Page 2 of Wicked Christmas Eve

2

Why in the hell had I thought coming back to this town for the holiday would be a good idea? From the moment my car had passed the town sign, the world had gone from bad to worse, starting with the speeding ticket I’d gotten from a hot, young cop who was not amused or interested in my attempt to flirt my way out of a ticket.

A sad sigh escaped my lips. It didn’t seem that long ago that I had more sway with the male portion of the human race. But lately, my lucky streak had gone sour.

Then I'd spent the next several hours with my extended family over a Christmas Eve eve dinner until I’d been unable to take another second of the constant bickering and the not so subtle digs about the shambles I currently called my life.

Between my mother firing one question after another and my sister’s snide remarks, I had ground my teeth to the point of pain. Another day of this bullshit, and I’d have to find a dentist. Or an exorcist.

A slight smile curved my lips. The image of a priest coming to the front door with his Bible and rosary to rid our family of their demons nearly made me laugh out loud.

As if it would be that easy.

“Meghan Michelle, are you listening to me?”

My mother’s question yanked me out of my thoughts and back to whatever conversation I had tuned out this time.

We were currently preparing for a family breakfast that even more of my relatives were arriving for, including my grandmother. All too grateful to have my mother’s attention on someone other than me, I’d missed the change in topic.

“Sorry,” I said. “I must have zoned out and missed the question. My apologies.”

The resulting frown and eye roll that greeted me from across the table made my stomach twist. I’d had enough with the twenty questions for one day, but it seemed mother couldn’t let it go.

“I asked you what you were going to do next now that you no longer have a job. Do you have any prospects lined up yet?”

I stared at my mom as if she’d suddenly grown horns and sprouted wings. Was she kidding me right now?

“I just got laid off. And it’s the holidays. Of course I don’t have anything else lined up yet.” I tried to tone down the sarcasm and failed. There was something about coming back home that always seemed to bring out the worst in me.

“Sounds like excuses to me.”

I turned and glared at my sister, hoping against hope that somewhere in this room stood a portal that would take me away from here. Seriously, anywhere sounded better than here right now.

“Thanks, Sarah,” I mumbled as I finished laying out the silverware for our family meal. Breakfast hadn’t even started and already I was up on the attention block being examined and prodded.

I knew my family would show no mercy, but this was ridiculous.

“Maybe it’s time to move back home. You can stay in your old room until we get you back on your feet.”

I froze in place at her suggestion.

She’d said we. Which meant my mother was taking this whole situation as her personal mission to fix.

I tried to breathe by taking in big gulps of air and instead started to hyperventilate.

Great.

I was going to pass out right here in the dining room and then end up in the ER on Christmas Eve.

For half a second I entertained that as an idea preferable to this meal, before my brain kicked back in and I drew air into and out of my lungs at a semi steady rate. There wasn’t much more that could scare the beejesus out of me more than another family examination disguised as a meal. But a trip to the hospital with my family in tow, where I would no doubt run into no less than six people I know, was it.

“Seriously, Megan. What are you going to do? Although maybe you wouldn’t be in so much trouble if you hadn’t slept with your boss.”

My entire body jerked at Sarah’s snide accusation. How the fuck?

The hair on the back of my neck rose and my automated defenses sprang into action as I prepared to give her a piece of my mind.

“What?! Sarah, that’s nonsense. Your sister was laid off. That happens all the time around the holidays. Companies start thinking about the bottom line and their ability to show a profit on their end of year financials. Overhead is always the first to go in those cases. It’s a necessary part of business.”

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