Page 18 of Last Chance Seduction (Montgomery Ink Legacy #9)

Chapter Nine

Mercy

H ow did one go through life wondering exactly what we come to next?

Of course, I had no idea what the heck I was doing.

In one moment, I was trying to understand exactly how I was going to pull off a fake relationship with someone, the next, I’m running my hands up and down Lexington’s back as if we had been doing that for our entire lives.

Now it was nearly Christmas day, and I was trying to get ready for the holiday season.

The holidays had crept up on me when I hadn’t been looking.

I’d been so focused on my projects, getting my house together, and whatever the hell was happening next door, I hadn’t let myself think about what the holidays would mean to me—let alone what I’d be doing on my own.

Even though I had gone to a Christmas party, it still hadn’t clicked until just now.

Because I would be spending Christmas day alone. Not for the first time, not technically. Because Emily had died before Christmas, but I had been in such a haze, a zombie, walking through life, that it hadn’t truly hit me that I would be alone.

We’d had our own traditions. We would open up all of our gifts but one on Christmas Eve because that’s what my mother had done as a child.

My father had been aghast at the thought but had eagerly joined in at the look of pure bliss on my mother’s face for their first Christmas Eve.

So when Emily and I had been born, they had added to the tradition.

Eggnog and cookies next to the fireplace. Stockings over the couch so they didn’t catch fire like that one time we had actually put them on the fireplace mantle.

We would make nachos and guacamole and random food for Christmas Eve, anything that was super easy to make so we would have more time as a family of four. And then, on Christmas morning, we’d have one large gift each. But it wasn’t the sole purpose of the day.

No, we would have a large breakfast, filled with French toast, omelets, fruit, homemade whipped cream. Anything you could imagine for breakfast. Going on walks, covered under blankets, and watching movies by the fire as the Christmas lights on the tree sparkled.

Maybe it wasn’t the fantastical Christmas that some people had, but it was our tradition.

And then Mom and Dad had died, and Emily and I had tried our best to keep up with it. We had done the exact same things we had always done, just the two of us.

When Justin and I had been together, we had followed both sets of traditions, always making sure Emily was part of it.

She had a serious boyfriend at the beginning of my relationship with Justin but had been single by the time I had gotten engaged.

But no matter what, my twin and I had been together.

The first Christmas after the wedding we had been in a hospital room, the sounds of the machines beeping through my mind.

Emily had contracted pneumonia, and had been on bedrest, hooked up to IVs and dozens of wires.

But she had been alert and smiling as we opened up a single gift.

Notebooks for each other. We hadn’t even talked to one another about it, but we had bought nearly identical notebooks.

Maybe it was the idea of the twin bond. Perhaps we were following Hamilton’s very existence and writing like we were running out of time.

The doorbell rang before I could let myself wallow too far into my thoughts, and I walked past Mr. Darcy so I could answer.

Brooklyn and Mrs. Montgomery stood there, bright smiles on their faces, and I couldn’t help but feel the pang of what I’d lost. I wasn’t this person.

The one who let those angry memories wrap around me so I couldn’t breathe.

And yet in that moment, I couldn’t do anything but stand there and hope to hell I could keep a straight face.

To hope to hell I wouldn’t crumble in a heap at their feet.

Eliza Montgomery smiled at me again, before leaning forward, and hugged me tightly. Without thinking twice, I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her with every ounce of my soul. In that moment, I wasn’t Mercy. The orphan. The woman with no family.

I was held by a mom who loved her children and all those connected to her boys. Tears filled my eyes, and I had no idea why. It wasn’t as if she’d even spoken to me. But with that one hug, everything had changed, and I couldn’t breathe.

I took a step back and realized I was crying. Lexington’s mother wiped away my tears and smiled.

“Sometimes I just need a good hug too.”

“You’re just going to have to deal with a hug from me as well,” Brooklyn put in as she wrapped her arms around me. I hugged her back, but this time we both laughed, the tears happy ones.

“I’m sorry about that. I don’t know where that came from.”

Eliza shook her head. “The holidays are always stressful, and they bring up memories and emotions that you might not think about on a daily basis. However, we are always here if you want to talk.”

I shook my head. “I’m fine. I was just going through the traditions I had with my parents and sister and realized I’m not sure if I want to do them this year.

