Home for Christmas Series Box Set Duet Read online

  “And apart from that, darling,” her father added with a massive grin, “Emery’s the only famous person I know. Your mom’s right on everything she says. I can’t stress how much we need this.”

  Lewiston was a little off the beaten track. The place had a coffee shop and bakery, a lovely bookstore in a character building, a diner and a restaurant, and a handful of upmarket stores that used to be busy in the summer months but were now quiet all the time. There was also a delicatessen, a wine store, and a small supermarket that would see folks through until they went to the nearest large town for a big shop.

  The hub of the town was Lewiston Square, a large grassy area with a fountain in the middle, surrounded by seating. In warm weather people would sit and eat their lunches, and in the winter a huge Christmas tree was erected next to the fountain. All the important buildings were around the square: the police station, the library, the post office and the Town Hall, which was where the Christmas concert was held.

  Harmony had always taken a great deal of pleasure in the concert and for years she had taken on the job of organizing all the details that made it successful. But three years ago, after a particularly difficult concert she’d vowed to never—and she meant never—get involved again. Both of her parents knew she meant what she said and they should have been respecting that decision.

  Despite herself, her curiosity got the better of her. “How did you get hold of him, Dad?” Her father might be mayor of Lewiston, but he’d need a lot more clout than that to get Emery Dante, one of the world’s biggest rock stars, to come home to be the star attraction in the Christmas concert.

  “You know me. I’ve got a lot of contacts.” Her father winked at her, and gave her the huge fond smile that always melted her heart. Being an only child Harmony was the apple of her parents’ eyes, but ever since she had been little, she’d been daddy’s girl and that had never changed.

  “But you haven’t got any contacts in Los Angeles, have you?”

  “I’ve got a few there. You remember Ann Lawson’s cousin? He did something in the entertainment industry in LA, and I rang him to get a couple of names. He knew someone who knew someone and the upshot was that I got the phone number for a guy in Emery’s band, one of his roadies, and his manager. And you know me… I’m nothing if not tenacious. So I rang all three of them.” He winked at her again. “Several times. I knew eventually one of them would call me back.”

  Harmony nodded, knowing that practically everyone found it hard to say no to her father, which is why he’d been the mayor of their small town for so many years. The problem was, his charm had now put her in an impossible situation and she didn’t know how she was going to extricate herself from it.

  Two days later, Harmony was teaching her primary school class about plants when she realized she’d lost the kids’ attention. One of the boys had gotten up from his seat, opened the classroom window and was hanging out looking at something on the street. Rather than paying attention to her, the other kids were more interested in what the boy was doing.

  The discussion on watering and feeding indoor plants was put on hold, waiting for him to return to his seat. “What's happening out there that's so interesting, Tom?”

  “Look, Ms. Young, it’s your father. It’s the mayor of Lewiston.”

  Harmony scuttled over to the window, wondering what on the earth her father was doing at the school. He saw her looking down at him and gave her a cheery wave and then a moment later, as the bell went off for lunchtime, he sauntered into the classroom. He kissed her on the cheek. “How is my beautiful daughter doing today?”

  “Dad, why are you here?” It was a rhetorical question. Her father was a man who wouldn’t give up easily and she was pretty sure he wanted to talk to her about the Christmas concert.

  “I thought I’d take you to lunch. Do you fancy it?”

  Of course she did. Both parents knew Harmony was motivated by food. Usually an incredibly slim girl, and athletic, she’d started packing on the pounds. She wondered if eating was a way of comforting herself after the disappointments she’d had in the last few years. First Emery had left for LA. Then she’d met someone else, dated for a while and then they’d gotten engaged. That hadn’t worked out either, because as it turned out she wasn’t over Emery, and she was starting to wonder if she’d ever find happiness or whether she’d end up a spinster.

  “That sounds nice. I’m not on yard duty today so I can come. But I’ve got to be back in forty-five minutes to get ready for the next class.” She walked to the cupboard and took her coat out. Although the day was sunny, the air was chilly as winter approached. Her dad helped her pull on the bright red wool trench and they left the school.

  The street was thick with brightly colored leaves, which they crunched through as they walked the block to the diner. A favorite of Harmony's, the small restaurant had a simple but delicious menu of home-made burgers and French fries, hot dogs, quiche, and a range of other home-made goodies. Once inside Harmony shed her coat and folded it beside her in the high-backed booth.

  “Hi, Arnold, Harmony. How are you both today?” The waitress, Tina, had worked in the diner ever since Harmony was a teenager. “Your usual?”

  “Yep, that sounds good, thanks, Tina,” Harmony replied. “How’s your day been, Dad?”

  He told her about the meeting he’d had with a few of the town committee members about the town’s declining state, and she knew what was coming, but her father kept the talk general.

  Tina put their lunches on the table—cheeseburgers, fries and shakes—and they ate in satisfying silence enjoying the thick burgers until Arnold cleared his throat, signaling that he had something important to say. “Honey, I wanted to talk to you again about the concert. I totally understand that you said you’d never manage the event again, but you know it’s never been as good without you. Trisha has done her best, but she doesn’t have your organizing skills. And then there’s Emery…look, I really need you to reconsider this. The concert’s the town’s biggest attraction.”

