Page 75 of Why Not Now?

“I asked him to take me. I knew exactly what I wanted to get. Then we went back to his place so I could wrap it.”

“You ready to go?” Derek asks.

I nod and he offers me his hand, like we’re a real couple, which we are, I recall with a thrill.

We get in the car and he gives me his phone. Maybe because of the way we decorated the house this week, maybe because of the present Lacey put under the tree for me, maybe just because I’m really happy for what seems like the first time in years, I put on Christmas music again.

Derek shoots me a smile before he pulls into traffic. “Carol of the Bells” starts the playlist and we listen to festive music while he drives us downtown. He parks in an underground parking lot, like he had when we went with Adalie to the Christmas Market, but this one is a different building.

“Who lives here?” I ask.

“Spencer and Lis. Let’s go up. They’re waiting for us.”

Like when we’d gone to Adalie’s house, he uses his own key and doesn’t knock before letting us in.

“Do you have keys to all your friends’ houses?”

“Yep,” he says. “For emergencies, mostly. But when we’re expected, we know we can all just come in.” Then he calls, “Hey, we’re here.”

“Oh, good,” Lis says from deeper in the apartment. “The last of the cookies are coming out of the oven now.”

Derek leads us down a short hall into an open-concept living room and kitchen where Lis is setting cookies onto a cooling rack.

A little corgi stretches and gets up from his dog bed in the corner, his tail wagging and tongue lolling as he makes his way to us, asking for pets.

Lacey squeals with delight and bends down to love on him.

“That’s Cerberus,” Lis says. “He’s a spoiled brat. Don’t believe him when he tells you he never gets any love or food. He’s lying.”

“He’s adorable!” Lacey says.

Spencer comes out of a bedroom, walking right to Lis to place a kiss on her cheek.

“Need any help, firecracker?” he asks.

“I think I have it all,” she replies, smiling up at him. She hands me a small package and a cup. “For you.”

She goes to Lacey and Derek next and gives them the same. Inside each package are a few cookies, and the cups are filled with hot chocolate.

Once we’re all prepared, we leave the apartment—without Cerberus, much to his dismay—and start walking down the sidewalk.

“Where are we going?” I ask Derek as Lacey and Lis talk about baking.

“It’s a surprise, sweetheart,” he tells me. “A surprise that’s a twenty-minute walk away.”

With his fingers linked through mine, I can’t even be annoyed that he’s not telling me.

We walk through the streets of downtown, chatting about food, Christmas, photography, and events at the venue. We eat our cookies and drink our hot chocolates. Lacey tells everyone about school and I notice she tells stories she hasn’t told me before. I wonder, not for the first time, if I should be spending less time working and more time with my sister. I also remember she wanted to talk about something last Monday, but I’d asked if we could discuss it later. We’d never gotten back to it.

When she finishes the story, and Derek asks Spencer about meeting him to work out this week, I link my arm through Lacey’s. “Did you still want to talk?” I ask quietly. “I’m sorry I forgot about it on Monday.”

She shrugs. “You’ve had a lot going on. It’s not a big deal. I’ve got everything under control.”

The way she says that makes me pay closer attention.

“Is there something I should know, Lacey?”

She shakes her head. “It’s not a big deal, Ava. We can talk later.”

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