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“I get it.”
Cal tipped his head in question.
“I have a little sister myself,” Cole said. “Josie. She used to be Amber’s college roommate.”
A slow smile spread across Cal’s face as he took in the information. “Okay,” he finally said with a broad grin. “So you know exactly what I’m saying. Good.”
“I do.” It was mostly a lie. Cole had never behaved in any kind of irrational way toward any guy Josie had brought home. He probably shouldn’t have been surprised that with four brothers, there’d be some protective behavior toward him, but he hadn’t expected it so soon into their visit. Still, Cole returned Cal’s smile until the other man turned around and looked out the windshield again.
Cole dropped his head and shook it briefly. When he looked up, his eyes met Mitch’s in the rearview mirror. For a moment, he was sure Mitch was going to take his turn grilling him. But when Mitch spoke, it had nothing to do with Amber.
“Have you ever cut down a Christmas tree before, Cole?”
“I’m soglad you’re here.” Chelsea tucked her arm through Amber’s and skipped with her down the street. “I can’t remember the last time we went Christmas shopping together.”
Amber laughed. “I don’t think we’ve ever gone Christmas shopping together. You hate shopping with me, remember?”
When Chelsea had shown up earlier that day and all but insisted that Amber go shopping with her, she’d thought it was strange, given their history shopping together, historically an event that resulted in one or both of them frustrated and close to tears. Amber’s style was to get in and out as quickly as possible while Chelsea preferred more of an all-day browsing approach that always threatened to do Amber’s head in.
Hesitant, but excited to spend time with her sister, she’d said yes.
“It’s not that Ihateshopping with you.”
Amber looked sideways at her little sister, who laughed.
“Okay, okay,” Chelsea admitted. “I kind of hate shopping with you. At least I used to. You don’t like to browse and where’s the fun in that?”
“Shopping isn’t supposed to befun. You’re supposed to go in, get what you need, and leave. It’s just a chore to be done. Make a list, cross it off and…” She trailed off as she realized that she sounded just like theoldAmber. The boring and predictable Amber. “Wait…” She risked a glance at Chelsea, who was trying not to laugh.
“Itissupposed to be fun, Amber.” She shook her head. “At least, it can be. Honestly. It’s not always about getting a job done, making a list and checking it twice. I mean, you’re not Santa or anything.” Amber rolled her eyes, but Chelsea didn’t seem to notice. “Sometimes it’s about browsing and searching for just the right item for that person you love. Or, even better, trying on a bunch of things until you discover something incredible.”
“Incredible?” Amber raised an eyebrow, unconvinced that there was anything incredible at all about shopping.
“Yes, incredible.” Chelsea stopped walking in the middle of the sidewalk and spun around so she faced Amber. “Haven’t you ever taken something off the rack, something you never would normally try and then when you put it on…” She spun on the snowy sidewalk as if she were wearing a ball gown and not a parka. “It’s magic?”
Amber blinked and shook her head before answering. “Honestly?”
“No.” Chelsea laughed. “Don’t answer that. I already know the answer.”
Amber couldn’t help but laugh. She’d missed Chelsea’s dramatic antics. Everything about her was the complete opposite of Amber’s orderly-must-have-a-plan personality.
“Oh, Chels. I missed you.” Spontaneously, Amber pulled her into a hug and squeezed. Hard.
“I missed you, too.” Chelsea kissed her on the cheek. “So much. And I’m so glad you decided to come for Christmas. Can you even believe this town?” She turned, one arm still around Amber, the other spread wide, taking in the main street. “It’s like a perfect little Christmas town,” Chelsea continued. “I’m absolutely loving everything about it. So much better than a big city for the holidays. It’s like being in a Hallmark movie.”
Amber laughed. It definitelywaslike that. “And being here, all together, it’s absolutely—”
“Perfect.”
Amber raised an eyebrow. “I still can’t totally wrap my head around the fact that we’re all…I don’t actually know how to explain it.”
“One big happy family?”
Amber laughed. “I guess that’s one way to describe it. Does Dad know? That we’re all friends after all this time? I bet he’s just loving it.” Despite the fact that their dad had made a horrible decision that had altered all of their lives, none of the McCormick children had fully disowned their father. They’d all gone through periods of being angry with him, but at the end of the day, he was their dad and they loved him.
“I’m not sure he knows you’re here,” Chelsea said. “But I spoke with them both the other day to let them know I wasn’t coming home for Christmas. Of course, I had to promise Mom that I’d bring Lucas to meet them before we went overseas. Maybe you and Cole can come with us? Before you guys go…where are you going?”
She shrugged as a reflex. After their abrupt decision in the airport a few weeks earlier, they hadn’t actually spent much time talking about the future or where they’d go after Cedar Springs. While they’d been at Josie’s, her lack of a plan actually hadn’t bothered Amber all that much. But ever since they got on the airplane, thewhat nextthought kept pushing its way into her thoughts. Whatwerethey going to do next? They couldn’t just keep sleeping in Cal and Milena’s spare room forever. Besides that, they would run out of money. She had no idea what Cole’s situation was; she had some savings, but she couldn’t support them both indefinitely.
