Page 72 of The Christmas Express
‘What?! There’s no Barbara? Also, why was the first name you thought of “Barbara”?’
‘Yeah, I made her up too. Good old Barbara. You know I’ve always had a crush on Barbra Streisand.’
Oh my God, that’s right! I’d forgotten that about him.
Luke blushes, just a touch. ‘I’m so stupid when it comes to you, you know that by now.’
He doesn’t have a girlfriend . . . Could we, maybe . . . ?
Luke is still chuckling. ‘You made him up? And still called him Luke?’
‘It was . . . I wasn’t thinking. I just didn’t want to feel like the only one who hasn’t moved on.’
‘Well then,’ he says, his voice dropping low, and I lift my chin, and here we are again.
‘Well then . . .’ I echo.
It would feel so good to kiss Luke again, the memory tingles my lips like it left an imprint. But . . . I glance around us.
Joe and Sara are dancing on the other side of the room. Joss is by the stairs, watching us, pain on her face. Bryn is waiting for us in Vancouver.
Everything is so delicate right now, like a snowflake I’m holding in my hand that could melt or blow away at any moment. Doubt creeps up my neck, under his gaze. We’re just all coming back together, what if Luke and I move too fast, and ruin everything again?
Luke steps back, my hesitation glaring like the lights being switched on at the end of a night at a club.
‘Luke—’ I start, needing his proximity.
‘Listen.’ He smiles at me, soft eyes, all heart. ‘The ball is in your court. I’m not going to make this decision for you this time, but I don’t want you to have regrets. I’m going to bed.’
Holy crap, did he just proposition me? No, no, he probably meant that he was literally going to bed, and we could talk in the morning.
As he walks away from me, I lean against the wall, cooling my back against the steel, propping myself up to stop myself being torn in half.
Chapter 38
Sara
You have to laugh. This group can swing from love to hate to love again quicker than you could shake a candy cane at.
But I am strangely fond of the weirdos. We had some good times, even when I felt like a bit of an outsider, even when it seemed I was the only replaceable one in the house. Was that really their fault, or my own insecurities because they weren’t my forever people, just my people for that time in my life?
It’s this fondness that makes me walk away from Joe and his wild dancing and cross the carriage to his sister, who for once doesn’t look like thunder but like rain. Her face is washed with sadness, her eyes downcast, her shoulders slumped.
I put my arm around her shoulders, and she leans into me.
‘He’s only a guy, you know,’ I joke, my voice light.
‘A stupid guy who’s never looked at me like he looks at her.’
‘Good. Because that means you now get to find the one who does.’
‘I don’t think there is a “one”,’ she grumbles.
‘Maybe not,’ I agree. ‘But love comes in all sorts of forms.’ I dig my phone from my pocket and hold the screen up for her. ‘Joss, meet Dina.’
‘Who’s this?’ Joss asks, her eyebrows rising as she takes my phone.
I hesitate. ‘My daughter.’
