Morgan pointed a finger in Ali’s direction. “I love knowing that. What are the three largest counties in the UK is a great quiz question. Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Devon. Nobody ever gets number two.”
“Devon is underrated.” Ali slowed the car at the next junction. Ahead were fields of snow. To their right, a graveyard and a picture-perfect stone-built church with a spire. “I don’t go back enough. But I always feel less-than, and I know it’s probably in my head. But so many of my friends there are already married and have kids. I feel like I’m behind. I’ve never even bought a Christmas tree or a TV with someone else. Am I even a fully grown adult until that happens?”
“You’ve bought some festive dice now, so I’d say you’re on your way.” Morgan grinned. “But I know what you mean. I’m a part of my family, but I’m not a part that’s always there, so I’m separate. It’s hard to explain.”
Ali shook her head. “I get it. We’re not there for the day to day. We don’t understand where we’re from as much as they do anymore. We don’t know what’s been making the local news, or what’s going on at the PTA.”
“And they never stop reminding us,” Morgan added. “I think I left because I knew I was gay and I needed to find myself. But being gay makes me doubly an outsider when I go back.”
“I prefer to think it makes us cavalier and daring. My family thinks my life is so exciting and unusual. I don’t like to dispel that myth. I work in apps, I live far away, I go to gay clubs and party all the time. I mean, two of those are true.” When Ali smiled, her face lit up. Had it always done that? Or was that something Morgan had just noticed?
“The go-getters of the family. I like that. Does your family get what you do for work? I can see mine glaze over when I talk about communication. It’s never been their strong point, unless my mum wants to order something from a website she can’t use. Then she’s on the phone smartish.”
Ali let out a bark of laughter. “They’ve no idea. I mean, they use the apps I make, but how they’re devised? I might as well be selling magic beans.”
A warm glow settled in Morgan’s chest, and then moved to her stomach. She and Ali understood each other. Sure, they didn’t work in the same realm, but they had similar family dynamics. They were from the same place. They were both gay. Maybe they had more in common than Morgan had first thought.
But Ali was still Ali. She was still Nicole’s little sister. And once they were home, they’d probably never see each other again. Maybe the odd drink in Glasgow. Maybe next year, they’d rent a car together to get home, and laugh about this year. But for now, this was nice. Having Ali’s company. Someone who knew Glasgow, but also her home. Someone who understood her completely.
Morgan blinked.
Completely was abigstatement.
But she hadn’t felt as comfortable in anyone else’s company in a very long time.
Ali Bradford was an unexpected Christmas bonus.
CHAPTER12
They drove on for another half hour, singing along to Christmas music and not getting very far at all. Ali’s smart plan to divert to the side roads had backfired somewhat, because a lot of other cars had done that, too. Plus, they’d had a few instances where they’d ended up going round in circles and coming back to the same set of roadworks. However, if Ali wanted to keep moving, this allowed her to do just that. Even if they’d barely moved ten miles so far.
“Okay, let’s talk about Christmas. Do you have any traditions in your family? Just so I know in case we’re spending the big day driving around in circles in the Lakes and I need to replicate them.”
“Don’t even joke.” Morgan drummed her fingertips on her thighs.
Ali stared. Something fluttered just above her rib cage. It wasn’t the first time Ali had noticed Morgan’s legs.
Mainly because they were the kind she’d like wrapped around her head.
Whoa. Where the hell had that thought come from?One minute she was driving along, and the next, her mind was in the gutter. She had to sort that out if she wanted to survive the next however many hours in an enclosed space with Morgan. Luckily, Morgan was oblivious to Ali’s thoughts. Which was a good thing.
“We always open one gift on Christmas Eve at midnight. Which used to annoy my nan when she was alive, as she liked to be tucked up in bed by ten.”
“When did she die?” Even saying that was like someone had punched her in the gut. Ali still wasn’t ready to deal with her situation. It was the main reason she was enjoying this delay getting home. Getting stranded with Morgan had been a great distraction. Something to take her mind off her very real family situation that was bowling towards her.
Particularly when it involved sharing a bed, which she had miraculously survived, wholly intact.
“It was nearly ten years ago. I still miss her. She lived a good life, but she was only 77. Nan always used to say it was better to leave before the party ended. Never be the last one standing. I like to think she died as she lived.”
“A good way to look at it.” Ali couldn’t say the same about her dad, but she wasn’t going there. Her mouth got dry even thinking about it. She needed a distraction. “Any other traditions?”
“Apart from playing charades and me always losing? Nothing out of the ordinary. Christmas dinner. The queen’s speech. A cheeseboard that nobody wants. Monopoly, where my sister always steals from the bank. Me eating those Guylian seashell chocolates and realising they are the devil’s chocolate. How about you?”
Ali shook her head. “None really. The pub was always open, so we always spent Christmas working. I never minded, though. I quite liked it, because everybody was in a good mood. Plus, as a child, I got to be in the pub all day, which was normally off-limits. But this year will be different.” More than Morgan could possibly know.
“Maybe you’ll make new traditions.” Morgan glanced Ali’s way as she spoke.
They were in stationary traffic, so Ali let her gaze linger on Morgan’s sapphire-blue eyes with flecks of gold. She’d been closer to them in the past 24 hours than she had been in years. Yet their shape and depth were still imprinted on Ali’s psyche from her teenage years. She recalled staring back then. How she wanted to kiss Morgan’s eyelids. What would they taste like now?
