Page 48 of The Christmas Letters
“I’ll second that,” Chloe says. “Johnny really is terrible.”
“Thank you for covering for me,” I say to Drew. “You didn’t have to, and I really appreciate it.”
He grins. “Are you kidding? And miss out on an opportunity to show my ex I’m perfectly fine without her? Trust me. I didn’t mind.” He shoots me a smoldering look, his blue eyes intense and focused. “It was nice to realize how much I don’t care anymore.”
Oh. Oh my.This man could do some serious damage looking at women like that. Looking atme.
“Work,” I blurt, and Drew frowns.
“Work?” he repeats.
“We should talk about work,” I say, scooting my chair back as far as possible without actually leaving the table. “How’s work for you, Chlo?”
She eyes me like I’ve completely lost my mind, which, maybe I have. But I had to do something to stop whatever was happening with Drew, and work was the first topic that popped into my mind. “It’s good,” she finally answers. “We delivered a set of identical triplets the other day. That was cool.”
“No way,” Drew says. “I gave a woman who was pregnant with triplets a ride to the hospital this week. I bet it was the same person.”
This is good. Triplets! Work!Anythingis better than talking about—
“Tess, I don’t think you ever told me what you do for work,” Drew says.
My shoulders slump. I take it back. Anythingis not better.Thisdefinitely isn’t.
“Um, I’m actually in between jobs right now,” I say slowly. Which is true. But how spoiled can I be? Who has the privilege to just float around doing nothing for months at a time? It sounds like something Daisy would do, and that is not a comparison I want Drew to make.
“She’s starting school in January,” Chloe says. “Business school. And one day she’s going to open a yoga retreat center and it’s going to beamazing.”
I smile, touched by Chloe’s confidence in me, but it’s the warmth in Drew’s voice that really sets me on fire. “Thatdoessound amazing,” he says. And it sounds like he really believes it.
“Thanks,” I say, a blush flooding my cheeks. “It feels like it’s still so far away. But I’ve got a job at a yoga studio that should help me learn the industry along with my classes. I’m excited about it.”
“You should be excited,” Drew says, holding my gaze like we’re the only two people in the room. “It takes guts to be an entrepreneur. But I have a feeling you’ll be really great at it.”
Drew’s phone buzzes from the table, and he ignores it, but then it buzzes again, and again, and again. He frowns, shaking his head the slightest bit, but then he catches sight of the screen. He immediately picks up the phone, leaning away from me and breaking whatever tension was crackling between us. “It’s my grandmother,” he says. He makes eye contact with me. “Tess, I’m so sorry. But I have to go.”
I nod. “Of course. Go. I hope everything is okay.”
“I think it is,” Drew says, “But she says she isn’t feeling well, and she lives by herself. I’ll feel better if I check on her myself.”
Drew quickly says goodbye to Chloe and Deacon, then looks at me one last time. “I had a really nice time tonight, Tess.”
I nod, biting my lip. “Me too.”
Chloe clears her throat as soon as Drew is gone. “Deacon, should we feel offended that Drew didn’t apologize tousfor leaving?”
Deacon grins across the table. “That man has it bad, Tess. Whatever reason he had for not calling you, I think he got over it.”
“Definitely,” Chloe says. “He’s obviously into you.”
I lift my hands to my still-flushed cheeks, my eyes shifting from Chloe to Deacon, then back again. “He tried to kiss me tonight,” I say.
Chloe’s mouth drops open. “What? When?”
“When we went to get the wrapping paper. We didn’t though. I stopped him.”
“Why?” Deacon asks.
“Because ofMax,” Chloe says to Deacon like the answer should have been obvious.
