After a long moment, Hudson leaned down to kiss Will’s temple. “Dinner’s ready – come on.”
~ * ~ * ~
Dinner was brilliant. So was the second bottle of wine in the living room at the base of the tree, curled up on a quilt from the bedroom.
The lights were low, a few candles and the tree lit. Will lay on his side with Hudson spooned around him. Hudson shivered a little.
“Cold?”
“Just a bit,” Hudson said, his lips brushing against the back of Will’s neck. “But don’t move.”
“Is there a spider on me?” Will teased.
“No. It’s just, I’m comfortable.”
They settled back into quiet repose and Will had to struggle to stay awake. Hudson was a perfect pillow, touching his arm and hip with his warm palm. The candlelight and low hum of music lulled him into a relaxed state; Will felt content and that didn’t happen very often in the presence of another person.
A few times he felt like Hudson was getting ready to say something but the silence stretched and lingered until Will drifted off, Hudson’s arms looped around him tightly.
CHAPTER TEN
He woke in bed, alone.
“Hey, Merry Christmas,” he called, sitting up with a stretch. There was no music or the smell of coffee. Will got up, reaching for his robe. He vaguely recalled being led into bed, vaguely remembered being kissed back to sleep by Hudson.
“Hudson?”
In the main space of the loft, everything was neat as a pin. And entirely empty of another human being.
He walked into the kitchen, instinctively looking for a note. It was stuck to the fridge with a Mystery Machine magnet, a full notebook page in clean lines of printing.
Will,
I’m sorry I had to leave so early. I have something urgent to take care of. I wish my business didn’t interfere with the lovely time I’ve had with you. I wish many things, not the least of which is for you to have a wonderful holiday with your family. I hope you can forgive me.
Fondly,
Hudson
Will read the letter twice. Beneath his note there were instructions for preparing dinner, from warming the appetizers to heating dinner. Will felt his stomach and heart contracting somewhere between “that’s sweet” and “is that it?”.
He so wanted to be optimistic, but it felt like goodbye.
~ * ~ * ~
Will showered and changed into his suit, avoiding too much time primping in the mirror. It made him think of Hudson – as did the entire apartment. It sort of killed any enthusiasm he had for the day.
He arranged pastries on a try, put the coffee pot on. Watched the clock and toyed with his manuscript.
Gut check and jump.
Gut check and jump.
Will typed out the email to Michelle before he could chicken out.
Changing the ending. Will be another Sheriff Black book. Negotiate please? Book in your box by New Year’s. Love you!
And pressed send before fleeing the scene of the crime.
He wandered around the apartment, hands in his pockets. Almost ten. He replayed the entire two days with Hudson, probably the best two days he’d ever spent with another human being.
And it was ridiculous to let it go like this.
The man came to New York a few times a year and Will would be flying over to France for the wedding. Why not keep this going a little bit longer?
Gut check and jump.
Will dug through his kitchen counter until he found his phone. There were six missed text messages and he frowned as scrolled down. Four from Veronica, one from his mother and one from Michelle.
Veronica’s were his first priority, notching up his concern with each one.
Bad.
Very Bad.
Awful.
WE’LL BE THERE AT NOON.
His mother’s said,
Assholes.
“Oh God,” he said. Will rubbed his forehead. He opened his wallet next, to find the business card Hudson had given him.
It took a minute.
But he nutted up and dialed his cell number.
Will was mid-whistle when the message came on.
This number has been disconnected.
“Can I have suite 425?” Will asked the operator at the Cassas. He drummed his fingers on the counter, moving his phone from ear to ear.
“That suite is empty sir. The guest has already checked out.”
Will hung up the phone.
Gut check and fall on your face.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
When the doorbell rang, Will had an irrational hope that it was Hudson, standing there with a pile of bags because he needed to buy more groceries but closer to putting his hand on the knob, he just knew.
Will opened the door.
Veronica was crying and being supported by their father, with Nancy bringing up the rear.
“You better have liquor,” Nancy muttered as Tom guided Veronica to the couch.
She kissed him on the cheek as she passed.
“Merry Christmas?”
Tom shook his head.
