“Go talk to him. I’m okay in here. When we’re done, I’ll find you,” I say, but I want to ask right then why he divorced Joan and why Kenton would ask if he needed to talk about her. But we’ll have plenty of time later to talk about her, and it is Christmas Eve. I really don’t want him to be upset.
“Okay, love you,” he says against my ear and goose bumps spread across my skin. He squeezes me then I feel his presence leave the kitchen before I can tell him that I love him too.
“Nice save,” Susan says, making me jump.
“Um,” I mumble and she starts laughing.
“Just promise that you will talk to him about Joan. I know his history with her is bothering you.”
“Promise,” I say, smiling.
“Who’s Joan?” Crap! Of course, I forgot that my grandmother is here. She’s like a damn ninja. She’s constantly sneaking up on you when you least expect it, or she is so quiet that you forget she’s there and say crap that isn’t meant to be heard by her.
“Asher’s ex-wife,” Susan shares, and I watch my grandma’s eyes pop out of her head.
“Well, shit. That’s not what I thought you were going to say.”
“Grandma,” I scold her. She has the mouth of a sailor.
“Don’t take that tone with me. I’ve heard you pull up in that car of yours with that music you listen to, talking about bitches this and bitches that. And I know your man cusses more in one sentence than I do in a day.”
Well, she had me there. Rap music did tend to use the word bitch a little too often, and Asher could curse even when there was nothing to curse about.
“Point taken,” I mumble.
“Why would you be upset that he had a life before you? I hate to remind you, but you were engaged.”
“You were engaged?” Susan gasps. Geez, this day started out so perfectly, and now every time I turn around, someone is talking about something I don’t want to talk about.
“I was, and then I found out that the guy was a total jerk and broke it off.” I look over at my grandma. “I’m not upset. I just want to understand why they split up.” Grandma nods her head in understanding.
“What did he do? I mean, why did you call off your engagement?” Susan asks.
“He cheated,” I say and hear my grandmother inhale. I never told my father why I called off the engagement so he was never able to tell her. Since I’ve been home, she’s never asked.
Besides, the idea of telling them that he cheated on me with my mom didn’t sound like a conversation I wanted to have.
“Well, I think you should talk to him about it,” my grandmother says like she just solved all of my problems. I smile, shaking my head.
“I’m going to talk to him, just not on Christmas Eve. We should be having a good time visiting with friends and family.”
“Such a smart girl,” she says, pinching my cheek like I’m five.
“Thanks.” I smile.
“Okay, let me and your grandma finish these and you go visit with everyone,” Susan says, taking the knife and cheese away from me.
“DO YOU LIKE it?” Asher whispers into my ear. It is Christmas morning and both of our families are over and most are still wearing pajamas. Somehow, everyone decided while they were drunk that we should all have breakfast and open gifts at Asher’s house.
Making early morning plans while drinking is not smart. I made the coffee extra strong and put out aspirin as an appetizer before breakfast. The first person showed up at eight. Asher kissed me and got out of bed. I hid under the covers, hoping everyone would forget I was even in the house. That only lasted about five minutes. Asher came back into theroom and dragged me across the bed then tried to stand me up, but I was playing dead and slumped into him, not even opening my eyes.
“Baby, we gotta make breakfast,” he laughed.
“No, all I want for Christmas is to sleep,” I said, trying to cuddle into his chest.
“You can sleep later,” he said while rubbing my back, but that was making me sleepier.
“I’ll be your bestest friend ever if you let me sleep.” He started laughing harder.
