Page 53 of The Christmas Letters
“And all those reasons you gave for why you didn’t want to date her…” Chloe says.
“I’m over it,” I quickly say. “I was wrong. Tess is different.So different.I never should have assumed she’d be anything like Daisy.”
Chloe smiles, lifting her hands to her chest. “So you just need to tell her,” she says. “And quickly, Drew, because she really likes you, and it’s totally messing with her head toalsoreally like Max. She needs to know you’re the same man.”
I nod, debating on the wisdom of pulling Chloe and Deacon into my plan. But there’s no way around it. If I want to surprise Tess with a movie-worthy grand gesture, I have to tell them. “Do you think she can wait until Christmas Eve?” I ask.
And then I tell them everything.
Chapter Sixteen
Tess
Thereisnoletterfrom Max on Monday morning. Based on how quickly he’s responded to me in the past, there should be, so the disappointment coursing through me as I walk back to my apartment is acute.
All this letter writing has been amazing, but pretending like it’s 1803 and the only way to communicate is through actual freaking snail mail has me feeling particularly impatient.
I mean,fine.Letters are definitely romantic. But the waiting might actually kill me.
When I get back to my apartment, I call the post office to see if they’ve traded trucks for horses. Are we going back to the days of the Pony Express? Is that why I still haven’t gotten a letter from Max?
Their answer is less than satisfactory. Christmas is in five days. There are more letters, more packages than usual. Everyone is busy, blah, blah, blah.
’Tis the freaking season, but I want my letter!
I drop onto my couch with a huff and reach for my phone, which I left on the coffee table while I went to check the mail.
I have two text messages from Drew, and my mood immediately lifts.
Drew:I responded to a call at a hot yoga studio this morning and it made me think of you. Is the yoga you do hot?
Drew:Just making sure you know I’m genuinely asking about temperatures and not giving you a very lame pickup line. ??
I smile and drop my phone onto my lap. This isn’t the first time we’ve texted over the past few days. He sent me a message after the toy drive to congratulate me and apologize again for not making it there himself and then texted again with a random question about the classes I’m starting in January.
We’ve been messaging back and forth ever since. Nothing too crazy or overwhelming. Just a handful of times every day. We’ve talked about Roxie, the chocolate lab I met on the beach, and commiserated over being only children with no siblings. He’s asked me about the time I spent in Bali and Paris, and we’ve talked about other places we’d both like to travel.
He’s easy to talk to over text, which doesn’t surprise me because that’s one of the things I liked about him right from the start. But I can also tell he’s trying really hard to keep our messagesfriendly.
Which is exactly what I want. Or…what IthinkI want?
I told him I was talking to someone else, and he’s clearly respecting that boundary. The problem is, the fact that heisrespecting that boundary only makes me like him more. Because it means he’s a good man on top of being incredibly sexy and kind and handsome and good at his job.
I pick up my phone and respond to his message.
Tess:I’ve actually never tried hot yoga. But I want to. I’ve heard it’s killer.
Tess:Though, I hope not ACTUALLY killer? Was the person you responded to okay?
Drew:Totally fine. He was a little dehydrated, and he ended up passing out during class. But he’ll make a full recovery.
Tess:That’s good.
Tess:Is it hard when it doesn’t work out that way? When you respond to calls and people aren’t okay?
Drew:Yeah. It is. Not as hard as it was at first.
Tess:I bet you’ve seen some crazy stuff.
