Page 9 of A Winter in Wonderland
‘What?’ I asked.
‘It’s hardly a secret,’ Max protested to Willow.
‘Fine.’ Willow reached across and grabbed my hands.‘Myla. It’s not that we don’twantto invite you to stuff around the city over the Christmas period, but you don’t ever seem to really enjoy being there, and it can be kind of … a downer for the rest of us.’
Of course. I sat back in my seat. ‘But I never make fun of any of it, I try hard to just be neutral.’
Max sipped on his drink. ‘Neutral company is what everyone craves. What? I’m joking.’
Willow continued. ‘I know, honey. It’s not that you’re horrible about us having a good time, but it’s just clear that you aren’t. It radiates off you. In a nice way.’ She winced.
It sucked to know they felt that way, but I couldn’t argue. They were right. I was a buzz-kill. ‘You guys, I really need to win this bet. Can you imagine big fat buzz-kill me in Lapland? The kids would run a mile.’
‘No, that’s not true,’ Willow soothed. ‘Maybe if you’re more aware of it you’ll be able to mask it better?’
‘But I don’t want to have to hide myself for over two months.’
Willow shrugged. ‘Maybe you’ll come around.’
Max laughed loudly at that. ‘Maybe you’ll come back full of the spirit of Christmas and desperate to sing Mariah all year round.’
Maybe I needed to do everything I could to win this bet.