Christmas is in a little over a week, and I don’t even have a tree up.

” It was more that the concept was just occurring to me now.

There had been Christmas lights and decorations all over the JW the entire time we had been there.

But it had just clicked that maybe my house needed a little more cheer.

“We might be able to help with that,” Eliza said with a wink.

I blinked. “What do you mean?”

Mr. Darcy wound his way through my legs, and butted up against Brooklyn. The other woman picked up my cat as if she had been doing it forever and nuzzled my only family member. “I think I’m in love.”

Eliza slid a finger down Mr. Darcy’s nose, a smile on both women’s faces. “I told you that you should get a pet. Though maybe a dog would be better for you so you can bring him to your project sites.”

I smiled at the mother-daughter pair. “Would a puppy dig in your flowerbeds?”

Brooklyn narrowed her gaze. “Oh, there would be training. I love pets. We had so many growing up, and my parents still have a few. It’s just so hard to say goodbye.” She looked at me and winced. “I’m sorry. That was insensitive of me.”

I shook my head. “No. It’s good to talk about loss. Whenever I bury those feelings deep, they come out in random crying jags as people come to my door. I haven’t even let you inside yet.” Embarrassed, I took a step back, and the other two women walked inside.

“Don’t worry about it. We were just happy to see you. In fact, we are about to kidnap you.” Eliza smiled.

I blinked. “What? Where are you taking me?”

“Shopping of course!” Brooklyn said as she held Mr. Darcy as a baby, rocking him back-and-forth. The cat purred so loudly I could hear it from a few feet away.

“Shopping?”

Lex’s mother nodded. “We still have a few gifts to buy for those in our immediate family. We do a secret Santa for everybody else. That way we’re not giving hundreds of gifts out every year. The list gets long.”

Eliza reached forward to pet Mr. Darcy’s stomach, and while I almost reached out to stop her, the cat just nuzzled into her, and I glared at the traitor.

“First, that cat never lets me touch his stomach.”

“He loves me already,” Eliza teased. “What’s the second?”

“Second. The secret Santa idea is utterly fantastic. I don’t have gifts for anyone.” My eyes widened. “I didn’t even think about it.”

“Well, we have time. And we’re taking you anyway.

” Eliza held my hand and squeezed. “I’m sorry, but you’re about to get adopted into the Montgomerys.

And we’re going to make sure you get the holiday you want.

It might be different than what we do as a vivacious family, but I’m not going to let you hide in your home. I’m sorry. I’m not wired that way.”

“You don’t really have to do this,” I whispered, an odd warmth spreading through me.

This family…I just couldn’t keep up. Whatever Lex and I had didn’t even have a label and they were acting as if I were already part of them.

Then again, that kiss… those kisses. There was nothing fake about those.

And in the twenty-four hours since that kiss, we hadn’t spoken about it.

Work had been in the way, but then again, I knew we both needed time to think.

Only I hadn’t let myself think about him at all.

“We don’t. But Lexington is not about to let you be alone on the holidays either,” Brooklyn said with a sly smile on her face.

My cheeks heated even as I glared at the woman next to me. “I’m not sure that’s his business.”

The other woman just beamed. “Oh we’re going to be best friends.

Just you watch. And you might not think you’re his business, but since you’re his fake, I’m sorry, I mean real girlfriend, you’re sort of out of luck here.

” Brooklyn continued before I could say anything.

“Now go get ready, and I’ll stay here with this lovely man. ”

“Duke has someone to watch out for it seems,” Eliza said with a chuckle.

I snorted but knew there would be no stopping them. I knew the Montgomerys. Had known them my entire life. It didn’t matter that I’d been away for two years. They weren’t letting me go now.

Even if I didn’t want to think about what that would mean with my fake-but maybe not so fake-boyfriend slash neighbor.

I knew if I kicked these women out and said I wanted to be alone, they would leave. Of course, they would come back as quickly as possible, perhaps sending other Montgomerys or reinforcements to try to either get me out or remind me that I’m not alone.

Sometimes I wasn’t sure how I had gotten so lucky with this group of people. I didn’t know why I was able to do certain things. To be here. But I had come back to Colorado for a reason. Maybe I had no blood family, but the Montgomerys were damn good at becoming a found family.