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“How is everyone in Winterberry?” I ask as I turn around to see him leaning against the counter with his arms folded over his chest. His hair is a little bit shorter than it was since the last time I saw him and I like the way it looks.
“Everyone’s good. Mom told me to tell you hi and Nora was jealous I was coming here to see you without her. She’s on Christmas break from school and getting ready for the ball.”
“I miss her little face. What does her dress look like for tomorrow night?” I want him to tell me so I can picture it in my head.
“Maybe you should come and see it for yourself.”
Wait. Hold on. Did he just say what I think he just said?
“You… you want me to come back?” His statement takes me completely by surprise and I almost can’t get the words out.
Brent pushes off the counter and crosses the room to where I’m standing. He reaches out and rubs my arms before pulling me against his chest and wrapping me in a hug. The warmth radiating from him is almost too much to bear, and against my better judgment, I let my tears fall.
Once the dam breaks, the flood doesn’t stop. My tears stain his shirt but he doesn’t seem to notice as he holds me. After a few minutes, I stand back and wipe my face with my shirt. How many times have I imagined him, right here, saying he wanted me to come back?
Back to Winterberry.
More times than I can count.
But, now that it’s really happening, I don’t even know what to think.
As soon as I pull away, he tucks a piece of hair behind my ear and tenderly plants a kiss on the top of my head.
“I’ve wanted you to come back since the moment you left,” he says. “Listen, I was mad when I found out you lied. I didn’t understand at first, but I get it now. No matter what, I didn’t want you to leave. No one did.”
I’m not sure what to think right now, and I can’t stand still. Everything I’ve been feeling since I’ve been back home pours out, and I start pacing like a caged animal.
“Brent, I don’t know what to say. I thought you hated me.” My mind’s going a mile a minute and I walk into the living room to center myself. The lights from the Christmas tree twinkle back at me and I can see my reflection in one of the ornaments.
“You got a tree, huh?”
“I did. I couldn’t be here, in my home, without Christmas this year. Not after being in the Christmas capital of Winterberry,” I say, trying to infuse lightheartedness.
“That’s true, it changes you.”
“In more ways than one,” I whisper.
Turning around, I catch Brent picking up the framed picture of Georgia and me.
“Who’s this?”
“That’s Georgia, my best friend I told you about. That picture was taken not long after we moved here to Manhattan and were trying to get our life together,” I tell him as he sets the frame back down and picks up another photo. This one is of me as a little girl, with my arms around my Gran and a smile that reaches my ears.
“Is this your Gran?”
“It is. She was the best woman I ever knew, that is until I met your mom. Suzanne is a force of nature who I’d one day love to be like.”
He turns around, locking eyes with me. “You’re more like her than you think.”
I can feel my pulse speed at the compliment. Glancing away so he doesn’t see my eyes glistening again with a fresh set of tears, my sight lands on the bag he placed on my couch.
“What’s in the bag?” I ask. I think I know the answer, but I want to hear him say it.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d need a new dress for the ball, so I picked one out for you,” he says sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “You don’t need to open it now.”
“Brent, that’s so sweet. But… I can’t accept that.” My voice shakes as the words leave my mouth.
“You’re not coming back with me, are you?” His shoulders slump and he shifts his weight to his other foot.
