Page 73 of Christmas at Hart's Ridge

And then, like a depraved Christmas story, he went back out the window like Santa going up the chimney.

Chapter 28

Luke

Christmaswastheoneday all year when I didn’t have to be at Goat’s Tavern, but that didn’t mean I didn’t have shit to do. Like most other mornings, I was awake at eight to feed Goat. I brewed coffee for Ethan and me, even though he probably wouldn’t be up for another hour or so.

I had a gift for him that I had wrapped last night before I went to Bethany’s. We always exchanged gifts, something small, although we didn’t put them under a tree. Christmas trees seemed like a silly tradition when it was just the two of us.

That didn’t mean we didn’t have our own traditions, though. On years when the weather held, we went for a winter hike. There had been a handful of years where a storm had come over the mountains, and we spent those Christmases in front of a fire, Ethan reading a book, and me reading trip reports from through-hikers.

Bethany would be spending Christmas morning with her parents, so I figured that gave Ethan and me plenty of time to get a hike in. But when I knocked on his bedroom door, I discovered he wasn’t there. I frowned at his tidy bed. Ethan made his bed every morning, so that wasn’t any indication of where he had slept last night.

A quick check of the hallway coat closet confirmed my suspicion. Ethan was gone. But where? Maybe he went for a hike without me. Shit, was he still upset about me and Bethany? Last night it felt like we had turned a corner. I sure as hell hadn’t expected him to still be so mad that he ditched me on Christmas. Not after he had made such a big deal about doing the stockings this year.

But one thing about Ethan was if he didn’t want to be found, I wasn’t going to find him. Which meant I was hiking alone this morning. I wasn’t too worried about it. He’d show his face at some point. Maybe this afternoon we could have a few beers together. Work out the vestiges of whatever was still bothering him.

I kept the hike short, figuring Bethany would make it over to my place around noon. The thought of it made me antsy with anticipation, even though I had just seen her last night. Funny. All my life, the North Carolina mountains had been my favorite place on Earth. But now? I didn’t love them any less, but they didn’t hold a candle to who was waiting for me at home. My favorite place was wherever Bethany was.

But if I could have both? Bethany and the mountains together? Yeah. That would be perfect.

Someday. Maybe.

Although that dream seemed to be slipping away from me no matter how hard I tried to grab hold of it.

When I pulled up to my house, I frowned. Because Mrs. Albright’s Subaru was nowhere to be seen, which meant I had beaten Bethany here, but I wasn’t the only one. Ethan’s car was there, along with Nora’s SUV, Eli’s truck, Max’s car, Jasmine’s, and even Suzie’s minivan. Everyone I knew was parked in my driveway or the lawn. What the hell was going on?

Bethany.

She was the only one missing. Suzie had four kids. She wasn’t going to haul herself to my house on Christmas unless something major was happening.

I was out of the car, frantically checking my phone for any missed calls or messages, before my brain could fully formulate what something major might be. All I felt was dread.

Until I burst through the door and found her standing in my living room, her head thrown back in mid-laughter as she held onto a smiling Nora. Uninjured, from what I could tell, and certainly alive.

Still, I couldn’t breathe right until I had her in my arms. I pried her from Nora, who stepped back with a knowing laugh, and pulled her into my arms.

“Are you okay?” I asked, running my hands over her arms to ascertain for myself that she wasn’t hurt somehow.

“Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?” Her brow wrinkled as she scanned my face. “Areyouokay?”

“Your mom’s car isn’t out front. I thought—”

“Ethan picked me up.” Her expression gentled and she cupped my cheek. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

I rested my forehead against hers. “Are you trying to kill me, Red? Because I swear I nearly had a heart attack, thinking everyone was here to give me bad news. Aboutyou.”

“We wanted to surprise you. Um, surprise?” she said weakly.

We. Right. All my friends were standing in my living room. I pulled back, one still looped around her waist to keep her close, and faced my friends. “What the hell is going on?”

“Merry Christmas, bro,” Ethan said. “We got you something.”

I narrowed my eyes as Ethan stepped forward, holding out my Christmas stocking. He’d never called me bro in his life before he came out, and now he said it all the time. I suspected it was to get under my skin. It worked.

“Oh, yeah?” I took the stocking from him and peered into it. It looked to be full of cards. “What did you get me?”

“An intervention,” Eli drawled. “Merry fucking Christmas, Luke.”

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