Page 97 of Meet Me at Midnight

She looks happy and carefree, but I know today, just like every other holiday, is hard for her. Knowing her parents’ house is just down the street from here, empty while her dad travels the world without her, wouldn’t be easy on anyone.

“Welcome, everyone,” my dad announces, his face curling up in a genuine smile. “Diane and I, as always, are so grateful to have all of you to call family and love spending this special day with you. Chef Stone has prepared a special Christmas Eve feast for us tonight,” he says, extending a hand toward the kitchen and prompting all of us to turn in that direction and raise our glasses toward the chef, “and we can’t wait to share it with you. You…all of you…make our lives so much better, and we don’t know what we’d do without you.” He lifts his glass, and we do the same, taking a drink before he turns to each of us individually. “Mom, Dad, I appreciate the sacrifices you made to put me in the position I am now.” My grandma Bev and grandpa Phil smile, and he turns to my mom’s parents then.

“Bill, Judy…I want to thank you for this amazing woman you raised. She’s my better half in every way, and without her, I would be lost. She keeps our lives running and gave me two beautiful children. I love you, Diane, with my whole heart, whole soul, whole being.”

My dad takes a moment to step over to my mom and press a little kiss to her lips. But their sweet moment is popped like a needle to a balloon when my sister chimes in.

“Ooh, do me now!” Avery demands, making us all laugh.

My dad’s smile only grows as he walks back over to the mantel, his eyes on Avery now. “My dearest daughter…you’re unequivocally you, and I pride myself on giving you the opportunity to be just that. I hope you don’t change and that people will give you the chance to show your kind spirit and giving heart like you show to me. I’m also unbelievably grateful for the shy little girl you brought home with you from Hollis Academy on that first September day, and for the opportunity to love her now.”

“Gosh, you guys are so lucky to have me,” Avery says, lifting her glass in the air for herself. “Cheers to me!”

My dad just chuckles as he turns to June, and I can’t help but turn to face her too, knowing this moment right here from my dad is all she’s ever wanted in this world from her own mother and father. “June, our little angel. God sure did bless us by bringing you into our lives. I’m proud of your sweet nature and your giving soul and your undeniable work ethic you’ve shown since joining the firm this fall. I’m so proud of you, if I could, I’d call you my daughter too.”

June licks her lips and nods, and I know when she looks down to her lap, she’s crying real tears.

One day, she’s going to have all the things she’s ever dreamed of. I’m going to make sure of it.

He turns to me then, and I have to sit up straighter in my seat to refocus myself on him. These days, I swear, I feel like I’m particles of myself, constantly scattered throughout the room and always hoping to get closer to June.

“Beau. Son. I’m so proud of the man you’re becoming and the care and attention you put into the business I built on myback,” my dad says, his smile big. “I know you’re dedicated to continuing the firm’s legacy long after I’m retired and gone, and the thought makes me incredibly proud. But more than all those things, I’m proud of who you are as a person. The integrity. The honesty. The unwavering dedication to doing the right thing.” My ears burn with a sudden wave of guilt over hiding what June and I are from not only my dad, but everyone in this room. My mom. My grandparents. Even my sister. She’s a pain in the ass on even the best of days, but she’d do anything for me or June at the drop of a hat. I don’t like that we’re still lying to them—in this moment, I’m starting to hate it, actually—and I hope beyond hope we figure out a way to break the news soon. “Beau, I know it hasn’t always been a smooth road for you, but you’ve risen above and come out on top.”

When the speech finally breaks and everyone disperses toward the dining room table where Chef Stone is bringing out appetizers, I shake my dad’s hand and give him a hug, and then promptly start searching for June.

She’s nowhere to be found, and I have a feeling it’s because she’s feeling just as guilty as I am about the secret we’re hiding. We’ve had what feels like a hundred conversations about this, and if my father’s words tonight affected her in the same way they affected me, the shame of hiding our relationship from everyone is feeling like a path that’s more than run its course.

I start at the half bath and then go out back to the pool and even down to look for her at our spot on the beach, but I come up empty-handed at all of them.

When I go back inside, I climb the steps to the second floor and start peeking inside bedrooms as I make my way down the hall.

Most are empty, with made beds and untouched knickknacks, including the one she used to sleep in every night she was here growing up, but when I get to mine at the end of the long second-floor hallway, she’s lurking in front of my bookshelf.

“Hey,” I say softly, hoping not to startle her as I step inside and shut the door behind me.

“Hi,” she replies, her teeth worrying the skin of her bottom lip.

“What are you doing in here?”

She laughs, shrugging. “Hiding from my culpability, I guess.”

“Yeah.” I nod. “I’m feeling pretty guilty too.”

“How are we going to tell everyone, Beau?” She sinks her face into her hands. “Listening to your dad down there, I felt so bad. I love your family so much. Just as much as I’ve always loved you. I just… I feel like we’ve backed ourselves into a corner. And trust me, I know this is more my doing than yours.”

“Hey, don’t do that. We’re a team, okay?” Stepping forward and pulling her into my arms, I hug her tight. “And we’ll figure out a way to tell them. Everything is going to be fine, I promise. They love both of us, right? Why wouldn’t they want us to be happy and together?”

“Maybe they would have been okay a few months ago, but Beau, we’ve beenlying,” she whispers into my chest. “We’re lying right now!”

I put my hands to the side of her face, lifting her gaze to mine and studying the cornflower blue of her irises. “I’m going to figure out how to fix it. I promise.”

She nods, and I press my lips to hers. The kiss starts out soft and gentle, but it only takes a few beats before it turns altogether heated. Her hands pull at the back of my dress shirt, and I lift the hem of her cream dress. The skin of her thigh feels warm and inviting, and I move my tongue deeper into her mouth to get more.

God, she tastes so good. Feels so good. I’ll never have enough. I could touch and kiss June every second of every hour of every day for the rest of forever and I don’t think I’d ever have my fill.

A little moan escapes her throat, and I swallow it down as passion and heat and white-hot need release themselves inside our kiss.

“I’ve been looking all over for—oh my God!” Avery screams at the top of her lungs, and both June and I startle apart as the door to my bedroom swings open so hard it bangs against the wall.

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