Page 34 of Under the Christmas Tree

“I’ll talk to her, help her see reason.”

“Do you think that’s going to help?”

“Hey, it’s not like I haven’t tried before. But you know what she’s like. Told me you’d have said something if you didn’t know you were coming back home, if you didn’t know that was where you belonged.”

“Oh, god…”

Adam laughed. “Well, now you’ve said something.”

Katie groaned. She was supposed to be happy right now. She was supposed to have told Maggie how she felt. She was supposed to…

Well, she was supposed to have done a lot of things differently. Starting with the fact that a half-hour break really wasn’t the best time to tell your best friend you were in love with her, but it was what it was.

Perhaps she should have been thanking her mom. If she could work up the courage to try again after seeing that resigned look on Maggie’s face, she’d get another chance at doing it right. Another chance at spoiling Maggie the way she deserved, at showing her exactly how much care and effort she deserved to receive.

Weren’t things supposed to go right at Christmas? Weren’t they supposed to be magical? Who had she angered this year to end up in this situation?

“Don’t worry, Specks. It’s going to be fine,” Adam said, sounding far more confident than Katie felt. “I’ll talk to her, get her a room here, and we can go from there.”

Katie sighed heavily, opening the door to her floor. “Thanks, Adam. I really appreciate it.”

As they hung up, she rounded a corner and practically collided with Rea, who was stepping out of the elevator.

She gave Katie a look. “Who peed in your coffee?”

Katie deflated, groaning again. She wasn’t even doing a good job of putting on a show. How had one break gone so very awry?

Rea paused, gripping Katie’s arm. “Oh, shit, someone really did.” She wrapped her arm around Katie’s shoulders and started walking them both forwards. “Come on. I’ll buy you anything you want from the vending machine and you can tell me all about it.”

Katie laughed, the sound grateful and desperate in equal measure. “You really know how to sweep a girl off her feet.”

Rea laughed freely. “Don’t let your girlfriend hear you saying that.”

Katie’s stomach clenched. An hour ago, that’s exactly what she’d been hoping for when she came back from lunch—the possibility of calling Maggie her girlfriend. Now, that felt further away than it ever had.

Rea raised an eyebrow. “I knew it was about her. Spill.”

Katie felt herself blushing, but she really did want salty snacks and to tell her friend. Maybe if everyone else was still referring to Maggie as her girlfriend there was still hope.

Chapter Fourteen

Maggie stared at her suitcase waiting by the door. She’d packed it in the aftermath of running into Irene yesterday so she had no idea if she genuinely had everything she needed. Though, she was only going for a couple of days and she knew she had all of the gifts she’d bought. Everything else she’d just have to figure out if she forgot it.

The problem wasn’t that she was worried about her packing, it was that she didn’t want to go.

In her disappointment over Irene’s interruption, she’d made a flippant comment about whether it was a sign she and Katie shouldn’t be having a conversation about their relationship—for she knew that was what they were doing, and she was finally certain they were on the same page. But then, Irene. Again. And she couldn’t stop herself from worrying that it just might be a sign they weren’t supposed to be together.

She didn’t believe that, though. She’d just felt defeated by the lack of time and privacy they’d had. And by how she was leaving today, and they’d had to meet while Katie was on her break, and, for ridiculous, illogical reasons, Christmas felt like a deadline they had to have the conversation before. Like, if they didn’t say it before Christmas, maybe it wouldn’t be real anymore.

Maggie was certain she was just being foolish and overly attached to the fact that it was at the Christmas tree farm they’d almost kissed, and how she’d wanted this for so long, but maybe nothing would be the same once the Christmas magic was gone. And, now, it was Christmas Eve and they still hadn’t had that conversation.

Logically, she knew feelings didn’t work like that. They were far too complicated to have deadlines or to simply be the product of festive spirit, so she knew things would be fine. Emotionally, though, she felt like she was dragging herself out the door, away from any possibility of being together, and away from Katie, who needed her because things with her mom were so tense right now.

They hadn’t talked about their almost conversation, but they had talked about Irene, about the things Katie had said to her, and about how much Katie both regretted them and needed to say them. Needing to say them didn’t stop Katie being upset at hurting her mom, or being upset at Irene’s responses. Shutting her feelings down to head straight back to work hadn’t helped either.

Maggie was doing her best to be there for her, from afar, and to find the balance of what Katie needed from her. She needed a space to name her regrets. She also needed a space to hear she wasn’t in the wrong for being upset at Irene’s attempts at emotional manipulation—and she needed a space to have them named as such.

Maggie wanted, so badly, to run to her place and hold her, to tell her everything was going to be okay. They both hoped it would be. Katie didn’t want to lose that relationship. She wanted to fix it and she was willing to put the effort in. She just needed Irene to be on the same page, and some time for healing.

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