While we were hesitant about what people might say, it’s not uncommon for people to give each other lifts at this time of year and everyone knows I live at the top of death trap hill.
It takes all my restraint not to wave goodbye to him as I head into work.
An hour into my shift, my parents call me while I’m hurrying down flights of stairs to another patient’s floor.
Given that it’s just my own admin work I’m chasing, I pause in the stairwell and answer.
“Mom? Is everything okay?”
“Noelle! Snow! Darling, it’s been too long!”
“It has.” I lean against the railing and gaze down at the spiraling stairs beneath me.
“I’m calling because our chef is taking orders for Christmas dinner and I need to know if you’re going to come!”
“I… I had to cancel, remember? I couldn’t afford the ticket at the time.” Did she blank our entire conversation?
“I know, honey, but didn’t you get more money since then?”
My lips part and I close my eyes as annoyance creeps up my back and erases all the relaxation Xander left inside me.
Before it settles deep, though, his offer enters my mind.
Could I really let him buy me something as expensive as a plane ticket?
I’d pay him back, of course.
In fact, he’ll likely demand it once he learns I’m pregnant.
Maybe this is a sign because I certainly won’t be able to afford to travel once the baby I’m ignoring is born.
“Sure.” I purse my lips and sigh. “I just need to rebook and I’ll be there.”
“Oh, perfect! It’s been so long since we saw you. I did wish we could have visited you in June but it simply wasn’t on the travel plan.”
My back tightens. “In… June?”
“Yes, dear, we were in New York for a concert! It never gets old, I tell you.”
“Wait, you were here? In the States?” I push off the railing and step back from the edge. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’m sure I did, dear.”
“No, you definitely did not.”
“Well it wouldn’t have mattered because we didn’t have time to come to your little town anyway.”
“But I could have—” I stop myself and grit my teeth. There’s no point.
They came all the way back to the States and didn’t think to tell me, didn’t care to visit either.
So why am I wasting time worrying about them? “I have to go.”
“Okay, dear, see you at Christmas!”
The sourness that call leaves in me fades by the afternoon when Xander and I pass each other in a supply closet and his hand lingers on my lower back.
He also brings me a drink from the vending machine and sits at my table during lunch while June engages in animated conversation with Fred.
