A Christmas Temptation

“You must know that Sophie doesn’t relax. I’m not sure a weekend will help you. Plus, she’s gone this weekend.”

“To where?”

“Our grandmother’s house in Upstate, near Scarsdale. It’s where the family spends Christmas. She’s heading up tomorrow morning.”

The wheels in Jake’s head were turning. Opportunity was in the air. “Is that the house where you and Sophie spent your summers?”

“That’s the one. Eden House.”

“Sophie used to talk about it all the time. She seemed to have a lot of great memories from being there.”

“We both do, but yes, Sophie loves it. She goes every chance she gets.”

“Are you going up this weekend, too?”

“I told her I’d drive up Saturday night. The weather’s not looking good, but I think she’ll kill me if I don’t show up.”

This might be perfect—drive up Friday and convince Sophie, Mindy arrives Saturday and they would work out the rest of the deal. The commotion of Eden’s wouldn’t be a distraction, and hopefully Sophie would be more relaxed and open to the things he had to say to her.

Also, it was clearly time to smooth her ruffled feathers. He hated that she might have been harboring ill will toward him all these years. He’d truly had her best interests in mind when he’d called off their romance before it had a chance to start. He wasn’t about to delve into specifics or dig up his own past. There were too many unhappy memories to be found. But he could at least remind Sophie that they had once been very close. He could at least show her that they could, in fact, get along and find a way to help each other.

“So, Mindy. I’m wondering if you can help me with something.”

“Sure. What?”

“I’m going to need the address for Eden House.”

Three (#ua10d3a29-0838-59d1-b94e-94c5a5cdafb7)

The instant Sophie turned onto the winding private drive leading to Eden House, she felt more like herself. Her Bentley Bentayga SUV crept silently ahead as the family estate came into view—graying cedar shakes trimmed in crisp white, with three stone chimneys poking up from the gable roof, all of it surrounded by a maze of manicured hedges. Sophie had nothing but the happiest of memories here—endless sunny summer days in the pool, leisurely morning strolls through the rose garden with Gram, rainy days of gin rummy and evenings spent roasting marshmallows over the fire pit on the backyard terrace. Soon this house would be hers, bequeathed to her by her grandmother. Would it ever again be filled with love and laughter? This Christmas was the first big test, and she was terrified that she’d fail.

Sophie and Mindy had spent every Christmas of their lives at Eden House. The family tradition went back to Gram’s childhood when her parents had built the house, although it wasn’t given the name Eden until Gram inherited it years later as a married woman. Her parents had done well for themselves in the 1950s, importing and wholesaling fabrics for the garment industry. The entire country was booming then, and if you were somebody, you had to have a vacation home. It was simply what you did to show the world that you were a success.

Sophie pulled around to the side entrance and parked her car under the porte cochere in order to ferry the groceries straight into the kitchen. As soon as she opened her car door, she was hit by a bracing cold, the wind whipping past her, picking up the tails of her coat and tossing her hair into disarray. The clean but icy smell of snow was in the air. The forecast was for a fast-moving system that would leave behind one to two inches. Sophie wasn’t too worried. In some ways, it would be a dream to get snowed in at Eden House. The power lines were buried, so the electricity rarely went out. She had her cell phone and internet if she needed to get any work done, and there was more than enough wine in the family cellar. A day or two where she was forced to stay away from the store might do her good.

Sophie struggled with the house key, her arms loaded down with shopping bags and her fingers freezing from the cold. She nearly fell through the door and into the kitchen when the lock finally turned. She plopped her bags down on the large center island and opened the Sub-Zero fridge to put away her perishables. That was when the tears started.

The refrigerator was nearly empty, but there on the second shelf were three bottles of Krug champagne. Gram adored champagne, especially Krug. She would’ve sipped it morning, noon and night if it were in any way socially acceptable. Sophie took one of the bottles from the shelf and smoothed her fingers over the familiar gold foil label. This was an iconic image from her childhood, when champagne was an exotic drink meant only for grown-ups. Gram had brought these bottles up in early October in anticipation of the family’s Christmas celebration. And now she wouldn’t be there to enjoy them.

