Page 27 of Wait a HO HO HO Second!

“Yeah, when we were talking in Lorelei’s office. I brushed it off as a joke, but internally I was hoping to use reverse psychology on him and keep it up until he was so convinced we didn’t need his help that he left. I can’t deal with him for the entire season, Marci!”

The line went silent for a moment before her best friend dropped a truth bomb. “You’d better find a way to get right with it, bestie. I don’t think he’s going anywhere.”

After a bit more commiserating, Joy hung up with a sigh. She had work to do, but first she had to reach out to Kian. He was likely waiting to hear from her, even if he didn’t want her to know what he was planning. She’d text him, but she didn’t have his cell number. All she could do was call the estate.

As it rang in her ear, she wondered what it would look like when the house staff answered and she had to ask for Kian. If he really was sticking around, she’d have to get his cell number. That’s when an evil, awful, wonderful idea came to her. She’d get his cell number and tell him he could do his work at the estate and that she’d contact him with any problems. He could stay in Snowcap Ridge as long as he wanted, as long as he stayed away from her and her mall.

Why are you so afraid he'll stick around?

Growling at her inner voice, she cleared her throat as the call connected. She was ready to ask for Kian when she realized it was his voice on the line. “Kian?”

“Speaking,” he said. “Joy?”

“It’s me, yeah,” she said, clearing her throat again. “Sorry for calling the house line. I don’t have your cell number.”

“Nothing to apologize for, but we can fix that. Did you forget something? If so, I can run it over later.”

“No, I didn’t forget anything. When I got home, I found an early Christmas gift from Santa. I was wondering if you knew who Santa’s elf was.”

“Can’t say I do,” he said, but she could picture him grinning ear to ear, his brown eyes sparkling with glee behind his glasses. Whether he was grinning because she was uncomfortable having to call him or for some other reason, she couldn’t say.

“Strange, because there are only a few people I know who could have a chairlift installed after hours on a Friday night.”

“Santa does have a lot of pull,” he reminded her. “Not many people are going to turn him down if they want to stay on the nice list.”

“True, I suppose,” she said. “Well, I did want to thank the elf who made the chair lift possible because it’s going to improve my life in so many ways. Now I can go back and forth between my apartment and my office during the day without worrying about falling.”

“Joy,” Kian said in a voice that melted her insides.

No. Stop that, Joy! She banished the thought instantly.

“Why didn’t you talk to Mom about installing one long ago? You know she’d have had it done in an hour.”

“Lorelei did enough for me, Kian. The stairs have only become a problem over the past year. And don’t say it might be my weight. It’s not my weight.”

“Whoa, Joy,” he whispered. “That never crossed my mind. You wear braces and use crutches because of a nerve condition in your legs. I don’t need a medical degree to know that’s why it’s getting harder to climb stairs.”

“In my defense, you would have said in the past that if I lost weight, it would be easier to do the stairs.”

“You’re right that young, immature Kian would have said that, but I’m not that guy anymore, Joy. I understand life a bit better now.”

“Trust is hard to come by, I guess. I’m sorry. Marci told me to be nice, and here I am getting defensive again.”

When Kian’s laughter filled Joy’s head, it melted another piece of ice around her heart. Part of her wished he were still the same asshole she’d known in high school. She knew what to expect from that Kian Van Adler. The one on the phone now was a mystery she couldn’t predict or unravel.

“Trust is a process, Joy. I understand that. Honestly, I didn’t like the idea of you living there without proper access to your apartment. If you fell and hurt yourself—”

“The mall would end up paying a heavy price. We can’t have that,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Again with the putting words in my mouth,” Kian growled. “What I was going to say, had you let me finish, was,” he paused, then sighed. “Actually, I was going to say the mall would pay for it, not in money but in the loss of your leadership. The more I talk with people around the mall, the more I learn how good leadership at the top trickles down and benefits everyone. That’s the very first thing they teach you in business school, but implementing it is difficult for most managers. You excel at it.”

“The idea always seemed like common sense to me,” she said with a shrug. “But I didn’t attend a fancy private business school that turns out business sharks. I’m just running an outlet mall in a small town.”

“An outlet mall worth hundreds of millions. With an S. So, say what you want, but you’re the reason people stay the course there, even when they see a downturn. They know you’ll find a way to turn it around if given the chance.”

“Here we are going on about business when I called to say thank you for the chair lift,” Joy said, hoping to end the conversation while she was still ahead.

“Consider me thanked,” Kian said, his voice soft, even as Joy tried to ignore how well she could read his emotions over the phone. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”