Under the Christmas Star Page 14

  That was it. Joy wanted to grab that thing out of his hand and put it into her purse like she was his mother. Instead, she leaned toward him so he could hear her over the music without her having to speak too loudly. “Mike, would you put down your phone? You’re at a wedding reception.”

  With a sigh that was obviously meant to imply that he was a hero for complying with her unreasonable demand, he made a show of putting the phone down on the table. She huffed out irritation, remembering his penchant for acting like a rebellious teen when something didn’t go his way. Apparently, some things hadn’t changed.

  “It would be nice if you’d pay attention to me,” she said as nicely as she could. “You know. The person you’re sitting here with.”

  He responded by resting his chin in his hand and leaning his elbow on the table, fixing his wide-eyed gaze on her as if to emphasize the absurdity of her request for his attention.

  She rolled her eyes and looked away. If he wanted to look like a jerk, that was his choice.

  He grunted, then pushed his chair back from the table. “I’m going to get some food.”

  She watched him walk away, irritated that he hadn’t even bothered to ask her if she wanted anything. Why on earth had he invited himself to the wedding, only to act like a bored teenager who had been forced here against his will? If they were going to give their relationship another shot, behavior like this would have to be addressed in counseling.

  Annoyed, but not willing to let him ruin this event for her, she tapped her foot to the music and looked around. Then something caught her eye out on the dance floor. Her mom was out there dancing, not with Sean Connery’s twin, but with Dad. They each held the kids’ hands, and the four of them swayed and laughed. Joy felt her eyes well. Her parents hadn’t even spoken to each other, much less had a good time together, in years.

  Joy watched the four of them, then caught sight of Victoria and Brian, dancing together like they weren’t even aware that anyone else existed in the world. She sighed. Good things were happening in her family. That should feel encouraging.

  She said a silent prayer. God, how am I supposed to know what to do? Mike seems like he wants to change, but how can I ever know if he has?

  The song ended, and Wendy and Wes, who had been twirling around out there like they thought they were Fred and Ginger, made their way over to Joy’s table, where Wendy had stashed her bag and they had left their drinks.

  Joy smiled at them as they sat. “You two look like you’re having fun.”

  “That’s all right, isn’t it?” Wendy’s eyes widened. “For the wedding planner to have some fun?”

  Joy lifted her glass of sparkling water and held it up, toast-style. “I think you’ve earned it.”

  “Oh dear.” Wendy checked her watch. “I need to go tell the bride and groom that it’s almost time to cut the cake.”

  Joy couldn’t help but smile at the undeniable glint in Wes’s eyes as he watched Wendy scurry away.

  He picked up his empty glass, and nodded to the one in Joy’s hand. “Can I get you another seltzer?”

  “What? Oh…sure.” She handed him her glass and watched as he wove through the crowd. Something wasn’t right. Wes seemed too sweet to be a guy who would cover for the antics of a playboy best friend.

  As she sat there contemplating that, Mike’s phone vibrated on the table where he’d left it. Curious, she turned it over and gasped. The text that had just come in was from Cyndi.

  She snuck a look over at the buffet table, where Mike stood with a plate in one hand studying the crudité. She looked down at the phone and clicked on the message.

  How much longer do you have to work, sweetie?

  Sweetie? Joy felt like she’d been sucker punched.

  Another quick glance at Mike confirmed that he was now busy ladling a cup of punch for himself. She scrolled up, confirming that he had been “chatting” with Cyndi all afternoon. She had been the source of his distraction during the ceremony and while he’d been sitting here at the reception.

  She scanned their conversation, not surprised that it was very comfortable and flirtatious. His final message before setting down his phone pretty much confirmed her suspicion.

  I’ll be over as soon as I can get away from the office. I know it’s been a long week but I don’t have the kids tonight. It’s just you and me.

  That rat! Not only had he lied to her about breaking up with Cyndi, but he had apparently lied to Cyndi about where he was spending his afternoon. She, evidently, thought he was at work right now.

  She wanted to walk over to the punch-bowl table and punch him.

