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“Not from me, you don’t.”
“You sure?” Ry’s gaze was steady, unyielding, but I wasn’t easily intimidated and I had no reason to be now.
“Positive.”
He held my gaze for another moment and then a bright smile flashed across his face. “Then yeah, that autograph would be great.”
I barked out a laugh and shook my head. “Sarcasm must run in your family.”
“That particular gene is strong in our family tree, yes. Cool, right?”
“Yeah, great,” I told him in a tone that said I thought it was anything but.
Ry laughed and shook his head. “I saw your face in the hospital, you appreciate it. More than appreciate it based on the jealousy that flared for just a moment.”
I could have denied it, but there was no point. “Just because we’re not right for each other, doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate her charms.” If things were different, like Tara’s job or my history with my ex, we would be great together.
As it stood now, we were barely friends.
“All right. Let’s go find those kids before they end up buying twenty foot trees.”
At those words, both of our smiles faded and we rushed off in search of our two precocious children.
A normal afternoon had turned strange once again.
Welcome to life in Pilgrim.
Tara
“I’m sure, I’ll be fine. I swear.” Penny, Ry and Mikey had left no more than sixty minutes ago and she’d already called two times. This one made three.
“We should have stayed to help you with the tree.”
I sighed and leaned back against the sofa, rolling my eyes because I could do so now without hurting her feelings. “Don’t worry about the tree, Penny. You have to get back to your lives. Just know that I appreciate you staying for as long as you did. I love my sister, but Gretchen is a champion hoverer.”
“How will you decorate the tree? I told Ry we should’ve gotten you a tabletop tree instead. What was he thinking?”
I looked over at the bare Christmas tree sitting in its stand in the corner. “I think it was all Mikey, and I love it. I’ll get around to decorating it. Eventually.” Now that I was up and walking around with minimal pain in my hip, I planned to get back to my life as usual, which meant total independence. “Now stop worrying, or I’ll find some way to torture you.”
“Are you sure you’re all right?”
“As all right as I can be, Penny.” Thankfully the doorbell chose that moment to ring and I stood, slowly, wondering who was stopping by now, and half hoping, half dreading they’d brought something other than tuna casserole or cheeseburger macaroni casserole. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m sure that’s Gretchen at the door ready to put me back on the sofa and start feeding me a steady diet of chicken broth.”
Penny huffed out a laugh. “If you really dislike it so much, I can have Ry turn around.”
“Don’t even think about,” I told her as I pulled my front door open and froze. Chris and Lila. Holding bags filled with what looked like Christmas ornaments and some other stuff I probably didn’t need. “Penny I have to go.”
“Ooh, it’s not Gretchen, is it?”
“No,” I told her. “It’s not, and if you don’t stop worrying I won’t tell you anything else.”
“Talk to you later, and I do mean later!” Her laughter was the last thing I heard before the call ended.
“Is this a bad time?” Chris’ deep voice shouldn’t have felt so welcoming. So deep and velvety that the sound curled into my belly like a kitten and stayed there, warming me from the inside out. “Tara?”
I blinked and shook my head, admonishing myself for paying attention to silly things like the smoothness of his voice, the low hang of his jeans on his hips. The way his t-shirt clung to his biceps. “Yeah, I’m fine. What brings you guys by?” I directed the question at Lila because Chris wasn’t the only one who could be a coward when it suited him.
“We came to help you decorate your tree!” Lila’s excitement brought a smile to my face and I listened as she told me all about running into Mikey and Ry at the tree farm. Her shoulders fell instantly. “Did you do it already?”
“Nope. I’m moving around now, as you can see, but not as well as you.”
“We got everything,” Lila said and bounded in the house, careful of my hip. “Ornaments and tinsel and garlands and lights. All kinds of stuff. Do you like the tree? I helped Mike pick it out for you.”
“It’s very nice. Big and fluffy. I hope we have enough decorations for it all.”
“If not, Daddy can buy more!”
I bit back a smile and took a limping step backwards. “It’s going to be hard to help from out there,” I told Chris who looked like I might slam the door in his face. It was tempting just to see that shocked look again, but I wasn’t angry. Not anymore, anyway. “You coming?”
