“And you were dating his brother, Dan,” Tara prompted. She had heard bits and pieces of this story over the years, but never the whole thing.
“Yes. And then his brother dumped me, and Frank showed up that weekend with the tickets to a play that Dan and I had planned to go to together. I told Frank I didn’t want to go anymore, and he said he wasn’t going to a dumb play alone, and we had a long stare-off, and then I got in his car and away we went. We were married three years later. Two of those years were spent dating other people just to spite each other.”
“Oh, wow.”
Aunt Sandy grinned. “The point is, it works out how it works out.”
“Was it strange being around Dan after that?”
“Heavens, no. Dan married one of my friends. They were better for each other. Dan and I would have never worked. The only time he stood up to me was the day he dumped me, and even then, he could barely get the words out. I needed someone stubborn, like me.”
Tara checked the map on her phone as they came to a stop at a light. They had quite a few miles to go, but she didn’t want to miss the turn-off.
“You’re still worried about Luke and Derek being friends. Don’t worry about what wasn’t meant to be. You find your own happy ending. That’s what matters.”
A bit of the tension in Tara’s chest lightened. “Thank you. For everything. I don’t know what I would have done this year without you.”
“Right back at ya.”
Aunt Sandy gasped as they passed a house decked out with a complete set of wooden nativity figures under a lighted gazebo. “I just love Christmas.”
***
“What did you get Tara for Christmas?” Derek asked. The kids and their parents were already making runs down the hill on their sleds, but Derek and Jody, along with a highly nervous Bob, were waiting with Luke at the bottom of the hill by the curb.
Luke picked at his gloves. “We made an agreement. Something homemade, and not more than thirty dollars.”
Bob’s laugh came out like a car honk. “Good luck with that. She’ll still expect you to exceed it.”
“Is he right?” Luke looked to Jody and Derek. Jody was wearing the diamond earrings Derek had gifted her that morning, and he felt stupid when he saw hesitation in their faces. He was tempted to ask Derek what he got Tara last year, but that would be crass in front of Jody.
“I’m sure whatever you got her, she’ll love. Tara loves everything.” Derek shrugged, as if he didn’t quite understand it himself.
“There they are.” Bob pointed to Tara’s approaching car. She pulled up behind Heston and Sarah’s minivan. Tara hurried out first and ran around the car, slipping in the slush, and then grabbing Luke’s outstretched hand before she took a tumble. He pulled her up next to him and into a hug. If it had only been the two of them, they would have laughed about her almost falling on her face in her excitement to see him, but he could see the embarrassment of being around everyone else in her body language. She tucked her hands inside his coat and slid them around to rest on his back, hiding her face in his chest.
“You cold?” he whispered.
“Not really. I just like you.” She looked up at him, and he couldn’t resist giving her a long slow kiss that would probably make everyone as uncomfortable as she already was. Bonus.
He blinked, coming back to himself and pulling away from her mouth with reluctance. She gave him a wolfish grin before quickly hiding it.
“Do you need help pulling sleds out?” Luke asked, looking over at Sandy.
“I’ll help.” Bob stepped forward and followed Sandy to the trunk. The two of them were blatantly checking each other out, and Luke chuckled when Sandy gave him two approving thumbs up while Bob was turned in the other direction with the bright plastic sleds in his hands.
“I’m afraid we’ve unleashed something that’s now out of our control,” he whispered in Tara’s ear.
“I never doubted.” She turned and smiled at Derek and Jody. “Merry Christmas, guys.”
“Merry Christmas.” Jody responded first, hopping forward to stand next to Tara. “It’s quite the trek over to it, but this hill is the best. I went here a lot as a kid. Ready to do this?”
“Yep.”
The two girls hopped through the snow towards the base of the hill, their breath coming out in long puffs as they talked and laughed. It was like a mini Christmas miracle.
“I’m sorry,” Derek said, as soon as Tara and Jody were out of earshot.
“What are you sorry for?”
