“No,” Chris breathed. He wouldn’t lie to her, not even to spare her feelings.
“Well, this birthday is turning out to be a suck fest,” she grumbled. He had forgotten that it was their birthdays today. Chris was so caught up in Luke leaving them that he didn’t even wish her a happy birthday.
“I’m sorry, Baby,” he said. “Happy birthday.” She smiled and crossed the room to wrap her arms around his bare waist.
“Happy birthday,” she whispered back. “You feel any older?” she teased.
“Well, I mean—we are thirty now. That’s pretty old.” Chris kissed her and pulled her against his body loving the way she snuggled into his arms.
“What are we going to do now?” she whispered against his neck. He knew she was looking to him for answers but he also had no clue how to handle Luke’s taking off like he had.
“How about we go to your parents and have a nice Christmas and then later when things die down and everyone goes into their coma from your mother’s ham dinner, we can drive around town looking for Luke’s shop,” he offered.
“And, what happens when he pushes us away again?” she asked. He had no answer to that question because he didn’t want to consider that as an outcome.
Chris shrugged, “Not sure,” he admitted. “We can only take this thing one day at a time and right now, Luke is running scared. Something spooked him and he needs time to think things through. It’s just who he is—you know that, Honey.”
Winter nodded, “Still hurts like hell,” she admitted. He had to agree, it did. “Let’s finish getting ready—the kids have probably all gotten up and are driving my mother crazy by this point.” Chris released her and watched as she made her way back to the bathroom. He pulled his cell from the nightstand deciding to give Luke one last try.
The phone rang and he knew that he was going to get Luke’s voicemail again which was just fine with him. He’d leave the same message either way. “This is Luke’s voicemail,” his deep voice said. “You know what to do.” The beep sounded and Chris took a deep breath and let it out.
“I love you, Luke,” Chris said. “Always have and always will.” He ended the call and turned to find Winter standing in the doorway to their bedroom smiling at him like a loon.
“So much for taking things one step at a time,” she teased.
They spent the day at the Snow’s house and he had to admit it was a fantastic Christmas. The only thing that would have made it even better was Luke being there with them. He had wiggled his way into their relationship and left a void when he snuck out of their bed early that morning.
While everyone was busy putting toys together and playing games, he excused himself to google garages in the Bay area and he found three that sounded like they could belong to Luke. Now, all he had to do was convince Winter to take a quick drive across town to track Luke down and beg for another chance but his girl was still pretty pissed off that he left them like he did and Chris worried that she wouldn’t want to chase after him. He was hoping that they wouldn’t have to but it was nearing dinner time and Luke still hadn’t responded to any of their calls or texts—not even Chris’s last one that he left just before they headed over to Winter’s parent’s home for the day. The cold shoulder that they were getting from Luke hurt and honestly, he wasn’t sure that chasing after their guy was the answer, but how would he and Winter find a way forward now that they had spent one of the best nights of their lives together. The three of them worked whether Luke wanted to admit it or not—they were good for each other and last night was their proof.
The family settled into the spacious dining room that had yet another tree in the corner of the room. He was beginning to wonder how many trees Mrs. Snow decorated each year. “Seven,” Winter whispered into his ear.
He looked at her like she had lost her mind, “Sorry, what?” he asked.
“You were looking at my mother’s tree and I’m betting you were trying to figure out how many trees she puts up in the house—right?”
Chris chuckled, “You reading minds now too, Honey?” he asked.
“No,” she whispered. “Everyone who comes here asks that question and well, I just saw the way you were looking at the tree. My mother has one in every room of the house except for my father’s office upstairs. He puts his foot down every year despite her begging and pleading.” Her father shot her a disgruntled look and she giggled.
“A man has to stand his ground and I can’t have a Christmas tree in my damn office. I’d have no room to get any work done,” he insisted.
“That’s nonsense,” her mother disagreed. “You’d have plenty of room up there still. You’re just a grinch.” Her father made a dismissive humming noise in the back of his throat—one that always let them know that he was done discussing something and her mother laughed.
“We can table this discussion for now—at least until next year,” she promised and kissed his cheek. “Everyone dig in, please,” her mother ordered. The noise level ramped up as everyone was shouting for someone to pass something or other to them and Chris was overwhelmed by it all. He usually had dinner with just his parents and it was relatively quiet compared to the chaos that filled the room around him.
“So, you two excited about your party tomorrow?” Cassey asked. He knew that they were both a little less excited about it with everything that had happened with Luke. Chris was pretty sure that he wasn’t going to show up at the party now. He could tell that Winter was feeling the same way even though she hid it well from her family. She smiled and nodded, squeezing his hand under the table into her own.
“It should be a lot of fun,” Winter said. She looked at Chris and he could see the sadness in her blue eyes even if everyone around them seemed too busy to notice. The doorbell rang and Mrs. Snow jumped up from her seat.
“Oh,” she said. “I hope it’s the carolers again this year. They were just wonderful last year.” Her mother rushed around the table to the front entry and pulled the door open. A few of the kids had trailed after her, probably hoping to hear the Christmas carols, and they all booed when there weren’t any. They came back to the dining room to take their seats, at their mother’s orders, and Mrs. Snow followed them back in with Luke trailing behind her.
“No Christmas carolers but look who stopped by to wish you both a happy birthday,” she said. “Here, Luke.” She pulled a chair up next to Winter and grabbed an extra plate from the corner hutch. “We always have room for one more. You’re just in time to have dinner with us and then we’re going to have birthday cake for these two,” she said nodding to where Chris and Winter sat staring at him. Chris felt glued to his spot but Winter got up and went to Luke, wrapping her arms around him. She was crying and buried her face in his neck.
“I was so worried,” she sobbed. Of course, now the entire family chose to sit as quiet as church mice so they’d be able to hear every word.
“I’m so sorry that I just left like that,” Luke said. “You both deserved so much more from me but I got scared.” Chris stood from the table, realizing that they had an audience and that the kids were watching them with just as much interest as the adults. Winter hadn’t told her parents or family about Luke and them and why would she when there wasn’t anything to tell. Still, this wasn’t the way to let them all in on the fact that the three of them where trying to start something that they might not approve of. He honestly didn’t care who approved of his and Winter’s choices but they could handle things between the three of them first before throwing it in her family’s face.