Page 7 of When You're Home for the Holidays
Rhett
Hisphonevibratedonthe table next to him, alerting him that a message had just come through. He smiled when he unlocked the home screen to find a picture of Tori and Jake grinning back at him. It looked like they were in their pajamas, curled up on the couch at the cabin.Fuck. He missed them both so much. Tori had come to visit him in Virginia a few weeks ago, but he hadn’t seen Jake since Thanksgiving. All he wanted was to be with them now.
Ev: I’m trying, beautiful.
V: I know. I’m not trying to make you feel bad. We have to accept the things we can’t control… Just know that I love you. And I miss you.
Ev: I love you, too. And I miss you. So damn much. What’d you guys do tonight?
V: Field and I went shopping, then we all just chilled and watched a movie.
Rhett felt his jaw involuntarily clench when his eyes landed on Fielding’s name on the screen. He inhaled through his nose for five seconds, held the breath for another five, then exhaled through his mouth for five counts. Fielding Haas had been a point of contention—and an emotional trigger—for months. He had to work hard to keep himself in check when it came to his wife’s friend. But he was committed to keeping his cool. For his sobriety. For his marriage. For her.
Ev: That sounds fun. Did Jake make you watch The Holiday?
V: Believe it or not, he let Fielding pick. So we watched half of Home Alone.
Ev: Just half?
V: Field fell asleep, and now Jake and I are sitting here talking.
Ev: Tell him hey for me.
V: I will.
Another text came through before he had time to respond.
V: Promise me you’ll go back to the apartment and sleep if it gets to be too much.
He took in another steady breath as he stared at her request. He was okay right now. A little sleepy and slightly frustrated, but he had a good grasp on his mental state, and he wasn’t feeling any urge to drink, despite being in the business class sky lounge that used to serve as one of his secret haunts.
He wished they wouldn’t worry. But he also understood their concern. He held out his phone and quickly snapped a selfie. He wanted Tori to see for herself that he was good.
Ev: I will. I promise. But I’m good right now, and I’m going to be home for Christmas.
He sent the picture along with the text, hopeful it would help ease their worry tonight.
His phone started ringing in his hand before he had a chance to set it down. But instead of a response from Tori, his sister’s face illuminated the screen.
“Maddie girl! What’s up?” he answered.
“Hey bro. I’m just packing and thought I’d give you a call. Any luck rescheduling your flight?”
“No, not yet. It’s a mess here.” Rhett ran his hand through his hair, glancing around the mostly-full sky lounge. His chances of snagging a flight were looking less and less likely. “Everyone’s trying to rebook. Airlines are going in order of cancellations, but they’ve been canceling flights for almost three days now. There are just too many people trying to fly…”
“That sucks. What are you going to do?”
Whatwashe going to do?
“I don’t know. I’m on at least six standby flight lists right now, so I’ll probably just camp out at the airport tonight and hope one of those works out. What time does your flight leave tomorrow?”
He could hear Maddie rummaging around in the background on her end.
“I fly out at eight am. But with the time change, it’ll be late afternoon when I land in Detroit. Jakey’s picking me up, I assume?”
“Yep,” Rhett confirmed. “That’s the plan. I’ll send him your final flight details tomorrow morning once I know you took off on time.”
“Okay, sounds good.” She was quiet for a moment. He knew his sister well enough to know she had something else to say. “Rhett… are you going to be okay if you don’t make it home for Christmas?”
