Page 63 of Meet Me at the Christmas Cottage
Jonah gently wrapped his hands around Bree’s wrists and removed them from his chest. “Bree, we aren’t good for each other?—”
“Yes, we are,” she interrupted, sounding desperate. “We’re perfect for each other. Everyone says so!”
But at the shake of Jonah’s head, Bree fell silent. “That was years ago, Bree. We’re not good for each other, and maybe we stayed together for so long not because we were in love but because that’s what we felt like everyone expected of us.” Wasn’t that what he was doing now with being a surgeon? “I think we were just together for so long that we were comfortable, but comfortable doesn’t mean we were right for each other.”
Panic flashed across Bree’s eyes. “But if we’re not perfect for each other, what am I supposed to do?”
Jonah wanted to laugh again. Bree asking him for relationship advice? He barely had any answers for himself. But he took both of Bree’s hands in his. “Bree, you’re a wonderful person. There’s someone out there that is going to be completely head over heels in love with you, and you are going to be crazy about him.”
“But you’re not that person,” Bree finished Jonah’s unsaid statement.
“But I’m not that person.”
Bree took a step back. Her face flamed, and Jonah could see the tears welling in her eyes, even in the dim ballroom lights.
“I wish you well, Jonah.” She started walking backward, turning when she backed against a chair, almost falling. On instinct, Jonah lunged forward to catch her, but she righted herself before he got to her. She held her hand up. “I’m good.”
Was she telling him that or talking herself into it?
Jonah didn’t watch her go. Instead, he scanned the place for Bronte. She had just been with Jordi and Dani, but Jordi was currently on the dance floor with a tall black man, and he didn’t see Dani or Liam.
“Jonah, how are you not on the dance floor with Bronte yet?” Jordi asked, dancing over to him. “And this is Mick. He’s thinking about moving to the island. You guys should talk. You’d love him.”
“Jordi.” Jonah pulled Jordi over to him. “I need to find Bronte. Have you seen her?”
“I haven’t.” Jordi shrugged from his grasp and rose on her toes. “I saw her over by the front, like, two minutes ago, talking to Martha. Maybe ask her?”
Jonah scanned the area Jodi had mentioned. “Where’s Martha?”
“If you can’t find her out here, I’ll bet you she’s in the kitchen. I know Dani banned her from there, but honestly, do we think that’s going to stop her?” She grinned cheekily up at Jonah before fluttering her eyes at Mick. “Let’s go round once more?” She held her hand out, and Mick spun her away.
Jonah had to force himself to keep from jogging to the kitchen. Something felt off. Something had happened before Bronte had gotten up from the table, and now he couldn’t find her. Had he said something wrong? He racked his brain as to what could have set Bronte off, but nothing stuck out in his memory. He had just been talking to Finn.
The command center room. Jonah stopped halfway to the kitchen. Hadn’t Dani mentioned they had set up a command center of sorts in one of the side rooms? Changing course, Jonah headed toward where he thought it would be.
What if Bronte wasn’t there? Where else could she be? Maybe the bathroom. If she wasn’t in the command center, he’d get someone to check the bathroom. Although, at this point, he wasn’t beyond sticking his head in the ladies’ room and calling out.
Compared to the dim ballroom below, the command center was brightly lit. A folding table had been transformed into a buffet. Trays of finger foods and half-eaten pizzas from the pizzeria sat on the table, and Jonah guessed it was left over from the girls’ getting-ready party. An ice chest sat on the floor at the end of the table, and another smaller table held walkie-talkies and extra batteries. Clipboards were discarded on various surfaces around the room. Along one wall, bags, purses, and coats leaned in a haphazard line. But the room lacked one thing.
The person Jonah was currently looking for.
Okay then, on to find a female to help him check the bathrooms.
Rounding the corner, Jonah ran into Dani. He reached out to steady her.
“Oh! Jonah, hey, what are you doing in here?”
“Dani, sorry. I was just looking for Bronte.”
Dani’s face scrunched into a frown. “She left.”
“Left?”
“You didn’t know?”
“No.”
“I thought she would have told you. I thought you would be going with her. You really didn’t know?” she asked again.
