Page 42 of The Truth Between

For a brief moment, I could pretend this was a normal holiday season. That I was home with Gran instead of staying in the mansion of a man who had no issue with stalking or kidnapping me. While I didn’t think he’d done all of this himself, the fact that he’d gone out of his way to do all of this after I’d mentioned feeling upset about not being with Gran for the holidays made me feel warm inside.

I never thought I would describe something Soren had done as sweet, yet here I was, swooning over what he’d done in his house. What was wrong with me? I let out an audible gasp when I saw a massive tree in the foyer, filled with lights and ornaments.

The coldness around my heart softened at the sight. It was stunning, and I was in complete shock.

A floorboard creaked behind me, shattering my focus on the scene in front of me. I whirled around to find Soren leaning against the wall, a weird expression on his face.

“It’s lovely, isn’t it?”

I hesitated, wondering how to interpret all this along with the man in front of me. “Yes, it’s absolutely beautiful.”

The corner of his mouth forced his lips into a smirk. “I’m glad you like it.” He walked toward me and offered me his arm. “I have something else I want to show you.”

The change that I was seeing in him had me wondering if I was in a fever dream. But I still found myself staring at his arm before I looped my own through his, allowing him to lead me into the living room.

“Holy—”

My words died on my lips. The living room and dining room had also been decorated festively and I swore I’d stepped onto the set of a family sitcom or into a magazine for a department store. Both had been transformed into a winter wonderland, adorned from floor to ceiling in shimmering icicles and silvery garlands. I quickly walked over and grabbed a sugar cookie that had been set on the coffee table in the living room before I turned and smiled at Soren.

He looked to be in shock at the look on my face, but then his face became more relaxed as a small smile appeared on his lips.

This was absolutely perfect. I cleared my throat and then said, “Soren, why did you decide to put so much effort into decorating for the holidays? You never gave any indication that this is what you wanted to do.”

He looked at me as if he was debating how much he wanted to share. After a few moments, he shrugged and said, “It was a nice thing to do.”

There was doing something nice, but there was doing this. What had happened here was a transformation.

“What made you do it?”

“I was inspired.”

That made me raise an eyebrow. Sure, he could have found inspiration anywhere, but the timing of this was suspicious.

Right after I was upset about not spending the holidays with Gran, he decided to hire people to do all this decorating?

“It’s interesting what you can come up with when inspired to do something good versus something bad.”

I saw Soren do a double take before he responded. “What are you talking about?”

“I assumed you were inspired to hunt me down for some reason, so shifting your attention to this was a good choice.”

Soren snorted, actually snorted. “I make whatever decisions that I want to make, and I do it when I want to make them.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. Of course he wouldn’t admit to anything. I shrugged it off and decided to enjoy the moment, letting go of my suspicions for now. “Well, it’s beautiful. Thank you, Soren.”

He nodded in response before gesturing to the couch. “Sit. I have something else to show you.”

I did as I was told, and my attention was drawn to the fireplace and all the decorations around it. All the holiday decor softened this home as a whole and brightened up every room I’d been in so far. I looked up when I saw Soren returning, and when he stopped in front of me, he handed me a neatly wrapped package, and I just stared at the gold ribbon that shimmered in the light.

“This is for me?” The question was ridiculous because he was handing ittome, but I couldn’t believe it.

“Yes, it is,” was all he said with all the patience in the world. His confidence was somewhat annoying, given how nervous I was about this whole exchange, but there wasn’t much I could do about that.

I carefully pulled apart the ribbon and unwrapped the package. I was stunned to find a journal, or maybe it was a diary. It had a deep-blue leather cover and a beautiful, intricate design on it with sapphires embedded in it. My mouth dropped open as I opened it and turned the pages, and I was surprised to find that the pages had gold edges. It looked to be handmade.

My eyes darted to Soren. “This is. . . I mean, it must’ve cost a small fortune!”

A faint smile tugged at his lips. “The artisan crafts only a handful each year. I knew you would love it.”

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