Page 182 of Accidentally Under Your Tree

Eventually, Rose spoke up, "Can we talk about how sad the orchestra'sI'll be Home for Christmaswas?"

Lizzy nodded, her eyebrows shooting up. My fingers tingled to wipe away the red icing on the corner of her mouth. Not that I would under the circumstances. Not that it seemed like she'd want that right now.

"I thought it was boring," Jim said.

Kelly accepted the cracker spread with cheese her husband offered. "I didn't know that song could be ten minutes long."

Little by little, they fell into their normal pattern, chatting and playfully picking on each other. I smiled but I was eager for an opportunity to talk to Lizzy alone. Something had upset her at the school before everything else happened. I wanted to know that she was all right. That we were all right.

After a few minutes, her parents went to the basement to watchPrancer, again. And Rose announced she was going to take a shower. Lizzy wouldn't look at me, her head tipped down. I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry.

Waiting, I let the silence stretch on until I couldn't take it any longer. Until my stomach had turned over too many times and I didn't feel well.

I leaned my elbows on the countertop. "You, okay?"

She shrugged. "Fine."

"You seem like you're not."

She jerked her shoulder again. Brushing the curls around her temple back, she took a drink of her wine.

"Was it just the stress of…everything?" I let the one word describe the Rose and Lawrence situation, and the following conversation with her parents.

She shook her head. She finally looked at me.

My pulse was heavy and sluggish. I saw what was coming while wishing to be wrong, hoping that I could say the right thing. Something that would set her at ease.

She set her glass down with a clink. "Did you see that picture of us?"

"Yeah, but it's not bad. The response seems…kind."

"Does that sort of thing happen often?"

"People recognizing me?"

"Sure, or strangers taking pictures of you and posting them online?"

My stomach churned. "Not often."

She'd gone perfectly still, and I understood the tell for what it was.

"Are you okay? Do you feel unsafe?" I asked.

"No. Nervous would be a better word."

"Why?"

"I just…" she swallowed. "I don't like it. I know it must seem small to you. But my social media is a LinkedIn for my work. I don't…I don't cultivate attention. I don't want it."

"We can keep our relationship quiet, private, just like you said we should. We could be more careful about how we are in public. Rose and I talked earlier about announcing a quote-en-quote breakup sooner rather than later. Lizzy, it doesn't happen often, I promise. You'll see that."

"Unless the show gets picked up."

"Even if that happens, we won't be famous. We'll have a slightly larger group of people who know us, but not a lot."

"I don't know…"

"I'll shield you from it."

---