David, Diana’s father, opened a small closet and glanced inside. “Someone moved the toolbox.” He glared at the inside of the closet once more. “I’ll check the media room. Sometimes the kids need a screwdriver to change batteries in the remote.” He disappeared, taking his phone with him.
As soon as he was gone, Cliff rounded on Diana.
She looked everywhere but at him and crossed one arm across her body. Even when she was nervous, she tugged at his heartstrings. Why did he have such a soft spot for this girl?
“So …?” He let the word hang out there, starting a conversation without really saying what was on his mind. Because his head was all over the place with scenarios that would explain what had just happened upstairs, and none of them cast her in a good light.
She glanced at him and then away again. She’d been doing that all night. But upstairs, it was like she was fighting against herself not to stare at him. Which he’d kind of liked. The flirty game was fun and harmless. At least he’d thought so.
“Why does everyone think I’m your boyfriend?”
She took a deep breath. Before she could answer, her dad said, “Because she told us to keep your engagement a secret.” David set the shiny red never-been-out-of-the-house toolbox on the carpet and grinned. “Found it.”
Cliff couldn’t quite hear him. He’d gone numb—like the world has a pause button and he was stuck between the moment when life made sense and this strange reality where he and Diana were supposedlyengaged. A boyfriend was fun. A fiancé was … huge.
He turned to her for answers. Her eyes pleaded with him not to say anything in front of her dad. He silently agreed, but only because he was too wigged out to come up with a way out of this.
Opening the electrical panel, he easily found the tripped breaker and flipped it. The lights in the hallway came on, and there was a cheer from upstairs. “Someone will need to check each room to make sure they’re all back on. I’ll wait here.” He folded his arms.
Diana went for the door. “I’ll do it,” she said quickly.
“Oh no!” He grabbed her around the middle with one arm. “I need you to stay right here and help me.” She stopped squirming and held still. He dropped his hands.
David was all smiles. “I’ll go.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe how fast you did that.”
Cliff lifted a shoulder. “It was an easy fix.”
“Yeah, for you,” David said as he left.
Cliff cocked his head to the side. Those were the same words Diana had used. A sense of pride in his craft made him smile. The smile faded as he took in the way Diana wrung her hands. He didn’t want to scare her or intimidate her or even cause her a small worry. He softened his features and his tone. “Diana, what is going on?”
“I, uh, may have led a couple people to believe that there is something … uh …morebetween us.”
The warmth drained from his face even as the heater kicked on. “Why?”
She gritted her teeth. “Because they’re impossible.” She paced to the door, looked into the hallway, and then shut it. “Every year it’s the same thing: Why aren’t you married yet? You need to try harder to catch a man. And my personal favorite:I have a lovely young man for you. He’s been in jail, but it was a white-collar, so you have nothing to worry about.As if I should feel grateful to land a guy who cheated on his taxes!” She thrust her pointed finger towards the floor to emphasize her point. “I just wanted a barrier between me and the pressure to get married for one Christmas. I told Mom I was bringing you, and she jumped to conclusions I didn’t correct.”
She stepped forward and grabbed his hand, holding it between both of hers and pressing it just under her chin. Her skin there was soft and warm, and he worried he’d smell her delicious scent on his fingers the rest of the night. Her big eyes took on a pleading quality—like a woodland animal on a Disney cartoon.
“I’m so, so sorry. I should have told you the situation right from the beginning. I should have given you a choice instead of leading you blindly into this mess.”
He agreed with her, wholeheartedly. He should have been angry with her for using him. He was upset. But instead of the anger roaring through his veins, it was more like the buzz of an annoying mosquito.
“I’ll drive you home in the morning.” She dropped their hands and opened the door.
They trudged up the stairs, Cliff’s steps slower and heavier than they had been coming down. He’d enjoyed his conversation with Diana’s cousin. The guy explained that this was their first Christmas back at the cabin after having their first child—now they had two. He’d alluded to the struggle of sharing his wife with their kids, and that adjustment made him ornery—for two years. But he was starting to see what a joy being a part of a family was as an adult and wanted the kids to experience the crazy big holiday in the mountains.
The mansion cabin had a distinct homey feel to it with braided rugs and knickknacks everywhere. Leaving now dropped a cloud of melancholy over him. He hadn’t even had a meal yet.
Diana didn’t look at him on the way up the stairs. He didn’t like the slope to her back or the way her feet dragged. He could sympathize with her plight. Her mom was a bit much, but that didn’t mean she would face a firing squad if he left. This was her family. She’d done just fine without him all these years, and she’d do fine again.
Then why’d she have to bring you?his internal voice asked.
He tamped down on the question, refusing to take a closer look at the situation. This wasn’t his problem. He’d helped Diana many times, and he would have helped her this time—if she’d been honest with him.
You would have pretended to be engaged?
Okay, maybe he wouldn’t have gone that far. But he would have come as her friend. Hedidcome as her friend.
