Before midnight Read online

  “Grandma, I already know Brook, you know that. I don’t want anything to do with her basically because she’s a disloyal employee; she sells private information to her company’s competitor.”

  The old lady gasped.

  “Of, my goodness… I didn’t know that. I thought…”

  “Yes, grandma, I know. Because she’s your best friend’s granddaughter, you thought they shared the same values.”

  “Well, yes…”

  “What happened with the woman you found at Elite Companion?

  “She needed a job because she wants to stay in town. She needed a sponsor for her work permit; let’s say that we would both gain something if you came to the party.”

  “And what about sleeping with me?”

  Sylvinna gave him a slap on the shoulder.

  “How dare you, young man, of course not! Whatever you do or don’t do with the girls you go out with is only your business. Lauren only had to bring you here, period.”

  “And then?”

  Sylvinna let out a tired sigh and her smile faded.

  “Before this whole thing blew up, she wanted to talk to me about our deal. She said she was in love with you and she’d rather go back to the US than keep lying to you, but then your cousin arrived.”

  “Is that true?”

  “It is, honey, it is.”

  Caleb felt as if the whole world was shaking.

  “I think I’ve just made a big mistake, although that’s not an excuse for lying.”

  “The end justifies the means, especially when there’s no harm to anyone. She just wanted a job, Caleb, and I offered her one. She didn’t know you yet so I don’t think falling in love with you was part of her plans…”

  He adjusted his jacket, just as he used to do when he was feeling anxious.

  “I’m very angry right now.”

  “All the family are enjoying the party, except us. What if you try to enjoy the rest of the night and tomorrow you go look for Lauren and apologize for what you’ve done? Although I don’t know if she still wants to see you after the way you treated her in front of your family.”

  “Don’t ever try to play matchmaker again, grandmother. Look what your crazy ideas have caused.”

  With an expression of regret, Sylvinna looked sideways at Brook; the woman was chatting pleasantly with her cousins. Maybe it had been a mistake, but Sylvinna’s intentions were always good.

  “I didn’t know Brook was a double agent.”

  “That’s because you’re too optimistic. God, grandmother, don’t ever enter a whore-house again.”

  That comment made Sylvinna laugh.

  “I didn’t know what it was! Did I tell you the whole story?”

  “I better go now. I don’t want to hear the story, seriously.”

  “It might be helpful to clear things up before you find Lauren. What you did is inexcusable. Your reaction was disappointing.”

  “I know I overreacted. I’ve never done something like that…

  “Stay awhile longer, Caleb.”

  He shook his head.

  “No, grandmother, I have to go; enjoy your dinner. I know my aunts and uncles aren’t gossipy but, please, spare them the details about you and Lauren’s agreement or whatever it was.”

  Sylvinna sighed, kids these days are so complicated, she thought.

  “You’re leaving before midnight?”

  Caleb shrugged one shoulder.

  “It’s still Christmas Eve so that might actually help me.”

  CHAPTER 8

  Sex worker? Ha! What a jerk! Lauren thought angrily. He had accused her and slammed her in front of his whole family; he didn’t even give her the benefit of the doubt or the time to explain, nothing! He was blinded by her lie and condemned her with no chance of putting up a defense. What did that say about Caleb Bescott?

  She’d been so silly for confessing her love to him but, which of their sins was worst: loving someone or accusing and hurting someone purposefully? Yes, she lied but she never intended to hurt Caleb.

  Maybe if Spyros hadn’t arrived…

  During the ride from the hotel to her apartment, she decided to reorganize her life. She’d done it once when she decided to take the risk and stay in Holland, now she would so it again in another part of the world. She was a woman of many resources with a wide range of possibilities in front of her.

  If the price for staying in Amsterdam was facing the prospect of seeing the hate in the eyes of Sylvinna’s grandson because he thought she was an escort, she wouldn’t pay it. He’d already been cruel enough to humiliate her in front of his family without even giving her the chance to discuss it privately.

  She started to take her clothes out of the closet, then she picked up her makeup, gathered all her toiletries, took out her suitcase and put it all inside. She sent a pretty long text to Emke, explaining what was going on, and her friend asked her to wait until the next day but Lauren wasn’t planning to do that; she didn’t owe anything to anyone. Her deal with Sylvinna was off and she wasn’t legally bound to anything. After all, she had kept her part of the deal so it was her business if she decided not to take her reward.

  She put all her things on the bed and went looking for her laptop to buy a plane ticket; she was going back to Nebraska the next day. Things hadn’t gone as she expected so she wouldn’t force them either. She’d go back to her country and try to find a new way to accomplish her professional goals; it would make her really happy to see her parents again anyway. The holidays were always a good excuse to visit your family.

  She went into the bathroom to prepare herself a hot bath; she had a ten-hour flight and two stops before arriving in Nebraska.

  ***

  The fact that Spyros had said that his behavior left a lot to be desired, only made him feel even worse because his cousin didn’t usually make moral critics about others. The fact that he had taken the trouble to do that only meant that he’d really been a jerk.

