I turn back to the door to let Wren in. But when it creaks open, letting in a gust of cold air, I wonder if I summoned the woman in front of me.
Long strawberry-blond hair is draped over one shoulder, an oversized brown bag slung over the other, and a puffy coat with a furry-lined hood hides what I know is a perfect figure. Instead of my sister, her best friend, Hallie Young, stands before me, a smirk on her full pink lips. Her cheeks are pink, probably from the cold, but maybe because of the pink blushes she loves to wear, and mischief is written all over her face.
Somehow, I know I’m not going to like whatever it is she’s here to say.
“You're not Wren,” I say, the first idiotic thing that comes to mind spilling from my lips and making her smile go wider.
“You really are the smart King, aren't you?”
My jaw tightens as she reaches up to pat my cheek, then turns her body, brushing along mine as she steps into the mudroom.
“What are you doing here?”
“Well, hello to you, too, Jesse. So good to see you,” she says.
I stand in the doorway for a moment, staring outside to see if maybe my sister is coming behind her, but it’s just Hallie’s shitty green car parked right beside my white truck. Instead of standing there like a moron and letting all the heat out, I close the door and turn to where Hallie is removing her coat and sliding it onto one of the hooks, as if she plans to stay for some time, setting her bag on the bench and toeing off her brown clog slipper shoes.
Hallie is here.
In my house.
Without Wren, my brother, or my parents.
Just Hallie in my house, smiling at me like the last year of us avoiding one another didn’t happen at all.
“What are you doing here, Hallie? Is everything okay with Wren?” She turns to me with that mischievous look, and somehow, I know I’m not going to like what she says next.
“Oh, Wren is great. She’s on a plane headed to Paris right now, so I’m really not sure if she could be any better, you know?” Her smile goes wider somehow with her words, entertained by whatever game she’s playing before turning and walking away from me.
I stare at her retreating back, blinking as I try to decode her words.
“Paris?” I ask, needing just a few long strides to catch up to her short ones, following her as she moves through my house as if she belongs here.
“Yeah, Adam took her to Paris as her Christmas gift. That’s why I’m here bright and early. I’m taking over babysitting duties for Wren,” she calls over her shoulder before turning into the kitchen and out of sight.
“Hey, Hallie!” my daughter says, her lips wide and excited.
I ignore the happy look on her face, instead turning to Hallie with irritation brewing in my veins. “What do you mean you’re taking over for Wren?”
Hallie sets her bag on the counter, then turns to me. “Well, she can’t quite babysit from Paris, so I’m taking over.”
“Aunt Wren is inParis?” Emma asks with stars in her eyes.
Hallie nods enthusiastically. “Don’t worry, I’m sure she’s going to bring you back the best gifts. Probably even better gifts, since Adam will probably be paying for them. She has a bigger budget.”
She winks at my daughter, who grins deviously, and I don’t bother to remind either of them that she doesn’t need anything, not after she was just spoiled rotten yesterday. Instead, I choose to focus on the important topic at hand.
“I’m sorry, can you rewind?”
Hallie rolls her eyes at me, and the urge to argue with her moves through me, but if I want to figure out what the hell is going on, I can’t give in to that. Hallie has always been able to irritate me, to get under my skin better than anyone I’ve ever met, and I can’t fall into that trap right now.
“Adam called me…” She purses her mouth as if trying to remember something, the freckles dotted over her pert nose scrunching up before she shrugs one shoulder. “I don’t know, sometime last week, and said he wanted to take Wren to Paris for a Christmas gift, since, you know, she’s always wanted to go.But he knew if he just planned the trip and expected her to drop everything and go, she never would.”
While I don’t necessarily know about my sister’s travel dreams, I do know that her boyfriend’s last-minute surprise trip without a plan in place would have gone poorly. My younger sister helps everyone and anyone, and the idea of falling short on that would send her into a tailspin. Her new songwriter boyfriend has done a good job in the last few months of helping her restructure her priorities so she doesn’t burn herself out, which I’m happy about, even if it’s seeming to make my own life a bit more difficult.
“Okay…?” I say, slightly confused as to what that has to do with anything.
Hallie moves to the oven where the rewarmed cinnamon rolls are.
