Page 70 of Meet Me at the Christmas Cottage
“Back up. I thought you had the place rented out until the end of the week? They can’t do that. They’d better be refunding you for the last few days you paid for. If you aren’t going to ask for it, you’d better believe I will.” There was a fight in Lexi’s voice.
Bronte smiled. Of course Lexi would be ready to throw punches for her. “No, Lex, it’s fine. Apparently Holland messaged me they would be coming home early. I just didn’t see it because I had my notifications silenced.” Bronte didn’t add that she’d silenced her notifications because she’d been ignoring Lexi. “And she already refunded me for the entire stay.”
“Good. That’s good.” Some of the bite disappeared from Lexi’s voice. “So, what does Jonah having a big family have to do with you telling him you couldn’t have kids?”
“He told me he was falling for me.” Bronte gave up looking for her earbuds and flopped down on the bed. “A big family is all he wants, and I could never give him that.”
“So you’re going home.” It wasn’t a question.
“I was going home before I told him.” Bronte closed her eyes, but whenever she did, she saw Jonah’s lips on Bree’s—it didn’t matter if it hadn’t actually happened. It’d be better to keep her eyes open. “An old girlfriend showed up. You know how this is going to play out.”
“But he told you he was falling for you before or after she showed up?”
“It doesn’t matter. After I’m out of the picture, he’ll see that she’s actually what he needs.”
“Oh.” Bronte could hear in Lexi’s voice that she wanted to argue, but they had argued this point so much over the years that Lexi had to know it was no use. “Bronte, I’m so sorry.”
Bronte sighed, the feeling of defeat settling on her. “Yeah.”
“What time are you leaving tomorrow? Do you need me to look at flights or anything?”
“I already booked a flight. I’ll leave in the morning by five. I found someone to take me to the docks and have set up a ride across the lake.”
“Do you want me to meet you in Tulsa?”
“Lexi, no. It’s Christmas. I know how important it is to you and your mom. I’ll be fine. I just needed to tell someone.”
“Okay, sweetie. I love you.”
“Love you too.” Bronte ended the call and let her hand drop to the mattress. She stared at the ceiling, trying to conjure the energy to get up, turn the lights out, and go to bed. Cody would be here in less than four hours to give her a ride to the mainland in his boat.
“God, why does this hurt so bad?” Bronte hadn’t realized how much she wished she had been able to go to the midnight service. She needed the comfort she remembered feeling as a little girl when she’d gone to church those handful of times. She had wanted to go as an adult, but fear of possibly being rejected had always kept her from trying. “I haven’t even known him for that long,” she whispered toward the ceiling, but there was no answer in response. Had she expected there to be one?
How many times had she told herself that God wasn’t a fairy godfather who would wave a wand and make all her pains go away? But just this once, she wished He’d make an exception.
* * *
An alarm was blaring.
Bronte jolted awake, shutting off the alarm on her phone. When had she fallen asleep? It didn’t matter. It still felt as if someone had dumped an entire sandbox into each eye before running her over with a dump truck. The lamp on the side table was still on, and the window still showed a sky painted black.
The alarm started blaring again, and only then did Bronte realize that it wasn’t an alarm blaring but her phone ringing. She’d thought she had turned it off.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Bronte, I’m outside. You ready to go?” Cody greeted her, far too chipper for the time.
Bronte scanned the room quickly, making sure she wasn’t leaving anything behind. “Yeah, sorry. I’ll be right down.”
Bronte splashed water on her face, hoping it’d help with the groggy feeling. After donning her coat and wrapping her scarf around her neck, she slung her messenger bag over her shoulder and pulled her suitcase behind her, forgetting about the broken wheel. The suitcase thumped to the side when she pulled. That was no good. She’d wake the whole house pulling it out the door. Sighing, she grabbed the handle and stuck out her hip, being careful not to hit the doorframe or any walls in the hallway on her way down the stairs.
“Oh, are you leaving so soon?”
Bronte stifled a scream, remembering, just barely, that the house was still sleeping as she dropped her suitcase to the floor and turned.
One of Jonah’s sisters stood in the hallway, backlit by the kitchen lights. Her sleep pants dotted with Santas made Bronte think of Jonah’s collection of Santa socks. With a pang, Bronte realized she wouldn’t be seeing any more of Jonah’s ridiculous socks.
“Yeah, Cody’s giving me a ride to the docks and then over to the mainland. I have an early flight.” Bronte moved to the door, hoping Jonah didn’t appear. Or maybe she hoped hewouldappear and ask her to stay, that his dream had changed. But she knew that wasn’t how this ever worked.
