My boyfriend lifts his chin and turns his face down the table to where Macie is watching him with her expectant little smile.
“Pardon?”
I hear the hard edges of annoyance in the single word. Macie does not.
“I was saying it would be so great if you and Dominic went to pick a tree up.”
There is no need to glance at my boyfriend to feel the full weight of his irritation wafting off him as he stares down the table at where his stepmom is watching him with that airhead smile. Nick is barely blinking.
“Dad gets the tree every year,” he states with the same accusation one would show a murderer.
Macie doesn’t notice.
“Macie needs help with your uncle. It wouldn’t be feasible at this time,” Walter explains, sawing into his pork chop with a knife. “We’ve picked trees together before. You know what I look for.”
Macie bobs her head like one of those bobblehead toys stuck to a dashboard.
“You can take Jacob’s truck. The bed is perfect to strap a tree down for the long drive.”
“Long drive?” Nick and I both ask at the same time.
“To the cabin,” Walker reminds us. “We’ve decided to have the Christmas party up there this year. It’s isolated, quiet, and far enough away that people will feel inclined to leave early.”
“Walker!” Macie gasps. “That is not at all the point.”
The man gives a careless shrug. “Sounds like the perfect Christmas to me.”
His wife glowers at him a long moment before facing us. “It’ll be a nice change of scenery. I’m going to finish up all thegoodies here since electricity is unreliable out there while you three help by setting up the tree and decorating.”
“Three?” Nick interjects.
“Isla will go with you,” she volunteers, motioning to her daughter. “It’ll be nice for her to get some fresh air.”
I like the idea immediately.
Me, Nick and Isla alone for several days. It sounds like heaven to me.
But Nick’s knuckles have gone pale around his fork. Isla has gone rigid, staring into her plate. Both remind me of prisoners being given their death sentence.
“I don’t think they need me—” Isla begins slowly.
“I have a lot to do the next few days,” Macie snaps in a tone that sets my teeth on edge. “And you have caused enough trouble. A little time away might give us all some peace.”
It occurs to me to ask what exactly Isla has done to warrant getting booted off the metaphorical island, but Jacob takes this opportunity to grunt and wiggle in his seat like an overgrown toddler.
“I know I could use a drink,” he voices loudly. “I’m just all shook up. I’ve never been attacked before.”
Attacked my ass.
I barely touched the fucker. He backed too far, lost his damn balance in the stairs and tumbled. That’s his fault. He broke his own leg.
Besides the leg, there isn’t another scratch on him, which is more than he deserves for the things he said to Isla.
But Macie is out of her chair before he even finishes.
“Let me get that.”
The task is all hers when no one else even attempts to get up. She hurries from the room and I glance at the man in question. The piece of shit who thought calling Isla a whore was a good idea. Sure, she may be Daddy’s whore, but that’sdifferent. She’s mine, and I’ll chew on broken glass before letting anyone else say it.
