Page 114 of Deck the Hauls

Emily leaned in and kissed me again. I closed my eyes, focusing on the softness of her lips, her faintly floral scent, the warmth of her body pressed against mine.

A horn beeped. We both jumped. Emily pulled back, her eyes wide.

“Merry Christmas!” a man yelled out the window.

Emily’s face softened into a smile, and she wrapped her arm back around my waist, not waiting until he drove off.

“Merry Christmas!” I yelled back.

“That reminds me,” Emily said. “Apart from apologizing and trying to win you back, I’m also here to see if you’d like me to accompany you to Christmas dinner? There’s absolutely no pressure if you’d prefer to go alone, but if you would like me there, I would love to come—assuming your parents would be okay with it. Mom piled me up with food, so I can bring that if that would help.”

I gazed at Emily with wonder.

“I would love that. Does that mean you told your parents about us?”

Emily shrugged. “Sort of. They’d basically figured it out themselves.”

I glanced at my watch. “I’ve kept my parents waiting years for this; I don’t want to be too late. We should probably head there now.” I picked up the axe. “I might just leave this in the truck. Jake and Kelsey might freak out a little if I turn up brandishing an axe.”

Emily chuckled as she turned to follow me.

I placed the axe in the back of the truck and we started toward the turnoff for my parents’ house. It was only a few hundred feet away, not worth the distance to drive.

“How did you get here?” I asked.

“You’ll see.” Emily grinned.

“Okay, now I’m nervous. Please don’t tell me you rode a motorcycle here.”

“God no!”

We turned the corner and a moving van, covered in Christmas decorations, came into view parked on the side of the road.

My jaw dropped. “What is that?”

“Lucia’s moving van, with the bling courtesy of Lucia, Mom and Dad,” Emily said. “They wanted to do something festive for us.”

I grinned. “I love it.”

Emily grabbed my hand in hers, and my chest expanded.

“They’ll be thrilled to hear that. Now, let’s go be with your family.”

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

DANA

We stood on the doorstep of my childhood home, a large white weatherboard house. Behind the wreath-adorned oak door, faint voices sounded from somewhere inside.

I took a deep breath and exhaled. Was I really ready to sit down for Christmas dinner opposite Kelsey and my brother three years to the day after it all fell apart? I should have picked another day for our reunion.

Emily squeezed my hand. “I’ll be here with you the whole time. But also, if you want to get the hell out of here, I’ll support you.”

I took another deep breath. If Emily could tell the world about Phillip, I could attend one Christmas dinner with my family.

“I’m ready. I do need to warn you though…”

“What is it?” Emily’s brow furrowed.