Normally, I would have no qualms about extra house guests at my sister’s. Their home is plenty big, but I never imagined it would be JP. And now, I’m wishing I had gotten a hotel to avoid JP, yes, but mainly Audrey.
Guilt has bit at my gut knowing JP and I have a secret she doesn’t fully know. To Audrey, I’m the woman scorned who showed up on his doorstep and left covered in curry. The one who tried to win his heart but wasn’t chosen.
To JP, I’m a wild night. A falling head first. A dance under the stars. A bottle of wine and a favorite movie. A kiss on the sidewalk. A joke in the dark. A board game on a holiday. An entire memory lost in an instant.
At least, that’s what he is to me.
To him, I’m probably just the rebound—the girl before the wife.
“Oh, it is not!” Audrey bursts open a cupboard and brings down champagne flutes. “I’m letting loose tonight!”
“Oh, you are?” JP asks with a cocked eyebrow.
“I am! I haven’t had a migraine in weeks. It’s New Year’s Eve.” She shrugs a coy and bashful shoulder into her fiancé. “I’m with you.”
He grins. “Fine.”
Audrey turns to me. “I don’t normally drink... like at all!”
“Oh, not your thing?” I ask, knowing alcohol doesn’t have to be a required course of adulthood.
She shakes her head. “No, I get awful migraines. Like, debilitating, lay in bed with the lights off and a silent room for twenty-four hours.”
JP inadvertently rubs her shoulder. “Alcohol never helps.”
I grimace. “That sounds terrible.”
She shrugs. “I got into a car accident last year. It wasn’t that serious, but the migraines started soon after.”
“I’m so sorry,” I add with true empathy.
“But,” she emphasizes. “I’ve been feeling good so maybe this new year will be new health.”
“Here, here,” I say, pouring in the last ingredient for the Pad Thai sauce as Audrey pops the champagne.
“Woo!” we all say in unison, then laugh.
I smile, still whisking the sauce, and Audrey pulls a face. “What is that smell?”
“Fish sauce,” JP and I answer simultaneously. We smile at each other, and both look away.
“Oh, God, it really stinks.”
I press my lips together.
“Audrey, that’s not nice,” JP murmurs.
I shake my head. “No, it’s fine. It does stink, but once the palm sugar melts, it will smell like Pad Thai. I promise.”
“Oh, my favorite!” Emily shrieks, walking into the kitchen. She’s showered and dressed in fresh sweatpants with both kids in tow. Alyson is wearing a sparkling pink dress with a tulle skirt and Anjali is wearing a pink tutu and a onesie that says,Happy New Year.
“How many New Year outfits does she have?” JP asks. He’s smiling his perfect smile at Anjali, and I pretend it doesn’t make my heart ache with each beat.
“Too many,” Austin says, taking his daughter into his arms. “Thank you for cooking, Julia.” I smile and nod as he turns to Audrey. “Her Pad Thai is so good.”
“I’ll trust you,” she says, unwrapping the purple foil from the top of the prosecco. “I don’t really drink prosecco, but something about New Year’s makes me only want to drink it.” She giggles and pops the cork. It flies and hits the ceiling.
Emily yells woo! And Anjali cries.