  How could she have been so gullible? Mike hadn’t changed at all. Victoria was right. He just didn’t want her to move on. And apparently, he was narcissistic enough to believe that he could get back together with her and still keep seeing Cyndi on the side.

  She stared at the phone, tears blurring her vision. The temptation to type a response to Cyndi, the Other Woman, that would let her know she was onto them made her fingers itch.

  Then a strange feeling hit her like a tidal wave. Sympathy. For Cyndi.

  Joy hadn’t really thought about this until now, but even though Mike had left her and the kids for Cyndi, that didn’t mean he hadn’t lied to her too. It wouldn’t surprise her if he’d told Cyndi that they were separated before getting involved with her. Maybe Cyndi hadn’t known that she was seeing a married man because he’d been lying to her all along too.

  Whatever the situation, Cyndi deserved to know the truth.

  She quickly typed in a reply, said a little prayer, and hit Send. She waited, keeping an eye on the phone and on Mike, who had been cornered by one of her aunts and had apparently turned on the charm to make himself look good. As soon as the little checkmark next to the message she’d sent turned blue, indicating that it had been received, Joy deleted it from Mike’s phone. If this worked, he wouldn’t know that the message had been sent until it hit him in the face. She snorted. Served him right.

  “Here you go.”

  She looked up as Wes set her drink down in front of her, then retook his own chair.

  “Thanks.” She paused, noticing that Wes couldn’t seem to take his eyes off Wendy, who was now talking to the DJ. “Hey, Wes.” She took a sip of her water before continuing. “I do believe the two of you would make a lovely couple.”

  He looked at her like he might suspect that she was joking, then glanced down and smiled. When he looked up again, his face had turned serious. “You know, it’s none of my business, but Kyle was really disappointed when you canceled your date with him.”

  “Our date? It…it wasn’t really a date.”

  “He thought it was.”

  They were silent for a moment while she rolled that over in her head. Something just didn’t add up. “If he was so upset when I broke our date, why didn’t he return my message?”

  “What message?”

  “The one I left him, breaking the date.”

  “I…I’m not sure, but…” His voice cracked a little. “He said you broke it in person. The other night when you came here to ask if you could use our building.”

  Joy felt her face blanch. He hadn’t gotten her message?

  “Wes?” Her stomach started to do an acrobatic routine. Had she been wrong about Kyle? “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “Who is Nicole?”

  “Nicole? You mean, Kyle’s neighbor?”

  She felt her eyebrows shoot up. Had she actually had any evidence, other than Becky’s suspicion, that Kyle was involved with the woman? Suddenly, she couldn’t recall. “She’s his neighbor? That’s all?”

  “Yeah. Why?”

  “Nothing…I just…. I think I might have made a big mistake.” Setting down her drink, she pushed back her chair. “Excuse me.”

  Her mind whirling, she shoved through the crowd to where her parents were still dancing with her kids and grabbed her mom’s arm to get her attention. “Mom!�
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  She turned. “What, honey?”

  “Will you keep an eye on the kids until I get back?”

  “Sure.” Mom’s brow creased. “But where are you going?”

  Joy could feel a dumb grin take over her face. “I’m going to ask someone to dance.”

  By the time Kyle barged through the front door of his warehouse, the reception was in full swing. The DJ had the music playing so of course the area they’d designated as the dance floor was teeming with activity. Kyle did a visual sweep of the space, but there was no sign of Joy.

  He started to make his way through the crowd, not quite sure what he would say to her when he found her. But he had to find her. Even if she would have chosen to reunite with Mike anyway, she needed to know that she’d completely misunderstood his intentions. There was no way that he would ever cheat on anyone. That just wasn’t who he was.

  As he stepped around a jovial man who was laughing and tipping his chair away from his table, someone stepped directly into his path. Kyle recognized him instantly.

  “Mike.” His heart hit against his ribs. Not exactly the person he had hoped to see.

  “Well. Hello.” Mike gave him a cordial smile and thrust out his hand. “Kyle, wasn’t it?”