Sophie carefully slid the bottle back into place, wiped her tears from her cheeks and put away her groceries. Countless memories of her grandmother would crop up this weekend, and she needed to pace herself. Gram would want her to unwind and not dwell too much on sadness. She’d had an unwavering belief in the power of positive thinking. Life was so much more enjoyable if you could just find a way to be happy. Bad things would happen, but the sun always came up the next day and, somehow, life went on.

Sophie grabbed her suitcase out of the car and lugged it inside. It was snowing now—fat, fluffy flakes. She’d better call Mindy. Her sister was not the type to pay attention to the weather.

“Are you there?” Mindy asked when she answered her phone.

“Just got here, and it’s snowing. I checked the forecast and now it’s saying at least four inches. Maybe more. I really think you should consider leaving earlier than tomorrow morning. I’m worried the roads won’t be passable.”

Several moments of background noise filtered through from her sister’s side of the line. “There’s no way. Things are crazy busy here.”

“But you’re the boss. You have to take a break sometime, and this is the weekend to decorate the house. There won’t be another one.” With every new word from Sophie’s mouth, she started to feel a bit more panicked. She cared deeply about following through on the family tradition. “I can’t do it by myself. I don’t want to do it by myself. It’s not right.”

“First off, I have no doubt that you can do it yourself. Second, there’s a chance you won’t have to.”

“So you’ll knock off early and get your butt up here?”

“No. I’m sticking to my plan to leave tomorrow. But there’s a chance you might run into Jake.”

“Run into him? Where?” Sophie’s heart leaped into her throat.

“I don’t know. The kitchen? The sitting room?”

“What did you do? Did you send him after me?”

“As serious as you are about not selling, I’m just as determined to change your mind.”

A swarm of conflicting emotions buzzed in Sophie’s head—anger, frustration and the familiar flutter of anticipation that had become synonymous with seeing Jake. How Sophie wished that part of her brain would stop being so hard on her. “I can’t believe you would do this to me.”

“I wouldn’t if it was a stranger. But you know Jake. You’ve known him forever. I just think he wanted the chance to talk to you alone.”

The word echoed all around her—alone, alone, alone. “He won’t come. He has too much pride to grovel.”

“He showed up at your office with dozens and dozens of peonies, didn’t he? Sounds to me like he’ll do anything to make a good impression on you.”

Sophie shook her head and started down the center hall, with its herringbone brick floor and wide white baseboards. She could already smell the fresh pine of the Christmas tree she’d asked Barry, the Eden House caretaker, to deliver. The fragrance alone lifted her spirits, all while the idea of Jake trying to make an impression aggravated her. He’d never really tried before now, certainly not eight years ago when she’d wanted it more than anything. So what had changed? The promise of a big deal. That was all Jake cared about. Any overtures he made were not only designed to manipulate her and pull at her heartstrings, they were solely prompted by money. She couldn’t let him play with her like that. “I have to go.”

“Are you mad, Soph?”

“Of course I’m mad. You put me in Jake’s crosshairs. You know how badly he hurt me. He broke my heart.”

“I know that. I reminded him of it when we talked.”

“You did?” Sophie stepped into what Gram had always called the sitting room. The tree was in the corner, waiting to be trimmed, all while Sophie was overcome with the sort of embarrassment that haunts a teenage girl forever. “He already doesn’t take me seriously as a businesswoman. Why did you have to bring our romantic past into it?”

“Because he’s a clueless man. He couldn’t figure out why you were giving him such a hard time.”

“I don’t want to sell. This has nothing to do with romance.”

Mindy tutted as if she was scolding Sophie. “You really expect me to believe that? Because I don’t. Your history with him is clouding your judgment, and you need to get past that. Not just for my sake, but for yours. I think it’ll be good for you two to finally talk things through. Clear the air.”

Sophie trailed over to one of the tall leaded-glass windows overlooking the sprawling yard. What she could see of the grounds was already covered in a thin blanket of white, with the storm steadily adding more layers. In the spring and summer, this was a lush green vista that had always seemed to go on forever—much like her feelings for Jake, the ones that she desperately wished would just end. “There’s nothing for Jake and me to talk about. I already know how he feels about me.”

“And how is that, exactly?”

“He sees me as sweet, gullible Sophie. The woman who would do anything for him. I’m not that girl anymore. I won’t let him trick me into being her, either.”

Mindy grumbled. “Just listen to him if he shows up, okay? That’s all I ask.”

“As long as you promise you’ll still try to come up tomorrow.”