her. “She was worried about you eating alone in the hotel.”

“That’s kind of her,” Erin said, pressing her lips together.

“Lewis’s mum is lovely. The whole family is. You’ll have a great time. The food might not be quite as good as mine, but it won’t be far off.” He shot Lewis a look and wandered back to the kitchen.

Lewis didn’t know what to say to fill the ensuing silence. Especially since his mind was busy conjuring ways to exact revenge on his mum and Warren.

Erin beamed at him. “What did you say to your mum to make her think I’m a charity case?”

“She doesn’t think that.” He scratched at his jaw. “She’ll just think…” He trailed off, no idea where he was going with the sentence.

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t intrude. I’m sure she was just being polite. Tell her thanks, but I’m quite happy here and that I’m being well looked after.”

“She’ll have been genuine,” he said. “It wouldn’t be an imposition. Christmas Day is an informal affair with my family.”

“But you’re going for a break from work; you don’t want to take work home with you.”

“It’s fine with me.”

She gave a small shake of the head. “It’d be weird, wouldn’t it?”

“Maybe,” he said, unsure whether she was just being polite or whether she had no desire to spend Christmas with him and his family. “My family is a bit mad.”

“All the best families are.” She sipped her wine. “You’d better go so you don’t get in trouble with your mum. Tell her I said thanks for the invite. I’ll see you later.” She shot him a smile that hit deep in his core. “If you find me slumped in a corner, unresponsive, it’ll just be a food coma. Nothing to worry about.”

Chuckling, he walked out from behind the bar. “Enjoy your lunch.” He was almost at the door when he hesitated. Maybe he should be a bit more heartfelt in his invitation. He hadn’t even sounded as though he wanted her to come, so of course she hadn’t agreed.

Or she just didn’t want to. He pushed the door and walked out. She’d said it was weird – how much clearer could she have been? Did he really want to be the idiot who got turned down on Christmas Day?

He grabbed his stuff from the office and was all the way into his car with the engine running when he realised he didn’t care if he looked like an idiot.