Page 24 of Secret Santas and Holiday Dances

Was that true? Ugh! Of course it was true. She was the shadow girl, just like Walt had said. But making other people happy made her happy. Most of the time. Usually.

Grace caught sight of Charlotte, surrounded by a group of men, like always. They were smiling and laughing at something she said and she ate it up like always. She thought of all the times she’d given up things she wanted for her mother. And not just her mother. She did it in other areas of her life as well.

She glanced up at Liam, at the dimple in his chin, the small smile on his lips, and into his eyes, and a tingle ran up her spine. She loved Liam. Loved him with all her heart. She could admit that to herself now. She loved him for his kindness, for his thoughtfulness, for always calling her out on her crap, and for being there for her like no one other than her cousins and Walt had ever been. Liam was her friend, her confidant, the reason she rushed to work every day with a skip in her step, knowing she’d see him for lunch. Yet, hadn’t she come here tonight ready and willing to give him up to her mother if she thought he might like Charlotte.

She wanted to smack herself. Liam was too good for Charlotte, and Grace had been willing to give him up without a fight. To let him fall for Charlotte without really knowing who she was, like every man her mother dated or married had. Her entire life, Grace had been conditioned to put her mother’s needs first, but this time, she would put Liam first. Guilt rose in her belly, guilt for what she was about to do, guilt for deciding against her mother’s wishes. But Liam deserved better.

“You okay?” Liam asked. “About thirty different emotions crossed your face in a matter of seconds.”

She wouldn’t badmouth her mother. She believed in honoring her parents, as the Bible said, but she could do something else. “I don’t have a date tonight with Spence,” she blurted.

Liam blinked at her.

“Spence would never call me for a date. We only dated for two months in college, and he broke up with me because he said I was too quiet and didn’t know how to stand up for anything, which, looking back at my life just now, is a hundred percent accurate. It’s a problem, I know it is. Thing is, I want everyone to be happy, but that’s not something I can control, you know?” The words flew out of her mouth like vomit. She felt like she was watching herself from the sidelines, yelling “shut up!” but she just kept going.

Chapter 12

Liam stopped dancing but kept Grace close as she continued her rant. In all the many words that were coming out of her mouth, what he heard was she didn’t have a date. The weight that had been sitting on his chest since earlier that night at Winslow’s Books lifted, his anger faded away. He didn’t hate Spencer. Spence. Liam thought he was an idiot for not seeing how amazing Grace was, but he didn’t hate him. At all. And Grace came to the dance. The night was suddenly perfect.

“So, anyway,” she said, looking anywhere but at him, “there’s no date. And now I feel ridiculous, and I’m seriously under-dressed, and people are pointing and staring . . .” They were? Liam glanced around. Lots of people on the dance floor, standing to the side of it, and at the tables, were staring. Probably because he and Grace were just standing there, him holding her close while she talked animatedly with her hands. Even Charlotte had stopped talking to the group of men she’d gathered and was staring.

Grace’s words came faster. “And I should go because I just saw Michael Baker by the buffet table, and I have a Secret Santa gift for him I can drop off now.”

She stepped back and turned to leave.

Liam caught her hand and dragged her off the dance floor, down the hall, and into a secluded room. Her large green eyes widened, if that were possible, as he closed the door behind him and turned on her. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights, but he had to talk to her. And she’d been freaking out on the dance floor with all those spectators.

He took a step toward her. “Why didn’t you want to come tonight?”

Grace pursed her lips, and Liam could practically see the wheels turning in her mind.

“Grace?” He lowered his voice in warning, much as George had done to Emma earlier.

She swept a hand out. “This is . . . it’s just not my scene.”

“Then why did you come?”

Her expression fell, and the prettiest blush filled her cheeks. “Because you asked me to.”

Dang it. Had he guilted her into it? He took a step closer to her. “So, you came to please me?”

“Yes. No.” She glanced down.

He spent so much time worrying that Grace was doing things for people because she couldn’t say no, then he’d gone and gotten mad at her when she’d told him she wasn’t coming to the party tonight. Perfect. That weight he’d been carrying on his chest earlier was making a comeback. “Which is it, Grace. Yes, or no?”

She breathed out. “Both. I enjoy making people happy. I enjoy making you happy. It makesmehappy. But . . .” She bit her lip and looked anywhere but at him, then whispered, “I missed you too.”

The weight vanished in beat, and a laugh bubbled up his chest and out his mouth. She’d missed him, too. Were there any better words than those? “Good answer.”

She whipped her gaze back to him, her eyes comically wide. “What are you laughing at?”

“At how hard that was for you to admit.” Maybe he shouldn’t be laughing at it, but she had admitted it, and it felt like a momentous win for him. Now it was his turn to do something for her. Like he’d so desperately been trying to do for weeks. He held out his elbow to her. “Now, should we get out of here? I hear there’s a Secret Santa gift to be delivered, and this is the best time to do it.”

“You want to go with me?” She seemed startled.

“Yep.”

She pointed over his shoulder. “What about the party? All those people?”

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