Chapter Forty-Two

Jen

 

Fatigue from a long day hit me early, by normal standards. I retreated to the empty downstairs guestroom to rest my eyes. Our friends were playing party games.

But like a magnet, Dylan was drawn to me.

“Feeling okay?”

I stretched my hand out toward him and he sat on the bed with me. “Just tired.”

“It’s quiet in the front house if you need to sleep.”

“Not yet. Just need to rest my eyes for a bit.”

He kissed the hand he held. “Good, because I’m not ready to say goodnight.”

I shook my head. “It’s only one night apart.”

“I’m not as used to it as I used to be.”

“Aww.”

He eye-rolled and started to stand. “Well, if you don’t appreciate it.”

I tugged on his fingers. “Stop.”

He came down closer to my face, eyes warm. “I can’t wait to see you walk down that aisle.”

Smiling, I caressed his cheekbone. “I think you’ll like my dress.”

“Will I? Do I get any hints?”

“That doesn’t fit the concept of surprise.”

He dipped his head to kiss my neck. “What about what’ll be underneath it?”

“You definitely can’t know that.”

His lips tickled my ear. “Are you sure?”

Beth appeared in the doorway. “Hey, you two, save it for tomorrow night.”

A final graze of his teeth, then he turned toward her. “We were only talking, Mom.”

She leaned on the frame with her arms crossed. “Uh-huh. Scoot, mister.”

I laughed as he headed her way and stuck his tongue out as he left.

“Feeling okay?” she asked.

I nodded. “Food coma.”

She smiled. “If baby needs a nap, I can keep everyone away.”

“I miss caffeine.”

She laughed. “You’ll miss it even more while you’re breastfeeding.”

“How late is everyone staying—considering?”

“Well, I’m booting them out of the house at ten even if they don’t leave the property.”

My watch said six-ish. I swung my feet over the side of the bed, stood, and stretched. “Okay. Where are you putting me tonight, by the way? I left my luggage in the car.”

“Well, we’ll get you ready in the front master suite, so you can sleep there if you want.”

“Do you guys ever—”

A shake of her head. “Not usually. Jacob keeps the extra bits of his wardrobe in the closet, the stuff that’s not part of our daily life. The suite is huge, so we’ll have plenty of room for the hair and makeup people and getting you in your dress. Monique already delivered it there.”

“Thank God we didn’t choose tight skirts.” I turned the light off and we left the room.

“Tell me about it. I have a food baby right now. Stretch pants were made for holidays.”

She lifted the hem of her top and snapped the fabric below.

I looked at my own waistband. “Same pants!” We high-fived.

“Whenever you want to go maternity shopping in the New Year. I didn’t pick up a lot until the last trimester, but belly support bands are a great relief for your back.”

“I’ll take you up on that.” She was taller than me, but smaller, so I wouldn’t be able to borrow much.

We rejoined the chatter and the music. Jolly old Saint Nicholas played at the moment. Jake had the two little girls on his lap. He murmured something between them.

“PRESENTS!” they yelled.

Beth’s hands went on her hips. “Really?”

“What?” he replied. “They ate. This is what’s next.”

“Fine…”

“YAY!”

Gift-giving was primarily about the kids when there were a bunch of millionaires in the room. I’d brought a handmade wooden toy set for each of them, but since it was my first Christmas in the group, I also had cards for everyone, taking time to find messages for all.

“You can choose one present tonight, girls,” Darcy said. “The rest are for tomorrow morning.”

Beth picked up Alyson. “Let’s choose one.”

After shredded paper and squeals of joy, the toddlers were put to bed.

When the moms returned, Darcy asked, “Who’s ready for pie?”

“Mince pie?” Jake asked hopefully.

“I brought one from home,” Vivian replied.

He bounded out of his seat, kissed her cheek, and hurried into the kitchen.

Beth laughed. “Thanks for that.”

