Accidentally Under Your Tree (Grand Ridge Christmas #1)

8. Will

eight

Will

Six nights before Christmas

I had excused myself to the bathroom fifteen minutes ago. The water I'd splashed dripped from my chin. In the mirror, a face displaying a disturbing combination of horror and disbelief stared back at me. My eyes were too wide, and I couldn't convince my mouth to close.

My blood pressure ratcheted up to the extreme. So much so that just the back door closing startled me.

"This is unbelievable," I kept hissing at my reflection, as if repeating it would make it less true.

I jumped again at a tap on the bathroom door.

"Bill, you good?" Rose asked, her voice muffled by the wooden barrier between us.

I sucked a deep breath in through my nose, scrunching my eyes shut. There was no avoiding this. I had to tell her.

" Fuck ," I mouthed.

Opening the door, I pulled her in the room with me.

"You need to come out of the bathroom. It's been a weird amount of time," she said, pressing her back to the floral-patterned wallpaper across from the sink.

I scratched at my eyebrow, then ran my hand down my face. Was there a combination of words that could make this less terrible?

I groaned. "You're gonna kill me."

"Why?"

"It's not safe to tell you, because you're gonna kill me."

Rose snorted and rolled her eyes. A behavior so much like Lizzy, I couldn't believe I didn't notice it last night. But the message in the gesture differed between the two of them. Rose's eye roll said, You're being annoying , while Lizzy's said, I haven't decided if you're worth my time.

Which was my catnip and downfall.

Rose was going to kill me.

"Stop being dramatic and just tell me,” she said.

The lip of the counter pressed into my hip. I scraped my palm across my lips, shaking my head.

She considered me out of the corner of her eye. "Okay, you're actually scaring me at this point."

"I'm sorry," I mumbled into my hand. Sighing, I repeated, "I'm really sorry."

I needed to just say it. "I met Lizzy last night."

"Lizzy?"

"Anne."

"My sister?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Where?"

"At the hotel bar."

Rose opened and closed her mouth a few times.

When she finally spoke, there was a threatening edge to her voice. "What do you mean, you met her?"

My shoulders hunched, my eyes cast down to the tile floors. "It's as bad as it could be."

In the heavy silence, I forced myself to look at her face. Her cheeks were pink and there was an angry line between her eyebrows.

After a few breaths, she shook her head. "Anne?"

I nodded. "Lizzy."

"I didn't know she had it in her."

"Oh, she had it in her."

Rose lifted the flat of her hand and swung. It smacked against my upper arm. The slap was louder than the sting of contact, but I flinched away.

"Don't be a shithead!" she hiss-whispered, as I whispered back, "Not like that, I didn't mean it like that!"

"How the hell did you mean it?!"

" I wasn't the ' it —'"

"—Ew," she interrupted.

"—I meant that…you know…we were both… interested ."

"Ew."

"Sorry."

"I'm going to kill you."

"I know."

After Rose and I shoveled piping hot Shepherd's Pie into our faces, she declared, "We're heading out."

Kelly and Jim shared confused expressions.

"I thought you wanted to stay in," Kelly said. "Relax."

Rose shot me the briefest glare, then forced a smile. "I thought so too. But uh… I really want to show Bill around."

"Okay." Kelly shrugged.

Hustling out the garage door connected to the kitchen felt disrespectful, not just to Kelly and Jim, but to the Shepherd's pie. It was a shame that my taste buds weren't working. Maybe tomorrow I could have leftovers and actually enjoy them. If Rose and Lizzy didn't ship me off in the dark of night like some fugitive.

But necessity justified the quick departure. Rose and I needed to find Lizzy. If I were her, I'd feel used…and gross.

I felt like a shit.

"Text her," Rose directed, sliding into the driver's seat of our rental.

"And say what?" I lifted my hips to pull my phone out of my back pocket.

"I don't know…"

While Rose executed a three-point turn as if we'd stolen the car, I glared at my phone and settled on, Please let me explain .

When there wasn't a response, I sent additional texts attempting to explain. It wasn't surprising that they all went unanswered.

"Has she responded to you?" I asked.

Rose turned from her parent's street onto the main road into town. The glow of streetlights a mile away was bright against the dark winter sky. "I haven't texted."

She was sensitive about her sister, so much so that I didn't know the full story of what happened between them. The few times that I'd asked a probing question, Rose had tossed a flippant remark and blown me off. It wasn't the only subject she didn't want to talk about. It was clear that it hurt her more than she was letting on.

I hesitated before asking, "Do you have her number?"

Biting her thumbnail, she scowled at the road. "Of course. You know, in case of an emergency with Mom or Dad.”

The click of the blinker banged through the car like a gavel. She took a right to head away from town.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"She'll be a Shay's."

A few minutes later we parked in the driveway of a simple farmhouse that even in the dark, I could see improvements—newer siding, fresh front porch, updated windows. Details that I noticed subconsciously because of the work Rose and I did.

Lights floated out of the first-floor windows, but I didn't see any movement. We both sat still. Rose's tension mixed with mine.

I shoved my hand through my hair. "You okay?"

She sucked in a breath and held it before blowing it out in a whoosh. "I…I just need to talk to her."

The hinges creaked as Rose pushed the car door open. She was halfway up the walk before I'd even gotten out of my seat. Now that her decision was made, there was no slowing her down. She'd have this talk done and under control. She wouldn't stop pushing and pulling until the situation succumbed to her will.

It was her way.

Her tenacity was truly a beautiful thing, but it could make for certain challenges. Seeing the parts of her personality that fit into place with Lizzy completed a picture I'd only seen half of.

Rose banged four times on the big wooden front door as I bounded up the porch steps. The drone of a grinder went quiet and then heavy steps neared.

Her face went slack and stricken. "Oh, shit."

"What?" I demanded, wondering how anything could get worse.

The door swung open and a tall man in a baseball cap, safety glasses, and a dirty T-shirt stood on the other side.

His eyes widened, and he fell back on his heels as if pushed. "Rosie," he breathed.

Rose's face had gone suspiciously blank, and her voice came out flat. "What are you doing here?"

The smell of sawdust and power tools wafted out with the heat. I peered around him, but instead of seeing signs of Lizzy, there were only a tarp and clip lights hanging around the fireplace.

He lounged against the doorframe. "Workin'. What are you doing here?"

"Looking for Shay and Anne. Are they here?"

"Been a while since you came looking for them." He lifted the neck of his shirt to wipe sweat from his brow. I didn't miss the way Rose's eyes dropped to the skin that showed under the lifted hem. I didn't think he missed it either.

"Sure." A blush warmed her cheeks. "Are they here?"

He shook his head. Extending his hand to me, he said, "Hey man, I'm Lawrence. You must be…Bill?"

I took his hand. "Yeah…"

"Jim told me you were here for the holidays."

"Lawrence works for my dad," she explained. "So, they're not here."

"No."

"'Kay." She turned on her heels and started back toward the car.

He and I shared an awkward wave goodbye. I jogged with my hands in the pockets of my leather coat to the car. Rose had both hands on the steering wheel, her seat belt already buckled, by the time I closed my door.

"So that's the ex-boyfriend?" I asked.

"Yup." She nodded at the now vacant front porch.

We were in a terrible fake relationship .