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Liza leaned in. With her lips hovering near his, she whispered, “Absolutely.” Then, she kissed him again.
Commotion inside grabbed their attention.
“What's going on in there?” Miller asked.
“Not sure.” Liza led the way through the sliding glass door. Once inside, they saw a man and a young girl in the entryway.
“Liza, Miller, come meet Arlo.” Maggie waved them closer. “Arlo was Chase’s roommate. He’s a DJ and has been working in Europe for the last year or so. And this is his niece, Brooklyn.”
Liza and Miller reached out to shake his hand.
“Hi Brooklyn,” Liza said. “How old are you?”
“I’m ten,” the girl replied.
“Ah excuse me,” Arlo jumped in. “You’re still nine. Your birthday’s not for a month.”
“Ugh.” Brooklyn rolled her eyes and put a hand on her hip. “Uncle Arlo, you’re killin me. I’m basically ten. I’m practicing my new age.”
Arlo shook his head while Liza bit back a smile.
“Thanks for letting us come,” Arlo said as he took off his coat. “I wasn’t planning to return to the states for a while, but my sister’s having twins and has to be in the hospital on bedrest. So, Brooklyn gets to chill with her dope Uncle Arlo for a while.” He nudged Brooklyn who again rolled her eyes.
“Who’s that?” Brooklyn pointed to the back of the room. Ada was standing in the doorway that led to the bedrooms.
“Oh that’s Ada,” Maggie replied. “Ada, come meet Brooklyn. And you remember Arlo.”
Ada model-walked towards them. Liza felt a weird vibe emanating. Ada didn’t acknowledge Arlo, but bent down to shake Brooklyn’s hand. “Love your shoes.” Ada pointed to the sparkly platform kicks Brooklyn was wearing.
“Thanks! I love your nails. Can you show me how to do that?”
Ada chuckled. “These are couture.” She held up her neon pink and gold fingers. “But I did bring along a few bottles of nail polish. I can give you a cute manicure.”
“Cool!” Brooklyn replied, dropping her coat on the floor. “Can we do it now?”
Ada shrugged. “If your uncle says it’s okay.” Once again, she kept her eyes glued to Brooklyn.
“Go for it,” Arlo answered.
Ada reached out her hand and briefly shot Arlo a death stare as she turned to walk away.
“Whoa, what’s that about?” Chase asked Arlo.
“Ah… I sort of ghosted her after the Break’s homeless benefit where you proposed to Maggie.”
“What?” Maggie objected. “I thought you said you texted her, but she never replied back.”
Arlo held up a finger. “That part is true. We were planning to go out to dinner, but that’s the same night I found out I got the gig in London. I was on the phone for hours and totally forgot. When I texted to apologize for standing her up, she never responded.”
Chase mumbled, “And that’s how the grinch’s heart became three sizes too small.”
Maggie bit her lip. “Growing up with divorced parents, holidays were so stressful. This week was supposed to be fun and low key… just a holiday hangout with a group of friends.” She took a deep breath. "It’ll be fine. I’m sure if you explain what happened, Ada will understand.”
Liza grimaced. Being on Ada’s bad side was something she hoped to never experience. Thankfully, it was currently Arlo's problem. She had Miller beside her and happiness was flowing through her veins.
At that moment, Miller wrapped an arm around her waist.
Liza shimmied towards the kitchen, pulling him with her. “Wanna make some hot chocolate and go back outside? I can’t wait to see what the stars look like here.” Then she peered down at Randall. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you a treat too.”
