Page 82 of Take Me Home for Christmas

Elle stood from the table. “I’d better get back to work, too,” she said, spinning yet another fib. “I’m sure he needs some emails answered.”

Livi quickly stood to block her path. “Wait. I need your help with something.”

“You needmyhelp?”

“Yes.” Livi’s lips formed a obstinate line. “I’d like to get Hayden a Christmas gift.”

Elle’s stomach was really burning now. “I’m sure he’d say it isn’t necessary.”

Something flashed in the other woman’s eyes. “Of course it’s not necessary. I want to anyway. I was hoping that, as hisbest friend, you could give me some ideas.”

“Did you ask his mom?” Elle regretted the words as soon as they were out of her mouth. She wasn’t being fair. And she certainly shouldn’t let on that she was aware of the friendship between Claire Lovell and Livi.

“I did. Everything she suggested was practical. I don’t want to get him another pair of joggers or a vest to wear while he runs outside this winter. My gift needs to be something special. I want it to mean something.”

It felt like the air had been sucked from the room all of a sudden.

I want it to mean something.

The devil on Elle’s shoulder was telling her to give Livi an idea that was totally off base. Her conscience wouldn’t let her, though.

“He likes puzzles,” she said softly.

Livi arched her eyebrows. “Puzzles?”

Elle nodded. “Mm. Not just jigsaws. All kinds. Hayden likes the challenge of problem-solving and building things. Check at the bookstore. Paige has these cool three-dimensional ones of some of the famous buildings and sculptures around the world. She might also know if he has any of them already.”

“You are the best. Thank you so much.” Livi pulled her in for a hug before Elle had a chance to resist. “I can see why Hayden loves you so much.”

It took everything Elle had not to pull out of the other woman’s embrace and run screaming from the room. Hayden loved her. She knew that. He hadn’t said the words, but he didn’t have to. She felt it with all her being.

What she wasn’t so sure of? Whether their love could go the distance. They were both on different paths. One person had to bend for them to have the forever love she so desperately wanted.

“What an awesome idea,” Livi continued when she finally released Elle. “I’ll go into town and check with Paige after we finish our tea.”

“Great,” Elle said a little less enthusiastically. “I can’t stay, though.” She was pretty sure those cookies would taste like sawdust in her mouth. “I need to get back to work.”

“Sit with me atThe Nutcrackertonight?” Livi asked. “Hayden won’t be off work in time to go, and I don’t know many other people in town.”

She bit back a sigh. “Sure.”

The study door was closed when Elle reached it. She knocked. After no one answered, she stormed in. West sat at the desk, wearing his headphones again, as he tapped the keys of his laptop. He pulled one side of the headphones away from his ear, and Mannheim Steamroller’s version of “Carol of the Bells” blared throughout the room. He clicked something on his keyboard, and the music stopped.

“Do you need something from me, Elinor?”

Now that she was face-to-face with the man, she couldn’t remember what she meant to ask him.

“Um, more like do you need any help from me?” she said.

“You were set free once you had the manuscript in your hands.”

“Uh, yeah. Okay.”

“Since my agent hasn’t received a congratulatory note from Helen, I assume you haven’t turned it in yet?”

“Hardly anyone is in the office this week,” she hedged. “It’s not like copy editing will be jumping right on it. Besides, I already read through it. It’s pretty clean.”

He leaned back in his chair. “But you could be back in New York City enjoying all the holiday glamour. Getting ready for your new job.”