“You do know that if they would’ve had a destination wedding, Leo would’ve been there too, right?” Mom returned the air popper to the upper cabinet. The same cabinet it had always been in. “And what’s this talk about, ‘that’s what I’m gonna do?’” She mimicked Isabella’s voice. “You getting married or something and forgot to tell us? Not that I’d be surprised. Hurt? Yes. But surprised? Definitely not.”
There it was again. Another jab at her expense. Fine. Let her family give her a hard time. If that’s what she had to do to keep Leo from learning the truth, so be it.
“No, Mom. No wedding. Not anytime soon at least.” And it definitely wouldn’t be her marrying Harrison Blake. Especially since he was presently contemplating who should keep the popcorn popper. “I know, you’re right. Leo would’ve been there, too.”
Mom leaned on the kitchen counter. “Then what’s so bad about coming home? At Christmas?”
“Nothing,” her voice went up without intention, her belly stirring with conviction. “You know I always loved Christmas. But I’ve told you. I’m just super busy. Work always has me trying to reach a deadline or traveling.” Isabella cursed under her breath after another needle prick. She sucked on the tip of her finger.
“For what it’s worth, we’re all happy you’re home. It’s nice. I know some of us have been giving you a hard time, but I think it’s just been easier that way.”
Isabella pulled her fingertip from in between her lips. “Yeah? Easier for who?”
Mom waved her hand in the air dismissively. “Oh, just let Finn and Norah have their fun.”
Was she being serious? Because it wasn’t fun. Not to her, it wasn’t.
“It’s not just them. It’s you and Dad, too. And Leo.”
“Honey, you need to talk to him.” Interesting how Mom completely deviated from herself being in the hot seat. “He deserves a reason why you broke things off with him. Izzy, he was devastated.”
Heat filled her cheeks, and her eyes pricked. “I was devastated, too.”
“Okay.” Mom pushed away from the counter and held out her palms. “You’ve never even told any of us what happened. But Dad and I believe you had good reason.”
“I did,” her voice cracked. She wanted to tell Mom. And Dad. And everyone. But how could she? After all these years, did it even matter?
“I’m sure you did. But…I still think you should talk to him. Not just for him, but for you too. It never really felt like you two had closure.” Mom inspected the Santa Claus pincushion with all the needles sticking out of its butt, then eyed Isabella with one penciled, arched brow.
Isabella sighed. “You know if I would’ve come back here after graduation, we would’ve gotten married, had kids, and we would’ve stayed in Colorado forever. And you would’ve loved that, but Dad always told me to go. Go to college. Reach for my dreams. Never settle.”
“So what are you saying? If you married Leo, you would’ve settled?”
“No.” Isabella glanced over her shoulder, lowering her voice. “Never. But what’s done is done. We just weren’t meant to be together, that’s all.”
“Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?” Mom scooped up the pincushion and sauntered out of the kitchen.
“You, obviously,” Isabella called, following behind Mom, sucking on her fingertip again.
“You keep telling yourself that, sweetie,” Mom said over her shoulder.
Isabella inhaled a deep breath and held it in, a stiffness working its way into her neck. What did Mom know? Sure, Isabella would always love Leo, but they weren’t meant to be. If they were, nothing and no one would’ve stood in their way.
In the living room, Mom handed a threaded needle to each family member. And Leo. At this point, it felt like he belonged in the Whitley family more than Isabella did.
Ava reached for a threaded needle, but Finn said no way. She pouted until Nina told her she could add the tinsel to the tree once the popcorn strings were finished. Oh yes, the Whitley Christmas tree had it all—popcorn-cranberry stringsandtinsel.
Isabella took a seat on the carpeted floor next to Norah. The bowls of popcorn and cranberries sat on the coffee table within reach. She felt safe next to Norah. Or at least the safest she was going to feel in this family, she decided.
When she glanced at Leo stretched out on the sofa with his feet propped on the coffee table, she tried not to allow the length of him, the filled-out chest, and wide shoulders, to distract her from her annoyance of him. He already had his second row of popcorn started in the pattern of five pieces of popcorn and two cranberries. How had he already gotten that far? She needed to catch up. She hurried, stringing the popcorn onto her needle and thread in record speed, pushing two cranberries onto the needle next. There. She’d caught up to him.
But when she checked his string again, he’d already moved onto another row of cranberries. Isabella’s stomach tightened. She was being stupid. She knew that. And yet, why was her heart beating fast and hard against her rib cage while she continued pushing the cranberries and popcorn onto the string, glancing at Leo every few seconds?
It didn’t take long before Leo caught on. He looked at her string, then back up at her. They shared a look. And not an,Oh baby, I want to pick up where we left off in the rental carlook. No, it was definitely confirmed—this had just turned into a competition. And it was on. Leo had already weaseled his way into the hearts of her family, she wouldn’t let him beat her at popcorn and cranberry stringing.
It didn’t take long for the rest of the family to realize what the two were up to.
“Oh, I see how it is.” Finn slapped Leo’s back. “You two are having a competition without the rest of us?”