Vivian shrugged. “He’s only half American, after all.”

“Well, the rest of us have pumpkin and apple,” Darcy said.

“With or without ice cream and whipped cream,” Beth added.

Most of us moved toward the kitchen.

As the lyric says, kids from one to ninety-two. Christmas was the one event that could bring out the inner child in anyone. Beth’s dad was a quiet, stoic man, but somehow he was first in line for pumpkin pie with a dollop of whipped cream. From Thanksgiving, I knew my husband-to-be would request a sliver of both a la mode.

Lincoln wasn’t here, then. The drummer was still a curiosity. He was starting to relax in the group, but I still didn’t know much. Hannah and I could sympathize with being the new person, of course, but he hadn’t socialized enough outside the boys to erode the mystery.

Shy, or wary?

When my time came for pie, I chose both, but with no adornments. Really good pie didn’t need the extras, and Maria, Darcy, and Beth had fed us amazingly today.

Beth’s father was the first to take his leave, then Vivian retired for the night, blaming the time adjustment from London to L.A. She went upstairs to the guest room there.

Andrew and Darcy came from Virginia, so they were staying in the basement suite.

With bellies topped off again, someone made the suggestion to go out to the tree. Jake opened a cedar chest under the front window for blankets. There was a narrow path of pea gravel that cut through the native grass, leading to a solitary oak tree with white fairy lights strung on the branches. Adirondack chairs were stationed around the fire pit and chunks of a hewn log served as end tables. Lanterns hung from the lowest branches of the tree.

Up on a hill, in a neighborhood with the houses spread out, the night sky twinkled.

More chairs were here than in summer, though the couples usually sat together on them. Jake and Bob got the fire going and one of the singer’s old acoustic guitars had been brought along. Group nights often ended this way as long as it wasn’t raining or horribly windy.

Tonight, the air was chilly, but the blankets and campfire took care of that.

“What about the girls?” Darcy asked.

Beth held up her smart phone. “Baby monitor app.”

“That’s genius.”

Dylan sat, pulled me onto his lap, and wrapped us in a blanket.

“Taking every minute before we kick you out tonight?” I murmured just for him.

He pinched my ass. “Yep.”

I snuggled into him. “It’s nice to get some peace before the crazy tomorrow.”

Orion was clearly visible above, the clear winter night giving us all the stars not obscured by light pollution in the valley below. I saw more in Big Bear, but this was beautiful, too.

“Brother dear, would you impart some wisdom as the longest married?” Beth asked. “We have newlyweds, about-to-weds, and newly engaged here.”

Andrew laughed awkwardly. “Way to put me on the spot. Um…” Darcy turned to him to see what he’d say. “The ‘never go to bed angry’ advice is nice, but not always practical. You’re more likely to say something you’ll regret when you’re pissed off and tired versus just pissed.”

“Not bad,” Darcy replied. “Though trying to sleep when you haven’t settled a fight can be impossible.”

“True. The point is that it’s okay to cool off and let better angels prevail if you’re not solving anything in that moment.”

“And then you might end up talking it through at three in the morning when you have to get up for work at six.”

He smiled and caressed her face. “But solving arguments is how you get stronger. Closer. The seven-year-itch never happened for us because we don’t stop trying.”

She kissed him. “So romantic.”

“Advice never sounds romantic.”

We laughed.

“Linc, ever been in love?” Jake asked.

The one single guy sat on a stump. “Really, man?”

“We’ve all spilled our guts before,” Bob said. “Don’t be a chicken.”

Lincoln rolled his eyes. “The one girl in the entire universe? Obviously not.”

“My first boyfriend was at five,” Celeste blurted out. “We held hands all through kindergarten and I called him Honey Bunch. It was devastating when his parents moved him away two years later.”

“That explains a lot,” Beth teased. Celeste tossed a clump of dead grass at her.

But it got the new guy off the hook. Let him find out if Michaela was that one.