Ethan rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah. We hang out.”
“You hang out?” she asked dubiously. “Since when?”
“Since forever,” Collin answered. “His dad died, and we talked about it, and he needed a buddy to watch football with, so he comes over when we watch. He doesn’t eat my Starburst, and I don’t touch his–”
“Cheese balls,” Lauren filled in.
Collin brightened. “Yeah. It’s okay, though, because I think cheese balls are gross.”
She laughed at the silly face he made. “I like them.” Cheese balls were one of their things. “We used to eat them all the time.” As soon as the admission was out of her mouth, she wanted to pull it back. Her dad froze in place because her mom stopped fishing, and Ethan looked at her like she’d shown up to Christmas dinner in a leprechaun outfit.
“What?” she demanded.
“That’s the first time you’ve mentioned Jacob in ages.” Ethan reached out and touched her forehead. “Are you okay?”
She swatted his hand away. “I’m fine.” She paused, considering how much she wanted to say. “I ran into him today. We… talked. It must have brought up some memories.”
The timer went off, and Mom glanced down at how many baubles she’d been able to pick up with her candy cane. “Seven!”
Collin wrote her score on the board, though it looked more like a squiggle than a number.
“I’m next.” Dad moved into the spot Mom vacated while Ethan reset the game.
Lauren was quiet as her conversation with Jacob came back in full force. He’d asked if she ever thought about him. The truth was that she’d done her best not to think about him because it was too hard to compare every date, every flirtation, to him. They all came up short, and she quickly realized that–if she was going to fall in love–she had to take Jacob out of the equation.
She glanced around the festive room, admiring the tree with its beautiful red, silver, and gold decorations. Even without presents under it–they’d opened them all–it was beautiful. The gas fireplace crackled softly, and the stockings were stuffed with care. Sharing these moments with the people she loved was precious.
Jacob would have been playing, not hiding in the guest bedroom.
Foster should be here. There was nothing at work so important–so life-altering that these times should be missed. “I need a drink. I’ll be right back.” She patted Ethan’s knee and then made her way to the kitchen. She was almost there when she heard a woman’s voice coming from the guest room.
What in the world?
She moved closer, noting the door was open.
“I love you, Foster. I neeeeeeeeed you with me. Come back.”
Lauren paused and then went closer to the door.
Foster cursed. “Don’t!”
Poof!
What in the world? Lauren threw the door open, and Foster jumped out of his chair.
“Hey.” He pointed to the spot next to him. “Where did that guy go?” He glanced under the bed. “There was a guy in here with an ugly Christmas sweater. Where did he go?”
Lauren stared at the computer screen. The same woman from yesterday, the secretary, was on screen. Or, she should say, part of her was on screen–the part that hung out the top of her low-cut dress. “What’s going on, baby?” she crooned to Foster as she moved back so she could look at the screen. “Oh!” She stared at Lauren for half a second before the shock wore off her face, and she lifted an eyebrow. “I guess the cat’s out of the bag now. Do you want to flip a coin to see who gets him?”
Lauren gritted her teeth. Foster was cheating on her. How long had this been going on? Actually, it didn’t matter. “You can have him.” She shut the laptop and rounded on Foster. Of all the sneaky, no-good losers in the world, she had to bring this one home for Christmas. How had she read him so wrong? The late nights in the office were such a cliche cover-up for cheating–and yet she’d fallen for it.
He glanced in the closet. “Seriously, where did he go?”
Lauren folded her arms. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She leaned forward and sniffed. “Have you been drinking? Do you do drugs?” she asked, though all she smelled was his minty toothpaste.
“What? No!” He reared back, offended. “A guy poofed into the room, turned the volume on my computer, and then disappeared.”
“If you think you can distract me from the fact that you were talking to your mistress when you should have been playing games with my family, you’re sad. Just sad.” Lauren grabbed his bag from the closet and threw it on the bed. She could have lifted ten of those bags with the energy surging through her. She then tossed his few personal items inside. “Get out of my house. Get out of my hometown. Get out of my life.”