  She chewed her mouthful slowly, savoring the juicy patty and thick melted cheese.

  “Darling, I need you to be onboard with this. Last winter’s snowstorms and harsh weather killed the concert. Our townsfolk need something to boost their spirits. And Harmony, you can give it to them so easily. You just have to do the concert with Emery.”

  “Dad, you know I don’t like saying no to you, but it really is no.”

  “Why is it that I feel your refusal isn’t terribly convincing?” Arnold drew his hand across the table in frustration.

  “Dad, I really want you to leave it. Please. This is something I’m not going to do.”

  “All right, my darling.”

  They finished their lunch without mentioning the concert again, but Harmony had a strong feeling that she hadn’t heard the last of his pleas.

  Two days later Harmony was cornered by her mother and the rest of the Lewiston Hens. A group of eight women who’d been friends for years, they formed the main gossip hub in town. The ladies gave to good causes, baked when anyone was bereaved or new to town, helped each other out in hard times and knew everything that was going on within the town limits.

  “I hear you’re going to do the Christmas concert this year, Harmony,” Maybelle said over a cup of steaming tea at Gladys’s house.

  “No, I’m not.” Although Maybelle was like an aunt to Harmony, her comment rankled.

  “Gladys said—”

  “I don’t care what my mother said. I’m not doing the concert. No one complained when I made the decision. Why should they now?”

  Maybelle’s mouth opened and closed, and she shot Gladys an anguished look.

  “The thing is, dear—” her mother began.

  “I’m going out,” Harmony said and left the house without a backward glance, imagining the embarrassment she’d caused her mother in front of her friends. But she didn’t care and resolved that each time her mother or father broached the subject of the co
ncert she’d do the same thing. Sooner or later they’d get the hint.

  But they didn’t, and two days later she knew why when she received a phone call in the middle of a math class. Harmony pulled her phone out of her pocket, surprised that anyone would call mid-morning as her friends knew she’d be teaching. The phone number flashed on her screen, one she didn’t recognize, but she did know the 212 area code was in Los Angeles. Was it Emery? Had her father told him to call?

  She switched the phone off, her hand shaking. Why did he even imagine she’d speak to him? She didn’t care if her father, mother and all the townspeople wanted her to—or the President of the United States and the Queen of England asked her to—there was no way she was going to talk to Emery Dante.

  But after class, she turned her phone on again, and listened to his message. He sounded abashed, apologized for not having called her sooner and said he hoped she was okay. Could she call him back, he asked her, to talk about the Christmas concert? She deleted the message. She had no intention of calling him back, ever.

  Two more days went by, and Harmony began to feel confident that the issue of the Christmas concert would end there. But her parents’ admonishing and Emery’s call were only the beginning. She began to feel like an all-out initiative was waged against her as people throughout the town begged her to say yes to doing the concert again so that Emery would come back. The first she heard about it was from Mona in the bookstore.

  “I hear you’re going to do the Christmas concerts again this year, Harmony,” Mona told her with a bright smile on her face. “You should never have stopped in the first place. The production really hasn’t been as good as the days when you were involved.” Despite the compliment her tone was commanding. “And I heard from Maybelle that Emery Dante is coming back to perform at the concert if you get involved again. Is that true?”

  Harmony shook her head in frustration. Maybelle was as big a gossip as the town had, but maybe that was the point. If all the Lewiston Hens knew—and they must—it was likely that soon every single person in the town would know, and her life would be hell.

  She was right. Mona’s comments were the first of many and if Harmony had been given a dollar for every time she had been asked about Emery Dante and the Christmas concert, she could have employed someone even more famous than him to come and perform.

  But each time someone asked and she told them “no”, she wasn’t going to do it, she could see the disappointment in their eyes. It was as if she held the key to the town’s regeneration and by telling them “no”, she wasn’t going to work with the town’s famous son, their hopes died before her eyes. Guilt gnawed at her and she went into justification mode in her own mind. She wasn’t refusing because she didn’t love Lewiston but because she couldn’t imagine opening herself up for the potential hurt. The truth was, she still loved Emery and wondered how she could subject herself to him if he was only going to leave after the concert. No, she had to stick to her guns. She knew she was doing the right thing, but boy, was the pressure getting to her. Where would it all end?

  Three

  Emery

  Emery knew deep in his soul that he’d broken Harmony’s heart. He’d known it from the moment he left town, but in the intervening years he’d never allowed himself to give it too much thought as it filled him with self-loathing. When he looked back he could see he’d been hard and ruthless in the way he’d done it, but he was smart enough to acknowledge that when you’re young and hungry for something, everything else in your life is secondary to that desire. If he’d been more mature he would have seen things differently and he wouldn’t have left her behind. Now and again he did revisit what he’d done and at those times he was tempted to write to her and try to explain, but putting his thoughts on paper—or even lifting the phone and calling her—made it all seem more real. He was deeply ashamed of what he’d done so avoidance was his preferred tactic. Despite that he lived with the certainty of knowing he’d never love again like he had with Harmony and he always hoped that fate would bring them together again. How that would happen without getting in touch with her he wasn’t sure, but underneath everything Emery was a true romantic and he lived in hope.

