Page 20 of Merry Kissmas

“Kenz, I don’t know where I’m going,” he says, reaching for the phone.

She giggles and doesn’t give it to him.We swerve, but Andrew corrects immediately.They continue to go back and forth, and I’m not gonna lie, I really think I would’ve been the safer bet to drive.

“People will ask, how did Brynn die?Went off a mountain cliff because Kenzie wanted to listen to ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.’”

Kenzie scoffs and glares at Brynn.“Give me some credit.‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town.’”Her gaze travels to Nolan.“Our favorite, right, buddy?”

He squeals in excitement.

Andrew gets the phone in hand, and we’re back on track.

“You guys are no fun.”Kenzie huffs.

“Believe me, there will be a ton of Christmas fun once we get there.”Brynn circles her head as if her neck hurts, her eyes landing on me.

“I’d be happy to work that out for you when we get there,” I say.

Andrew and Kenzie talk in lower tones.

“I’m good, thanks.”Brynn goes back to looking out the window at the pitch darkness except for the other cars on the road.

Andrew eventually hands Kenzie the phone and instructs her how not to change the screen on the dash so he can still read the map whilst she acts as DJ.

Nolan laughs as his mom pretends her fist is a microphone and sings.Soon she’s leaning into Andrew, and he’s smiling at her the way a husband should his wife—as though she’s his everything.

It doesn’t take long for Brynn to join in, and hell, I finally do too, all of us singing “Jingle Bells” as we roll through the entrance of our resort.All the evergreen trees are wrapped in an array of twinkling lights.One tree red, another green, and another white.

“Oh, look at the lights, Nolan.”Kenzie points toward the window, and his attention turns that way.

“So pretty,” Brynn says.

I admire the wide-eyed innocent look on her face as she stares out the front window.

“You like Christmas,” I say because anyone could tell she does from the look on her face.“You hide it well.”

She chuckles.“I love spending it with my family.I was just bummed it was going to be different this year.Get ready, because as soon as we pull into the parking lot, we’re going to be bombarded.”

“By the Russells!”Kenzie puts up her hands and waves them.“You’re going to love them, Pierce.They even get my stodgy old husband to participate in their games.”

“Games?”I ask, panic stiffening my muscles.

The only family I’ve ever spent time around is Andrew’s.My aunt and uncle are nice and loving, but there aren’t a lot of other family members.Most often, it would just be the four of us for holiday break.

“Oh yeah, I hope you brought your game because the Russells have a competitiveness that could challenge an Olympian’s.”

“She’s not lying, Pierce,” Andrew chimes in, glancing over his shoulder at me.

A little warning would’ve been nice.He knows my history.Knows how uncomfortable I am around families.

Andrew rounds the primary lodge area and heads down another road and up a steep hill toward a bunch of smaller buildings.

“That must be our shared area in the middle.It’s so cute.”Kenzie turns to Brynn with excitement etched in every feature of her face.“Come on.You know it is.”

Brynn shrugs.“It does look nice.”

Andrew parks the SUV and shuts off the engine.A barrage of people file out of the house before we’ve even opened the car doors.

“How many people are there?”I ask anyone who will answer me.

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