Page 15 of The Winging It Holiday Special

“Oh my God, I am so sorry—how—I didn’t know I could get my foot that far down my throat—”

But finally she made a strangled noise halfway between a laugh and a cry and waved him off. “No, it’s okay, uh—youreallyneed to hear the whole story.”

Oh God, she was still going to tell him?

That was a relief, because now he was dying with curiosity. “I would really like that.”

She blew out a breath and took a fortifying gulp of her liquid sugar. “So my fiancé—ex-fiancé? What do you call him if you only want to shove the ring up his ass after he’s dead?”

Dante could guess where this was going now. “Nothing they wouldn’t bleep out on live TV.”

She gave him a wry, pale smile. “I guess we can call him Rob.”

“Doesn’t sound like he deserves it, but go on.” This was better than Kitty’s Russian soap operas.

“Rob and I were together for two years. He proposed last Christmas.” If there was an actual ring, she wasn’t wearing it now. “I was over the moon. I mean he was handsome, smart, he had a good job….”

And judgy views about other people’s food consumption, but Dante decided he’d let her tell the story. “And? But?”

She shrugged. “I’m in the running for a big promotion at work. The kind that takes ages to arrange because it involves a lot of international travel and visa applications.”

He tapped his cup to hers. “Congrats.”

“Thanks. So we weren’t exactly in a hurry to plan the wedding until we had some idea of when the promotion might happen. We thought we might have to settle for a courthouse thing, then do a big party later depending on how much I was traveling for work. Which was fine with him because he doesn’t—didn’t—have any family or many friends.” She made a wry face. “That should have been a red flag, but I just thought he worked a lot.” She took a break to fiddle with her cup. “You swear you don’t think it’s weird I’m unloading this on you?”

Dante set his mug down and crossed his heart. “Scout’s honor.”

Okay, so he’d never been a Boy Scout, but that was beside the point.

“September rolls around and finally there’s an update from work about the job. They’re seriously considering me, but there’s a catch—I’d have to relocate to the UK for a couple years, not just travel. Well, Rob took it bad when I said I still wanted to think about taking it. The raise would’ve been more than enough to support us both, and my company was willing to help him find work in his field if we were married. But he was furious I’deven consider it. He stormed out and drove off… wrapped his car around a tree.”

“Holyshit.” What did you say to someone in that situation?I’m sorry? Was he sorry?

Michelle let out a sharp laugh. “Yeah. It wasn’t until I went to pick up his personal things from his work that I found out he wasalsoengaged to his coworker.”

“Holyshit.” No wonder the guy was so against an international move.

“Order for Dante!”

Right—their donuts. That was faster than he expected. “Hold that thought,” Dante said, “and in a second we can eat your feelings.”

He sat back down with the box a few minutes later, opened it, and set it in the middle of the table. “All right,” he said and selected a vanilla dip for himself. “So Rob was a cheater and you didn’t find out until after he was dead, so you have no way to get closure.”

“Merry Christmas!” Michelle said, mock brightly, saluting him with the double-chocolate.

“Jesus.” Dante shook his head and shoved a bite of fatty, sugary carbs into his mouth. After he swallowed, he asked, “You’re taking the job, though, right?”

At this the brightness lost its falseness, and she smiled for real. “I start in August.”

“Nice! Congratulations.” At least the story sort of had a happy ending. “A fresh start for you.”

She nodded, cheeks bulging with donut. Then she licked crumbs from the corner of her mouth. “The trouble is… now I have to sell my mom on it. Right after this mess. I think she thought when Rob died and I found out… I’m pretty sure she thought I’d give up and stick around here—well, Ottawa; I’m justin town on business—and she wasn’t exactly broken up about that part. She raised me alone, so….”

“I didn’t buy enough donuts for that,” Dante said when that sank in. “Sorry.”

Michelle snorted. “The province of Quebec does not have enough donuts for that.” She polished hers off, washed it down with some cider, and then rolled the edge of her cup against the table, lost in thought. “At least she’s got a boyfriend now who doesn’t suck, so I won’t be leaving her totally lonely. And I mean, taking the job does offer me a possible avenue of gift-giving.”

Dante raised his eyebrows.

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