His curvy gift, p.18
His Curvy Gift, page 18
“It’s a good thing it’s time for dinner,” I told them. “Why don’t you two go ask Aunt Gina where you should sit.”
They took off, leaving Zoey and I alone. She was still staring at the door.
“He’ll be fine,” I told her.
She shook her head. “I hurt him. Badly.”
I nodded. “Yes, you did. Did you think you didn’t?”
She shrugged and tore her gaze from the door. “I guess I thought he’d be over it by now. That he would have moved on and let go and wouldn’t hate me so much.”
“You broke his heart, Zo. I know you didn’t do it to be mean, but you destroyed him. I don’t think he ever got over you. I would just avoid him as much as possible while you’re here. And like we said, after this, we’ll never be here again, so you won’t have to see him and he won’t have to see you.”
She nodded. “Yeah.” She chewed on her nail and looked at the door. “Do you think I made the right choice marrying Trevor?”
I shook my head. “Don’t go there, Zo. Don’t ever go there. You have two amazing kids you wouldn’t have if it weren’t for him. I know you hate him right now, but you’re still raw and sore. I hate to say it like this, but don’t bring Sebastian into your divorce. Let him have whatever peace he can find.”
She nodded again and turned away from the door. “You’re right. Pretend I never asked.”
“Asked what?” I said.
She smiled and looped her arm through mine. “Let’s go find the hellions.”
Dinner was uneventful, thankfully. The kids ate their food and talked, but nothing was dropped or broken. When they were done and heading back to the house, it was obvious they were starting to get tired by the way they were snipping at each other.
“Why don’t we go read a story and try to go to sleep,” Zoey suggested. “That way Santa can come.”
“Do you think he’s going to find us?” Alexis asked.
Zoey and I both nodded.
“Of course. He knows where everyone is. He’s magical, you know,” I told her.
“But we aren’t at home. What if he brings our presents to our house?” Cameron asked.
Zoey shook her head. “I sent him an email and told him we were going to be up here. He’s going to come here. Don’t worry.”
“You know Santa?” Alexis asked.
“I do,” said Zoey without missing a beat. “He checks in with me about how well you two listen and help out and if you fight.”
“Well, we’re not getting anything this year,” Cameron said.
“Why do you say that?” I asked him.
“Because every time we fight Mommy cries. We haven’t been very good kids.”
“Then maybe tell Mommy you’re sorry for upsetting her and promise to try to do better,” I suggested.
“Sorry, Mommy,” they both said, throwing themselves around her in a group hug.
“It’s okay, guys. I’m fine. And you two are good kids,” Zoey said. She ran her hands through their hair and smiled at them.
“Who’s going to brush their teeth first?” I asked.
“Me!” Cameron said.
“Okay, let’s go.” I followed him up the stairs to the hallway bathroom we all shared. Cameron went into the bathroom to brush his teeth while Alexis and Zoey went to the bedroom to change into pajamas. When both kids were done, we switched and Alexis brushed her teeth.
“I like Sebastian,” she told me as she wiped her mouth on the towel. “He’s funny.”
“He’s a good guy.”
“I hope he’ll have dinner with us tomorrow. If he’s alone, does that mean he doesn’t get any presents?”
“Everyone gets presents. And Aunt Gina got him something. He’s a good friend of hers.”
“He’s a good friend of mine, too. I think I should get him a present.”
“Maybe you can make him something tomorrow,” I suggested.
“I can draw him a picture. I’m a really good draw-wer.”
I smiled. “Yes, you are. And I think Sebastian will love that. But for tonight, let’s get you into bed.”
“I love you, Uncle Gavin,” she said, throwing her little arms around my neck.
I hugged her tight and sighed. “I love you, too, Alexis. Always.”
She let go like it was no big deal and raced across the hallway to the bedroom. She jumped on the queen bed and snuggled up next to Zoey.
I stood at the door while Zoey read the kids ’Twas the Night Before Christmas. They mouthed along with some parts but by the end, both kids were asleep.
