Page 99 of Theirs for the Holidays

As soon as she’s gone, I sink back against the counter, sagging with relief. “Oh my god. I thought I was going to blow that.”

“What was she even here for?” Sawyer wants to know.

“Being a busy body. You heard her. Everyone was so surprised to see me with three boyfriends, so she had to come do her digging. Catching me in a lie about this would be like an early wedding present for her.”

All three of them make a face, and I shrug.

“It’s just how she is. I’m just glad we had a story in place. And that the three of you are so good at making up stuff on the spot and following my lead. You did really well.”

“Of course,” Lennox says, grinning.

“We wouldn’t leave you to face down that interrogation on your own,” Sawyer adds.

I get back to getting the scones ready to go in the oven and sigh. “That was so stressful though. And it’s going to be like that every time someone decides they want to try to poke holes in the story. Maybe it’s a good thing this will be over soon.”

I glance over at them, expecting to see them agreeing whole heartedly. But there’s a hesitance there. Something in their gazes that makes me pause.

“Yeah,” Lennox finally says. “I guess maybe it is.”

The other two agree, but it doesn’t feel like they mean it as much as I would have expected them to.

32

RHETT

Sweetwater Lake isthe kind of town you could do laps around all day if you wanted to. Small, compact, insular. People know me here, so I have to wave and nod as I walk around, grateful to be out of Violet’s house for a while to get some air.

It’s a crisp day, but not as cold as it has been, and the plows have already been through to remove the dumping of snow from yesterday from the roads and sidewalks. It’s all piled up to one side at the edge of town, sparkling and already dirty from the asphalt.

I can only guess it would be worse in a big city, but it makes me think about my cabin all the same. I clear the snow away from my doorway and the walk up to the house and that’s about it. Everything else is untouched and pristine, the snow allowed to collect and melt away without my input.

I would have expected to be yearning to go back by now, fed up with all the people and chaos of being back here. And there is the itch to go back sometimes, usually when things get too overwhelming, but most of all, I want to be with Violet.

She’s on my mind heavily today.

As I walk down the sidewalk, dodging people with strollers and huge shopping bags, I think about what she said yesterday after her sister left.

This will all be over soon.

And she’s right. Once Andrew’s wedding is over and done with, there’s no reason to keep pretending to be together. I’ll be going back to my cabin—my sanctuary, and I’ll be back where I belong.

Back where I chose to be.

So why is there is a pit in my gut that feels a bit like dread?

Everything there is how I want it, from the layout of the cabin to the location. It’s been perfect for me since I moved out there, but now, the thought of going back to it, cold and empty, feels almost wrong. I can admit to myself that it gets lonely.

Being here with my brothers and Violet has shown me that I do probably spend too much time on my own. The cabin won’t have Violet’s bubbling laugh ringing out or the smell of her coffee or baked goods, and that feels wrong somehow.

I step around a cluster of teenagers all looking at something on a phone and cross the street to get to the park.

Simon’s already there, sitting in his usual spot, a thick flannel blanket draped over his lap and a steaming cup at his elbow.

“There you are,” he says, grinning when he looks up and sees me. “I thought you were going to stand me up. Leave an old man alone in the cold and the snow waiting for you.”

“It’s not that cold,” I reply, sitting down and unwinding my scarf. “And it’s not snowing.”

“I notice you’re not also protesting me calling myself old,” Simon says. He nods to the snow on the grass under the trees of the park. “And there’s snow right there, young man. Do you need to get your eyes checked as well as a new watch?”