Page 3 of Snowflakes and Ice Skates

“He’s a part of the family business, so I guess that’s true.” I turned to face Steven, confused by his words.

“What?”

Steven laughed. “I sold my restaurant app and decided to start another business. I brought Vince in as my partner.”

“You sold OrderUp?” He’d been working on that app for three years. How could he have sold it, and no one told me?

“For five million.” Dad boasted.

“What?” I looked around the room. How did they all know this but keep it from me.

Steven shrugged. “I’m reinvesting it so it’s not like my account has seven digits.”

Vince laughed. “Is that why I had to buy dinner last night?”

They all laughed together. Ha ha. Everyone’s in on the joke.

I lived two hours away. Two hours! Not on the other side of the world.

“How could you not tell me?”

I knew I sounded a bit pathetic, but I was hurt.

His smile disappeared. “Harlow, it only happened a few months ago.”

“A few months?”

He cringed. “Sorry. I guess I didn’t think you’d care.”

“Of course I would.” I shook my head. This was not how I imagined our first day going. Ruining the day wasn’t on my to do list so I swallowed my hurt feelings. “I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks, sis.”

I smiled but didn’t really feel it. Everyone seemed to buy it though and changed the subject. Everyone but Vince. He was looking at me with a question in his eyes. I turned away and went back to my room.

Two

My parents lived for holidays. Not just Christmas, every holiday was an excuse to host a party. Christmas was their favorite though. It felt like we had some party or dinner every day leading up to the twenty-fifth.

I was hoping my first day back would be relaxing. That maybe it could just be my family. That we’d get to spend some quality time together.

Nope.

Tonight was the smaller dinner. For close friends and relatives in the area. Small as in fifty or so people.

It was a spectacle, but Mom loved the challenge. She converted the formal dining room into a sort of banquet hall. The whole first floor was taken over with tinsel, poinsettias, and several decorated trees. It was a bit much, but I’d grown used to it. Things had been this way my whole life.

Around four I wandered back downstairs into the center of the madness. Decorators and caterers were running around, following the directions being barked out by Mom. She had on red dress slacks and a gold Christmas sweater. Only she could make tacky look classy.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Oh, there you are, Harlow. There’s been an emergency. A complete disaster.”

I’d heard that before. It usually meant they were a bag or two short on ice, or the caterer only brought red napkins instead of red and green.

“What’s wrong?”

“I completely forgot about the peppermint bark.”