Page 109 of By Invitation Only

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Booker

My family, including Carrie and Taylor, had turned our house into the Christmas spirit. There was a seven-foot Douglas fir in the front window that was decorated to the point you couldn’t see the green of the tree. Our front yard looked as though Santa’s Elves were about to set-up shop and start building toys. We hadn’t decorated before my parents arrived because, well, I wasn’t home and Carrie and Taylor hadn’t planned on my mother bitching that the house wasn’t decorated. So we decorated on Christmas Eve to appease Mum. And because I was extremely busy with work and trying to balance my relationship with Peyton, I wasn’t able to get her a Christmas present—or anyone for that matter.

“Care,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck as we ate dinner, “I have a little bit of a situation.”

“What’s that?”

I looked to each of my parents, Taylor, and then back to Carrie. “I didn’t get Peyton anything for Christmas,” I confessed.

My mother dropped her fork. “Booker! I taught you better than that.”

“I haven’t had time.”

“It’s six o’clock on Christmas Eve. I don’t know what you can get her this late,” Carrie replied. “Did you get any of us gifts?” she retorted.

I frowned. “I’ve been working fifteen plus hours a day. I think you can all cut me some slack.”

“We don’t need anything from you,” Dad replied.

“Speak for yourself, Piers,” Carrie snapped. “I have to live with this ass. The least he could do is get me a gift for Christmas.”

“I’ll give you your divorce papers if you want,” I hissed before I realized what I’d said. I’d started the papers, but we couldn’t file them until I was a citizen so we didn’t put up any red flags.

“Divorce papers?” Mother asked.

“Aw fuck,” I murmured.

Carrie smirked at me and waved her hand in front of her. “Have fun with that.”

“What do you mean divorce papers?” Dad chimed in.

And there went the tension again. I sighed. “Carrie and I are married.”

“What?” Mother gasped.

My father’s eyes became wide. Taylor kept eating her pizza. I shook my head slowly and sighed again.

“Just tell them,” Carrie prompted.

“We got married so I could stay in the states.”

“I thought you were on a work VISA?” Dad asked.

I shook my head. “When I needed to get one, I wasn’t working for Lee and Thompson yet. I didn’t want to have to go back and forth until I got a job, so Carrie married me so I could stay here.”

“Can you do that?” Mum asked.

I cracked a smile. “Well, we did.”

Dad tilted his head slightly. “Wait. You’ve been with Lee and Thompson since—”

“Yes, we’ve been married for nine years or so.”

“Oh dear God,” Mum gasped, clenching her chest as though she was having a heart attack.

“We’ve been married that long, but it’s not real,” Carrie clarified.