The Night Before Christmas

‘Dell and Boyd Webber. They’re here.’

‘Them I know.’

Lena eyed her curiously. ‘There was something between you and Boyd once, right?’

‘It was mostly just heat.’

‘Lucky you. He’s Mr. Motocross now. Rising star.’

‘So I hear.’

Something in her voice made Lena tilt her head and smile. ‘You’re unimpressed. I like that. You look gorgeous, by the way. Elegant, sophisticated and in control. I like that, too. Promise me you won’t leave until you’ve at least given Boyd the opportunity to gaze upon that which he let slip away.’

‘You’re a little bit evil, Lena. You know that, don’t you?’ said a deep voice. Jess turned and there stood Lena’s brother, as forceful and compelling a presence as ever, never mind his easy smile.

Jess smiled carefully, for there was a darkness to Jared that neither the forthright Lena nor the easygoing Trig possessed. ‘Hey, Jared. Been a while.’

‘Four years. Lena, go find Trig and tell him Jess is here.’

‘What am I, your slave?’

‘No, you’re a sensitive host who doesn’t want one of her guests to feel uncomfortable.’

‘I was working on it,’ Lena protested. ‘I was in the middle of telling Jess who else was here that she might know. How is that not being a good host? Besides, I don’t even know where Trig is. He was here for five minutes at the start of the party and then he left.’

‘He’s in the study,’ Jared offered curtly. ‘Cassandra called.’

Lena swore, an emphatic little punctuation mark that made Jess bite back a smile. Call it a hunch, but it didn’t sound like Cassandra was Lena’s favorite person—which probably meant that Cassandra was Trig’s latest girlfriend. The Wests were possessive, simple fact. Possessive of each other and of Adrian ‘Trig’ Sinclair. Maybe it was healthy. Maybe the tightly woven bond between Lena, Jared and Trig wasn’t weird at all.

Lena sighed and her gaze cut back to Jess. ‘Stick around. I’ll go get Trig for you.’

Lena moved off. Jared steered Jess toward a wet bar that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a cruise ship.

‘Champagne?’ he asked and when she nodded, he poured her a glass, got a beer for himself and touched the neck of his bottle to her glass.

‘So, picking up where my sister left off, are you avoiding Boyd this evening or pursuing him?’

‘I’m staying neutral this evening, when it comes to Boyd. Like Switzerland.’

‘Just so you know. That dress you’re wearing? Not neutral.’

‘Think of it as armor.’

‘Switzerland’s armed?’

‘Purely defensive.’

‘That’s what they all say.’

Jess smiled. She could handle Jared’s banter—the lazy knowledge and the sharpness beneath. Trading words with Jared was good practice for when she finally came face-to-face with Boyd.

Jess took a deep breath, sipped her champagne and looked around the crowd again. She could do this. Come to a Christmas Eve party in her hometown and enjoy the company of old acquaintances without falling apart. She had worth now. A good job as a physiotherapist and a life lived in Sydney. She didn’t need Boyd Webber to tell her that a full ride university scholarship gave her a shot at a better life. She didn’t need him saying that if she wanted to break the cycle of poverty and violence she’d grown up with, this was her chance.

She’d taken that chance and made the most of it. Boyd could hardly berate her for that. And if Boyd asked her why she’d come home for Christmas, well…all she had to do was tell him the truth.

That sometimes, just sometimes, she missed the ocean and the beaches, the rhythms of small town life and the fantasy of family who might one day give a damn about her.

That was the truth, even if it wasn’t the whole truth.

No need to mention to Boyd just how much she missed him.

Chapter Two

LENA

Lena West sauntered along the hallway toward her father’s study, her bare feet making no sound on the polished oak floorboards. Trust Cassandra to ruin a perfectly good Christmas Eve party with an ill-timed phone call. Lena could hear it now, the sly maneuverings and the outright dishonesty. Making people think that down was up and up was down. Making Trig doubt himself, and that was unforgiveable in Lena’s eyes. Trig didn’t need Cassandra in his life. Even if she did have big brown eyes, a killer figure and a honeyed voice that put nightingales to shame.

Lena slowed as she reached the study. The door stood open and she could hear Trig’s low murmur coming from within. She didn’t want to interrupt the goodbye speech if indeed a goodbye speech was underway. The goodbye speech was long overdue.

‘Cassandra, we wouldn’t be having this talk now if you’d bothered to answer any of my phone calls or texts this past fortnight.’

Lena assumed from the silence that followed that Cassandra was talking. And talking.

‘Of course I’ve seen Lena and Jared,’ Trig finally replied tightly. ‘They came home for Christmas, too, and they live two doors away.’ He didn’t mention where he was now, Lena noted, leaning back against the wall and absently studying her boyishly short nails. She wasn’t eavesdropping. Now just didn’t seem like a good time to interrupt.

‘I’m sorry you feel that way, Cassie,’ Trig said next, in a voice that was three parts ice and one part pure heat. ‘But there will always be room for Jared and Lena in my life.’

More simmering seething silence followed that statement.

‘I am not gay for Jared. I don’t care what you think. I know what my sexual orientation is.’

Gay for Jared? Whoa. Nice try but no deal. Lena’s dislike for Cassie ratcheted up another notch.

‘Nor do I have an unhealthy fixation with his sister. We work together. We grew up together. Jared and Lena will always be my friends. Are you done? Because I really do think we’re done here.’

Several more long moments went by and then something clattered onto her father’s desk, possibly Trig’s phone. He was hell on phones. Lena leaned forward and risked a glance through the doorway. Trig was sitting in her father’s chair, elbows on the desk, staring straight at her.

‘For someone who professes to want to eavesdrop for a living, you’re really bad at it,’ he said.

‘How did you know I was here?’

‘The after sun lotion you’re wearing smells like tea trees, and underneath that I can smell you.’

Eew. Lena attempted a not-so-subtle sniff test of her armpit and ignored Trig’s fleeting smile at her response. Nothing too disastrous happening there. She’d showered after the afternoon’s kite surfing. She’d even put on a dress. Granted, it wasn’t as classy as Jess’s, but it was still a dress. ‘You lie,’ she told him bluntly. ‘I smell fine. And I wasn’t eavesdropping. I just didn’t want to interrupt.’

‘Yet here you are. What do you want, Lena?’

‘I came to tell you that Jessica Turner’s here. She’s in need of a little reassurance that someone actually wants her here.’