  When he thought about Harmony, he wondered what she was doing now. She was likely married, or at least engaged. Maybe she even had children. She would have gotten over him a long time ago. She was a beautiful, talented young woman who could have the world at her feet if she wanted. Her voice…another reason I should have brought her to LA with me. Yet he knew she wouldn’t have gone: she was a down-home girl who loved Lewiston and would still be there completely fulfilled, their time together a distant memory.

  After Arnold’s phone call all his emotions resurfaced and when the Mayor had called a second time and said Harmony wouldn’t agree to work with him, he sounded the older man out about his daughter’s situation. His heart had lifted at the news. She’s still single so there’s every reason for me to go back. I must get her to agree to do this.

  After talking with Arnold he dialed her cellphone with shaking hands. Adrenaline bubbled into the pit of his stomach, slowly releasing into his bloodstream and putting him in a heightened state of anxiety. What was he going to say to her? Emery had no idea, but he knew that the conversation would have to happen sooner or later, so when her voicemail kicked in he left a short message. He was friendly in tone, but not too upbeat, not wanting to alienate or annoy her by sounding over confident.

  When he put the phone down he strode around his living room, waiting for her to call back, his anxiety spiraling as the minutes ticked by. Was she going to return his call? Or did she hate him so much that she’d ignore it?

  Over the next few days he jumped every time his cellphone rang, his heart plummeting each time it wasn’t her. Then finally, with a sinking heart, he acknowledged that she probably had no intention of phoning him back.

  The next day, resolved as to his course of action, he called Carmen. “I want you to book me a flight into New York and rent a car for me at the airport. I’m going back to Lewiston.”

  “Are you sure this is what you want to do?”

  “Yes. Look, the band and I don’t have any big performances now until the New Year.” He rubbed the back of his neck, annoyed that he had to justify his decision. “I’ve got a clear space of time and after the hectic tour schedule we’ve had over the last year, I think I deserve a bit of a break, don’t you?”

  “You sound like you’re going back for a while.”

  “Yeah. I think I might stay there right through until after Christmas.”

  A day later Emery’s plane approached Albany, the closest airport to Lewiston. He looked out of the window as the plane descended, taking in the green fields and the beautiful countryside surrounding New York’s capital city. In the airport terminal he pulled a baseball cap low on his head, keeping his face down as he went outside to the car rental booth.

  “I’m Mr. Jones,” he told the girl at the booth, using the assumed name he often travelled under. She looked at him strangely, as if she’d recognized him, but didn’t say anything. She handed the keys over and gave him directions to the car located in the lot outside.

  Emery loved driving and always enjoyed taking one of his cars for a blast down the Pacific Coast Highway, but today his sense of freedom was absolute as he drove north to Lewiston. He’d forgotten how pretty the scenery was in this part of the world and at this time of the year. The sky above him was blue, the sun was shining, and the trees were losing their coats of golden, brown and red leaves. The small towns he passed through reminded him of home. He’d become so accustomed to LA’s brash beauty that he’d forgotten the charm of simpler living. He was excited to be nearing home, although when he reached the outskirts of Lewiston he felt conflicted. Tonight, and for the first time, he’d be staying in the house he’d bought a year ago, anonymously through a local real estate agent. And tomorrow for the first time in years, he’d see Harmony. How will she act like when she sees me? H
ave I done the right thing in coming home?

  Back in Lewiston he drove through the center of town, slowing as he drove past his old elementary school that Harmony now worked in. Then he carried on through to Lewiston Square and down Main Street to where it intersected with Lakeshore Drive. He cruised for a block or two more, glancing out at the still blue waters of Lake Placid where he swam as a boy. Finally he slowed, admiring the house he’d settled on, and pulled into the driveway, and up to the garage, which was conveniently open. Carmen had hired a local woman to come in and get the house ready for ‘Mr. Jones’, the owner who lived in New York. She’d left the porch light on, opened the garage door, and inside she’d cleaned, turned on the heating and stocked the refrigerator with the essentials he might need. Emery hadn’t seen the house in person, so he spent some time looking around the property before the light faded. Back inside he prepared a light supper of bacon and eggs on whole wheat bread, something he never usually ate. As he savored his food, he felt the peace of home and was happy he’d decided to vacation away from the rat race.

  The next morning Emery woke up, stayed around the house for most of the day and then set off for Lewiston Elementary School. As he drove toward the gates of the school the memories came flooding back. He’d had many happy times there before he’d even considered that he liked to sing. He parked the car at three in the afternoon, got out, and leaned against the hood. To the casual observer he looked like any other parent lining up in the carpool pickup line.

  “Excuse me, aren’t you Emery Dante?” a young woman asked, peering at him. “You are, aren’t you?”

  “No. I’m not.” His words were firm, but the woman didn’t believe him and as he stood there denying who he was, he could see other mothers looking over, talking amongst themselves. Soon a crowd started forming around him and he wished he was anywhere but there. He hadn’t planned on a fan club accompanying him on his first meeting with Harmony after these years away.