Page 24 of Back Home For Christmas

I always thought she did that just to throw people off her scent. All the shop keepers were up in each other’s business, which made it extra hard to keep any secrets. Either way, I felt a sudden drop in stomach as if I had reached the top of a rollercoaster and hit the zero-gravity free fall. Maybe it was stupid, but not having our cocoa would be a disaster. Especially if we needed to draw in more shoppers than ever before.

I thought if I ever witnessed my brother fail, I would revel in it. I would be justified and vindicated and blissfully happy all at once. I could laugh and point and rub it in his face. But seeing his misstep now just made my heart hurt. He looked embarrassed and so, so sad.

“I’ll go get some. It’s not that far. I’ll drive up to Ocean Park, get what we need and be back before it is even dark,” I said.

“Will it fit in your Prius?” Jay asked.

“Yes, of course. I know my Prius is tiny, but it’s not that small,” I said.

“I don’t know, Cat. I don’t want you driving in the snow, and you need to finish the booth,” Mom said.

“I can do the booth and get the chocolate,” I said. “It will take me twenty minutes to finish the booth. And it isn’t snowing.”

“It is going to snow,” Mom said. We all looked to the sky simultaneously as if it held some weather secret we could immediately discern. Then I came to my senses and pulled out my phone.

“It says eighty percent chance of snow,” I said. “I think it will be fine. Besides, what choice do we have? We need that chocolate.”

“I’ll drive her in the truck,” Jay said. I turned to him like he spoke another language.

“That might work,” Mom said.

“I don’t need a ride,” I said.

“I would feel much better if Jay went with you,” Darren said.

“That’s cool. I wouldn’t,” I said.

“Don’t be so stubborn,” Mom said. “We need the chocolate. It’s going to snow, and Jay has been generous enough to offer you a ride. It is the perfect solution.”

“Why can’t Jay go solo? Then I could work on the booth,” I said.

“Catherine, you don’t have to be so difficult. We aren’t going to make Jay travel alone,” Mom said.

“Why not?” I said.

“Because he is our guest,” she said.

“He seems like less of a guest than I am these days,” I said.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Mom said.

“Okay mom,” I said, trying to head off a lecture. “I guess. I’ll get my purse.”

Chapter Seventeen

The car rumbled out of the driveway as an uneasy feeling settled in my stomach. It’s fine, I told myself. I had no choice. I can withstand a few hours in the car with this man. I survived my whole life with him in my general orbit. I could survive this too. We could listen to some music, stare out the window in awkward silence and absolutely not, under any circumstances, talk about the drunken kiss.

I studied the stereo, connected to his phone, trying to figure out how to switch to the radio without turning off GPS. It was much more advanced than my ten-year-old car.

“Ah ha,” I said, as I pushed the radio button. The speakers came instantly to life, blasting “White Christmas,” loudly enough to shake the speakers. I scrambled to turn the volume down, and of course Jay was laughing when I finally got the music under control.

“You are the only person I know that still listens to the radio,” he said.

“I’m not about to look through your phone for music. I’m sure I would be traumatized by what I found,” I said.

“Oh yeah? What do you think you would find?”

“I don’t know…maybe you keep pictures of all the bodies in the basement.” I said.

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