Page 63

“Are Christmas trees a thing here?”

Liam paused, shifting his gaze back to Claire as she changed the conversation. “Yeah, of course they are. Why?”

She shrugged, focusing on the carousel as the ride began to slowly turn round. “Since your mom doesn’t have one up, I thought maybe they weren’t.”

Instantly, Liam’s heart twisted. He knew exactly why Mum didn’t have a tree up, and he knew it was his fault. But how could he admit that aloud? “I think her job has taken its toll on her this year,” he lied. “She more than likely just doesn’t have the time.”

Guilt cinched tightly around his chest, tied in an impossible knot. He should have come home for Christmas before. He should have been there for her. Yes, he’d been grieving in his own way, but what sort of son abandoned his own mother when she had no one else?

“Do you think…” Claire hesitated, Jingle Bells blaring out from the carousel’s speakers.

“Do I think, what?”

Finally, she pulled her eyes up to search his. “Do you think your mom would be okay with us surprising her with a tree?”

Liam stared hard at Claire, unable to remove his eyes from her.

“If it’d make things worse, we don’t have to,” Claire rushed on. “I wouldn’t want to offend her or make her sad or anything. But we could have it set up for her when she comes home from work, then we could all decorate it tomorrow morning together.”

Liam tried to press down his heart, but it refused to obey, rising up like a bird dreaming of flight. “I don’t think she’d be offended at all. In fact, I think she’d absolutely love it.”

Claire’s face brightened, her wrinkled brow smoothing as she peered up at him. “Do you think Dean and Melody could be convinced to leave here early to get a tree, then?”

Liam turned, his eyes skimming the spinning carousel until he found his cousin.

His stomach turned. “Um, no, I don’t think we’ll be able to convince them at all.”

He pointed toward Dean and Melody, who were now snogging from atop their horses for all of Santa Land to see. Liam had been wrong before. He wouldn’t rather see his cousin and Dean kissing.

“Ugh, gosh.” Claire pulled a face. “They’ve been with each other for a freaking hour. I hate to think what they’ll be doing by the end of the night.” She shook her head, turning to Liam with a frown. “Alright. I’ve got a better plan. What if we ditch those two disgusting animals and get the tree ourselves?”

Liam smiled at her ferocity. He liked this version of Claire much better than the one made to be silent around Melody. “Are you sure? There are actually a lot of fun things we could do here.”

But Claire shook her head. “No, I think I’d rather do something nice for your mom.”

It took everything within him to have his heart keep its shape as it threatened to melt like an ice sculpture at her words.

“Melody might be offended,” he warned.

“Yeah, right,” Claire huffed. “She’ll be glad to have free rein with the guy. She knows I judge her and all her boyfriends for their PDA. Besides, we can make amends by agreeing to go to the ballet tonight.” Then she paused. “Unless you want to stay here?”

He smiled, tossing his head toward the exit. “Let’s go,” he said, and Claire’s eyes sparkled.

As the two of them made their way from the park, Liam tried to convince himself that his anticipation for the day had grown exponentially because he was doing something for his mum, not because he was going to have the next couple of hours with Claire all to himself.

But deep down inside, he knew the truth just as much as he knew he was in trouble because of that truth.

TWENTY-ONE

Just as Claire had suspected, Melody hardly seemed shaken up about being left alone with Dean.

Melody: Are you sure you don’t want to stay??

Claire: Yep, totally. You guys have fun. We’ll meet up for the Nutcracker, k?

Melody: Okay, sounds good. Thanks, Claire! You’re the best! Tell Liam thanks, too.

Claire thumbsed-up the message, shaking her head. She should have expected this the moment Melody had mentioned Dean. Claire was always second choice when it came to her friend’s men. Still, sometimes, Melody drove her nuts. It would be good to put some distance between them today.