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“Technically, we did too,” I reminded him. “We just had to save power.”
“I had to distract myself with decorating.” He gestured around. “Do you like it? I went all out.”
And all out he did, but not in the way I thought he would. Nick had a modern style, and he tried to find that with Christmas decorations. A large, skinny tree was adorned with blue and silver ornaments. After days in Amma’s cozy cabin, it felt cold.
“Nick.” Amma crossed her arms. “We need to talk about your décor choices.”
“What?” he asked. “I think it looks nice.”
Amma shook her head. Whatever she was going to say next was blocked out by my parents bursting through the door, both of them pulling Alden and me into tight hugs.
“Oh, thank God,” Mom said. “I was so worried.”
“We talked on the phone last night,” I reminded them.
“It’s not the same as seeing you in person.”
“I was safe the moment Alden came back for me.”
Every head in the room turned. My words hit me right after.
“What do you mean he camebackfor you?” Nick asked. “I thought he was always there.”
I glanced at Alden, who looked like a deer in headlights.
Whoops, I shouldn’t have mentioned that.
“I kind of kicked him out before I realized how bad it was. He was nice enough to come back. That’s all.”
“Is that why your truck was gone the whole time?” Amma asked.
“Oh, yeah. It went off the road a mile out. I took it as a sign and ran?—”
“Walked,” I corrected. “In a very casual, friendly way.”
Silence settled over the room.
“Interesting,” Amma said. “Isn’t that so, Nick?”
“Sure,” he said, eyes narrowed.
This was teetering on a conversation that we weren’t ready to have. “You said you were going to get some stuff from Reed, right?”
That seemed to distract him. “I did. He’s an ass, by the way.”
“What did he say this time?”
“He says he still expects the photos you took by next week. The ones you were working on when he proposed.”
My eyes narrowed. “Are you serious?”
“Hang on,” Alden interjected, “he had youworkingthe day he proposed?”
“There were layers to how shitty that day was,” I answered and then turned to Nick. “What did you say?”
“I told him you charged a fee for clients who are idiots and he has to pay you double.”
“Did he agree?”