Page 45 of No Time for Traditions

Brittany closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, then buried her face in her hands. Her mind raced for an excuse for cutting out like that. She could say she felt sick, which wasn’t entirely untrue. But no excuse would suffice for long. She had to come clean to her friends at some point and admit that her holiday had been rotten.

“Brittany?”

A hand laid on Brittany’s shoulder as she lifted her face. Brittany’s eyes followed from the dainty hand up to Kinsley’s face.

“Hey.”

Kinsley sat beside Brittany. “Are you okay?”

Brittany shrugged. “I should be. But I’m not.”

“Want to talk about it?”

Brittany shook her head. Tears bubbled up, blurring her vision.

“Please tell me what’s wrong.”

Kinsley reached for a tissue and handed it to Brittany. Brittany blotted her cheeks and sniffled.

“Let’s just say a lot of people let me down.”

Kinsley scooted closer to Brittany and put an arm around her shoulders. “None of us, I hope.”

Brittany laughed. “No, not at all. My family... and Greg.”

“Greg?”

Brittany sniffled again. “I’ll get to him in a minute.”

As quickly as she could, Brittany filled Kinsley in on the details of the farmhouse and how much it meant to her. Then, she told her how she’d hated Greg Tucker in high school for his immaturity and womanizing ways. After that, she went through her week in Hillside. Starting with the first time she’d seen Greg to the last time, when she’d slammed the truck door in his face and told him nobody would ever want to marry him.

“Goodness, Brittany. No wonder you’re upset.” Kinsley gave her a quick hug and then dropped her arms and sighed.

“I know. And the worst part of all is that I still care about him.”

Kinsley patted Brittany’s leg. “Look, I can tell you better than anyone that love is worth fighting for.”

Brittany snickered. “Wait, I didn’t say I loved Greg.”

Kinsley shook her head. “You didn’t. But you didn’t have to.”

Brittany lifted her head and blinked. What if Kinsley was right? No guy had ever made her so happy . . . or so sad. Or mad, for that matter. But she had to care a great deal about Greg for him to take such sure control over her emotions.

“Do you ever miss being single or living here full time?”

Kinsley laughed. “Not for one second.”

Brittany twisted her mouth and blotted her face a few more times. “Well, you’ve given me a lot to think about.”

Kinsley smiled. “Are you ready to join us again?”

“Maybe for dinner. I don’t think I can make it to midnight.”

“Understood.” Kinsley stood, and Brittany followed her back out into the dining area.

When one of the girls asked if she was okay, and she said she was. And that wasn’t a lie, because she knew she would be. When they asked about Christmas, she told them about the farmhouse but left out the details of Greg and how she’d found out it was sold. She brushed over any disheartening details by playing up how nice it was to have one last Christmas there. Because that was true as well.

Kinsley smiled at her across the table. Brittany did feel better after their talk and knew she could trust her to keep the whole story a secret.

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