Page 9 of A Cozy Kind of Christmas

EIGHT

JILL

Three flights later, Jill found herself touching down in Bend, Oregon, nudging Owen awake again. “We’re here, finally,” she said with a yawn.

He stretched, massaging his jaw and giving her a groggy smile as he leaned over Jill to see out the window. “Snow! We’ve got legit snow, as far as you can see.”

“It’s a winter wonderland, isn’t it?” Jill agreed, reaching into the seat-back pocket to gather her candy, gum, headphones, and paperback mystery that she hadn’t managed to read a single word of.

The view was undeniably Christmassy, with snow-capped mountain peaks and a brilliant icy-blue crisp winter sky stretching out endlessly over the high desert.

But what time zone were they in now?

First, there was the long-haul flight from London to New York, followed by a flight to Portland with a quick layover, and then an hour-long flight to Bend on a much smaller plane, resulting in plenty of bumps.

Shockingly—or not so shockingly—Owen slept like a baby on each flight, even through the turbulence, unbothered by gravity or any impending life changes.

Jill, on the other hand, had spent the trip wide awake, rehearsing a million ways to try to tell him about San Francisco and the baby.

Nothing sounded right.

Somewhere between the turbulence and layovers, her mind drifted to the last time she, Meg, and Matt had been living together in the same city.

Seven years. Seven long years since they shared frothy pints and garlic rosemary fries at Deschutes, making countless promises that none of them kept.

It was almost impossible to believe that much time had passed.

It was even harder to believe that Meg and Matt still weren’t speaking.

The fact that Meg was coming was a small miracle, a feat only made possible by the one and only Johanna King, a true force of nature.

Jill had taken an instant liking to Johanna when they met years ago in New York.

If she lived closer, she imagined the three of them would do some damage, just like she had with Meg and Matt before things had gotten complicated.

She stuffed everything into her carry-on bag and followed Owen off the cramped airplane.

As much as she was excited to see her closest friends, she was also nervous.

Navigating the tension between Matt and Meg was likely going to fall to her.

She hadn’t met Matt’s girlfriend, Lucinda Hinton, but even if Lucinda was the chillest person on the planet, there was no chance the duo of Matt’s first love and new love wasn’t going to be complicated.

And then there was the ticking time bomb of her own love life.

Meg was more than a friend. She was a sister.

Keeping anything secret from her was practically impossible and unnatural, like trying to walk with a rock stuck in your shoe.

And the truth was Jill needed to talk. She needed Meg.

If things went the way she anticipated, she was also going to need a shoulder to cry on, and there was no shoulder better than Meg’s.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Owen said, grabbing her hand instinctively as they made their way through the crowded terminal.

It was decked out for the holidays with fragrant wreaths and garlands.

Strings of bright green and red lights stretched from the high ceiling, and carols played on the speakers overhead.

The food stands offered holiday favorites—chocolate-dipped pretzels and warm turkey sandwiches smothered with cranberry sauce and stuffing.

Jill could eat.

She placed a hand over her stomach to stop its rumbling. “The jet lag has removed any and every coherent thought from my brain,” Jill lied, lacing her hand through his.

“You never sleep on planes,” Owen said, steering her past a group of high school students in matching band uniforms, lugging instruments toward their gate. “You should try M&M’s.”

Jill reached into her pack and retrieved a crumpled, melted bag of chocolate candies. “I did. They failed me. Miserably, I might add.”

He laughed and kissed the top of her head. “I’m talking melatonin and meditation. A little of my M&M remedy, and you’ll drift off into the most blissful sleep of your life like a newborn baby.”

Jill flinched. She recovered quickly with a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. If only it were that easy.

“What are you thinking about?” He tugged the handle of his rolling suitcase, keeping a tight grip on Jill like he was worried he might lose her.

“This, everything,” she replied, nodding toward a giant blue spruce tree adorned with ruby red berries and dazzling twinkling lights.

“It’s the holidays, which I love, but I’m nervous about how things will go between Meg and Matt, especially with Lucinda in the mix, and then I’m already thinking ahead to seeing my parents. It’s just a lot.”

What she wanted to say was, We should talk, like really talk.

There was no point, though. She had zero doubts that Owen loved and cherished her, but she was all too aware of his stance on kids and family, which stemmed from his own dysfunctional childhood.

He’d basically raised himself and left when he was in his teens to finish school on his own.

He’d hit the road, crashing on friends’ couches and sleeping on the floor, teaching himself how to fix leaky water pipes and paint houses to earn enough money to scrape by.

His fierce independence was one of the things that had attracted her most to him, and now it might be their unraveling.

“But you have me, and there’s snow and Irish coffee,” he said, nudging her shoulder gently. “What more do you need?”

His grin was pure Owen—hopeful, breezy, almost enough to make her momentarily forget the ache pressing against her ribs.

Jill wanted to scream that she didn’t have him and that she needed a lot more than spiked coffee and a fresh dusting of snow, but instead, she forced another smile and stopped to zip up her coat before they ventured outside.

There was no reason to make everyone miserable right from the start.

The best she could do was enjoy these last few days together and face the reality of their divergent futures after the holidays.