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“What are you doing here, Yasmine?” Torrian was surprised to hear an awkward note in Jaz’s tone. “I thought we were seeing you on Thursday.”
Yasmine seemed about to hug Jaz and changed her mind. Jaz leaned in and stalled as well. In the end, they hugged and kissed each other’s cheeks more like acquaintances than sisters. Torrian frowned watching them.
“No,” Yasmine said, “stupid Lamont is fighting me on the kids. He wants to spend Christmas with them, and so do I. So we came to an agreement.”
“What kind of agreement?”
Yasmine glanced at the kids and back to her sister. She wrung her hands, and he suddenly comprehended that while she knew it wasn’t Jaz’s fault that her husband wanted her sister, a part of her still blamed Jaz. He despised the weakness but held his opinion to himself.
“We’re all spending it together.”
“Yasmine! You can’t spend the holiday with that bastard. You should be with your family who loves you. And the kids.”
“I’ve made my decision. I just came over here to give you your present from me and the kids.”
Torrian watched Jaz’s face fall, but then she smiled and kept smiling. She entertained the kids, fed them, and did her best to talk to her sister. He noted Jaz didn’t pressure Yasmine into changing her mind. She enjoyed the time together and eventually bid them good-bye. When they were alone again, Torrian pulled Jaz onto his lap and held her tight.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She wound her arms about his neck and buried her face against his throat. When she spoke, her voice was muffled, but he understood her. “He ruined everything, and it’s still going on. Who knows how long he’s going to keep fighting her. They’ve been doing it from the beginning, and I guess we should be used to it, but…”
“I’m sorry,” he said, stroking her hair. She didn’t move or look up. He decided now wasn’t the time to talk to her about himself. “How about this? You can open one present early.”
She looked up and laughed. “That’s what kids get to do the night before Christmas.”
“It’s what Jazara is going to do now,” he corrected.
Jaz climbed off his lap and dropped to her knees before the tree. “Okay, I admit it. I’m excited. Which one, which one? The littlest or the biggest?”
“Your decision.” He grinned, enjoying watching her. His cell phone rang, and he tugged it from his pocket to check the display. Niles was calling. A look at Jaz showed she watched him. He couldn’t ignore the call or she would become suspicious. “Hello?”
“Sir, I just watched the weather report. We’re in for a blizzard starting at two a.m. tonight, at least eighteen inches. You’ll get stuck. Maybe I should come get you.”
“It’s fine, Niles. I’ll stay.”
“But, sir…”
“I said I’m okay.”
“Then I insist when you’re ready, I come exactly to the location you are to pick you up.”
“We’ll talk about it on Wednesday. Good-bye.”
Torrian disconnected the call and found Jaz’s eyes on him. He saw her curiosity and her hesitance to ask who it was on the phone. She grabbed a present and dropped into the spot beside him. At first she fingered the poor wrapping job, and then she met his gaze with boldness.
“Who was that?”
Torrian didn’t think ahead or decide consciously he would lie. He just did and regretted it the second the words dropped from his lips. “My godfather.”
“His name is Niles? Cool name. I like it.”
He felt sick. “Hey.”
“Hmm?” She peered up at him, and his heart stirred.
“I’ll spend Christmas with you, at your parents’ place. I mean, if that’s what you want.”
“Only if it’s what you want, too,” she said.
