AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I slap him on the chest. “I’m being serious. I have to go in there and have a talk with my mom and explain to her why I lied, then stormed off, had amazing sex, and now we’re back together, planting all sorts of roots.” I wiggle my brows at the last part. Planting roots is my new favorite hobby.
“Don’t look so stressed.” He laughs. “It’ll be fine.”
“I’m not stressed. I’m happy. Ecstatic. My heart and my vagina are totally high-fiving.” What did I just say?
“It’s going to be fine, Holls.” Liam opens the door, and the aroma of roasted lamb instantly fills my nose. I let out a long moan.
“Well, she’s definitely going to know if you do that.” Liam laughs.
“Oh, good, you’re back. Dinner is almost ready. Holly, would you like to help me in the kitchen?”
This is it. The moment of truth. “Yep. I’d love to, Mom.” I smile at Liam, leaving him to deal with my dad, and venture off into the kitchen. “Smells great,” I say, walking in and picking up the lid off the gravy.
Mom sighs. “It sure does, doesn’t it?”
Man, she wasted no time on the sigh. The I know what you did sigh. She pulls out the roast, and I stir the gravy. After stirring it to within an inch of its life, I spill my beans. “Mom, about what happened today. . .”
“Oh, honey, you don’t have to explain to me.”
“But I do.”
She places the roasting pan on the stove and turns to me. Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes, and everything falls out. “Vincent and I aren’t together. We haven’t been for some time, which is a good thing since he’s a cheating piece of sh…store bought pie.” My eyes flash to her, then down again as I trail off. “Anyway, when I found out, I might have lost it on him and gotten fired in the process. I don’t have all these perfect things. I should have told you, but I was embarrassed, and after losing Billy, I didn’t want to disappoint you, and I’m in love with Liam, and we’re going to plant roots. . .” Shit.
I stare at my mom, waiting for the judgement. Instead, her eyes glimmer with love. She leans forward, pressing her palm to my cheek. “Honey, I love you for you. You should never feel that you need to prove yourself as my daughter. You’re the most beautiful soul, inside and out. Anything else that comes along is secondary.”
Why is my mom so amazing? My throat grows thick with emotion. “I know that now. I just didn’t want to disappoint you.”
She strokes my cheek. “Holly, you will never disappoint me. You will always be my sweet, wild, beautiful, amazing child. You not having a job or a man who doesn’t know how to treat you would never change that. Not to mention, I knew before you got here.”
My eyes blast open. “Wait, what?”
Mom taps me gently on the cheek and bends down to check the roast. “Vincent called just before you got here looking for you. Chatty man he is. Babbles about as much as you do. And let me tell you, there were some things he could have kept to himself.”
My jaw is dragging against the kitchen floor. “I’m not understanding—”
“I knew you two were broken up when you came home. I wasn’t going to press you to tell me until you were ready. And then you looked a bit sidetracked…” She shuts the door and winks at me.
My eyes well with tears. She knew the whole time. “So then, the whole, I’m also completely in love with Liam part?”
She smiles back tenderly. “I already knew, honey.”
“You did?”
“Of course I did. You would have to be blind not to see the way you two look at each other. Your father and I were like that when we were young. That crackle in the air when we were close. We couldn’t keep our hands off each other—”
“Ew, Mom, I don’t want to hear that.”
“I’m just saying. I never believed that was the end of your story. Maybe you both needed to grow up. Become the people you needed to be before finding each other again. Not every road is paved in a perfect path.”
Her words hold so much meaning for me. And maybe she’s right. Sometimes love isn’t a straight route. It’s not always smooth. There are bumps and barriers, and sometimes people get hurt. In the end, Liam and I found our way home. And that will forever be our Christmas miracle.
I fall onto the bed, gasping for air, every muscle in my body limp. “Okay, this time, I think I’m seriously done.” I rest my hand over my chest. “What’s the average age for a heart attack? Am I too young to have one? I can probably have a heart attack, can’t I? I think I’m having—”
