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I came close enough to smell his body wash, and knew immediately this was a mistake.
He rose slowly, but I didn’t hear anything.
“Okay,” he said, sitting again. “You might have to, like, put your head down by my hip.”
Definitely a bad idea. But I did it. And I smelledhimunderneath the body wash—his skin, his clothes, his hair, all as familiar to me as my own unfortunate name. I tried to let the situation be as ridiculous as it was, tried to laugh as I leaned close. But he stood again, and I heard his hip pop, and it was such a beautiful sound—Cass, with his sprinkle of silver hair and his creaky hip but the same smell and smile and ability to make me warm all over—that suddenly my arms went around him. And we were kissing.
I wish I could say time slowed down and I was able to savor every moment of this terrible, terrible idea. But everything happened so fast. I had my hands on either side of his face; he had his on my waist but they kept sliding downward, like he wanted to grab my ass. He tasted like coffee and spearmint and the best years of my life. Our bodies remembered at least something of being teenagers, and we each automatically tilted our heads to avoid mashing our noses together. I rubbed my hands up and down his back until static crackled between my palms and his sweater. He let out a small, soft sigh into my mouth, and then he gave me a little shove, perhaps intending to push me up against the wall. Instead, we ended up in the Christmas tree. Several candy canes and plastic icicles fell to the floor, along with a shower of pine needles, and Cass’s staticky sweater stuck to some tinsel and tugged it loose. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” started up.
I tried to drag Cass out of the tree, but ended up falling against him, sending the whole tree into the wall. Cass reached behind him and pulled it upright, but didn’t stop kissing me.
Suddenly I heard, above the singing lights, two sets of running footsteps. I had the sense to pull away from Cass just as Ada and Em appeared in the doorway. Behind them, Felicity Mackenzie hovered in the foyer.
“Daddy!” Ada cried.
I tugged Cass by the front of his sweater so that we were both standing more or less straight. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas tree” ceased.
“You broke the tree.” Em sounded deeply disappointed in me.
“Who is that guy?” Ada asked, at the same time Em said, “We had a fight with Brianna.”
“Hello?” Felicity called tentatively. “I’m so sorry to interrupt…”
Trying not to think about what Felicity—or my daughters—might have seen, or how red my face must have been, or how my lips were still tingling, I headed toward the doorway. “Hey, girls.” My voice came out hoarse. “What’s this about a fight with Brianna?” I put a hand on each of their backs and guided them into the foyer, where Felicity waited in her yoga leggings and bright purple athletic top.
“I’m so sorry,” Felicity repeated in a loud whisper. “The girls and Brianna had a little falling out. I tried to get them all to talk things through, but they really wanted to come home. We called you a few times, but…”
But I hadn’t checked my phone since Cass had arrived, I realized with a horrible surge of guilt.
“You didn’t answer,” Em confirmed. “We got the key from the secret rock on the porch.”
“Oh God,” I told Felicity. “I’m so sorry, I was...um…”
“Daddy, who’s that guy?” Ada asked again.
“A friend,” I whispered.
Felicity said, “Oh, it’s fine. When we got here, the girls said they could let themselves in with the spare key, and they just kind of…took off. So I followed to make sure they got in okay and that you were here. I knocked, but I think maybe with the Christmas music, you couldn’t hear.”
“Right, yes. So sorry,” I said again. “And sorry about the fight.” I was flustered, horribly aware of Cass still standing by the tree in the living room. “Did it seem like something they can work out?”
“I doubt it,” Ada muttered beside me.
“Brianna didn’t let Ada play with Peachblossom,” Em put in.
A strange expression came over Felicity’s face. “I think there was a little more to it than that.”
“Well, I’d definitely like to hear the whole story,” I said. “And…and talk about it. We should talk about it.” I glanced at Felicity. “I’ll talk to them about it. And you and I can talk about it. If you want.”
“All right.” She glanced over my shoulder at the living room. “You’re busy now, I guess.”
“A little. I just had someone come over to fix the tree.” Liar Bob would have really dug this situation.
“Okay. Well, if the girls don’t work it out for themselves in the next few days, we can talk.”
“Sounds good. Thanks for having them over, even if…”
“Right. See you around.”