A lesser man might have appreciated the distraction of being so thoroughly ditched but Will sat on the coffee table in front of his crying sister and held her hands.
“Tell me.”
“They met us at the airport,” Veronica whispered, wiping her eyes on her pulled down sweater cuffs. “Walked into the first class lounge, took us aside and told Roan if he got on that plane he was disowned. Disowned!”
“Who says something like that?” Nancy muttered. Will could hear the clanging of bottles and glasses – the bar Hudson had set up on a tray table.
“So – he didn’t get on the plane?” Will’s heart broke.
“He told me to go ahead, that he was going to try and talk to them.” Her big brown eyes registered nothing but misery. “He was so, so upset. But they wouldn’t listen so…so I got on the plane.”
“She called us from the plane – we managed to get on an earlier flight,” their father said gently. Nancy returned to the neat as a pin seating area with four Scotches.
Will took his drink and swallowed half in about three seconds. The slam of liquor into his brain made it a little bit better.
“He should have gotten on that plane.” Will squeezed Veronica’s knee. “He should have told them to go fuck themselves and gotten on the plane.”
“You know, that’s easy for you to say. It’s his parents. His freaking job, okay?” The tears came again. “I didn’t want to ruin his life.”
“Fuck.” Will kissed his sister on the top of her head and got up to pace before he exploded into a thousand pieces. How dare that motherfucker hurt his twin like this and how dare he be so far away so Will couldn’t kill him.
He walked to the bar, his glass already empty. Two minutes and he consumed another. This day was only going to work if he was drunk and someone confiscated his passport.
“The apartment looks amazing,” Tom said softly. Veronica was lying down on the couch with a cool rag on her head. Nancy was drinking Scotch in a leaf shaped chair. Will had retreated to the kitchen to begin preparing the food – what the hell else was there to do?
“Yeah. All for nothing.” Will shook his head as he put the roast vegetable casserole into the oven. His father leaned against the counter, sad faced.
Will wanted to hit people.
“Not for nothing. The Nixons are together, right? That counts for something.”
“I’m giving you a four hundred dollar cashmere scarf for Christmas, please don’t complain.” Will sighed.
“I’ll muddle through.” His dad gave him a gentle punch in the arm. “You okay?”
“No. Veronica is hysterical on the couch and Christmas is a pile of hell.”
“That it?”
“That’s not enough?”
When his dad pulled him into a hug, Will felt his defenses get stupidly low.
“Long story. I’ll tell you another time,” Will murmured into Tom’s shoulder.
Tom nodded. “Sounds good.” He let Will go but that inscrutable Dad face was sharp. “You need some help with dinner?”
“Yeah, sure. Whatever’s in the fridge and wrapped in foil comes out and gets warmed up.”
They worked in silence, pulling things out and putting them in the oven or on top of the range. By the time it started smelling like an actual meal, Nancy joined them.
“You cooked?” She sounded completely shocked. “Are we having primavera and chocolate cake?”
For some reason, that cracked a little bit too much of Will’s emotional reserve. He threw an oven mitt across the kitchen and growled. “I need to take a walk. Someone make sure this shit doesn’t burn.”
He stalked out of the kitchen, through the beautifully decorated loft, past the designer tree and had reached the door when the doorbell rang.
They were expecting no one else and Will thought, Please let it be Roan – first. And then he thought,
What if it’s Hudson
?
And when he opened the door – it was both of them.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“I can explain,” Hudson said in a breathless rush. He looked flushed and frantic, his cheeks red from the cold. The man next to him was tall, thin and looked about ten seconds from hysterical sobs.
“Roan!?” Veronica was up off the couch and pushing past Will with brute strength, slamming into her fiancé with a shriek. For a second it seemed a war between “Kiss” and “Punch”.
“I am so sorry,” Roan said, pulling her into a tight hug to break the stalemate. “I should have gotten on the plane.” His voice broke.
“Yes, you should have.” Veronica hugged him back, burying her face into his shoulder. Then she punched him in the stomach.
All the while – Will was staring at Hudson, standing just outside his doorway. Looking guilty.
“Tell me what the fuck is going on,” Will said, low and angry.
