Page 17 of A Break in Communications

Mom greeted me with the biggest smile when I got there, giving me a hug, and I tried not to look like I wanted to rip my own face off. “Hey, sweetheart,” she said, positively glowing. “This party’s lovely, actually. I’m still so glad I came and got to see you and your girlfriend—”

“Mom, I’m not—”

“Matthew, this is my daughter Anna,” she said, turning and presenting me. Matthew smiled warmly, offering a handshake.

“Anna, it’s so nice to finally meet you in person. Put a face to the name.”

He had a warm, friendly voice, more so than I’d expected—he had a serious, intense tone in his emails, and I’d expected him to be just as cold and exacting in person, but he practically bubbled and had this infectious smile. Still not enough to make me not want to dig a grave and climb in, but it was nice. “Likewise, Mister Gould. Thank you so much for coming. I know the invitation was last-minute, and you have a busy schedule this time of year.”

“Just call me Matthew, please. It only feels fair after listening to how much your mother and your partner have been talking about you.”

Jesus Christ. I wondered how he’d react if I just smiled right now and saidI’m not in a million years dating Lucy, and Lucy isn’t in a million years dating me.Still, as much as I hated to admit it, Lucy was right about depriving it of oxygen—just never acknowledging it would let them all think what they wanted, and once this was over, we could all move on past it. So Ijust smiled, and I said, “Matthew, then. I hope they haven’t been bothering you—my mother talks a lot and doesn’t know when to let someone go, but don’t tell her I said that.”

Mom rolled her eyes through a smile. “Oh, this child. She’s not fond of the fine art of conversation for conversation’s sake, as it were.”

Matthew shook his head, giving us a conspiratorial look. “Truth be told? I sprang at the opportunity to attend this and use it as an excuse not to attend a bigger event I’d been invited to, where I would have been talking to everyone in the city. Right now, standing in the corner and talking to a few lovely people is the best Christmas present I could get.”

Well, it wasn’t like I didn’t get that. I almost smiled genuinely before Lucy sidled up next to me, and she put a hand on my shoulder a little too familiarly. “For the record, Anna, Matthew backs me and your mother up on the Christmas tree farm visit.”

Probably would have ruined the party if I grabbed her hand and broke her fingers. Figured I’d just show her two could play at that game, and I slipped my hand to the small of her back, fingers cradling around the edge of her waist, and when she twitched just the tiniest little bit, I felt like I’d scored a game-winning goal.

So she could dish it out but she couldn’t take it. That was interesting. That was very interesting.

“You’d better not tell me you invited Matthew along, darling.”

She beamed at me. “And why not? He clearly knows a thing or two about Christmas cheer.”

I turned and met her eyes, and I batted my eyelashes at her and said, “I got excited when you offered such a cozy little date… I don’t want to have to share you with everyone, beautiful.”

I saw Lucy process about thirty different emotions in a second, and she gave me a curious, studying look with a cautious smile, something electric in her eyes. And—beautifully—speechless. I’d never realized it could be this easy scoring a win against Lucy. And in something she’d started?

I had a golden ticket. I could start singing and dancing. I’d probably trip on light strings, though.

“Well,” she laughed, a second later than she should have, sounding a little flustered, “I have some date ideas for just the two of us, too, you know. But I’ll tell you those once it’s just you and me, sweetheart.”

I prickled under her attention, but I wasn’t backing down. I smiled, and I decided to scope out what would happen—I flicked my eyes down to her lips and back to meet her gaze, and I said, “Don’t keep me waiting too long, Lucy.”

She blanked, silent for a crucial second, and I decided to take the win and look back at Mom and Matthew, my chin up just a little more than usual. Mom looked like she’d burst on the spot, smiling so wide her face might have just split like an egg. “We definitely don’t want to intrude onallyour couple time, sweetheart,” she said, just about bouncing on the balls of her feet, “but we definitely need some time to meet your girlfriend as a family.”

I took strength knowing it was probably crushing Lucy’s soul—after all the time looking down on me as some pale and weak competitor to her throne, having to pretend like she was my girlfriend now, I hoped it made her retch. I gave Mom a serene smile. “Well, I’m sure everyone is going to love her.”

“She issolovely and just…” She stifled a dreamy laugh. Any more and I’d start to think she wanted Lucy for herself. “Well, of course I invited her to the family function on Saturday—”

“Oh—did you?” I laughed, trying to make it sound like I was delighted and not about to rip my ears off at the thought. Lucyslipped her hand down to the small of my back too, matching mine, and her fingers creeping over my back sent a chill along my spine.

“Of course, I’m honored to be invited,” Lucy said.

Neither of us wanted her there. I wouldn’t even be able to blame her if she was having a hard time finding her way out of my mom’s invitations. I could at least do her the favor of making up an excuse. “It’s this Saturday, though,” I said. “Your training event runs at the same time, doesn’t it?”

Lucy laughed, and thiswomanreached her hand up to my face, flicked a loose lock of hair out of my eyes. My heart jumped at the sudden approach, wary of whether she’d attack me, pluck my eyes out. “I’m rescheduling it, obviously. Don’t worry, angel. I’m not missing Christmas celebrations with you for the world.”

What the hell—Lucy Masterswas coming to my family’s Christmas reunion? What was she after now? If it was part of some kind of ploy to sabotage my chances of a promotion, I wasn’t letting her throw me off. Not a chance.

I pushed out a breathless laugh, looking her in the eyes and trying not to gag. “Lucy.That training is such a big deal for you… I know how important your work is.”

“You always come first. And that’s final. Besides—Matthew and your mother are such close friends now, he’ll find out and be upset with me if I neglect you there.”

Ah… maybe that made sense. Despite how absurd it was, my mother was a good in on Gould—he’d probably be looking for insights on us as people. Just have him hear nothing but good things about us both, from every angle.

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