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Taylor patted her hand. “I’m sure they’ll be fine.”
“You baked?” Will whispered in her ear.
“We all had to bring something and I picked dessert. I Googled how to make cookies.”
His nose wrinkled. “That explains the smell this morning.”
She frowned at him but before she could retort, Christy was bouncing in front of her. “You need to put this on.” The blonde held up a pale pink sweater that readJingle Bellsand had littlegold bells stitched onto the shoulders. Rebelle took it from her, her fingers sinking into the soft material.
“When you told us that you’d gotten Will a Christmas sweater, which is perfection I might add, we all decided to wear them, and we picked this out for you.”
Rebelle looked around and spotted everyone wearing Christmas sweaters. Taylor’s cream sweater bragged about beingOn The Naughty List. Christy’s black sweater saidGold, Frankincense and Merlotwhile Justine’s green sweater had a red bow stitched around her bump and readBest Present Ever.The guys had also stepped up with Dean’s navy sweater saying he wouldSleigh-All-Dayand he clicked his fingers sassily. Beau’s red sweater boasted that he wasSexy and I Snow Itand Blake’s plain black sweater just saidThis Is My Christmas Sweaterin basic font, which made Rebelle laugh.
She met Christy’s eyes and held the sweater tight to her chest. “Thank you,” she whispered, her eyes misty for the second time that day. Why were the holidays so emotional?
She ducked into Taylors office to change and the whole time she held back happy tears listening to all the playful bickering going on in the main bar. She was here with her friends, who had now become her family. Six months ago, she would never have envisaged this moment. Hell, three months ago, when she bumped into Will for the first time, right here at the bar, she never would have thought she’d be here.
When she left the office everyone was sat around the table, the guys talking about basketball and motorbikes. Will caught her eye and winked, patting the seat next to him. She listened to them go on and loved that they just had regular conversation. No one was asking Will what it was like in Hollywood or what celebrities were secretly assholes. No one was hitting him up for money or asking for selfies and autographs. Will was relaxed, the tension from his shoulders gone and she was pleased.
“You luuuurve him,” Taylor teased next to her.
Rebelle’s head whipped around and her eyes narrowed. “Isodo not!” she hissed.
“Do too!”
“Leave her alone, you would have skinned us alive if we’d said that to you about Beau a few months ago,” Justine said.
“I know, but I needed a push to admit it, which is what I’m trying to do for Rebs.”
Rebelle held her breath when Will’s arm rested on the back of her chair and he began absently stroking the back of her neck, twirling the ends of her hair. When she realized he wasn’t paying attention to them she turned back to Taylor. “Nothing needs pushing and he’s leaving soon anyway.”
“He’d better not be, he belongs in this town,” Justine griped.
“Justine’s right. Also that would make Beau sad and that’s not okay with me.” Taylor leaned back in her seat, trying to see past Rebelle and get Will’s attention.
“Don’t!” Rebelle whisper-yelled. “Please don’t say anything.”
Taylor must have seen the desperation on her face as she sat back in her seat. She pouted though. “Fine. But for what it’s worth, I think he feels the same way about you.”
The subject was dropped and Dean distracted Rebelle by asking about the shelter while they all chowed down. Eventually it was time for dessert and anxiety gurgled in her stomach, threatening to expel all the amazing food she’d just eaten. She served the cookies to everyone along with a scoop of ice cream and watched as they all dug in.
There was silence as everyone tried the cookies.
“Erm, Rebelle?”
“Yeah, Beau?”
“What did you make these from?”
Her brow furrowed. “Just a recipe from the internet. Why?”
Beau held a cookie up in the air then brought it down on the edge of the table with a hardwhackthat echoed around the bar. He raised his hand and the cookie was still completely intact. Rebelle’s hands flew to her face in mortification. There was a hard silence before everyone burst out laughing.
“Oh my God!” she wailed, horrified.
Will pulled her into a hug. “Let’s cross cookie making off your list of talents,” he joked. Everyone laughed again and as she looked around their faces, she found the corners of her mouth lifting up and she burst out laughing too.
“I’m so sorry!” she wheezed between breaths.
