Page 181 of Accidentally Under Your Tree

For a few moments, the only sounds were Rose's sniffles. She opened her mouth, but then she shut it again. After one more deep breath, she forced out, "Will and I aren't dating. We're just good friends. I lied to you—"

"We lied to you," I confirmed, shame burning my cheeks.

Kelly gripped the fabric of her blouse over her heart. Behind her, Jim took a step back. I had never felt so small.

Lizzy straightened her back. "Me too. I knew too."

Rose let out a watery chuckle that fortified her. "We thought it would help the show. And I needed an excuse to stay away from Lawrence, and you see how well that worked.” Her words grew harsh. “Because Iknow, Mom."

Kelly blinked at the abrupt switch in Rose's tone.

She went on, "The audacity that you would know him more than me.'His entire life,' you don't say."

"Bring it back to the apology," Lizzy suggested, as I muttered, "Sounding less like sorry."

"Right."

"You lied about dating?" Deep furrows lined Jim's forehead.

"Isn't this just something famous people do?" Kelly asked.

"And peopletryingto be famous, apparently," I grumbled. The idea of telling her parents had been embarrassing, doing it was mortifying.

Rose swiped the heel of her hand across her wet cheeks. "Right, I am sorry."

"Me too." I wished I had a hole to crawl into. "We had it all reasoned out. It wasn't supposed to hurt you."

I resisted the urge to pace, choosing between what would be the right thing to do and how badly I didn't want to do it. Looking over Rose's head, I tried to burn into my memory the shape of Lizzy's lips, and the slope of her neck under the bun of her hair.

You'll see her again. But with the tension in the room too thick to take a normal breath, I couldn't ignore that I might have to fight for the chance.

Steeling myself, I breathed in a deep breath. "I'll find a ticket back to Kansas City."

Jim took in Rose, Lizzy, and then me. I held his eye, unwilling to show any cowardice—I wouldn't add that to the reasons he should hate me.

"To spend Christmas alone?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'll be fine."

"No."

Kelly shot him a questioning look.

"That ice storm is rolling in, anyway. They'll be cancelling flights," he said to her, then he nodded once, as if decided. "You did a dumb thing. I don't know exactly what to think right now, but you're probably not a bad person. You might even be a good friend to my daughter—regardless of how hair-brained this whole idea was. You're staying. You're not spending Christmas alone."

I rubbed at the back of my neck. It was generous, more kind than I deserved. I didn't want to leave Rose to deal with the chaos I'd helped create.

Kelly sighed. "He's right, stay."

My gaze flicked to Lizzy, but she looked away as soon as our eyes met. It could be nothing. I could be paranoid reading her cues incorrectly, but my heart skittered.

With a completely unexpected change of subject, Kelly asked. "Who wants a snack?" She turned for the fridge. Then spoke with her face in the open door. "I'm too tuckered out for dinner. I've got half a cheeseball left over from the office party. Lizzy, will you grab the cookies out of the cupboard? Jim, will you get everyone a drink?"

Rose tilted her head, blinking. "Are we just done talking?"

Her mom shrugged, placing a tray on the counter. "I don't know what else to say. This is a lot to think about. But for the first time in so. Many. Years, I have two daughters that like being in the same room. And that makes me want to celebrate Christmas."

In a matter of minutes, we huddled around the counter with cheese, crackers, and cookies. I accepted the beer Jim offered. Anxiety slowly dissipated, releasing the tension in my shoulders. It wasn't gone, but it was better.

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