“It’s no problem, Avery.” I gently reached out and placed my hand on Avery’s shoulder. I was so much larger than her that my fingers draped over her delicate arm. “Consider this my contribution today since I wasn’t able to make that sale for you earlier.”
I could practically see her seething. Her skin flushed a gorgeous rosy pink—and not just on her cheeks. That red blush flared down her neck and past her collarbone where her skin eventually disappeared beneath the ugly bell sweater she wore and left me curious what the rest of her body would look like with that flush.
Mayor Dyker clapped his hands together and made a note on his clipboard. “Great! Now, each of you stand right there and let me judge your sweaters.”
He stepped back, circling us in a way that made me wonder if Tim Gunn was going to pop out at any moment.
“I thought events like this weren’t your thing?” she muttered through clenched jaw and gritted teeth.
“They’re not. But messing with you is.”
I didn’t stick around much after Mayor Dyker made us twirl in our ugly sweaters for him. I was happy to bow out once he left. I had, after all, been up since before the sun. Granted, I guess so was Avery, thanks to me.
And I couldn’t even change out of the godforsaken sweater because apparently contestants had to wear them all day—as Avery reminded me as I tried to shrug out of it.
Surely that meant only while we were out and about. I slid into my driver’s seat of my car and as soon as my door was shut, I tore that sweater off and tossed it into the passenger seat. Since I was going straight home for a couple hours before I was due back at Nick’s Pizza, no one would know whether I sat in my own home and did work in that thing.
I got back to my rented lake house and sighed a breath of relief as I crossed down the snow-covered pathway toward the frozen lake. It really was beautiful here.
The kind of beauty that poets wrote about. I inhaled the crisp winter air and tried to imagine how different it would look in the summer. The scent of pine and snow would give way to magnolias and campfires. The lake would come alive with boats and swimmers and fish.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so awful to live here. I loved Boston, but even I had to admit, city life was exhausting.
My phone rang from deep in my pocket and I pulled it free. I smiled as a picture of my sister, her husband and kids lit up my screen.
I hit the answer button on Facetime. “Hey, Mallery.”
“Whoa, I can see your breath,” she said, instead of a greeting.
“If you were outside, I could probably see your breath, too.”
“Down in Baltimore?” She shook her head. “It’s a balmy forty-five degrees here, brother!”
A little voice came from the side of the speaker and I saw as Mallery’s body dip. “Mommy, mommy! I wanna say hi!”
“Okay, okay,” she said and handed the phone over to my niece, Delaney. “Uncle Chris!”
“Hey munchkin. How you doing?”
She ignored my question and barreled right through to her own. “Is it true you’re going to be one of Santa’s undercover agents?”
That’s how we explained to Delaney why Grandpa dressed as Santa each year at the StoryBook store. I pressed my index finger to my lips. “Shhh, you can’t tell anyone. I need to report back to the big guy without blowing my cover.”
Her eyes went wide. “So you are working for Santa!” It was no longer a question.
“Can you keep that secret for me?”
She nodded, her auburn curls bouncing around her suddenly serious face. She handed the phone back to Mallery and I could see her in the background as she ran out of the kitchen.
“You just made her night,” Mallery said.
“She’s pretty easy to please.” I paused, then added. “Thanks for the head’s up about Helena coming this week.”
Mallery winced. “Yeah. I figured you would want to know sooner than later.”
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. I missed my sister. Ever since she moved to Baltimore two years ago, we only saw each other a couple times a year. “You’re coming to the board meeting, right?”
“Yes, but only because Dad is insisting on coming, too. Even a broken ankle can’t keep that man away from Christmas Fest.”
I groaned. “I guess that means I can’t outsource the role of Santa without him knowing.”
Mallery snorted. “Yeah, fat chance. He’d kill you. Speaking of, want me to take out Helena before the board meeting? I could ‘accidentally’ light her hair extensions on fire.” She threw air quotes around the word.
I laughed, only pretty sure she was just joking. My sister could have a mean streak when she wanted. “Yeah, that’s all we need for Christmas. A felony arrest for Christmas.” I hugged my coat tighter around my body. Even being outside for just a few minutes was frigid.
“I still can’t believe she’s with Tristan now. I mean, what the hell is he thinking? Doesn’t that violate some kind of bro code or something?”
Oh yeah. It violated all kinds of bro code… but Tristan wasn’t the one who cheated on me… she was. If I had to guess, she hadn’t been all that into Tristan when they were hooking up behind my back. And I definitely didn’t think she planned to leave me for him or get caught in the bathroom with him a few days before Christmas. “Well, if the naked photos she’s still texting me are any indication, I don’t think they’re exactly blissfully happy together.”
“She’s still sexting you?” my sister whispered, glancing over her shoulder for any kids that may be around. “Are you… responding?”
I opened my mouth to answer and Mallery quickly threw her hand into the air. “No, wait! I don’t want to know if my little brother is sexting with his monstrous ex.”
“Don’t worry, Mal… I’m over Helena.” So fucking over her.
After a few second’s pause, Mallery said, “So…”
“So,” I repeated her.
“How’s Avery?”
Her question caught me momentarily off guard. “You know Avery?”
My sister scoffed at me, and in that moment as her face twisted into a frown, there was no denying we were brother and sister. She looked just like me, but with better shaped lips and eyebrows. “Of course I know Avery. She’s been at every holiday party Dad has ever thrown. She was literally there the night you discovered Helena with Tristan.”
I rolled my eyes at that. “Okay, well, you can’t blame me for not remembering her that night. I was a tad preoccupied.”
“Fine… but I’ve visited her store at least once a year for the past five years. Wait… have you never met Avery?”
I sighed and shook my head. “Before today? I don’t think so.”
Mallery gave a low whistle. “Wow. What have you been doing the last few years?”
“Not you, too.”
“Relax,” Mallery said. “I’m just busting your balls. I know you work hard behind the scenes and at board meetings. But when Dad hands over the keys to us, we’re going to need to take on the social roles he was handling too.”
I groaned and walked closer toward the lake, brushing some snow off of a wooden swing and dropping myself into it. “Why can’t you handle the social stuff and I’ll take on the business stuff?”