Page 71 of The Jinglebell War
It’s Hudson, so I turn to face him. I wrap an arm around Blue’s shoulders like I can protect her from the drama - or maybe I just need the comfort. “Sorry, Hudson. I thought I could do this, but I can’t.”
“Clearly.” Hudson says with a weak smile. “What happened?”
“The usual.”
Hudson winces. “When Avery showed up, I thought…” He glances at Blue, grimaces, then looks at me. “I didn’t think they’d go this far. When they said they just want you to be happy, I believed them.”
“Problem is, they’re completely wrong about what will make me happy.”
“Yeah. I get it.” He slaps my shoulder, then wraps both me and Blue up in a bear hug. “Love you, brother. Nice meeting you, Blue.”
We hug him back.
“Lovely meeting you,” Blue says.
“Love you, too, Hudson,” I say.
We break out of the hug and turn for the door. I wish I could take Hudson with us. I didn’t get to spend nearly enough time with my big brother.
“Don’t leave, yet.”
We turn back again to see Maisey racing down the hall, her arms full of packages. “Take these with you.”
“You can just mail them to us,” I say. My family tries with gifts, but other than Hudson, none of them knows me well enough to give me what I’d really like. And the reminder of how little they know me always hurts.
I can accept I’m partly to blame for that, but I don’t think there’s any way to change it at this point.
Maisey frowns. “Okay, but at least take the gifts you got for each other.”
“We’ll take them all.” Blue gathers up as much as she can from Maisey and elbows me until I take the rest. “We have room in the truck and we’ll save you the trouble of shipping them.”
“Thanks, Maisey,” I say. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas, big brother. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
We wave goodbye again and leave as quickly as we can.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Blue
We’re about five miles from the house before Garrick speaks. “Are you going to ask me what happened?”
“Your parents were trying to set you up with Avery. Obviously, she’s much more suitable than I am and, best of all, she lives in Sugar Valley. It was the last straw, and you couldn’t stay another moment there among the hypocrites.”
His brows rise. “Hypocrites?”
“They’re retiring from the business and going off to travel and live their best lives, but they’re trying to dictate your life and pull you back into the business.”
His mouth, which has been a hard angry line since we left, tips up the tiniest bit. “And are you going to tell me I should be more understanding of their behavior and appreciate the amazing family I have?”
I feel like an idiot. “I spoke without fully understanding your situation yesterday. I was wrong.”
He chuckles, and the tension eases out of the truck. Even Barry lets out a sigh of relief from the back.
“Never thought I’d hear you admit that,” Garrick says.
