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“Nice to meet you, Rand. Accountant, right?”
His eyebrows shot up. “Right.” He looked to Mia.
“I told Camille all about you.”
“OK, then.” His eyes crinkled behind wire-rimmed glasses. “If you need anyone to do your taxes, let me know.”
I nodded.
Mia’s mom told me to sit. “I’ll get you a glass of wine.”
I took a seat next to Emily.
Mia brought out a tray of cookies.
Jacob disappeared into the kitchen.
The buzz of holiday cheerfulness felt too perfect. Everyone just seemed a little too happy, almost forced. I felt like an outsider looking in at the inner circle. No one had said or done anything to make me feel this way. Everyone just accepted that I was here. But Jacob and I still had things to talk about, and it just seemed like too much.
Emily commented, interrupting my rising anxiety, “Aren’t the decorations beautiful?”
“Mm-hmm, they are. I love a live tree,” I answered.
The elegant ten-foot-tall Fraser Fir stood to the left of the fireplace. It filled the space of the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out on the Teton mountains.
Emily reached for her wine glass. “We used to take the boys out to the forest every year and chop one down. They never picked a pretty one, it always had missing branches or a big hole on one side.” She laughed at the memory. “Now look at this, a beautiful, tastefully decorated tree.”
“That’s probably Mia’s doing. She loves Christmas. No matter where she was in the world, she always flew home for Christmas,” I said, sharing the importance of family in Mia’s life.
“She’s wonderful, isn’t she?”
It warmed me that Mia’s soon-to-be mother-in-law loved her. I agreed, “She is.”
Mia and her mom were laughing about some childhood prank Mia pulled on Jacob.
Hum-hum. Buzz-buzz. My head was swimming with the conversations swirling around me.
John’s mom excused herself, and headed into the kitchen to help with last-minute food prep.
The sun was setting behind the mountains now. The lights on the Christmas tree sparkled, brilliant reflections in the windows’ glass.
George threw a log on the fire.
I started to feel a pressure in my chest. My palms were clammy. My breathing became shallow. My shoulders tensed. John, Rand, and Jacob were talking football statistics. The dads joked loudly with each other as they mixed champagne cocktails for everyone.
Mia’s mom announced, “It’s time for presents.” She looked all around her, making eye contact with Jacob and Mia. “Is everyone ready?”
I couldn’t handle another moment of this seemingly fake normalcy. I grabbed Jacob’s elbow, and whispered, “Jacob, I need to talk to you.” I dragged him into the kitchen.
When we were out of earshot, he took my hands in his. “Are you okay?”
“No,” I said, glancing nervously back to the lively party in the next room. “Everyone is acting all normal and cheerful, and it feels strange. No one is questioning us, as a couple. No one is making fun of me, which is unusual.”
He took me in his arms. “Why would anyone question why we’re together?”
“Seriously?”
“Okay, you have a point. But, maybe they’re happy.”
