Page 79 of Home for the Holidays

CHAPTERTHIRTY-FOUR

“Fuck him,” Iris said as she pulled away from the house in the rental SUV. “Fuckhim. If he needs a car, he can fucking drive Evan’s.” She wanted to speed, to rush to the airport, but the roads were awful. “How is it still fucking snowing?” Even her getaway was thwarted.

She frantically wiped at her eyes so she could focus on the road. Her tears and the icy windshield were making it difficult. When her phone started to ring, she hit the ‘Disconnect’ button on the steering wheel. She didn’t even care who was calling. She did not need to talk to anyone right now.

The phone started to ring again.

Decline.

And again.

Decline.

And again.

Decline.

And again.

This time, she looked at the screen and saw that it was Zac. How dare he try to call her! What was he going to do? Yell at her some more?

Decline.

It rang again; an unknown number. She wasn’t stupid. It was one of them, one of the Nowaks. No way in hell was she answering it.

Decline.

Of all the times she had ever wanted to turn her phone off, of course this was the one time she couldn’t. She needed the goddamn map to get to O’Hare.

The phone rang again.

“Motherfucker!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. How did everything get so out of control so quickly? One minute, she and Heidi were going to move forward. They were going to be happy and in love, and it was going to feel like finally finding home. And the next?

She started to laugh. Hysterically. She laughed until the laughter turned into even more tears, and then she was sobbing uncontrollably. She was crying so hard that she had to pull over. She put the vehicle in park and hit the hazard lights. The tears were unstoppable now. She was crying so hard she could barely catch her breath.

Meeting the woman of her dreams had turned out to be the worst thing that had ever happened to her. She leaned her head onto the steering wheel as she continued to bawl.

Suddenly, she heard a horrible rumbling sound, tires squealing, and before she knew it, there was nothing but black.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-FIVE

“So you were canoodling Zac’s girlfriend?” Karen asked softly, after she slid into the seat next to Heidi at the breakfast nook. Heidi glared at her. “I’m kidding, Heidi. It’s just a joke. Too soon?”

“Karen, for Christ’s sake,” Heidi said with a laugh as she shook her head. “Maybe a little too soon.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “What do you need from us?”

Heidi shrugged. Her heart had been ripped out of her chest. At this point, she didn’t give a flying fuck about celebrating the rest of Christmas. All she wanted to do was go upstairs and cry herself to sleep.

“Can I say something?”

Heidi nodded.

“He overreacted.” Karen placed her hand on Heidi’s clenched fist. “Sure, it’s a little unorthodox, but you’re both consenting adults. Why is it such a problem?”

“I have no idea.” She relaxed her hand under Karen’s. “He doesn’t think he overreacted. She’s his best friend. I’m his mom. We knew it was going to cause a war.”

“Then why—”

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