Page 49 of Hiding for the Holidays
It helped that if I lay in just the right position, I could see Leo across the hall in his bed, making me feel like I wasn’t so alone.
I check my neck in the mirror and am pleased tosee that the bruises have all disappeared now. I’ve got Scott out of my skin, now I just need to get him out of my mind.
I step back and adjust my sweater for the tenth time. I didn’t have any fancy clothes, but I was still nervous. Leo had called this a date. I knew he didn’t mean it in the romantic sense, since all four of us were going, but it would be the first time I did something with them that wasn’t work related and I was nervous about acting weird.
Taking a deep breath to calm myself I head downstairs to where I can hear the guys' voices.
“Shortcake!” Leo says excitedly when he sees me.
“Good morning, Leo.”
“Come have some crepes, there’s also bacon, eggs and sliced bananas and strawberries.”
I join them at the table and look at the large spread of food with wide eyes.
“Here,” Grant says, placing a couple of crepes on my plate.
I stare down at them and am suddenly hit with a memory of my mother making them for me. We’d always have them with lemon juice and sugar, and no matter how many she made, I always wanted more.
“Clara, what’s wrong?” I glance at Grant and he brushes a tear from my cheek.
“Sorry.” I wipe my eyes as I try to calm my rampant emotions. “It’s just my mom… she used to make crepes for me.”
“Used to?” Grant asks carefully.
I glance across the table at Asher, and I see the question in his eyes, so I nod, giving him permission to share what I told him.
“Her mom passed away from cancer about a year ago.”
“Awe, sweetheart, I’m so sorry you had to go through that alone. Or did you have someone?” Grant asks, resting his hand on mine.
“No, I was alone. I lost my dad the year before, and I’m an only child.”
“Christmas must have been hard last year,” Leo says, and I lift my head to look at him and nod.
“Yeah, we loved Christmas. Everything about it reminds me of her.”
“That’s not a bad thing though, is it?” Grant asks. “It reminds you of the good times.”
I nod slowly. “Yeah, the good memories aren’t painful, but it reminds me that she’s gone and that I’m alone.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Leo says proudly.
“What?”
“Look around you. You don’t look alone to me.”
I smile thankfully, and the conversation turns to lighter topics as we eat breakfast.
It’s not until we’re in Leo’s truck, with Asher and me in the back, that I finally ask, “Where are we going?”
“I thought you’d never ask!” Leo says eagerly. “Last night I was looking for ideas and it turns out there is a winter festival on in Aspen Hollow.”
“Really?” I ask excitedly. “Where’s that?”
“It’s the next town over, about forty-five minutes from here if we don’t run into bad weather.”
I glance out the window to admire the freshly fallen snow. By the time we reach Aspen Hallow, there are several feet of snow covering the ground.
