Page 31 of Christmas On Anchor Island

Chapter Eight

Henri would be damnedif she’d sit back and let Mia handle this alone.

As the gathering sat in silence, still processing what had happened, Henri pushed back her chair and headed for the exit.

“Where’s she goin’?” she heard Conner say, but she was out the door before anyone had a chance to answer him.

Stopping outside the restaurant entrance, she checked to see which way Mia had gone. There was no one over toward the water, so she stepped out to the end of the parking lot and spotted Mia about to cross over to the narrow lane that led back to her house.

“Mia, wait,” she called, hustling to catch up. The other woman turned, but as Henri approached, she didn’t look happy to see her. “It’s cold out here. Let me drive you home.” With all the car seats plus Eugenia, there hadn’t been enough room for the Edwards clan to all ride in one vehicle, so she’d driven herself.

“Henri, go back inside.”

“I’m not letting you walk home.”

Mia pulled the collar of her coat tighter. “I’ve ruined the holiday enough. Go back and be with your family.”

“You didn’t ruin anything.”

She laughed, a soulless, empty sound. “You clearly weren’t paying attention.”

“Come on. If anyone owes people an apology, it’s your grandmother. And she should start with you.”

Brown eyes snapped with anger as Mia turned on her. “None of that was Grandma’s fault. She’s right. I’ve been lying to her, the most important woman in my life, while almost everyone else in that room knew the truth. She has every right to be upset.”

“You had a good reason for not being honest with her,” Henri pointed out.

“Now you support my decision not to tell her? Really?”

Reminding herself that Mia was hurt, she ignored the question. “If you don’t want to go home, I’ll take you someplace else. Just come back and get in the car.”

“I don’t need rescuing, Henri. Go back to the dinner.”

“Screw the dinner. You shouldn’t be alone right now.”

The wind whipped around them, tugging Mia’s hair from her clip and making it difficult for Henri to feel her cheeks. After a long silence, when Henri thought for sure Mia would give in, the other woman stared at the ground and said, “Alone is exactly what I need to be right now. At least when I’m alone I can’t hurt anyone.”

Gripping her upper arms, Henri gave Mia a gentle shake. “You are not the villain here. So that wasn’t the greatest way for Nota to find out. Okay, fine. She still shouldn’t have made that about herself. Instead of playing the victim, she should have asked why she was the only one who didn’t know. Why you didn’t feel comfortable enough to tell her the truth.”

Mia continued to blame herself. “There’s no excuse for putting her in that situation. In the last couple of months, I told all those other people. I told Beth and Sid and Will and Roxie.” She ticked each person off on her fingers. “Alex has known almost since I moved here. Hell, even Lauren’s brother knows. Yet, I kept my own grandmother in the dark. How could I possibly blame her for reacting that way?”

Changing tactics, Henri said, “Okay, then. Let’s say she has a right to be pissed. That doesn’t mean you should have to walk home in the cold. Let me take you.”

“I can’t do that.”

Jaw set, she spun and marched off down the lane, and Henri hustled after her. “What do you mean, you can’t do that?”

“Not now.”

“Not now, what?” Henri asked, an unknown panic rising in her chest.

“Everything is different now. We can’t see each other.”

Mia was walking fast enough to force Henri into a jog. “Will you slow down? What the hell are you talking about?”

“I definitely can’t move to Charleston now.”

She was moving to Charleston?

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