Page 58 of Snow Globe Secrets

“Get in the shot, honey,” Mom ordered, but Randall shot up and reached out to her.

“You get in there too. I’ll take the picture.” At least from this angle, my parents couldn’t see me smiling like a lovesick fool at the man behind the camera. It didn’t occur to me in the moment that my mom would be able to stare at me smiling at Randall all she wanted once he handed her phone back.

Mom and Dad stood and watched as I positioned the star, and Randall continued taking pictures.

I dismounted much more gracefully when I was done, and we stood back and admired the tree.

After a few beats, my dad decided, “Whelp! That’s done. You two must be tired after your drive. I know I am.” Dad embraced me in a bear hug. “It’s good to have you home, son.”

He attacked Randall next. “Randy, man. I can’t believe you’re here. London’s loss is our gain, for sure.” Randall looked stiff in Dad’s arms. I felt Mom’s hand on my upper arm as we watched the two men, and I turned in time to catch her eyeing me.

“It is good to have you home, son. We’ll see you both in the morning.”

“Come on, Mart. Let the man go. He’ll still be here in the morning.” Mom leaned down to pick up the pizza boxes from the table, but I stopped her.

“You all go on up. I’ll clean up.”

Chapter Twenty

Randall

I racked my brain, trying to come up with an excuse to stay with Austin. I could feel Stehpanie’s eyes on me, and for some reason, that had my mind screaming, “abort.” I stacked the plates and my beer bottle and left them in the kitchen sink. The area in front of the sink was open to the family room. Austin looked up from closing the lid on a green-and-red bin and smiled at me softly as his parents passed the kitchen and headed up the stairs.

For a brief moment, I pictured us back inside our snow globe, alone and laughing, rolling around in the snow as more fell gently over us. I nodded to him, wanting to do so much more, instead following my friends up the stairs.

They were entering their room as I opened the bathroom door.

“Good night, old friend.” Marty yawned. “It’s so good to have you back.” Steph put a hand on his arm and smiled my way.

“Good night, you two.” I’d held the door open a few inches during our brief exchange but opened it fully as they closed their bedroom door behind me. I thought about the two teenagers I had introduced, pride welling up in me now that there was no jealousy over the content life they seemed to have created for themselves and Austin.

Austin. My body vibrated at the thought of him, like we were in tune even a floor apart. My eyes clocked the shaving kit I’d left sitting on the bathroom counter, and a rush of heat ignited within me, thinking about the contents he’d snuck therein.

I was still convinced that Austin would come to his senses about me, away from our snowed-in fantasy, but I was equally convinced that my feelings for him would be harder to dismiss. I ignored the toys and supplies in favor of my toothbrush, got ready for bed, and fell into a restless sleep, imagining Austin down the hall instead of in my arms. How could my bed feel so empty after only one night of holding him?

The next morning, I found him exiting the bathroom as I entered.

He looked toward his parents’ door before leaning in and whispering, “I was disappointed to see your shaving kit was undisturbed.”

“Not true,” I countered. “My toothbrush and deodorant are clearly on the counter.”

“You know what I mean,” he breathed into my ear, and it was my turn to make sure no one was emerging from the master bedroom.

“You’re playing with fire,” I whispered back.

He looked back into the bathroom, eyeing the Dopp kit that sat next to my deodorant on the counter.

“I really wish I was.”

“Austin!” I warned. He smiled a mischievous smile.

“I’m really proud of you, for telling them last night.”

“There didn’t seem any reason to hide. You said you’ve been out to them since you were twelve, and I know how they were when we were in school. My only worry was that they’d be upset I kept it from them.”

“My dad’s too easygoing to be upset about much of anything.”

“Are you sure about that?” I asked pointedly.