Merry Ex-Mas

It was one of life’s mysteries, right up there with the mystery of how Charley could have been so dumb as to miss the fact that her husband was conducting an affair right under her nose…with the woman who worked as their hostess, for crying out loud. Somehow, Ariel hadn’t gotten the memo that her hostess duties applied only to paying customers. They did not extend to making your boss’s husband at home in your bed.

That was past history. Charley returned to the present. “So, you here celebrating?” she asked Ella.

“More like avoiding,” Cecily suggested, making Ella frown. “Jake’s still home,” she added for Charley’s benefit.

“I can see this house-sharing thing is working out great,” Charley cracked.

Ella shrugged. “It won’t be for long. Anyway, he can’t afford a place on his own and I can’t afford my half of the house payment plus rent somewhere else.”

“Your mom would probably help you.”

“I know, but I wouldn’t feel right asking her.”

“I’d have kicked his butt to the curb,” Charley said in no uncertain terms. “Let him stay with one of his band buddies.”

“Their wives and girlfriends would have been all over that,” Cecily pointed out with a grin.

“Beggars can’t be choosers,” Charley said. “Neither can cheaters.” Oooh, how she hated men who cheated on their wives!

“I know he looked as innocent as a man going to the bank in a ski mask, but I still have a hard time picturing Jake cheating on you,” Cecily said to Ella. “It doesn’t seem like him.”

Good old Cecily, always trying to see the best in people, even when there was no best to see. Although Charley had to admit, Jake had seemed like a nice guy. He and Ella had been Cecily’s first successful match, back when she and Ella were in high school. Going their separate ways for college hadn’t quenched Ella and Jake’s passion, and after graduation had come the big church wedding. Her mother hadn’t approved of Jake, but she gave Ella a wedding fit for a princess. They’d not only been a lovely bride and groom, they’d also seemed like the ideal couple, united for life.

Well, she and Richard had seemed like the ideal couple, too. Things weren’t always what they appeared.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Ella said stiffly.

“Good idea,” Charley approved. “Keep this table a heartbreak-free zone.” She caught sight of another couple coming in the door and excused herself to greet them.

They were somewhere in their thirties. The man was going bald and his woman was no beauty, but the way they looked at each other proved that love was blind. She hung on to his arm like she’d never let him go.

Charley could remember when she’d held on to Richard like that. Somewhere along the way she’d released her hold....

She yanked herself back into the present and smiled at the newcomers. “Hi, how are you doing?” As if she had to ask. They were still happily in love.

“Great,” said the man.

“Do you have a reservation?” Charley asked.

He shook his head. “Someone told us this is a good place to eat. How long is the wait?”

“About twenty minutes, but we’re worth it.” Charley smiled. “If you like, you can wait in the bar and we’ll call you when there’s a table. Try the chocolate kiss,” she told the woman.

“That sounds good,” the woman said, and squeezed her man’s arm.

“We’ll wait,” he said, and gave Charley his name.

Watching them go, she wondered if they’d be happy together for the rest of their lives. Yes, she decided, they would be. And on their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary they’d come back to Zelda’s to celebrate. On that pleasant thought she went to help a frazzled-looking Maria clear the corner table.

* * *

As Ella and Cecily enjoyed huckleberry martinis while waiting for their food to arrive Cecily took another stab at convincing her friend that she might have made a mistake.

It wasn’t the first time she’d tried, but Ella had been determined to divorce Jake even though Cecily was sure she was still in love with him. Yes, he wasn’t perfect, but he was perfect for Ella—a good guy with a nice family. Easygoing, fun-loving, just what Ella needed to balance the life of perfection her mother expected from her.

“I know it seems too late now that the divorce is final,” Cecily said, “but I can’t help thinking you should reconsider this. It doesn’t feel right.”

Ella stared into her martini glass. She looked like she was going to drop a few tears into it. “I know you’re famous for those hunches of yours, but this time you’re wrong, Cec. We just aren’t a match. He’s irresponsible. And untrustworthy.”

