A Christmas Delight

19. Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

Maisie

T he front door creaks on its hinges as I open it, making me wince. I don’t want to wake up Mom in case she’s already asleep. It’s so late that I wonder if I shouldn’t have stayed at Joel’s house. I definitely wanted to.

A voice rises from the living room. Mom’s not in bed after all. I was hoping she would be. She sounds upset, having an animated conversation on the phone. I tip-toe to the living room’s doorway.

“No, I think I’m going to stay here a while longer, since you can’t even apologize to me.”

That’s the only thing I hear before Mom hangs up the phone, releasing a drawn-out sigh.

“Everything okay?” I ask.

She startles, whirling around. “He is so stubborn.”

I stand there awkwardly while she tells me what she and Frank have talked about. They’re both trying to convince the other to apologize, or rather, Frank is finally standing up for himself, and my mother cannot comprehend that he hasn’t begged her to come back yet. Instead, he told her she should come home because she was being ridiculous. While I agree, I wish he’d come to take her back.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “That sucks.”

She huffs, then her eyes lock on me. “Did you have fun? Was Finn nice?”

“No and no.”

“What?”

“It wasn’t fun. And he’s not a nice guy. I don’t like him.”

She tightens her lips together. “You’re only saying this because you don’t know him well enough.”

“No, he’s actually mean.”

“What makes you say that?”

“He kept giving me unsolicited advice about how to run my business and hinted at the fact that finishing my plate wasn’t okay, nor was taking dessert.”

She gasps. “You didn’t order dessert, did you?”

My jaw drops. “Mom, seriously?”

“Only eat a salad on the first date,” she says. “Otherwise, they’ll think you’re a pig.”

I think about how Joel and I shared my dessert without judgement.

“You should give him a second chance,” Mom adds. “Show him you’re better than that.”

I frown, hurt by the comment. “Better than what? Myself?”

She rolls her eyes at me. “That’s not what I said.”

“Yeah, cool. Um, I’m going to bed. It’s late and I have to work tomorrow, so…” I let the sentence hang in the air and head to my bedroom. I’m not going to let my mother ruin such a perfect night. Who knew it could end so well after it had started so badly?