Zoey yawned and looked down at them. She kissed their foreheads and scooted her way out from between them. She covered them up with the comforter and sighed.
Then she turned to me and said, “Now, tell me all about Piper.”
19
Zoey and I sat on my bed with two forks and a piece of cake between us. Zoey took a bite and said, “Quit stalling.”
I huffed a breath. Piper. I didn’t know what I wanted to tell Zoey about Piper. I’d told her the big stuff, that we were pretending to be together for Aunt Gina and had started a relationship, but a temporary one. She knew Piper was a server at O’Kelley’s, but I wasn’t going to tell Zoey about Piper’s past or about her owning her building. I didn’t know what else there was to tell her.
“What do you want to know?”
“How did you meet her?”
“At O’Kelley’s. Do you remember Hudson Grant?”
Zoey nodded.
“He owns the place. I went in there on Thanksgiving and had a couple drinks. I ended up talking to Hudson for a while and stayed until closing. I asked him about Piper walking home alone and if I could stick around to walk her home.”
“You have some serious balls,” Zoey said.
I chuckled. “I guess. I just thought she was pretty. She held her own when someone knocked my glass out of my hand. She intrigued me.”
“And now?”
“Now, I just like her. She’s funny and smart and kind. She’s a good person.”
“But she lives here,” Zoey said.
I shrugged. “Yeah, but it is what it is. We always knew it was temporary.”
“What if she didn’t live here? What if she lived in Pittsburgh or you lived here?”
“It doesn’t matter because that’s not the case.”
“But what if it was? Would this be more than a fling? Would this be something that lasted?”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure I’m interested in something like that. Chad’s trying to grow HQA, and I have you and the kids, and—”
“Whoa, no,” Zoey said sharply. “Do not let me and my kids ruin your life. I never wanted that, Gavin. That’s not what I’m trying to do.”
“I know, and you aren’t. But I love you guys. I don’t want to be away from you. And I love spending time with them. Why is it a bad thing that I’m putting my family first? Just because they’re my niece and nephew instead of my children it means their happiness shouldn’t be important to me?”
Zoey sighed. “I never said that. They’re lucky to have you. I’m lucky to have you. But I want you to be happy. I can’t remember the last time you talked about someone the way you’re talking about Piper. I don’t want to hold you back from something because I got divorced.”
“You’re not, Zo. I promise.”
She looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “I hope not. My earlier question still stands, though. If she lived in Pittsburgh, you wouldn’t be able to use distance as an excuse.”
“It’s not an excuse,” I insisted. “It’s the truth. She lives here, and I live hundreds of miles away, and a relationship isn’t possible when neither of us is interested in moving.”
Zoey nodded and stared out the window. The night sky was dark. All the Christmas lights were on a timer set to turn off at ten and they’d been dark for a while.
“Do you remember when we talked about growing up here? About how cool it would have been to be a part of the in crowd?”
I chuckled. “Yep. What’s funny is they always wanted to be like us. They saw us as the lucky ones.”
“How do you know that?”
I shrugged. “Because I’m part of the in crowd now. Hudson, Ramsey Holland, Ian Jameson, James Rucker. All those guys I wanted to be friends with growing up are now friends of mine. I’m sure if I wasn’t seeing Piper they wouldn’t be, but Ian and Hudson both invited me to join them on Thursday nights when they all get together before Piper and I started anything.”
“My big brother, the popular kid,” Zoey teased.
“Yeah, well, that’s temporary, too.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Always.”
“Why aren’t you jumping at the chance to buy the Inn and move up here? You said you wanted to once, but after Carnegie Mellon, you stopped coming here and everything changed.”
I shrugged. “Everything did change. I changed. I wasn’t invincible anymore. I knew what failure was like, and I hated it. My dream of living here ended when I stopped being a kid. I mean, yeah, it’s great here, but that was a silly dream. Running the agency with Chad is my future.”