“But all you really had were suspicions.”

“I had more, believe me,” Ella said, and took a giant sip of her martini.

Jake was such a stand-up guy, Cecily found that hard to believe. What the heck had happened to these two? They’d been madly in love when she moved to L.A., yet by the time she’d moved back home they were done.

“Well, he’s not really irresponsible,” she defended Jake. “I mean, I know he doesn’t have a normal nine-to-five job, but he has a dream.”

“You can’t live on dreams.”

That sounded more like Lily Swan than Ella O’Brien. Ella’s mother had never liked Jake, probably thought he was too much of a redneck for her elegant daughter. Ella had beautiful taste in clothes and decorating, but when it came right down to it, she was a simple, small-town girl, not a New York jet-setter. That was Lily Swan, though. She’d settled in a small town to raise her daughter but she’d always fancied herself a sophisticated woman. Having a son-in-law who was a country musician and who eked out a living teaching guitar and playing in a band didn’t line up with her idea of a successful life.

Had Lily herself been all that successful? Surely if she’d been a top model she’d have wound up living in London or New York or L.A.—some place other than Icicle Falls. If you asked Cecily, Lily Swan had started believing her own press.

Not that anyone was asking Cecily, and not that she would’ve said what she thought even if she was asked. And she wouldn’t be saying anything now, except that Ella was miserable and she hated seeing her friend miserable.

“I don’t know,” she said. “It seems to me if you don’t have dreams you’re not really living.” She’d dreamed of coming home and carving out a new life for herself, and so far that was working out pretty well.

Her new life didn’t include love, though. She’d had enough misery in that department. She had to remind herself of this on a regular basis, every time she saw Luke Goodman, Sweet Dreams’ production manager. She also had to remind herself that sexual attraction did not equal love every time she ran into Todd Black, who owned the Man Cave, the seedy bar at the edge of town.

Ella finished off her drink. “It just wasn’t meant to be. Mims was right.”

Mother knows best? Lily Swan had done a fabulous job of brainwashing her daughter. Of course, she’d brainwashed herself, as well, convincing both of them that Ella could do better than Jake. Maybe she could if she was looking for wealth and status. But that wasn’t Ella. Hopefully, she’d realize it before it was too late and some other girl came along, picked up Jake’s broken heart and put it in her pocket.

* * *

The evening went by in a busy blur for Charley. By nine-thirty her feet hurt. That was nothing new. Her feet always hurt by nine-thirty. A few diners remained, savoring coffee and dessert or an after-dinner drink, but most of the crowd had moved on or relocated to the bar at the back of the restaurant. The dining area was now a burble of soft voices and an occasional clink of silverware on plates.

Sore feet aside, this was Charley’s favorite time of the night. The dinner rush over, she could bask in the satisfaction of having delivered a memorable dining experience to people celebrating and connecting over food.

Food. It was the centerpiece of life. From dinners of state to family gatherings, sharing food was an essential part of human connection. And it was the spice of love. How could you not fall in love when you were gazing across the table at someone? And when your sense of taste came alive over a Chocolate Decadence dessert or a crab soufflé the other senses joined the party. There was a reason lovers went out to dinner.

Some might say she simply owned a restaurant. Charley knew better. She owned a slice of people’s lives.

Tonight she’d had a great slice. She smiled, remembering how the texting teen had actually stopped on the way out to tell her she loved the wild blackberry pie. Her smile grew with the memory of the couple in love strolling out the door hand in hand. Oh, yes, a very successful night, she concluded as she loaded dirty dishes onto a tray.

She had just lifted it up to haul off to the kitchen when a cold gust of wind blew in the door. She looked up to see who the latecomer was and received a shock that made her heart jump and the tray slip from her hands, sending dishes and glasses to shatter on the floor. Oh, no. It couldn’t be.

But it was. The Ghost of Christmas Past. Her ex.