Page 95 of Nerdy or Nice
And good for Gwen, too.I'd make damn sure of it.
Less than five minutes later, Gwen returned to the bedroom, looking less happy than when she'd left.
I wasn't surprised.With a sympathetic smile, I said, "Lemme guess. She wasn't happy?"
"Yeah, but not in the way you think." Gwen hesitated. "She's home, but we didn't even talk. Or at least, we didn't talk about us." Gwen winced. "I'm pretty sure she's crying."
I studied Gwen's face."Prettysure?"
"Well, yeah. Just before I knocked, that's what it sounded like. So I call through the bedroom door and ask her if everything's okay. Andshesays she's fine, claims she just has a cold or something. But that's not the way it sounded." Gwen glanced in the general direction of the garage. "And what's up with her car? It should be around heresomewhere, don't you think?"
I frowned. "I don't know what to think."
Gwen gave me an anxious look. "But don't worry. I'm still gonna tell her – about us, I mean. I'll tell both of them the next time I see them. I promise."
I hated to see her looking so uneasy. "What is it?"
"What's what?"
"Something's bothering you."
"Of course something's bothering me," she said. "My cousin's crying."
"Yeah, but that's not all. I can tell."
Gwen hesitated for a long moment before saying, "Alright. I realize that you and Harper haven't exactly hit it off, but she reallyisa great person. Sure, she's tough and a little sarcastic, but you don't know her like I do. On the inside, she's a lot softer than you'd ever know." Gwen glanced upward as if hoping to see through the ceiling. "And I haven't heard her cry like that in years, not since we were kids."
Gwen blew out a long, trembling breath. "And I'm just thinking that if I make this big happy announcementnowthat you and I are together, it will feel like salt in the wound of whatever's bothering her." She bit her lip. "Don't you think?"
I was more concerned about Gwen than Harper. But I saw what she meant. I moved forward and gathered her in my arms. "You know what?"
"What?"
"Don'ttell them."
Gwen buried her face against my chest. "Yeah, but I know how you feel about secrets."
"AndIknow how I feel aboutyou." I stroked her lower back. "And you want the truth?"
"Always."
"Ilikehow you care about your cousins. It's the way I feel about Gramps. Even when he's giving me a hard time, that doesn't mean I don't love him."
I pulled back to gaze into her eyes. "I meant what I said. Until things settle down, let's just keep it between us, alright?" I glanced toward the bedroom window. "Hey, do you think I can fit through that thing?"
With a choked laugh, she said, "Probably."
I grinned. "Then it's settled."
Chapter 54
Gwen
It was nearly nightfall on Christmas day, and I was brimming with excitement. I'd just returned from my mom's place, where I'd had a surprisingly a good holiday.
Last night for Christmas Eve, I'd made Christmas cookies with my two younger sisters, and then today, we'd all chipped in to make a turkey dinner with all the fixings.
Add a couple of Christmas movies, some gift-exchanging, and the odd Christmas carol or two, and all of us had been feeling positively festive – until, of course, my mom's current boyfriend had shown up wearing a little something he called his "happy reindeer thong."
