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I’m placing a red bow on the gift box when I hear the front door slam.
Scrambling, I stuff it underneath the Christmas tree just in time as James shuffles around the corner. I use my body to block the wrapping paper on the floor, not that it really matters. People wrap gifts before Christmas. It’s nothing shocking.
He stomps up to me with his arm thrust out, a small paper bag clutched in his grip. I accept it graciously, though the waves of tension radiating from him don’t feel very Christmas-cheery.
“Thanks.” I open the bag to peek inside, a grin forming on my lips. Cake pop. Yum.
“You eat yet?” He grumbles, not waiting for an answer before he’s stalking toward the kitchen.
My brow furrows as I follow him. “It’s kind of early…” He glances at me over his shoulder when he reaches the marble island, cocking a brow. “But yea, I did,” I continue. “Like five times already.”
There’s the subtlest quirk to his mouth, though it looks like he’s trying to keep it contained.
I have a never-ending appetite, and when I’m on any kind of break from school, it’s usually a guarantee that I’ll spend half the day stuffing my face. Thank God for my fierce metabolism, I guess.
James turns back to whatever it is he’s doing, sorting through envelopes, a quiet, broody air about him. It’s not unusual. My father, for all intents and purposes, isn’t a wordy man. He’s a strong silent type for sure, and emotions turn him into even more of a statue.
I won’t say I don’t understand it, because I’m an introvert myself. But no one sulks quite like James McAllister.
And because I’m me, my need to fill awkward silences becomes an itch I can’t not scratch. “So when are you leaving for Boston?”
He stiffens. I can see it most in his hunched shoulders as he mutters, “That’s not happening.”
My surprise whirls. “What do you mean… You’re not going?”
He takes in a long breath, then turns slowly, leaning up against the island. “Leslie and I broke up.”
The sudden wave of feels hits me head-on, damn-near knocking me down. “Oh…” My mouth is just hanging open, for many generous seconds, before I follow it up with what I’m hoping comes out as a normal response. “What happened?”
He stares at me for a moment, dark gray eyes locked on mine in a way that makes my fingers twitch. I desperately want to look away, but I can’t. I’m stuck.
“She just… wasn’t the one,” he huffs, his tone final as he spins and saunters away, calling over his shoulder, “I’m gonna grab a shower. We can order pizza later, if you’re still hungry.”
And then he leaves me, standing like a stumped moron in the kitchen with my mouth agape.
Blinking myself out of it, my body’s first human reaction is a secret smile, tugging at my lips uncontrollably. I bite down on the bottom one to keep it in check.
They broke up. My heart is pumping wildly in my chest.
Of course I would never wish unhappiness for my adoptive father. He’s the only family I have in this world, and I definitely don’t want him to become a grumpy old hermit who never finds love.
But at the same time, after enduring two years of that snobby, pretentious woman, I can’t find it in myself to be upset about this news.
James deserves better. Let’s be real here… Leslie is a bitch. She clearly doesn’t like me, and I’ve never been able to figure out why, since she barely knows me at all. You’d think if you were trying to get serious with someone, you’d at least make an effort to bond with his son. But she hardly ever came around.
Part of me held onto that, knowing that if she were making more of an effort to get to know me, it might’ve actually worked out between them. I’d been secretly hoping she wouldn’t try, which she didn’t. Good. Who needs her?
Not my James. I mean, my father…
Ugh.
Shaking it off, I waltz back into the living room, a renewed sense of excitement flooding my limbs. I try to push it away, because it’s foolish. I would’ve been fine spending Christmas alone. I had plans, after all.
Bake enough cookies and cupcakes to fill a small village, then eat my feelings while watching Elf on repeat until I passed out from a sugar coma.
I never said it wasn’t an entirely pathetic plan.
But now I get to spend my favorite holiday with the only person who matters to me. The person who makes everything good, who I can sit next to in complete silence for hours and hours and still feel nothing but contentment and comfort.
