Page 31 of Holiday Unscripted
“Did you pay?” he asks me and I shake my head, and he holds out his hand for his wallet.
“What were you doing this whole time while I was putting the tree in the truck?” His voice is tight, and the soft moment is gone. I know I should handle him with a little bit of care since it probably brought up sad memories for him. I can’t even imagine what it must be like.
“You put the tree in the truck already?” I ask him, shocked.
“Yeah,” he huffs out, “you did the easy work.”
“Easy work?” I hiss out. “I will have you know that I about killed myself cutting down the fucking tree.”
He hands the girl his credit card and she smiles at us. “You did that yourself.” He points at me. “You could have let me help, but noooo, she had to do it herself.” He looks around. “You know it’s okay to not be the best at everything.”
I fold my arms over my chest. “I’ll let you know when I find something I’m not the best at.” I grab the stand from the counter. “Thank you and have a blessed day.”
CHAPTER 12
Nate
ROCKING AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE
The minute she folds her arms over her chest, I know she’s pissed. “I’ll let you know when I find something I’m not the best at.” She grabs the stand and turns back to smile at the clerk. “Thank you and have a blessed day,” she says, looking directly in my eyes.
Oh yeah, I try not to laugh at her, she’s past the pissed-off phase. She is in the I’m going to fuck shit up and then maybe I’ll ask all the questions I should have asked before. I know pretty much everything about Elizabeth Morrow, and that’s because I’ve been a part of her family my whole life. More so in my teen years when I felt lost and all I wanted was somewhere I could feel like myself. Somewhere I didn’t have to fake being happy or like I was okay. My grandparents did the best they could, but they were also grieving, and I wanted to put very little stress on them. So, I spent the majority of my teenage years living with her family, so I pretty much know everything that sets her off. The downside to that is, I also know everything that makes her smile. “Thank you,” I tell the girl behind the counter.
“You have your hands full with her.” Her smile goes even bigger.
“Oh no, we aren’t together.” I shake my head, and my mouth also wants to say it’s her choice, but instead I turn and see Elizabeth with Joshua and Jack. The three of them are posing for a picture. Elizabeth is in the middle with the two guys crowded over her as they smile at the camera. I know this picture will make its way on the wall above the mantel in the house by next month.
“Where is Nate?” Zack says, looking around and I hold up my hand. “Get in there.” I stand next to Matthew.
“It’s the kids.” I point to them chuckling.
“You had your clothes in my laundry basket; you are considered one of my kids.” He motions with his head, and I smirk and shake my head. Zack nudges my shoulder. “And you ate more food than my kids.”
“That is not true,” I refute, walking over to them and standing beside Jack, who puts his arm around my shoulders and slaps one.
“That’s going in a frame,” Denise declares. “Can we get the wives in there?” She looks around. “Soon-to-be wife anyway.”
We rearrange the group and now I’m standing beside Elizabeth, and she looks up at me and smiles at me. The same smile she gave me that night. It was that smile that made me forget everything, and all I wanted was to make sure the smile stayed on her face the whole time. I shake my head and put my arm around her shoulders and pull her to my side, like I’ve done many times when we were younger. She looks down at our feet and then reaches around, putting her hand around my waist and the other around her brother.
“Smile for the camera,” Denise says. “Everyone look here,” she says and I look down at Elizabeth for a second when she looks up at me and I wink at her, making her smile even bigger. “Elizabeth, look over here.” She calls her name, and she looks up at the camera. “This one is going to be blown up,” Denise announces to everyone. “Okay, now, everyone inside,” she says and then turns to hand the phone to one of the workers as the fifty or more people all crowd into the picture. Denise and Zack are in the middle as we crowd around them. I stand behind Elizabeth. One hand is on her shoulder, the other hand is hanging to the side when I have to squeeze in more, and her hand grabs my leg. Then, like it’s always meant to be, I slide my hand in hers. Our fingers intertwine like they were made to be held together. We take three pictures and then everyone moves away, including us. Her hand slides out of mine and our fingers try to hold on to each other, but then our hands fall to our respective sides.
I’m sitting at the table with her father and uncles when she comes over to us and looks at me. “When are you thinking about leaving?”
“Answer right now,” Matthew says under his breath, as he covers his mouth with his mug of hot chocolate.
“Now.” I take his advice and stand up, grabbing my jacket from the back of the chair. “I was waiting on you.”
“Oh, dude.” Zack shakes his head. “Just say sorry I kept you waiting.”
“Okay, well, sorry I kept you waiting while I was waiting for you to finish,” I state, knowing I can’t let her win. But also knowing it’ll probably piss her off.
“Well, I’m ready.” She doesn’t give me attitude, which should be my first sign to not poke the bear. “Bye, we’ll see you all tomorrow, I guess, for another round of Jumanji.”
“I think it’s called Groundhog Day at this point,” Matthew says. “I feel like I’ve been at this wedding for fifteen thousand years.”
We laugh as we say goodbye to everyone, Joshua giving Uncle Matthew the stink eye. We walk out with my jacket under my arm and my hat in my hand. I take out the keys to my truck and unlock the doors.
I open the back door, tossing my jacket and hat in the back seat, as she gets into the passenger seat and rubs her hands together. I start the truck and turn up the heat. “Should we order pizza?” she asks me as I pull out of the parking lot and head down the path heading to the main road. The lights on the trees are all sparkling and it looks almost magical.
