Page 66 of Merry Little Midlife Matchmaker

“Hey, my parents are hosting Christmas this year,” Aaron said, pushing his chair back as he got up. He topped his own coffee up and leaned against the counter opposite me. “They asked me to invite you and Mikey.”

“Mikey’ll be with his mom,” I said.

“Just you then.”

My ribs tightened around my lungs. I dipped my chin. “I appreciate that. You and your family have always been welcoming to me. I hope you know how much it means to me.”

Aaron gave me a confused smile. “You’re my best friend. How else would I treat you? Besides, my mom basically told me she’d disown me if I didn’t invite you over. She said your aunts are welcome too, in case that stopped you from spending the day with us.”

The tightness in my chest expanded to my throat and stomach. I’d gone about this all wrong. Whatever my feelings for Lizzie, I shouldn’t have acted on them without talking to Aaron. But there’d been no stopping last night. Not when I’d finally admitted to myself just how much I wanted her.

Had I made a mistake? If things ended between me and Lizzie, I’d have to spend holidays and social gatherings with her and her family, knowing that she was the first woman in years to make me feel whole.

I was torn between my friendship with Aaron and my growing feelings for Lizzie. It felt selfish to put a woman ahead of my oldest friendship. It felt like a betrayal, and I hated myself for it.

“You okay?” Aaron frowned at me. “If you don’t want to come over for the holiday, you can just say so. I know it’s a tough time of year for you. I just figured you might want a distraction.”

I shook my head. “It’s not that.”

“No?”

I huffed. “Honestly, Christmas hasn’t felt so bad this year. I even found myself humming along to ‘Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ on the radio yesterday.”

Aaron laughed. “Wow. Christmas music used to send you into a rage.”

It did—before Lizzie. Before her flushed cheeks and her sunny smile. Before she showed me how good it could feel to create memories with my son. With her, and her kids, and her family.

But could I put a few weeks of intense emotion ahead of a friendship that had lasted decades? What if I jeopardized my relationship with Aaron for something so new?

“I’ll talk to my aunts. We’d planned a big meal for when Mikey’s back from his mom’s, so I don’t know if they’re doing anything the day of.”

“Let me know. My mom’s already got your gift.”

Gifts. Oh, God. I was so used to spending the holiday alone that I hadn’t considered the fact that a community and circle of friends would require me to shop for presents. The sheer panic must have shown on my face, because Aaron began to laugh.

“Get my dad a nice bottle of Scotch and my mom a scarf or some fancy soap. It’ll be more than enough.”

“Right.” I gulped. “Right, yeah. I just—I haven’t done the whole holiday thing in a while.”

“Well, you’ve got four days. Plenty of time.”

I shoved my hand through my hair and was grateful for Lizzie’s foresight. She was right to delay any big decisions or announcements about us until after the holidays. A lot had happened in a short period of time, and I owed it to her—and to Aaron and his family—not to mess this all up.

The sound of footsteps pounding up the basement steps alerted me to my son’s arrival. He was bright-eyed and messy-haired, with a face-splitting grin on his lips. “Dad! Levi said he’d let me build one of hisStar WarsLEGO sets as long as I did it here. Can I?”

“Sure,” I said, glancing at Aaron, who shrugged and nodded. “But we might have to wait until you get back from seeing your mom.”

Mikey’s shoulders dropped. “What if I want to stay here?”

His words caused a pinch in my chest, but I forced a patient smile onto my face. “Your mom has a nice week planned for you, buddy. She’s taking you skiing, remember?”

A pout pushed out my son’s bottom lip. “O-kay,” he said, like a ski holiday in Tahoe was the chore of the century. I huffed a laugh. I ruffled his hair, thanked Aaron and his family for taking care of him, and then loaded him up into my truck. As Mikey got settled in his seat, I waved at Aaron and watched my best friend close his front door.

Was I really ready to risk his friendship and support for a woman who had meant next to nothing to me just over a month ago?

TWENTY-NINE

LIZZIE

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