The time was two hours ahead in St. Paul. It was midnight here, which meant it was two in the morning there. Chances were Bree was at work. Monica decided to call her anyway, at least she could leave a message explaining her change of plans.
CHAPTER FORTY
SEBRINA SAT IN THE darkened living room, drinking wine and staring at the blinking lights on the Christmas tree that she and Parker had decorated together. She remembered that night well. It had been his first day in town and they’d spent the entire day getting to know each other.
She then looked at the gifts under the tree which were nothing more than empty boxes wrapped in beautiful Christmas paper to make it look like there were loads of presents. Parker had helped with the wrapping a few days before Monica had come home. He had laughed about them having a real tree but fake gifts under it.
Then afterwards, he had swept her into his arms and taken her into his room and made love to her. She had to clamp her legs together to alleviate the ache, just thinking about that day. In fact, she got a physical thrill every time she thought about being with him, in bed and out. Since she was leaving tomorrow, she wouldn’t see him again until after New Year’s. And already she missed him.
She’d wished he would have called, if for no other reason than to say he’d made it to Maine. But there had been no contact, so she could only assume he was still upset with her for ending things between them.
Her phone rang. She immediately recognized the ringtone and grabbed it off the table. “Monica? Are you alright? What is going on with you? Why aren’t you in Atlanta?”
“Slow down, Bree. One question at a time.” Monica then paused before saying. “I’m fine. I just decided to fly to Vegas at the last minute because…because Landon is here.”
“Really? So, the two of you reconnected and he invited you to join him in Vegas?”
“Not exactly.”
Sebrina frowned. “Then what is it, exactly?”
“Landon has no idea I’m here.”
Sebrina took a sip of her wine. In fact, she took two sips. She had a feeling that she would need both. “I think you’d better start from the beginning.”
She listened attentively as Monica told her everything—that she realized she loved Landon, that she was determined to find him and let him know, as well as his friend Duan’s help, so she could do it.
“And you think you’ll be able to find him in Vegas? That’s going to be hard even if the two of you are staying at the same hotel.”
“I know, and since they can’t give me his hotel room number, the only thing I can do is have them call his room every so often, hoping that I will reach him.”
“Then what?”
“Then I’ll let him know I’m here and want to meet with him.”
“Let me play devil’s advocate for a minute. What if he doesn’t want to see you? You said you pretty much pissed him off that last night on the cruise.”
“Yes, but he told me he loved me, Bree. I have to believe that if he truly loved me then, he would still love me and that he’ll forgive me.”
“And if he won’t?”
“Then I’ll fly back to Atlanta to attend the family reunion with a broken heart. But I refuse to give up without trying. I love him and I’m ready to fight for him.”
Sebrina didn’t say anything. She’d never heard Monica sound so fierce before. That meant she must truly love Landon Chestnut. “Well, I hope it all works out for you. I can attest that you’ve been absolutely miserable without him. And kind of grouchy.” She smiled.
“Ha, ha. But what about you, Bree? Are you going to tell Parker how you feel?”
“I’m not sure that’s wise. Just because I love him, that doesn’t mean he loves me back. He has his whole future mapped out, but I’m not included in it.”
“Well, I’m going to hope and pray that Parker wakes up and realizes that you are his future. And I want you to hope and pray that I’m Landon’s. Are you at work?”
“No. I’m off tonight. One of my patients had emergency surgery early this morning so I basically pulled a double today.”
“What time do you fly out to New Jersey tomorrow? I hate that you’re in the house all by yourself.”
“Around nine in the morning. And don’t worry about me, kiddo. I’ll watch Christmas movies for a while tonight, since I’m all packed. And if you don’t make it to Atlanta for Christmas, I’ll look for you the day after, for the family reunion.”
“Okay. I refuse to believe I’ve messed things up with Landon so badly that he doesn’t want me anymore.”
Sebrina heard the sadness in her sister’s voice. “Will you try calling him again before going to bed, Monica?”
“No, it’s late. I’m just going to reach out to him tomorrow. I’m about to shower and go to bed. It’s been a long day.”
Sebrina understood. It had been a long day for her as well. Usually whenever she pulled a double shift, she would sleep for hours. But even exhausted, she couldn’t sleep. Because whenever she closed her eyes, she would dream of Parker, remembering all the things they had done together. All the times he had touched her, tasted her, made love to her. And his kisses…. How could she forget them? They were so potent, she usually ended up with wet panties. Hopefully tonight, when she finally got to bed, she’d be able to sleep. If not, then she’d try to catch a few zzz’s on the plane.
“I wish you the best of luck on working things out with Landon.”
“Thanks. When will you be seeing Parker?”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure how much time he plans to spend with his folks. Besides, when I leave Dad’s place on Christmas, I’m flying straight to Atlanta and will be there until after New Year’s. So, there’s a good chance I won’t see him at all over the holidays,” Sebrina said, wishing it was otherwise.
After ending the call with Monica, she got up from the sofa and crossed the room to pour herself another glass of wine when the front door swung open. She drew in a sharp breath. “Parker?”
It was as if her thoughts had conjured him up. He stood in the doorway, just oozing sexiness. He was wearing a coat, and the scarf thrown around his neck made him look like a man on a mission. Sebrina placed the wine bottle down and drew in a deep breath. He seemed as surprised to see her as she was to see him.
“Parker? What happened? Why are you back?” She couldn’t help wondering if he’d had a disagreement with his parents or something?
When he didn’t say anything, but simply stood there staring at her, she asked again, “Parker, why are you here?”
Parker drew in a deep breath. He certainly hadn’t expected to find Sebrina at home tonight. His flight out of Maine had been delayed because of snow on the runway. It was close to three in the morning, and he figured that since he had missed seeing her before she left for work, he would make sure he was in the hospital’s parking lot when she got off in the morning. He had to talk to her before she left for the airport. But instead, she was here, standing in front of a decorated Christmas tree and looking too sexy for words in a pair of jeans and a red pullover sweater.