“You’re doing fine,” I said. “But after that comment and the peanut butter, I need some alone time. Are you coming or not?” I realized what I’d said too late.
She grinned. “Coming, I think.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You’re cute when someone beats you to a pun.”
“It doesn’t happen very often. Now come on, Little Bit, let’s go.” I turned out the lights as we walked through the house and up the stairs.
She stopped at her bedroom door. “Thank you for being patient with me.”
“You’re welcome. Thanks for not running away this morning.”
She nodded.
“Well, goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
“And sweet dreams.”
She grinned. “Of peanut butter.”
Running was my time by myself to think and work things out. Cooking was Wren’s. I had no idea what she needed to work out, but she made a big meal on Sunday, a rack of lamb with all the trimmings.
“I’ve been wanting to do this for a while,” she said as she set the platter on the table.
Christy politely hid her reaction to the sight of the meat and bones sticking up.
“Oh, relax,” Wren said to her. “I made you a special entrée. Quail stuffed with dates.”
Christy brightened immediately. “Thank you.”
“And we have a special Bordeaux tonight. My dad has a case of this tucked away. I sort of borrowed a couple of bottles.” She smiled at Trip.
“Being daddy’s little princess has its perks sometimes.”
“That it does,” he said agreeably.
Christy and I shared a covert smile. Trip and Wren had been especially nice to each other since their Halloween blowup.
“So,” he said as we dug in, “I was thinking… let’s talk about New Year’s plans.”
“Party?” Christy said hopefully.
Trip glanced at Wren.
“Sort of,” she said. “We were thinking of renting a cabin in Aspen or Breckenridge.”
“Ooh, that sounds fun!” Christy said.
Wren shot a glance at Trip.
“Maybe all four of us could go,” he said on cue.
I set down my knife and fork. “Have you
“You don’t know the power of the dark side!” he said in his best Darth Vader voice.
“Yeah, I think I do,” I said. “She’s a freakin’ force of nature.”
“You can say that again,” Christy said. Then she shot me a warning look.
“Right,” I said agreeably. I added a grin. “See? I can change.”
She laughed. “You can.”
“About New Year’s,” Trip said doggedly. “We all love skiing, and it’d be fun to get away for a couple of days before we start school again.”
“Tell you what,” I said, “let’s get through
“But we’ll need to rent the cabin,” he said. “And we’d better do it early.”
“Whose side are you on?” I said.
“Hers! Are you kidding? I know what’s good for me.”
Wren simply smirked.
“We haven’t even had Thanksgiving yet,” I objected. “Speaking of which, what’re you all doing?”
“Gonna spend it with Wren’s family,” he said, “and Christmas with mine.”
She looked mildly annoyed that I’d managed to hijack the conversation, but she didn’t interrupt.
“Her father always has a big party Wednesday night for all his employees. So we’re going to that.”
“And since Christmas is such a big deal with Trip and his little brothers,”
Wren added, “we’ll be at their house for the holidays.”
“So you’re already splitting time between your families?” I teased.
Christy grinned at me.
“It’s almost like you’re married already.”
“You’re just jealous,” Trip said around a mouthful of lamb. “This is really delicious, babe.”
“Yeah, I kinda am,” I said. “I mean, I’m happy for you both. But it’s still fun to tease you.” I didn’t want Wren to
“Mmm hmm. Almost everyone will be there. My mom isn’t sure about Rich, but we’ll still have a full house.”
“Sounds like fun,” I said.
“It will be. I love spending time with my family. It’s chaotic, especially with all my nieces and nephews, but…”
“You love chaos,” I finished for her.
“What can I say?” She took another bite of her quail. “This
Thank you, Wren.” She looked back at me. “What’re you doing? Home to Atlanta?”
“No. I think I’ll stay here. I have a ton of work to do.”
She set down her fork with an uneaten bite of quail. “No, you can’t!”
“Why not?”
“It’s Thanksgiving. It’s family. How can you stay here?”
“Well, I don’t have much choice. My parents are going to Hawaii with friends. Erin’s spending it with Leah and her family. I don’t really want to go to the Coulters’, and I don’t want to spend it with either of my grandparents.
It’s okay,” I told her. “I don’t mind. I have plenty of work—”
“But you can’t. You’ll be all alone.”
“That’s okay. I don’t mind.”
“Don’t be silly. You can come home with me.”
Even Wren was shocked, although she reacted quicker than I did.
“That’s a wonderful idea,” she said.
“I can’t.” I reacted without thinking, mostly to forestall Wren. “I mean…
it’d be a huge imposition. Besides, you said so yourself, your parents have a full house.”
“Nonsense,” Wren said. “One more won’t make a difference. Besides, you need to meet Christy’s family anyway.” The rest was unspoken:
