12 
12 Sasha
“I COULDN’T THINK OF A better way to end the day,” Brit said. She looked supercute in lounge-y clothes—a hot-pink velour tracksuit with a long-sleeve white tee that said WHERE’S THE MISTLETOE? in rhinestones.
“Totally agree,” I said. “If you grab that tray, I’ve got this one.”
“Got it.” Brit picked up the green-and-red tray full of snacks. We had Chex Mix and bowls of caramel, cheese, and butter popcorn.
Brit and I had finished filling bowls with munchies for everyone. Paige, Eric, and Alison had already carried steaming mugs of hot chocolate into the other room.
We’d all agreed to do our own thing once we had gotten back to my house around lunchtime. Each of us had taken quick showers and changed out of our stable clothes. Mom had grilled cheese sandwiches for us and we’d chowed down. Eventually, we’d all wound up chatting in the den. I’d been flopped on the couch reading celeb gossip on my BlackBerry. Then Heather and Alison had joined me. We’d gotten into a long talk about how amazing all of the horses were and how much we wished we could take all of them home with us. Mid-convo, the rest of my friends had wandered into the den.
“What’re you guys up to, hon?” I looked up, almost bumping into my dad.
I motioned to the tray in my hand. “We’re having snacks and hot chocolate in the den.” I smiled and sidestepped him, with Brit behind me.
I entered the den, passed the tray to Jacob, and surveyed the space.
Everyone was sprawled on the floor. The Christmas tree lights were on—the only light needed in the room—and the colored bulbs cast a soft light over everything. A fire crackled in the fireplace, and there were enough throw blankets for everyone.
I sat next to Jacob, our backs resting against the couch. Across from us, Heather and Alison shared a fleece throw.
“This popcorn is delish,” Paige said. “Thanks, Sash.”
Dad walked in, stopping in the middle of our ragged circle. “Is there enough light on in here?” he asked. “I can’t see a thing. Can you all see?”
I looked at everyone. They all nodded at Dad. “We’re good, Dad,” I said. “I can turn on a light if we need it.”
“Okay,” Dad said. He put his hands in the pockets of his gray sweatpants and left the den.
“Sorry, Paige,” I said. “The popcorn totally came from the store. You know what happens if I even try to make regular microwave popcorn.”
Paige giggled and everyone else joined in.
“Sasha set the microwave on fire,” Paige said through her giggles. “She didn’t press the popcorn button and just guessed on the timer.”
Footsteps shuffled down the two steps into our sunken den, and, still laughing, I looked up to see Dad.
Again.
“Sorry,” Dad said. He held his reading glasses in one hand. “I forgot my book.”
We all munched on food while Dad walked to one of the recliners near the fireplace. He shuffled through a few books, took one, and finally left.
I shook my head. “Sorry again,” I said, whispering. I didn’t want to hurt Dad’s feelings if he was close enough to hear. “He’s being weird. I have no clue why.”
“Back to the story,” Callie said. She stretched out on her stomach and rested her chin on her hands. “I need to hear the end of this popcorn saga!”
“Yes!” Alison said. “How long did you set the timer for?”
I sniffed, raising my chin in the air. “I don’t know. As long as popcorn should take. Like fifteen minutes.”
That caused another round of laughter.
“I bet that nearly made Livvie combust,” Eric said.
I nodded, thinking of my dorm hall monitor when I’d lived in Winchester. “Yeeeaaaah. She might have banned me from the microwave.”
Jacob put his arm around me and kissed my cheek. “Thankfully, I’m not dating you for your cooking skills.”
“You’d starve,” I said. “And—”
Dad walked past us and peered hard at the fireplace mantel.
“Dad?” I asked. “What are you doing? If you forgot something else, do I need to start worrying about your memory loss?”
My dad ran a hand over his light-brown hair, shaking his head. “You have a few more years before it’s time to worry about that. I’m just . . .”
Dad trailed off as he kept looking at the mantel. Slowly, I felt Jacob’s arm shift until it was back at his side. I frowned, looking at him. He shifted his green eyes between us and then at my dad. What? I mouthed. Jacob did the same gesture.
“Oh!” I said aloud.
Everyone turned their head to me, including my dad.
“Sorry,” I said. “Totally did not mean to say that out loud. I was just thinking about tomorrow.”
Dad picked up the set of glass reindeer on the mantel, examined them, and put them down.
“Dad?” I asked. “Can I help you find something?”
“No, no,” Dad said. “You kids go right ahead and keep having fun. Pretend I’m not even here.”
Um, impossible.
