Page 57 of The Christmas Letters
I slowly lift my gaze to his. “You’re…?”
“Andrew Maxwell McKay,” he says slowly.
“Max,” I whisper. I reach behind me and take hold of the terrace railing because if I don’t, I’m not sure I’ll stay on my feet.
Drew nods. “My father was also named Andrew. I went by Max at first, but a year or so after he died, I decided I wanted to use the name we shared.”
It takes me a moment to fully process what Drew is telling me.He’s Max.All this time, I’ve been getting to know two men who were actually thesame man.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Tess. I didn’t know at first, not until the toy drive…”
“When I told you it was me who was responding to the Santa letters.”
He nods. “That’s when I first suspected. Hearing you talk about your plans for school was when I knew for sure.”
I don’t know how to respond. What to say. How to even begin to process how happy this makes me. How utterlyrelievedI am. I want to laugh. But also to cry. Any second, I’m pretty sure I’ll start doing both.
“Are you mad?” Drew asks, his voice soft. Hopeful.
Tears spring to my eyes—there they are—as I look up and smile. “Not mad.” I take a stuttering breath, shaking my head as I let out a disbelieving laugh. “I wanted it to be you, Drew. I really wanted it to be you.”
Drew slowly lifts a hand to my face, wrapping it around the curve of my cheek. “I'm going to kiss you now, Tess Ravenel.”
He wraps his free hand around my waist, tugging me against him as he presses his lips to mine. My hands slide up his chest, palms flat against the smooth planes of his chest. His heart beats under my touch, steady and strong, if a little fast.
There was no denying the spark I felt when I talked to Drew for the first time, then again when I saw him. But this kiss—this is the end for me. There are no other kisses. No other men.
Drew’s hands slide to my shoulders, and he turns us so my back is to the terrace railing andhisback is to the enormous glass wall separating us from the rest of the Christmas gala. It isn’t much privacy, but it’s more than we had before, and I lean into him, my hands slipping under his suit coat and around his waist. He groans the tiniest bit, his hands finding my hips as he deepens the kiss. His touch makes me greedy, hungry for more of him. More of this.
I’m kissing Drew.AndI’m kissing Max.
It’s more than I could have ever wished for.
When we finally break apart, my heart is pounding in my ears and we’re both breathing heavily. Drew rests his forehead against mine. “I could kiss you all night, Tess, but I’m trying to remember my grandmother is probably watching.”
This makes me smile. “Your grandmother is here?”
He nods. “She comes every year.”
“That’s right! You told me that,” I say. “It’s going to take me a minute to fully merge what I know ofyouwith what I know of Max.”
“She’s excited to meet you,” Drew says.
“I’m excited to meet her too.” Except, something isn’t quite lining up.Drew’sgrandmother attends the Christmas gala every year? For all his frustrations with Daisy and her attitudes about social status, I wouldn’t have guessed this was his family’s scene. “Is your grandmother a part of the Southern Society?” I hesitantly ask.
Understanding lights Drew’s eyes. He knows why I’m asking. He knows he gave me every reason to think he would never intentionally hang out with the Southern Society crowd. “She isn’t,” he says, his gaze holding mine. “But my mother was.”
I lace my fingers through Drew’s, wanting him to know that whatever he tells me, it isn’t going to change this. It isn’t going to changeus.“Tell me about her?” I say.
Before he can respond, a breeze picks up, blasting us with a chilly burst of ocean-scented air. Drew quickly shrugs out of his suit coat and wraps it around my shoulders. “We should go inside,” he says, but I quickly shake my head no.
“My parents are inside, and a million other people, including Deacon and Chloe who, by the way, are going to flip when I tell them who you really are. But I don’t want to talk to anyone else yet. I want it to be just us for a few minutes longer.”
Drew grins. “Technically, Deacon and Chloe already know. But I’m happy to stand out here as long as you want.”
“What? How long have they known? You’re saying Chloeknewand she didn’t tell me?”
Drew grimaces. “I made her promise not to tell you. I wanted it to be a surprise. And Grandma Pearl said I needed a grand gesture.”