“Even if it’s not the agency you left a month ago?”
I sighed. “I’m not happy Chad made that call, no. I haven’t hidden that. But I don’t know. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
Zoey nodded. “It will be. You two are great at what you do. I can’t imagine things not working out for you. You guys have always known what clients to work with and who to pass on. This will be the same.”
I smiled at her and wished I had her confidence. Chad and I always talked through contracts and passed on the ones either of us had a bad feeling about. We made decisions together. Over the last year, he’d been pushing for bigger clients, and I’d been pushing back. I shouldn’t have been surprised he took one on when I was away. Maybe he was right. Maybe Zoey was right. I hoped so, but the feeling in my gut said no.
Instead of getting into all that with my sister, I climbed off the bed and pulled the suitcases out of my closet. “Ready to go be Santa?”
She groaned and nodded. “You carry all that, I’ll take the plate.”
We tiptoed down the stairs. She put the plate and forks in the dishwasher, and I started unpacking gifts for under the tree. Zoey came in and helped me arrange things the way she wanted them. I added the gifts Aunt Gina and I bought for the kids and Zoey. It looked like Christmas threw up in the living room.
“They’ve never gotten this much stuff before,” Zoey said quietly. She sniffed.
I pulled her in for a hug. “They deserve it. I got them small stuff, so did Aunt Gina. They are good kids.”
“Thank you for talking me into coming here. I couldn’t have handled this year on my own.”
“I disagree. You can handle anything on your own. But you don’t have to.”
She smiled. “Okay, I think it’s time for me to get to bed. I’m exhausted.”
I nodded. “They’ll be up early.”
She laughed. “They always are.”
Footsteps on the stairs woke me up early the next morning. The footsteps were immediately followed by whispers and shushes that did nothing to quiet the loud noises the kids made.
I waited until they were downstairs to get up. I pulled on some clothes and went to the bathroom, then headed down in my Santa hat.
It was quiet downstairs but the rustle of boxes told me they were in there sorting through presents.
“What—whoa,” I said, stopping at the door. The mountain of gifts grew. Overnight.
Zoey came into the room from the kitchen and handed me a mug. “I would have helped you,” she whispered, nodding to the gifts we didn’t set out the night before.
I shook my head. “I didn’t do this.”
She looked at me like she thought I was crazy, but I shook my head. “Then who did? Aunt Gina?”
I shrugged. “I doubt it. She asked me to put out all the gifts she had. I can’t imagine she had more.”
“Then where did all this come from?” Zoey asked.
“It’s from Santa, Mommy,” Alexis said in a tone that told us just how ridiculous she thought her mother was.
“Santa really went all out this year,” Zoey said with a smile.
“When can we open presents?” Cameron asked.
“We’re going to open most of them after we eat. I want Aunt Gina to be here with us. And Uncle Gavin has a friend coming over.”
“Three friends,” I corrected her. “Piper’s roommate, Sofia, is coming, too. And Aunt Gina talked Hudson into joining us. You’ll like them.”
“You have two women coming?”
I rolled my eyes. “Neither of them have any family around here. Aunt Gina invited Piper, and she said she always spends the holiday with Sofia, so Aunt Gina said to bring her. And Hudson closes O’Kelley’s so his staff can spend the holiday with family, and once Aunt Gina heard that, she insisted he come, too.”
“Aunt Gina sure is making a lot of decisions lately,” Zoey said with a smirk.
I flipped her off behind my mug.
“Can we open one present now?” Cameron asked.
“Yes, you can each choose one to open now,” Zoey told them.
They got lost in choosing the right present to open first. Zoey and I watched them, the joy and happiness on their faces the best gift we could have. After all the sadness and disappointment their father caused them all year, it was nice to see them happy.
When they finally chose their first gifts, Zoey pulled out her phone. Alexis tore the paper covered in bows off a box with a doll that looked just like her. She squealed and held it up. “I love her, Mommy! Santa knew I wanted her. She’s beautiful.”
