Page 11 of My eX-MAS Emergency

Tristan blinked several times, not believing he was having this conversation with Quinn. Although it was foolish to think he could hide the truth from her forever. He knew eventually she would realize Calista wasn’t truly allergic to him and that they always ignored each other whenever they saw each other. Which was a rare occurrence over the years. Calista only came back to town for Quinn’s birthday. Tristan usually stayed away until she left. But every once in a while, he would torture himself and show up at his brother’s place just to catch a glimpse of the woman he loved.

“Well, did you love her?” Quinn grew impatient.

“Quinnster,” he breathed out. “What happened between your aunt and me was a long time ago.”

“That’s what she said. So, what happened?” She refused to drop it.

His shoulders rose and fell. “Magic.” A magic like he had never known before or since.

Quinn’s eyes widened. “You did love her.”

Tristan nodded.

“Then why does she hate you?”

He cleared his throat. “I hurt her. We’ll leave it at that.” He turned back around and snapped Scout’s reins.

“Did you tell her you’re sorry?” Quinn pleaded to know.

“Kiddo, there are some things sorry doesn’t fix.”

“Did you cheat on her like my dad did to my mom?” she cried.

Damn Jonathon. Tristan jumped off Scout and went straight to his niece. She slid off Buttercup and right into his arms. He held her close while she sobbed into his coat. “Honey, I didn’t cheat on your aunt. I’m not that guy.” I’m worse.

“I heard my mom and dad fighting about it. They were always fighting until he went into the hospital. I told my mom she should just divorce him, but she wouldn’t. She said she deserved it.”

Tristan leaned away and peered into her bleary eyes, wondering why the hell Stella would say such a thing to her daughter, of all people. “No one deserves that. Don’t you ever let a guy make you think that. Promise me.”

She nodded. “I promise.”

He pulled her back to him and stroked her hair, wishing he could take this pain from her.

“Please apologize to her,” Quinn blubbered against him.

Tristan’s hand stilled in her hair. “Kiddo, she doesn’t want to talk to me.”

“But maybe if you said sorry, then …”

“Then what?”

“Well, maybe you could—”

Tristan had a suspicion about where this was going. “Quinnster, whatever you’re thinking, it’s not going to happen.” As much as he wished it could.

She leaned away from him, tears running down her cheeks. “Please try.”

He wiped a few tears off her cheeks, his heart breaking and wishing for anything to make her smile. “Kiddo, she won’t even look at me. Besides, we’ve been apart for too long. We’re different people now.” At least that’s what he liked to tell himself. She obviously had the same fire in her, wearing that elf outfit to a funeral. And he was still toeing the line with his parents.

“But you still love her, don’t you?” she asked without guile. “I can tell.”

“How can you tell?” he asked, instead of answering the question. Tristan didn’t want to admit his feelings out loud. Feelings he had tried to bury, and successfully had for a while. Then he would see fireworks in the sky. And his mind would picture her clothes hanging on a branch as she ran through the snow in her bra and underwear to jump into the freezing lake on New Year’s Eve, just for the hell of it. While bursts of colors exploded above her, she’d dared him to join her. She was always daring him to do the unexpected and live outside the box. It was one of the things he loved most about her, but it was also the thing that drove them apart. To him, the box served a purpose, and he liked the safety of it. Despite all that, there was no denying he still loved her. She made him come alive in ways he had never known. He missed it. He missed her.

“I saw you follow her at the funeral,” Quinn admitted. “And when you look at her, it’s like you lost something.”

That about summed it up. Except he hadn’t lost her. He’d left her. “It doesn’t matter how I feel or don’t feel.”

She sank against him. “It does matter. It matters to me. Please fix it. I need both of you.”

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