  He sped up the car with a feeling of unease. There were sixty minutes left before midnight and Christmas day; the streets were empty and even though that meant there was practically no traffic, he still had to go slow because of all the snow. Feeling exasperated, he punched the steering wheel with his fist.

  Fifteen minutes later, he was knocking on Lauren’s door.

  “Open the door, please!” he exclaimed relentlessly.

  Nothing, not even a sound. Where had she gone to? He didn’t even have Emke’s phone number to call her and ask for her friend. He rested his hands against the door and ducked his head.

  Seconds later, the door opened and he was barely able to maintain his balance, almost falling flat on his face. When he looked up, Lauren was watching him.

  “I don’t service customers at this time of night,” she said as a greeting.

  She had just dried off when she heard someone banging on the door. When she recognized the voice, she hastily got dressed. If he kept banging on the door Mr. Groen would surely show up with a formal complaint and she would end up paying a fine.

  “Lauren,” Caleb said, absorbing her feminine presence. She’d just come out of the bathroom with her hair wet, no trace of makeup, and he thought she was even more beautiful than at his family’s party, “I… I’m sorry.”

  “Is that all you came to say?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

  “I get that you’re mad.”

  She let out a sarcastic laugh.

  “You don’t say! You’re a psychologist too?”

  “Lauren…”

  “Yes, that’s my name, Lauren Wade. Despite what your family must think and what you think about me, I am not a prostitute and I am not a woman who offers sexual favors.”

  “I was wrong, I hate lies…”

  “Let me remind you that we’re all humans, we make mistakes, and we have ambitions and dreams. Many of those ambitions and dreams take sacrifices and some decisions that maybe we don’t think through. The only thing I did was taking an offer
that I thought wasn’t going to hurt anybody… sleeping with you wasn’t something I discussed with a third party, let alone your grandmother, Jesus!” she expressed feeling mortified and then she hastily explained exactly what happened. When her story was done, she let out a sigh and finally said: “Now that you know everything, you can leave. I lied about my identity; that was it.

  She was about to shut the door in Caleb’s face so he stopped her.

  “Wait!”

  She rolled her eyes impatiently, even though the only thing she wanted was to stop her tears from falling.

  “What do you want?”

  “I’m sorry for humiliating you and for treating you the way I did in front of my family.”

  “Ok, bye,” she tried to close the door in his face for a second time but Caleb stopped her again.

  “Lauren, I don’t usually react this way when a woman angers me. I don’t usually get angry at all.”

  “Well good for them!”

  She adjusted her bathrobe belt because even though she wasn’t naked underneath, having Caleb in front of her made her feel as she was. He was looking at her the way he did when he wanted to kiss her, touch her, hold her, and she didn’t want to crave him like that, damn it!

  “No… I usually don’t have any reaction at all because I don’t care about them, you know why?”

  “Because you’re an idiot.”

  He smiled and entered the house to close the door behind him. Without abandoning her scowl, Lauren turned around and went to sit down.

  “That’s true,” he said, sitting beside her.

  “I haven’t invited you to sit down.”

  “And I did it anyway because, as you said, I’m an idiot,” she was barely able to contain her smile and that was a big win for Caleb. God, he’d just noticed something very important, the mere possibility of not seeing her again or not being with her again had turned him into an emotional wreck and that could only mean one thing; the first thing that he was absolutely sure about since he became an adult. “Please, Lauren, look me in the eyes.”

  Lauren wanted so bad to get him out of her house and not see him again, but during the days she’d spent with him, she’d never seen him ask for something so fervently and she’d never heard that particular tremble in his voice. He went there to find her and then apologized, but she still felt a weight upon her heart.

  “If I do that, you’ll leave?” she asked, right before gazing into his eyes.

  “Yes, I’ll go, but only if you say you don’t believe me.”

  She just shrugged a shoulder in response.

  “Lauren, after being with those women, I didn’t care about them at all, I didn’t even care if they made a scene or tried to manipulate me in some way because I just left them and their tantrums aside. But today was different, you know why?” she obviously didn’t answer. “Because I wasn’t in love with any of them; because none of them were capable of making me think about them for the long run.”

  “Except your ex-fiancé, I guess.”

  “Harper was a juvenile love…”

  “Ok.”

  “This is a mature relationship. I’m deeply sorry for hurting you and for not hearing your version when you asked me to. Please, Lauren, forgive me.

  Like a butterfly about to fly for the first time, Lauren’s heart started pounding in her chest; first, it skipped a bit and then it thundered.

  “I’m going back to Nebraska tomorrow.”

  “Did you buy the ticket during the time it took me to get here?”

  “Yes.”

  “How do you feel about me?” he questioned, softly stroking her cheek.

  “I already told you at the party, Caleb…”

  He smiled.

  “Then you love me just as much as I love you, right?”

  Lauren’s tears finally fell from her brown eyes and slid freely down her cheeks.

  “Yes…”

  Caleb wrapped her in his arms and held her for an immeasurable time. Various minutes passed until Caleb finally broke the hug and then he cradled her face in his hands.

  “If I ask you to be with me, would you go to New York?”

  “I’m not taking the job your grandmother offered.”