“I didn’t know she wanted that,” Zoey whispered to me.
I shrugged. I’d never seen the doll before.
“Is that from Aunt Gina?”
Alexis shook her head. “It says it’s from Santa.”
“Mine is from Santa, too,” Cameron said. “I’m gonna open it now.”
He ripped the striped paper off his and opened a dinosaur. “Whoa, this is awesome!”
“I did not get that,” Zoey hissed. “Tell me you did this.”
I shook my head. “I’d tell you, but no. It wasn’t me. I promise you. I have no idea where these toys came from.”
“What the hell?”
“I don’t know. Hey, do you want to take a shower before we go up to the Inn for breakfast? I was going to.”
“Yeah, I should. How long do we have?”
“Breakfast is casual so Aunt Gina puts food out and people eat when they come down. She will serve from seven until ten.”
Zoey looked at her phone. “I’ll be quick.”
I nodded as she ran up the stairs. I took a seat and tried to figure out where all the extra gifts could have come from.
Alexis and Cameron played with their toys until it was time to go. They both asked if they could bring them to breakfast, but Zoey told them no because she didn’t want to get food on them. The four of us walked up to the Inn with the kids still in their pajamas.
We said hello and Merry Christmas to Aunt Gina and made sure she got a plate of food with the rest of us. We were just sitting down to eat when Sebastian walked in the door. He looked around and knew he was caught when his gaze landed on us.
“Sebastian!” Alexis shouted. “I saved you a seat. Come sit with me.”
Sebastian shook his head. Alexis was up out of her chair and across the room in less than a second. She tugged on Sebastian’s hand and insisted he join us.
“Merry Christmas,” Sebastian said reluctantly. He kissed Aunt Gina’s cheek and took the seat between her and Alexis.
“You need to get some food. Aren’t you hungry? You’re so big I bet you’re always hungry,” Alexis said. “You can share my food if you want. Mommy tells me I don’t eat enough, but I don’t need as much food as you do. You can share.”
Alexis held up a strip of bacon for Sebastian. He finally took it from her tiny hand and the smile she gave him lit up the entire room.
Just like her mother, Alexis fell hard for Sebastian. I glanced at Zoey, but she was doing everything possible not to look up from her plate.
Alexis asked Sebastian question after question while feeding him off her plate the entire time. When Sebastian said he was going to get his own food, Alexis jumped up and insisted she go with him. To make sure he got all the good stuff.
“She’s a pistol, that one,” Aunt Gina said.
Zoey forced a smile.
“Reminds me of you when you were little,” Aunt Gina told Zoey.
“I was like that?”
Aunt Gina laughed. “Oh, yes. You ruled the world. And talked to everyone. Barely shut up for a minute.”
Zoey glanced at Alexis and Sebastian and smiled.
I remembered Zoey when she was like that. She was always asking questions and getting to know people. Forever, that was how the world worked. Zoey talked and I absorbed everything. Until she met Trevor. He changed her.
“I guess I forgot,” Zoey said quietly.
“Don’t let her forget,” Aunt Gina said. She patted Zoey’s hand and squeezed it. “I need to get some more eggs out. I’ll be back.”
Alexis and Sebastian came back to the table with a plate overflowing with food. They ate off the same plate, sharing everything. Alexis talked the entire time, getting to know her new best friend. Sebastian seemed to relax as he spoke to Alexis.
“Are you going to come open presents with us?” Alexis asked when we were about finished with breakfast.
“I have work to do,” Sebastian said.
“On Christmas? You shouldn’t have to work on Christmas. You should spend time with the people you love. My daddy always worked on Christmas, and Mommy would cry. But now we’re here, and I don’t want Mommy to cry, so you need to spend time with us.”
Sebastian rose an eyebrow at the little pistol and crossed his arms. “I need to work so people don’t get hurt.”
“Do you have to work all day? Are you going to eat lunch with us? Can you come to open presents later?”
“I can probably arrange that,” Sebastian ceded.
