“You’ll see.I’ll call you in the morning.”
“Okay.”She couldn’t deny that she was dying of curiosity.As much as she wanted to push him for more information, she knew he could be stubborn.She looked around at all of the empty ornament boxes.“I should clean this up.”
“I can help.”
She shook her head.“That’s okay.You’ve done more than enough this evening and I really appreciate everything you did to help me out.”
“And you need some rest.This is your vacation.Before you know it, you’ll be back in the office.By the way, congratulations.”
She sent him a puzzled look.She didn’t know what he was congratulating her for.She hadn’t done anything to deserve it.
He smiled.“It’s okay.Your mother told my mother that you got some big promotion.Your mom is so proud of you.”
Felicity sighed.The time had finally come to tell him the truth about herself.Maybe then he would stop saying all of those glowing things about her, because she didn’t deserve any of them.
“I’m surprised you’d want to spend your vacation working at the bookshop.”
“Justin, stop.”
His brows furrowed together.“Stop, what?”
This was it.This was the moment when she had to utter the words that she loathed.Before she could chicken out, she said, “I lost my job.”
He quietly stared at her, as though he hadn’t heard her correctly.Then he shook his head.“That can’t be right.You just got a promotion.”
She shook her head.“No, I didn’t.”
She took him by the hand and led him over to the couch.They sat down on the opposite end from where Sunny was sleeping with her belly up.Felicity started at the beginning, telling him that she got dumped by her boyfriend followed by losing her apartment.And then she told him about the competition at the office—about Tanner with the too-white teeth and too-perfect hair—and about her former boss.
“I’m sorry, Felicity.”He wrapped his arm over her shoulders and pulled her close.“They are fools to have let you go.”
“I just don’t understand it.If they didn’t pick me for the promotion, well, fine.But why did they let me go from my position?I was good at it.Really good.”
“I’m certain you were.You’ve always been good at whatever you set your mind to.”
“I’ve applied for other jobs, but I haven’t gotten any interviews yet.”
“It’s the end of the year.I’m sure a lot of people are already on vacation.Come the New Year, you’ll hear from them.”
She turned and looked directly at him.“You know if someone heard you, they’d think we were friends or something.”
“We are friends.”
She didn’t know until that moment how much she longed to hear those words from him.“Really?”
He nodded.“I don’t know how you can doubt it.What did our mothers used to say?”
“From cradle to grave.”
She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder.She’d done this a million times in the past, but she’d always taken it for granted.This time she tried to remember everything about this moment, from the slightest whiff of his sandalwood cologne to the gentle sigh he exhaled just before he placed his hand over hers and gave it a squeeze.
She didn’t know how long they sat there in the cozy glow of the Christmas tree.It was long enough and comforting enough that her eyes grew heavy.She hadn’t slept well since she lost her job, or maybe it was the weight of keeping it a secret.
Now that she’d confessed, she felt lighter.She tried to keep her eyes open, but it was getting hard.Maybe if she closed her eyes for just a moment…
“Felicity?”There was a gentle shake of her shoulder.
She opened her eyes to find her mother looking at her.Felicity sat up.A throw blanket fell to her lap.She looked around for Justin, but he wasn’t there.Disappointment settled in her chest.
