Page 74 of Home for the Holidays

“Thank you,” she whispered, still perched on the side of the desk. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he said when he walked back to her. He pulled her from the desk and hugged her close. “You’ll always be my girl. You hear me?”

All she could do was nod.

CHAPTERTHIRTY

Seeing Sandy was most definitely a surprise. In a desperate attempt to not draw attention to herself, she had wedged herself into a spot on the couch next to Zac and Evan, who had apparently stayed the night on the love seat downstairs.

“This seat’s not taken, right?” Breathing slowly was her only defense. She couldn’t give herself away. Her anxiety and nervousness were going to be on full display if she wasn’t careful.

Zac chuckled. “Of course not, my love.” He stopped himself. “I mean, Iris. Sorry. Old habits, I guess.”

She forced herself to laugh, though even she had to admit it was a very weak attempt. “It’s fine.”

“Are you okay?”

“Fine.”

Evan let out a puff of air. “I barely know you, andIknow you’re not fine.”

She tried to smile, but it felt like more of a grimace. “I promise. I’m fine.”

“Iris, what is going on?” Zac was looking at her, but she could only stare at Sandy, who was such a part of the family that Nora had picked her lap over Iris’s. She wasn’t jealous. Nope. Not at all.

“I’m fine.” She cleared her throat just as Heidi whisked into the living room with a huge platter of cinnamon rolls and a carafe of coffee. She watched Sandy’s eyes, how they followed Heidi. She had known they were sleeping together, but until now, she had had no idea how deeply in love with Heidi Sandy was.

“You’re a horrible liar,” Zac whispered. “Just so you know.”

“Heidi, babe, those look absolutely delectable,” Sandy said. Nora was all smiles. Iris wanted to scream.

“Thank you. Everyone grab one, and we can start passing out gifts.” Heidi was nervous. Iris could hear it in her voice. When she moved her gaze over to Iris, her pained expression, the sadness in her eyes, it all shouted that she was sorry.

Iris smiled at her, offering as much of anit’s okayas she could. The desire to run away was as strong as ever. She’d fought tooth and nail to bury that reaction to hard situations, but it was rearing its ugly head.

When a cinnamon roll was passed to her on a red ceramic plate covered in white snowflakes, a sense of dread washed over her. She looked around as nonchalantly as possible. This family, everything about them, was what her life would be like if she started this with Heidi. Everything. Heidi wasn’t going to leave Vale Park. She wasn’t going to leave this house and these plates and the five different Christmas trees she put up. Was this what Iris wanted? Or was it just fun because it was forbidden? Because she was obtaining the unobtainable? She swallowed around the giant lump in her throat and stared down at the cinnamon roll. Sandy was safe and here and easy. She was already part of the family. Iris glanced at her, at her look of happiness, at Nora’s adorable smile.

“Okay, Nora, do you want to help me pass out gifts?” Oscar asked, and Nora was up like a shot out of Sandy’s lap. He chuckled as he passed his daughter a gift. “This goes to Grandpa.” He continued with the rest of the wrapped boxes and bags, Nora passing them out expertly. When they got to the last couple of boxes, Iris heard Oscar say, “This one is for Iris.” Nora’s eyes lit up as she ran over to Iris and lunged into her arms.

“This is for you. It says, ‘From Santa,’” she whispered into Iris’s ear. “Santa knew you were here.”

Iris’s eyes filled with tears. “Thank you,” she said and kissed Nora’s cheek. “You’re a great helper.” After Nora rushed back to Oscar, she glanced at Zac. “You didn’t have to do this.”

He shrugged. “I didn’t. That’s from Santa.”

“Zac,” she whispered. “Come on.”

“I’m being serious. We said we’d do our gifts back in the city. Remember?” He nudged her. “Santa knew where you were.”

“If it’s not you…” She looked up, eyes connecting instantly with Heidi, who was sitting across the living room. Her breath caught in her throat.Oh…

“Okay, Nowaks,” Oscar declared, “go ahead and open your presents.”

Iris watched as everyone started to rip into their gifts. As the only child in the picture, Nora obviously had the most, and her excitement was as contagious as Heidi’s nervous expression. Iris stared down at the gift from Santa on her lap. She unstuck the sides of the paper and unwrapped the box carefully. She held her breath as she opened it. Inside was a silver necklace, which held two intertwined rings. She instantly started crying.

“This is so beautiful.” She let out a small laugh as she touched the rings.

“It’s a good thing Santa knew where you were,” Heidi said softly, and Iris looked over at her. It was as if they were the only two people in the room. Hell, in the world. Everything else fell away, all the stress, the worries, the cares, the scared feelings. It was the two of them and nothing else.

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