  “That’s right.” Feeling a little queasy, Kyle accepted his offer of a handshake.

  “Hey, I just wanted to say that I appreciate you helping Joy and her sister out by letting them use your place.”

  “It’s my pleasure. If you’ll excuse me—”

  “I also wanted to say”—Mike sidestepped to again block Kyle’s path—“that it’s really important to me that I can keep my family together.”

  “O…kay…” Kyle hesitated, listening.

  “So, bottom line. I’d appreciate it if you’d keep your distance from her. This is a critical time right now. I need a chance to prove to her that I’ve changed, and if she gets distracted, that’s not going to help.” He stuck out his hand again. “So we’re in agreement, then?”

  Nodding slowly, Kyle shook the guy’s hand again, then stood there as Mike gave him what felt like a condescending pat on the shoulder and disappeared into the party.

  Kyle ran a hand across his still-unshaven face, suddenly feeling really out-of-place at the fancy event. He shook his head. Maybe the misunderstanding had happened to get him out of the way. Who was he to judge if Mike was right for Joy or not?

  And one thing was for sure, there was no way he was going to interfere with a family staying together.

  He turned around, contemplating what to do, then slowly headed back toward the front of the building.

  As Joy pulled open the surprisingly-heavy glass and brass front door of Kyle’s apartment building, she tried to organize her thoughts. What was she going to say?

  She hurried to the elevators and punched the button, then watched as the numbers got gradually lower. The door opened and she stepped inside.

  On the way up, she did her best to keep her stomach from trying to climb faster than the elevator. All she needed to do was start from the beginning and be up front with him. Tell him that she had thought she wasn’t ready to date yet, which was why she might have seemed standoffish. But that she had grown to realize that he was someone she’d like to get to know better. Then the misunderstanding had happened, and Mike had tried to pull a fast one on her, and well…here she was showing up at his front door looking like a prom queen.

  The door opened to the seventh floor, and she stepped out into an elegant hallway that felt like it belonged in an old Doris Day movie. She found his apartment and knocked on the door.

  At the sound of locks disengaging, she braced herself, ready to face him. When the door opened, it wasn’t Kyle standing there, but the lovely woman she’d seen with him outside his building the other day, with Henry by her side.

  “Oh, hello.” The woman smiled. “I’m guessing you must be Joy. I’m Nicole.”

  Henry took a couple of steps out the door and gave Joy an enthusiastic greeting. Confused, Joy gave his head a pat.

  Nicole held up a dog toy. “I was just getting this. It’s his favorite.” She scanned the length of Joy’s dress. “You look beautiful, but aren’t you supposed to be at the wedding?”

  “Yes. But I wanted to talk to Kyle. Is he here?”

  Nicole made a face that Joy couldn’t quite interpret. “Well, he was, but he’s not now. Honestly, I was hoping he had changed his mind about going to the wedding, but since his suit’s still hanging in the bathroom—”

  Another door down the hall opened, and a man wearing a uniform stepped out into the hallway. Seeing them, he paused, then reached up to finish tying his tie.

  Nicole waved him over. “Jerry, come meet Joy.” Then she spoke to Joy. “This is my husband, Jerry.”

  Her husband?

  As Jerry made his way toward them, Joy saw that the uniform he wore was that of an airline pilot.

  “Nice to meet you.” He turned his attention to Nicole. “I don’t want to be rude, but I need to go in a few minutes.”

  “Oh, sorry, Joy. Jerry’s leaving on a trip tonight, and I like to drive him to the airport. You could wait inside for Kyle if you want to. Or leave him a message on his phone. Although he doesn’t seem to be very prompt about checking his messages lately.” She shook her head. “But I do know he’s going to be very sad that he missed you. He’s been moping around feeling sorry for himself all day.”

  “He…he has?”

  “Yeah. I hope you guys can work things out. He’s a really great guy.” Nicole lifted a hand inviting Joy into Kyle’s apartment.

  Joy shook her head. “I really need to get back to the wedding. It was nice to meet both of you.”

