Page 87 of When in December

nineteen

. . .

Poppy

At the soundof the doorbell, I sped down the steps to the front door in my robe. No other time was I ever running late, except, for some reason, when it came to Aaron Hayes. Luckily, Simon didn’t beat me there; in fact, he had been oddly quiet so far this evening.

Catching my breath, I threw the front door open, startling Aaron on the other side. I opened my mouth, words dying on my lips.

He raised his eyebrows, but his eyebrows weren’t what I was looking at.

He’d shaved. His jawline was visible and much more angular than I remembered.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“Yes! Of course. Give me one minute, and I’ll be ready,” I said, out of breath.

Aaron looked me up and down. “Nice duckies.”

I glanced back down at my old robe. It was soft and fluffy, but I’d also had it for the past decade, if not longer. Feeling my face heat, I swiftly turned back up the stairs to finish getting ready. My dress was already laid out on the bed. Slipping it overmy head, I checked my phone one more time, trying to see if Hannah had called me back yet.

Ever since I’d agreed to go to this party, I wondered if it was a huge mistake. It probably was. This wasn’t usual. Then again, nothing of this project had been.

My phone shook in my hand, but it wasn’t Hannah.

I trust my decisions.

I used to find the affirmation notifications on my phone to be my favorite part of the day. Now, I was pretty sure they were listening to me.

Setting my phone aside, I turned back to my mirror, fixing the way my dress lay before reaching for the small red jingle bell earrings I’d set out. With little plaid ribbons above each one, the bells even jingled, though it wasn’t the same ring my phone would make if Hannah managed to call me back.

Hannah had definitely been keeping something to herself lately. We were both busy. I was consumed by the cabin, and I’d heard that there had been an uptick in Home Haven Hotline calls since the Holiday line had been promoted.

I would have to find time to talk to her soon and get to the bottom of whatever was going on. Because Hannah always said she was okay, whether or not she was. She smiled, even when she was raging.

But I had never seen Hannah quiet.

One thing was for sure: I knew what Hannah would tell me anyway if she did call back.

Live!she’d very likely scream at me.Look right at that man in front of you, who looks at you like you’re the most brilliant thing since sliced bread, and take him to bed! Live and forget that lowlife, balding assbag who hasn’t reached out to you in years and is probably having horrible sex with that chick from four counties over. Do it for all of us, Pops!

Or something like that, I’d imagine.

Walking down the stairs, I could already hear a new conversation, along with the jingle of my holiday earrings. I fixed the back of one of the earrings that hadn’t quite clipped. Once I got it, I let it hang with the tiny trill it made.

“It’s nice to meet you, Aaron. Officially, that is.” Simon chuckled.

“Yes,” my mother agreed. “We’ve heard enough about you.”

I cringed, and from what I could see, so did Aaron.

“I was going through a few things. I acted a bit childish.”

I scoff-laughed, and it echoed down the steps.

Aaron’s eyes caught on me, scanning over my face and down to my simple flat shoes with the bows.

“What?” I asked. “Am I overdressed?”

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