Page 79 of One Week Wingman

“I’ll be the one eating all the cake.”

Nita leaves, and I wander over to join Sebastian and my mom.

“… It’s so pretty, with all the snow, you’ll just love it,” she’s saying as I reach them.

“What are you talking about?” I ask, feeling a flash of terror that we’re back on the whole ‘winter wedding’ kick.

“Christmas in Ashford Falls,” Mom declares. “I was just telling Stefano how magical it is, with all the holiday lights in town, and the carol concert.”

“It is pretty special,” I agree. “There’s even a snowman building contest, in the square.”

“Of course there is,” Sebastian grins at me.

“Do you travel to spend the holiday with your folks?” Mom asks him.

“Not so often, no,” Sebastian replies. “They like to travel. To hot places, far away.”

“What a shame. But that means you and Roxy can come join us for the holidays,” Mom brightens. “She always finds an excuse to dash back to the city, but you two could make a real trip of it, maybe book into a romantic B&B. Oh, we’ll have so much fun—”

“I’m not sure Christmas will work this year!” I blurt quickly. There’s no way we can commit to a happy family holiday when Seb and I will be done by then. “Stefano is always busy. With work.”

“At the holidays?” Mom frowns.

“Yup! Weren’t you just telling me, how you can’t make plans?” I nudge Sebastian.

“I was?”

“Yes!” I wrack my brain for an excuse. Well-building, firefighting,ohhhh—“Cover! You said you’ll probably have to cover at the firehouse for the guys who can’t work. The ones with families.”

Mom frowns. “Every year? That doesn’t sound fair. And if Stefano has family he wants to spend Christmas with…” She catches herself. “I didn’t mean that you wouldn’t want to spend it with your own family, I just meant—”

Seb cuts her off with a grin. “No, I definitely don’t want to spend it with my own family. But Christmas here in Ashford Falls might be nice. I think if I put my request in early enough it should be okay.”

I blink, trying to work out if this is just him playing along, being sweet to my mom because she sounds so keen on her plan, or…

If he thinks we might still be together at Christmas, enough to make plans.

I feel my hopes rise. Maybe I’m not alone in wanting more from this fictional fling. But before I can pull him away to say anything, Mom turns and gives me the once-over. “You’re not wearing that for the party, are you?”

I glance down. I’ve been running errands in jeans, and a bulky sweater. “No, Mom,” I reassure her. “I was going to change.”

“You should run inside and get ready soon,” she says, giving me a pat towards the house. “You’ll be going straight to the reunion after, and you’ll want to do something with your hair!”

I dressin a pretty red blouse that Daisy helped me pick out, and style my hair the way my mom loves, as a gift. Guests are arriving when I come back downstairs, and soon, the backyard is filled with all Mom and Phil’s friends, co-workers, and second cousins, twice removed. There’s music from the swing band playing, set up by Mom’s prized hydrangeas, and plenty of wine flowing, courtesy of Nita and Evan, who are here with Nita’s parents to celebrate, too.

Mom and Phil are clearly in their element, and even I’m able to relax and have a good time. Sebastian is great at running interference, seeming to have a sixth sense for the exact moment the conversation veers into more tense territory.

“So what is it you’re doing these days?” One of Mom’s garden club friends asks expectantly. “Lorna said you were going back to school.”

“Well…” I start, but Sebastian swoops in with a plateful of canapes.

“I’m sorry, this is terribly rude, but I just need to steal her away,” he says with a disarming smile. “Darling, you know how your blood sugar gets if you don’t eat. She turns into Little Miss Crankypants,” he adds to the woman. “We’ll be right back!”

He steers me across the lawn. “Nice save,” I say admiringly. “And is that crab puff for me?”

“If you ask very, very nicely.”

I lean up and kiss him on the lips. “Does that count?”

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