Page 81 of Retrograde
‘I don’t know…’ He thought about it.
‘Faith has it in her head that everything’s going to work out, because Christmas is a magical time and all that crap.’
‘I’m in,’ Brett agreed, hoping he hadn’t just committed to making yet another terrible mistake. ‘And Jules? Your wife had better be right.’
32
‘It’s snowing!’ Jasmine screeched from out by the pool, which Julien had reluctantly covered up because Ford kept jumping in. As a husky, he was used to the cold, but Faith and Lucie were tired of having to dry him off. ‘Oh, it’s so beautiful! I’ve never seen snow before.’
It was Christmas Eve and Lucie had been sucked into the Jensen-Moretz family traditions as if Julien and Faith were Mr and Mrs Claus themselves. She didn’t dare disappear to her room for more than a few minutes of peace for fear of one of them dragging her out of bed like a scene from a horror film, forcing her to participate and find some Christmas spirit.
The truth was, she was struggling to find it within herself this year. She loved Christmas, curling up on the sofa with a blanket and a festive film, decorating the tree, baking tree-shaped cookies and then ruining them with a poor attempt at icing. It was her favourite time of the year, and she always spent it with Brett. He was her partner in crime, indulging in everything she wanted to do even if it meant watchingThe Holidaythree days in a row.
She wished she could get excited about him coming to Belgium to spend it with them, but instead she was dreading it. Marco had been tracking Brett’s whereaboutsand updating her on every step of his journey, so she had plenty of time to prepare, and he’d promised to sit next to her during every meal, so she didn’t have to get too close to him. God forbid she had to ask him to pass the mashed potato or cranberry sauce. But Lucie knew now was the time to talk it out. She wasn’t going into the new year with this hanging over their heads.
Part of her wished she’d made plans to go back to Tuscany or Los Angeles and be with her family, but she was growing tired of fighting this. They had ten years of friendship behind them, this was surely just a blip. Whether they had feelings or not, their bond was supposed to be unbreakable. She couldn’t lose him.
‘Lucie, it’s time!’ Marco came hurtling down the stairs like it was Christmas morning and he’d been told Santa was coming down the chimney. ‘He’s here.’
Brett pulled up in a black Mercedes G-Wagon, because ofcoursehe would rent one of the most expensive cars he could find just to drive two hours from the airport. Lucie acted like she hadn’t noticed his arrival, in case he looked through the window next to the front door. She didn’t want to be caught staring. Or drooling. At him or the car. She made a conscious effort to turn her back and focus on pulling the cookies out of the oven, ignoring the timer and waiting a few extra seconds so she was visibly busy when he walked in.
‘Hi, everyone.’ At the sound of his voice, Lucie abandoned her plan and turned to him. He looked ten times more uncomfortable than she felt as he stood in the doorway holding three bunches of flowers. All winterbouquets, with cream roses, eucalyptus, fir, cotton and pinecones. They looked exactly like one Lucie had saved to her inspiration board years ago.
‘Hey.’ She shot him a smile, hoping it would go some way towards dissolving some of the tension. The one he responded with made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and she knew it wasn’t just Christmas spirit.
‘Uncle B!’ Jasmine came in from outside with a snowy Ford in tow, both tackling Brett, who was doing his best not to let the flowers get squashed.
‘One of these is for you, Jazzy,’ he held out a bouquet, ‘and one is for Faith.’
Faith wiped her hands on a tea towel and walked towards him, pulling Ford’s collar to stop him jumping up. ‘Jules, control your dog, please.’
‘He’sourdog, Faith!’ Julien took charge of him, nonetheless.
‘Where are our flowers, Anderson?’ Marco put his hands on his hips.
‘Sorry, uh, Luce. These are for you.’ He held out the last bouquet, creeping closer to the kitchen where Lucie had stayed rooted to the spot. She removed her oven gloves and rounded the centre island, all her strength diminished as she embraced the moment. She stood on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around him, in a hug that was so needed, she could’ve sworn their entire world shifted.
‘Thank you, Brett.’ She spoke in a hushed tone, and it was only when she spoke that she felt him sigh under her touch before returning the hug, squeezing her tight.
‘Get a room,’ Julien scoffed. ‘Ow! Faith!’
‘It’s just as well you got here when you did, Anderson.’ Faith peered outside. ‘The snow is getting heavier; the whole region might be on lockdown soon.’
Jasmine grinned and helped herself to a fresh-out-the-oven cookie. ‘That means you all have to stay longer and hang out with your favourite niece.’
‘Does it look like I’m going anywhere?’ Lucie deadpanned.
‘That’s true. You’re still going to be here when I go to college at this rate.’
‘Okay, maybe that’s too far.’
‘Well, you could,’ Julien shrugged. ‘I’m building a guest house out the back next year, and I’ll probably add an extension to the main house for when Faith and I have more babies.’
‘You don’t have any babies.’ Jasmine rolled her eyes.
He ruffled his daughter’s hair playfully which, judging by her dramatic reaction, was the wrong move. ‘You’ll always be my baby. Even though you’re a giant now.’
‘If you could have like, six more kids to take some attention off every little thing I do, that would be great. Please. I want siblings.’