“Hey, Eric,” Jacob said. “Want to see this new phone app I got today?”
Eric paused for a half second, flicking his eyes to my dad and then Jacob. “Yeah, definitely.”
Jacob got up from beside me, walked over to where Eric sat against a recliner, and pulled up who knows what on his phone. Now the guys were semi-separated from the girls.
“Ah,” Dad said. “I think I’m looking for a decoration that your mom turned into an ornament. Let me check this tree, then I’ll be out of here.”
I wanted to throw popcorn at Dad! He was seriously going to go through every ornament on our tree until he found the one he was “looking” for?
I leaned over to Heather. “I’m going to talk to my mom,” I said in a whisper. “Be right back.”
“Going to invite her to join the search party?” Heather whispered back. She smirked as I stood up. I grabbed a throw pillow from the couch and lightly bonked the top of her head.
“Silver! Dead!” Heather whisper-shouted at me.
I grinned, my back to her as I hurried out of the den. I turned down the hallway and almost jogged to my parents’ room.
“Mom,” I said the second I reached the doorway.
“Are you okay, honey?” Mom asked. She waved a hand at me, motioning for me to come inside. She was lying in bed under a knitted red blanket with her feet peeking out. Her golden-brown hair, the same color as mine, was loose around her shoulders. She was in yoga pants, a Canterwood sweatshirt washed so many times the colors had faded, and her fave holiday socks—woolly white ones with red-and-green reindeer.
“Dad has to be stopped,” I said. I stood at the foot of the bed. “He kept coming into the den, and I thought he really just forgot something or was making sure we were all comfortable. But then I realized—it’s because of Eric and Jacob! Dad’s freaking out that I’m hanging in the ‘dark’ den with boys.”
Mom laughed quietly and shook her head. “Your father told me that he was making us tea. I’ve had this holiday movie on Hallmark paused for fifteen minutes waiting for him. Let me go drag him in here and tell him to leave you and your friends alone.”
“Thank you, Mom,” I said, letting out a sigh of relief. “Doesn’t Dad realize that I could be alone with boys any day I wanted when I’m at school? I haven’t done anything crazy yet!”
Mom cocked her head at me. “Yet?”
“Strike that,” I said. “Ever.”
“Much better. Good cover-up, Sash.” Winking at me, Mom tossed off the throw blanket and followed me to the den.
I sat back down and looked toward the tree. Dad was only a few inches down from the top—he really was going over every ornament!
“Hey, guys,” Mom said, smiling at my friends. She stepped around our spot and walked up to Dad. “Jim?”
“Hon, oh, right.” Dad’s face turned red. “The tea. It’s, uh, boiling. I was looking for your favorite ornament in here. I wanted to display it in the bedroom.”
“Uh-huh,” Mom said, taking his arm. Looking over her shoulder at us, she mouthed, Sorry, before focusing on Dad again. “Let’s look for that tomorrow when the kids are at the stable. I’ll help you with the tea, and we can start the movie before it gets too late.”
“You sure?” Dad asked Mom. “It’s barely nine.”
Mom nodded. “I’m already getting sleepy. I’m sure Sasha and her friends are too. They’ll probably be heading to bed soon.”
“Definitely,” Brit said immediately. “I’m so sleepy.”
“Me too,” Alison added.
Dad eyed us, and I let my eyelids droop a little so I looked tired. Finally Dad nodded, and Mom followed him up the den steps. Dad shuffled off into the kitchen and Mom turned back to us.
“Stay up as late as you like,” Mom said, her voice low. “Mr. Silver will be asleep in minutes, so you don’t have to worry about any more interruptions.”
We all smiled.
“Thank you, Mom,” I said. “I love you.”
“Love you, too. ’Night, guys.”
My friends chorused “Good night” to Mom, and she left to help Dad in the kitchen.
“Just in case your dad becomes an insomniac, I think it’s better if we stay over here,” Jacob said, nodding at himself and Eric.
“Aw, you’re scared of Sasha’s dad! So cute!” Heather said.
“Would you want a guy messing with your dad if you brought him home for the holidays?” Jacob fired back.
His jab silenced Heather. I shot Jacob a what are you doing? look. Jacob knew that Mr. Fox was a sore spot for Heather. I’d witnessed some ugly exchanges between Heather and her dad. Mr. Fox was all business and didn’t care what Heather had to do to be the number one rider at Canterwood. It was that cutthroat ruthlessness that had made us instant enemies. But Heather had changed. She wasn’t Mr. Fox’s puppet anymore.
“Let’s stop talking about our dads,” I said. “Anyone want to play a game?”