Wild Christmas (Wild Heart Mountain: Wild Rider’s MC #17)

11. Freya

11

FREYA

M y body’s still throbbing as I hear the door close downstairs. I peer out at the dark snow clouds hanging above the valley and see the Tesla’s taillights heading down the driveway. A dull ache forms in my chest.

I was ready to give myself to Nate, and he’s driven away. What was I thinking?

I was told never to get involved with the dads, and worse never to catch feelings for them. And stupid naive me has gone and done both.

I’m so angry at myself. I could have sworn Nate felt something towards me, but the way he’s gone and left me says otherwise.

I sit by the window for a long time until the clouds thicken and snow begins to fall. It’s only another week until this job ends. If I could leave now, I would. But it wouldn’t be right to leave those little girls alone so close to Christmas .

I’ll have to swallow my embarrassment that I naively thought this was something more when all Nate wanted was a bit of fun.

I can get through my remaining time here by focusing on the girls and sticking to my room as much as I can.

I’m watching the snow fall when a car I don’t recognize comes up the driveway. It parks in the empty space where the Tesla usually sits and a woman gets out.

She retrieves a suitcase from the trunk and darts towards the house. A moment later the doorbell rings.

Knowing that Nate is out I head downstairs, wondering who the visitor is. I open the door to find a short woman who’s all curves. Snowflakes catch on her dark hair, and she peers at me with the same green eyes as Nate.

“You must be Freya, the nanny.” The woman smiles, and she’s got the same dimples as Nate too. “I’m Sydney, Nate’s sister.”

Sydney bustles into the cabin, dumping her bag in the hallway, removing her knee high leather boots, and hanging up her winter coat like only family can.

“Nate’s gone out.” I’m surprised by how steady I manage to keep my voice and hope she doesn’t notice my red eyes. “He wasn’t expecting you for another week.”

“I’m early.” Sydney moves through to the kitchen and flicks on the coffee machine. “You want one?”

I shake my head. I don’t want to be down here when Nate comes home.

“I was supposed to work over Christmas but the job fell through, so I thought I’d surprise Nate and the girls and come back early.”

She grinds beans, sending the aroma of coffee wafting into the air.

“You’re staying here?” I ask.

She frowns at me. “Of course. It means you don’t have to work over Christmas either.” She misinterprets my look. “Don’t worry, Nate will still pay you. But if you want to go to your family, you can now that I’m here.”

She grabs a mug from the cupboard, at home in his kitchen. “My brother doesn’t think of things like that. He’s never been great with people. He thinks everyone likes to work as hard as he does.”

She’s giving me a way out, and I should be happy. This is what I wanted, to leave. But my heart also sinks at the thought.

“But the girls?” I squeak, not sure I can leave them.

“I haven’t seen them in person for a year. I’m dying to spend some time with them. Make sure they’re not picking up my brother’s gaming habits.” She shakes her head. “He was the same as a boy. Spent all his time in his room gaming.”

She presses buttons on the coffee machine and it whirs to life, spewing out dark liquid into a mug.

“He does have the best coffee though. One thing about being a complete nerd. When Nate is interested in something, he gets really interested in it.”

She takes a sip of coffee and sighs contentedly. “These are the best beans, ethically sourced from Ghana and kept in the freezer. Nate, being Nate, has a self- correcting temperature gage to keep the freezer at the correct temperature for the beans. That’s my brother for you. There’s not much outside of tech that takes his interest, but when it does, he’s all in.”

I turn away so she doesn’t see the tears that sting my eyes. I thought I might have that attention trained on me. But I was a naive fool.

I’m not sticking around to be embarrassed any longer. Now that Sydney’s here, there’s no reason for me to stay.

“I’m going to head up and clear out the guest rooms for you.”

She shakes her head. “I didn’t mean you should leave right now, not if you don’t want to. There are plenty of spare rooms. I don’t need the penthouse.”

She says it with a smile, and I realize I like Nate’s sister. The way she speaks about him, you can tell there’s a lot of love between the siblings. It wouldn’t be right for me to stay now anyway. He’s got his family here for Christmas. I’d only get in the way.

I’ve got my key to Aunt Maxine’s. She’s away with her son and it will be a quiet Christmas on my own, but it’s more preferable than staying here.

It doesn’t take me long to pack my suitcase. I put the books back on the bookshelf and throw the ones I borrowed from the library into my bag. I guess that’s what I’ll be doing on Christmas Day, reading on my own.

Reading is usually what I do for comfort, but the thought makes me feel hollow.

I peer out the window, but the Tesla isn’t back .

A layer of white dust covers the ground, and I need to leave now before the snow gets any heavier and the roads gets slippery.

I lug my suitcase downstairs and find Sydney sitting on the couch with her stockinged feet propped up on the coffee table and a magazine open on her lap. An open bag of corn chips is next to her, and a trail of crumbs is sprinkled on the floor and sofa. I wonder if Nate will tell her off for the crumbs and feel a dull ache thinking about it.

“I like what you did to the place.” She indicates the decorations. “I assume that was you, because my brother wouldn’t think to do something like this with the girls.”

“Yeah.” I don’t trust myself to say anything more, and I swallow hard thinking of the girls and how much I’ll miss them. Maybe after Christmas once I’ve gotten over my embarrassment, I’ll pop by to say goodbye to them. It’s a downside of the job, getting attached to your charges.

“I’m going to go before the roads get bad.”

Sydney nods. “I’m sure you want to get back to your family. I’ll let Nate know.”

“Thank you.” My voice wobbles at the thought of leaving Nate, and for the first time Sydney looks up sharply from the magazine and peers at me with the same frown as her brother.

She stands up, dropping crumbs to the floor that I’m sure her brother will have something to say about.

Her brow furrows, and she takes a step closer to me. “What did that dumbass do to you? ”

She says it kindly, but I can’t speak because I don’t want to break down in front of a stranger. I swallow the tears and put on a fake smile.

“Nothing. I’m just missing my family is all.”

She nods slowly like she doesn’t believe me. But I’m already heading for the door. “Have a good Christmas.”

“You too,” she says softly.

I let myself out and get my bags into the car. I don’t look back as I drive into the snow, and only once I’m onto the mountain road and heading to Aunt Maxine’s do I let the tears fall.