Page 7 of Meet Me on Christmas Eve

Frowning, she asked, “So, what happened?”

“Well, we had a thing, and then it ended when he left.”

Her eyes widened. “I hope you plan on giving me a lot more details than that.”

My eyes shifted from her to the fire. “Oh, I don’t know if there’s much more to tell. I guess we were kind of into each other, but it was really short-lived. And then he left.”

“He just left,” she said flatly, disbelief on her face.

I sighed. I was hoping to not have to say this bluntly because, well, it was embarrassing. But I needed to be clear with her so she’d get the picture that there was really nothing else to tell. At least, nothing concrete. “I literally never heard from him again.”

She was silent for a long time. “But why?” She sat up, leaning toward me. “Didn’t you … didn’t he—”

She stopped when she saw my face. It was flushed again, I was certain. I didn’t want to talk about this. I pleaded with her silently to not make me say this aloud.

“You tried to reach him,” she said softly. “And the bastard never responded.”

Sensing a hint of moisture in the corner of my eye, I blinked quickly.

“Mari, I’m so sorry. You—”

I sat up straighter, looking away for just a moment and then back at her with a forced smile. “No, it’s fine, and I’m fine, Hazel. That’s the sordid tale. Not that bad, right? Really not even very exciting, you know me.”

She took a few more sips and then set her empty mug down. “Is this your first time talking to him since that summer?”

I wanted to lie. To say no, or maybe I didn’t remember. “Yes.” I looked away.

She nodded, seeming unsurprised. “Have you looked him up on socials?”

“No.” I didn’t even let myself think about him, much less do something as stupid as stalking him on Facebook.

She raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? In all these years, you never did? I don’t believe it.”

I bit my lip. “I mean, I tried at first, after our … fling, or whatever it was. I tried to text and call him, with no response. Before he left, I was following him on Facebook and Instagram. But then he unfriended me and eventually blocked me or maybe created a new account. I didn't know, because I couldn’t find him anymore.”

The look she gave me contained so much sympathy, so muchpity, that I recoiled in horror.

What was I thinking admitting to all that?

“TMI, right? Now you know the whole humiliating situation.”

She tilted her head and eyed me for a moment. “Youhave nothing to be embarrassed about, Mari. It sounds like he’s a grade A asshole.” Then, with her eyes flashing, she added, “I’m regretting that I even let him talk to you for a couple minutes.”

“It’s not your fault,” I said with a sigh. “I mean, who knows, maybe he lives here now and I would’ve encountered him eventually.”

Both of us widened our eyes. “Oh my god,” I said, panic coursing through my veins. “What if he lives here now? No, no—”

Hazel came closer, settling an arm around my shoulder. “Mari, I’ll protect you from that pinecone jerk, I swear it. He’s probably just visiting or something. But if he is living here … well, maybe we can make that temporary.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Uh, how?”

“We can sue him.”

I laughed. “What? Sue him for what?”

“I’m sure I could come up with something,” she said with a smile as she squeezed my shoulder and then relaxed back on the other end of the couch.

“That’s not even your area of law, Hazel,” I reminded her, feeling the corners of my mouth curving upward despite the situation. She didn’t even run an active law practice, except in her capacity as my counsel. Her main business as a health coach and speaker took up most of her time, and she had loathed corporate law earlier in her career.

---