Page 9 of A Winter Wish

“If it makes a profit. If it doesn’t, I could be stuck for five more years. And besides, Theo is annoyingly right. I know nothing about running a business or how to make a profit.”

“Theo is the man you have to work with?”

“Yes, the man who hates me. The complete stranger Richard deemed important enough to give half his company to.”

Lexie looked over to the kitchen stove to see her mum raise her eyebrows at “Richard” rather than “Dad,” but she didn’t comment. Instead she said, “I’m sure he doesn’t hate you.”

Lexie said nothing—it seemed petulant to argue.

“And I’m sure your dad had a reason for this, Lexie.”

“Right, because all his actions in the past have been so reasonable.”

Her mum glanced over at her—and she could feel the assessment in that glance. “I think it’s worth remembering that things are always a little more complicated than they seem.”

Lexie snorted, then groaned. “Sorry. Sorry I’m being cranky. It’s just…It’s been a long day.” She didn’t know whether to bring up the fact that Rachel had been left a house—or whether that would highlight the divide between Richard’s two families. Her mum had always been so great, tried to encourage a relationship with her sister, no matter how much it hurt her. It was part of the reason Lexie had shied away from having a relationship with Rachel, really—she’d seen how much it hurt her mum, the fact that her dad had started over with someone new, and she’d seen her mum try to put that aside, for her. At that thought, she got up, set her mulled wine down on the coffee table, and went into the kitchen.

She wrapped her arms around her mum, breathing in the floral scent from the same perfume she’d worn since Lexie was a kid. “I’m sorry for moaning.”

Her mum squeezed her arm. “It’s a lot to take in. But one thing at a time, my darling. Go into the office tomorrow, see what’s what. Try to understand what’s expected of you. Then go from there.”

One step at a time. Surely she could do that?

—

After an hour with Theo in the office, she was very much thinking she could not do that, and repeating one step at a time inside her head was doing nothing to help. He’d shown her around, but grudgingly—and only because Ange had watched them from the corner of the room before disappearing off somewhere. Despite the brevity of Theo’s tour, Lexie was pleasantly surprised to find out that the art decorating the walls was all from different countries—all places R&L Travel arranged trips to.

Lexie had, at least, learned more about what the company actually did. She’d done her research last night to be prepared but had let Theo explain it to her—in a ridiculously condescending manner—just in case she’d misunderstood something. The whole idea was based around cultural traditions and allowing people to experience key holidays around the world and get to know a country through the way they celebrate. See the world through celebration. There were trips for the more universal holidays like Christmas, but there were also trips specific to certain areas, like the Tomato Festival in Spain or St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland. It was a travel company, yes, but based entirely around celebrating different cultures and experiencing new things.

Though she’d prepared herself last night, Lexie had to try very hard not to feel bitter as Theo explained this. Because the more she thought about it, the more it seemed like her dad had taken something she’d thought of as their family tradition when she was growing up—experiencing Christmas in a different place each year—and turned it into a moneymaking scheme. The whole thing left a sour aftertaste, one she was having trouble swallowing away.

There were two desks out front, and Theo and Lexie were currently hovering around one of them, while Harry—with the blond hair and tortoiseshell glasses—alternated between sitting at the other desk, watching Theo and Lexie, and jumping to his feet to attempt to deal with customers. Lexie wasn’t entirely sure why Harry had been let loose with said customers, because he didn’t seem to know anything, declaring every holiday in the brochure an “awesome” one, and answering any query with “You know what, that’s a great question.”

After Harry failed to deal with the latest inquiry, Theo shoved the brochure that he was running through into Lexie’s hand, marched over to where Harry was smiling and nodding as a couple explained they weren’t sure where in Germany they’d like to go, and grabbed his forearm, pulling him to one side. Lexie smiled weakly at the couple as they looked over, the brunette woman arching her eyebrows as she flexed her fingers on the brochure, engagement ring very clearly on show.

“Harry,” Theo said in an undertone, “you know you do need to actually learn the answers to some questions?”

“I know,” Harry said, nodding serenely, playing with his tie—another Christmas one, with little Rudolphs staring out at Lexie. “It’s just a lot to remember, my man.”

Lexie hid a smile, then cleared her throat. Both of them looked over at her. “Harry, if it helps, the German Christmas Market trip can be done in Munich or Aachen, and it can be from three to eight nights, depending on what they want to cross off.” They continued to stare at her, and she shrugged. “It was a question about forty-five minutes ago.”

“See, even she knows the answer and an hour ago she had no idea what we bloody did here.”

Theo let go of Harry’s arm and Harry bounded off back to the couple with an undimmed toothy smile.

Lexie crossed her arms, leveling a look at Theo. “I’m going to point out that she has a name. Maybe you ought to learn it, given it appears we’ll be working together in some capacity for the next year.”

He said nothing, but the amber in his eyes flared.

“And I knew what you did here before you explained it to me like I’m a five-year-old.”

He flicked one eyebrow up. His unimpressed, scathing look. “Is that so?”

“Yes. And the Lemon Festival in France is the one I’d pick to go on, in case you were wondering.” She deliberately named one of the holidays he hadn’t run through with her yet, adding a sweet smile for the hell of it.

He gave her a long look—one that made her begin to feel self-conscious enough to ask, “What?”

“Nothing. Your dad liked that one too, that’s all.”