  “She’s a good boss but that would mean that you’d be far away from me and follow the orders of that sneaky old lady,” he smiled. “So, would you reconsider the idea of living in Europe?”

  “I didn’t say I wanted to be with you.”

  He pulled away from her with a crooked smile.

  “You’re right,” he declared solemnly. “Lauren Wade, would you come with me to New York to try to make our relationship work, even though sometimes I can be a real jerk?”

  “I first have to think about my professional goals.”

  “Does that mean that if I offer to be your partner in any business you might want to start, you’d say no?”

  “That’s not fair, Caleb.”

  He shrugged his shoulders.

  “Negotiations are part of my life, but there’s one thing that is non-negotiable.”

  “What is?” she asked with a smile.

  “You and my desire to be with you; I want to explore our possibilities. Let me get to know you, let me be part of your life.”

  “And how long would that last?”

  “Our whole lives.”

  Lauren felt her chest expanding with a sense of fulfillment. Wasn’t Christmas the time for love and forgiveness? Everybody made mistakes and that wonderful man sitting beside her had just opened his heart to her completely.

  “That’s an excellent idea,” she whispered against Caleb’s lips.

  In that moment, they heard the distant sound of the twelve strokes of midnight that officially started Christmas Day.

  EPILOGUE

  Christmas was a very special time for the Bescott family. It had been three years since the day they met in Amsterdam and they still thought it was really funny how things had turned out. They were still considering the possibility of being parents but they weren’t in a hurry; everything would happen in due time.

  After that night in Amsterdam when they got back together, Lauren flew to Nebraska and Caleb went with her. They were in Omaha for several days exploring the city, and Lauren introduced him to her friends and family.

  Surrounded by snow in a very romantic marriage proposal, Caleb gave her a beautiful ring. The only thing Lauren needed to believe all his declarations of love was to look him in the eyes because those blue gems were capable of communicating unmistakably everything Caleb felt. At least that was the case for someone who had learnt to see with the eyes of her heart.

  During the next few months after the marriage proposal, Lauren received a visit from her friend Emke, who helped her organize her wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony; in fact, Caleb and Lauren got married twice. The first time was in New York, for which all the Wade family travelled to the sophisticated city. The second time was in Amsterdam with the woman who, in a very unorthodox way, introduced them. Sylvinna didn’t apologize for the whole mess caused by her sneaky tricks; in fact, the naughty old lady said she was glad that her tricks had turned out so good. That statement earned her a laugh from Caleb and an affectionate hug from Lauren.

  Maybe Christmas was a time for joy as well as sadness. The important thing was to turn them into opportunities and listen to our hearts instead of our pride or egos.

  “Honey, come here, please,” Caleb said from the kitchen of the mansion they shared in Manhattan.

  Lauren closed their wedding album with a big smile on her face.

  “Mr. Bescott, what do you need?” she asked teasingly, hugging her husband and looking at him with a look of adoration in her eyes.

  “I always need you, Mrs. Bescott, but this time I also want to ask you a question; a very important one.”

  Lauren was happier than usual; her hair was shining in a special way and she’d been keeping a very important secret.

  “Yeah? Let’s see, surprise me.”


  He leaned towards her and gave her a long kiss.

  “Today it’s Christmas Eve.”

  “I know.”

  “I have a gift for you,” he said, taking out a little box from Tiffany & Co. “I hope you like it, honey.”

  She opened the box slowly and found a beautiful diamond ring.

  “Caleb, it’s beautiful! But why are you giving me another engagement ring?”

  “Because I need you to know that my love for you grows every year; this is important for me.”

  “That’s a little cheesy, even for us,” she replied with a laugh while he put the ring on her finger.

  “It’s true; maybe my intuition has improved lately.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Come on,” he said with a laugh, hugging her and slipping his fingers around the sides of Lauren’s breasts, “take away my anxiety.”

  Lauren wrapped her arms around his husband’s neck.

  “I will, only if you answer this question sincerely.”

  Caleb nodded and slid his hands until both of them were gripping her butt firmly.

  “Of course I want you.”

  “I haven’t asked the question yet,” she reminded him with a smile.

  “I know, I said it just in case you were wondering,” he replied teasingly.

  “After we started working together in my startup I realized that I needed another partner, the most important one, I believe,” Caleb pulled away and placed his strong hands over her stomach, “Would you to have a little girl or boy as a part of your software company and our commercial service business?

  “Oh, Lauren,” he whispered against his wife’s lips, “I love you, of course I’d like that. It’s the best news I’ve gotten since you said you would marry me.” He looked at the clock over his wife’s shoulder, “once again, you give me wonderful news right before midnight on Christmas Eve.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Romantic novel writer and avid reader of the genre, Kristel Ralston is passionate about the stories that take place in the palaces and castles of Europe. Although she liked her profession as a journalist, she decided to change her focus of her career and go to the old continent to study for a master's degree in Public Relations. It was during her stay in Europe when she read several romantic novels that captivated her and prompted her to write her first manuscript. Since then, neither her personal library nor her weekly reading has lacked books of this literary genre.