“Come outside with me, just for a moment,” murmured Hudson, giving Roan a gentle nudge into the apartment with Veronica. “Let me explain.”
“Who is he to you?” Will pointed at Roan.
“My cousin.” Hudson’s face was pale.
“Did you know who I was when you came into the store?” Little things, tiny insignificant things popped into his head.
Hudson paused. He looked so utterly miserable Will’s stomach turned. Because that was his answer.
“Will?” His sister touched his arm.
“Your fiancé comes in if he wants to,” Will said. “You,” he pointed to Hudson. “You go fuck yourself. I don’t know what your game is…”
“I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him,” Roan broke in.
“Great, he drove you here from the airport.” Will stepped back into the apartment. “Go away.”
“Let me explain.” Hudson tried again.
“My parents asked him to convince me to break up with Veronica.” Roan was a stubborn son of a bitch clearly – he wasn’t going to stop talking until Will listened. “He’s the one who helped convince me to get on the plane.”
Will bit the inside of his cheek. “You knew who I was and you came into the store – you were following me?”
Hudson nodded slowly.
“To get some dirt on Veronica’s family.”
“Yes.” Hudson didn’t waver from Will’s hard stare. “And clearly that’s not my forte since I abandoned my mission about five minutes after we started talking.”
The silence fell like an anvil; Veronica touched Will’s arm again but he literally couldn’t drag his gaze from Hudson’s face.
“Roan, come in here okay?” Veronica pulled her fiancé into the apartment and gave Will a tiny shove between his shoulder blades. “Go out and talk to him,” she said softly. Behind him, Will could hear Roan whispering to her and Veronica’s surprised, “oh”.
Will stepped into the hallway, shutting the door behind him with a slam. The echo made his breath catch. Hudson had moved away, just far enough to be outside his personal space.
“You should have told me…” he said, and Hudson exhaled loudly.
“I know. I wanted to, a thousand times but every passing moment it became harder and harder to form the words.” Hudson clasped his hands in front of him. “I knew you’d be upset – deservedly so. I just wanted to keep the fantasy going a bit longer.”
“What fantasy? The one where you’re not a liar?” Will’s hand curled into a fist. The urge to punch was back. “Why would you do all this if you were trying to break them up!?”
“I listened to my aunt and uncle – they insisted Roan was throwing everything away on a woman they didn’t trust. They sent me here to find something out about you, her family…”
“That’s disgusting.” Will turned to go back into the apartment but Hudson pushed his body between Will and the door.
“Yes, it is. I met you and I knew they were wrong. I…I helped you, thinking it might impress them enough – so they could see how lovely you were, how well you spoke of your family. Then this morning, I got a message from my uncle. They decided not to come. They went with an ultimatum.”
Will’s stomach twisted. He didn’t want to hear this but at the same time – how desperately he wanted to believe that Hudson was all those things he imagined him to be.
“I told them they were wrong. They were furious.” Hudson’s smile was sad. “They fired me. Told me to get the hell out of the suite…”
“Shut off your phone,” Will blurted out.
Hudson nodded.
“I tried to call you.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You should be. I can’t tell you much it sucked to wake up alone this morning with a vague note and instructions on how to warm up the chicken Diane.” Will rubbed his palms on his suit pants.
Hudson was close – too close actually because Will’s urge to put his arms around him was almost overpowering.
“You look so good in that suit,” Hudson murmured.
“Shut up, I’m still mad.”
“Understandable.”
“They fired you?”
Hudson laughed without humor. “Fired me, cancelled my credit cards. I have my bank card and my passport.” He sighed, rapped his head against the door. “And hopefully they’ll be kind enough to pack up my apartment and not just throw all my belongings into the street.”
“Come on – you’re family. Let them cool down…”
But Hudson was shaking his head. “Trust me, I’m out. Roan – maybe they’ll reconsider, but they have his brother who’s rather lockstep with their thought processes. If he stays with Veronica, I doubt they’ll forgive him.”
“Does not compute. Jesus Christ.” Will rubbed his face with both hands. “Come inside, okay? I still haven’t forgiven you, but considering you’re fucking homeless right now and it’s Christmas…”