Page 18 of Unsaid Things

He wrapped Abby in a hug and kissed her forehead. “I know. I wanted to come up. You ready?”

She nodded against his chest. “Let me grab my bag.”

Before she could detach herself, Gabby brought Abby her new purse. Abby managed a small smile. “Thanks.”

Gabby gave her a hug. “I hope everything’s okay.”

“Me too.”

Marissa hugged her too. “It was fun while it lasted. We’ll do it again sometime, okay?”

Abby nodded. “I’d like that. I’m sorry for ruining our girls’ night. I had fun. At least until the phone calls. Thanks for having me over.”

“Anytime.”

Abby reached for Lance’s hand, and he led her out to where he was parked. “Was Gabby not ready to leave yet?”

Shrugging, Abby worried her lower lip with her free hand. “She offered to take me back to your parents’. But I’d already called you. And I figured they could finish the movie without me if they wanted. That way girls’ night isn’t a complete bust.”

“I bet Gabby’ll be home before too much longer. They get together and watch movies all the time. Tonight was about hanging out with you.”

“Don’t say that. It’ll only make me feel worse.”

Lance opened her car door for her, kissing her before she got in the car. “You don’t need to feel bad. It’s not your fault that your brother showed up out of nowhere.”

Her blue eyes searched his face. “You don’t think I’m overreacting? I mean, it’s weird, right? Him coming back like this?”

Lance nodded. “Yeah, it’s weird. I’m worried too. I don’t think you’re overreacting. And the way he won’t let anyone see or talk to your mom really bothers me.”

She let out a breath in relief. “Yeah, me too. I tried calling again after I got off the phone with you, but no one answered. When I called again it went straight to voicemail like her phone is off. I need to get home. I need to check on her.”

With a hand on her back, Lance turned her to face the car. “Get in, sweetheart. We’ll change our flights once we get back to my parents’ house.”

She nodded, climbing in, and he closed her door for her while she buckled her seatbelt. When he got in the car, she vibrated with nervous energy, one leg jiggling, her right hand clutching the handle on the door, the fingers of her other hand tugging and rolling her lower lip. He started the car and reached for her hand, pulling it away from her mouth, intertwining their fingers. “It’ll be okay, Abby. We’ll figure it out, okay?”

“Okay.” He barely heard her, but saw her lips move. They rode the whole way in silence, her staring out the window, occasionally messing with her lip with her free hand, him darting glances at her every so often. Once inside, he led the way up to their room where he got out his iPad and pulled up the airline’s website to change their tickets. Abby started packing her things while he looked.

“We can get on a flight tomorrow afternoon. It won’t get in until almost ten tomorrow night, but there aren’t any available seats earlier than that. We can see if they’ll let us try to fly standby on an earlier flight, though.”

Abby stopped what she was doing and looked at him. “No, Lance. Just me. You should stay.”

He sighed, setting the iPad down. “Abby, I’m not going to stay without you.”

“But you’ve wanted to come home for Christmas. Spend it with your family. You’ve been talking about it for months.”

He shook his head. “I’ve been talking about takingyouto spend Christmas with my family. I wanted you to meet them and them to meet you. If you’re not here, it’s no good. I want to spend Christmas with you.”

“I want to spend Christmas with you, too.” It came out as a whisper, but then her face hardened, and he knew he wouldn’t win this fight no matter what he said. “But that’s not a good enough reason for both of us to leave early. Your parents will be upset if you leave. Your dad already doesn’t like me.”

“Abby, that’s not—“

“I know you think it’s all because of you. But I think he blames me for you not coming back. If you don’t spend Christmas with your family, you dad’ll hate me even more.”

“He doesn’t hate you.”

She grunted. “Fine. But if you leave now he will. You should stay. Just change my ticket. I’ll pay for whatever it costs.”

“No.”

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