Page 64 of Rainbow Kisses

Erin walked over to the stand mixer and threw some ingredients in for what looked like chocolate chip cookies. Or maybe muffins.

“Rainy, we live in a small town. Gossip is like currency. You know I would never sell you out, but someone’s gonna find out. And then what are you going to do? I mean, why aren’t you telling anyone anyway?”

“You mean, besides the fact that my brother Rebel hates him, and he’s Rowdy’s best friend? That my dad signs his paychecks? That he’s only here because he needed a place where his niece will be taken care of when he’s not around?”

“And why do you think your dad or Rowdy will care if you’re dating him? And Rebel can go fuck himself, seriously. He’s a dick if he thinks he can dictate your love life.”

“I know that.” I sighed, pushing the trays down the huge stainless prep table in the middle of the room. “But something major went down between the two of them, and I still don’t knowwhat happened. Reb won’t talk about it, and Brian won’t tell me because he says it’s Rebel’s story to tell. Whatever the hell that means.”

“Just sounds like another one of Rebel’s dickhead moves. Why should your brother get to dictate who you sleep with? Maybe he’s just pissed because he’s not getting any. That man is the most uptight asshole I’ve ever known. And you just want to please everyone. You know you can’t do that all the time, right? You can’t make everyone happy.”

Erin turned back to add more ingredients to the oversize mixer, and I stuck my tongue out at her while she couldn’t see me. But she wasn’t wrong.

The problem was, that was me. That was my fucking job. Make everyone happy. And I was damn good at it. Brian had certainly left with a smile on his face Monday when he’d gone to pick up Maddy from school. We hadn’t seen each other yesterday because we’d both had to work and Brian couldn’t exactly tell his twelve-year-old niece that he was going out for a few hours in the evening and leave her alone, especially not two nights before Christmas.

He’d told me they’d been planning to spend all day Wednesday cocooned in their apartment watching movies and eating junk food because school was on break and so were the Devils. Brian had told me Maddy didn’t want a Christmas tree. She didn’t want to make a big deal about the holiday. And I got that. I did. Her mom wasn’t there. I couldn’t imagine what she was feeling.

And I hated that I couldn’t really do anything to help her through this. She’d probably hate me if I tried.

I hated when anyone—my brothers excluded—were unhappy or even mad at me. Everyone loved me. Well, almost everyone. I knew there was one ex who definitely did not love me.

“I’m not kidding, Erin. I need you to promise me you won’t say anything. When we’re ready, we’ll be the ones to break the news.”

Erin turned from the mixer to give me a raised eyebrow. “You know I would never rat you out. Especially to your brothers. But isn’t Miss Raffi gonna take one look at the two of you and know exactly what’s going on? I swear your mom can read minds. And you’re all going to be at the same table tomorrow. How’s that gonna work? Because that face of yours,” she waved her finger in front of my nose, “is not designed to hide secrets. Especially from your mom. Your brothers are clueless, most of the time, but Rowdy’s smarter than the average bear. Sometimes. Then again, he’s got his own females to worry about now, so maybe he won’t notice that you’re fucking his best friend.”

I stared at Erin for a second, wondering if the steady stream of words coming out of her mouth had finally stopped, before I said, “Exactly how much caffeine have you had this morning?”

“Not nearly enough.” Erin suddenly and tightly wrapped her arms around my shoulders and hugged me, making me laugh and hug her back. “Rainy, you’re the best friend a girl could have, but you spread yourself too thin. One of these days you’re gonna snap.”

“Well, you better hope it’s not until after the holidays or who’s going to help you fill these muffin tins?”

The back door flew open as we were pulling apart and Caity shouted, “The calvary has arrived!” as five members of the Angels’ dance team filed through the door.

Erin winked to let me know my secret was safe. And I made sure my face didn’t scream, “I got laid last night,” when I turned to greet the other girls. Even though I wanted to shout it to the rooftops.

“Rain,baby, grab that pan. And the lid. Oh, and the potatoes. Rowdy, make sure that cranberry sauce doesn’t boil over. Reb, uh…”

Our mom trailed off, looking round the kitchen, and Rowdy and I exchanged a grin. Rebel wasn’t usually allowed in my mom’s kitchen. First, because he had no interest in learning how to cook. Second, because he was a disaster in the kitchen. Appliances had been known to burst into spontaneous flames when Rebel touched them.

“Why don’t you go ask our guests if they need anything?”

“Why don’t you have him start the fire, Mom?” Rowdy said. “He’s good at making things burn.”

I huffed out a laugh that I didn’t bother to hide. Rebel rolled his eyes from where he leaned against the counter in Mom’s huge kitchen, where we were in full Christmas feast mode, and it was all-hands-on-deck.

“Obviously, there’s a story behind that,” Tressy said from her station in front of the wall ovens, where she was taking out the rolls. Krista stood on a stool beside her mom, putting the rolls from an already cooled pan into a basket and covering them with a towel. Maddy was on shuttle duty, taking baskets and bowls to the buffet table so Rocky could arrange everything on warming plates.

The rest of the guests, including Brian and several members of the team, either didn’t want to go or couldn’t get home for the holiday. I couldn’t remember a Christmas when we didn’t have at least twenty people around the dinner table.

And I’d never wanted it any different.

Rowdy snorted. “Oh, there definitely is?—”

“And you’re not going to hear about it now.”

Rebel pushed away from the counter and headed toward the great room, which had at one time been the dining room that seated at least a hundred when this had been a working inn. Mom and Dad only ever used it for gatherings of more than the family, which included all holidays, Winter Carnival get-togethers, team parties, sewing club meetings, book club meetings, and … Well, it got used a lot more than you might think.

“He nearly burned down the house making toast.” I winked at Krista, wide-eyed and bouncing on her toes. “We usually don’t even let him in the kitchen at holidays. Safer that way.”

---