  Nicole shut and locked Kyle’s door, then she and Jerry headed back to what Joy assumed was their own apartment, with Henry in tow.

  “Excuse me, but…you’re taking Henry?”

  Nicole smiled. “Yeah, Kyle and I have a kind of joint custody agreement. Didn’t he tell you about that?”

  Joy shook her head.

  “Men. They never tell you what’s important unless you pry it out of them.” She handed Henry’s toy to Jerry. “Why don’t you get your bag, and I’ll meet you out here.”

  As Jerry and Henry went inside, Nicole returned to Joy. “Our neighbor had to move to a senior residence, and he needed a home for Henry. Kyle and I were both interested, but we both felt like it was too big of a commitment. So we decided to co-own him. Kyle has him most of the time, and I bring him over for security when Jerry leaves town. It’s worked pretty well.”

  Joy swallowed a sigh. Why hadn’t she just asked Kyle what the situation was? What was it that Mom used to say…when you jump to conclusions, you risk landing in a bed of thorns. This mess she’d created was thorny, to say the least.

  The sun had gone down by the time Joy made it back to the reception. She parked in the lot across the street and gazed up at the building as she got out of her van. Twinkle lights in all the windows and glass bulbs strung across the rooftop deck made the whole place glitter. As she ambled toward it, the happy sounds of Christmas music and laughter should have filled her heart. Instead, all she could think about was what a fool she’d been.

  On the drive back from Kyle’s place, she had considered the situation from a whole different angle. She had been journaling her prayers, waiting for some kind of sign from God that would give her the answers. But maybe God was more subtle than she’d expected. Maybe He had brought Kyle into her life and created the perfect opportunity for them to start dating. Then when she canceled the date, maybe He had intervened by allowing the mix-up with the venue so that she had no choice but to involve Kyle again. How dense was she not to have seen what was going on here?

  She stepped through the front door, grateful for the wave of warm air since in her earlier rush she hadn’t bothered to take a coat. The reception would be winding down soon, but in the meantime, she should try to enjoy herself.

  Just as she moved
to rejoin the party, her heart just about stopped beating at the sight of Kyle coming up from the basement. Even dressed in jeans and a button-front shirt with the sleeves rolled up, with his hair a little messy and his face unshaven, he was without a doubt the most eye-catching guy in the place.

  Shaking to beat the band, she met him at the top of the stairs. “I…I didn’t think you were coming.”

  “I wasn’t going to, but…” He looked around, like he felt uneasy talking to her. “Wes said we were having a problem with the pipes downstairs, so I came to see what I could do.”

  Joy opened her mouth, wanting to pour out everything she’d rehearsed to say to him. Before she could make a sound, Kyle saw something behind her that made him take a step backward and hold up his hands like he was under arrest. Puzzled, she looked over her shoulder just as she felt a hand on her waist.

  Mike appeared at her side, his eyes drilling into Kyle. “I thought I told you to stay away from my wife.”

  “What?” Joy pulled away from his possessive grasp and confronted him with all the anger she’d been suppressing for the past hour. “When did you say that?”

  “It’s okay, Joy,” Kyle said softly.

  “No, it’s not okay.” She cast a quick look at Kyle then turned on Mike again. “For one thing, I’m no longer your wife. You lost the right to call me that.”

  “Joy.” Mike tried to put a hand on her shoulder. “Calm down.”

  She jerked her shoulder away before he could make contact. “Don’t tell me to calm down, you two-timing liar.”

  Mike’s eyebrows shot up and he let out a dumb chuckle that implied her accusation was so absurd he found it laughable. “You…you’re calling me a two-timer?” He aimed a finger at her then flicked it back and forth to include Kyle. “You’re the one who’s two-timing me.”

  Kyle shook his head and looked away. “I don’t believe this.”

  “Yeah?” Mike widened his stance and fisted both hands like he might be getting ready to take a swing at him.

  Just as Joy stepped between them, Mike drew back an arm then stopped at the sound of his name.