Page 45 of What Happens This Christmas
Standing up, I took the mug from her and smiled. “Allow me.” I moved about, making her a cup of coffee. “How was your flight?”Insufferable, I hope.
Taking a seat, she placed a hand on the edge of the sketches on the table and quirked a brow. Now what? What exactly was her problem, besides the giant chip on her shoulder? “Don’t becontrite,” she answered, her voice flat and bored as she pursed her injected lips. “It’s not a good look on you.”
Would I ever win with this woman? Truthfully, as much as it pained me, I seriously doubted it.
Decidedly letting silence fill the air, because that was better than any alternative where she was concerned, I turned around and picked up my phone. It wasn’t like there was anything more I could do anyway. A fresh cup of coffee was dripping into her mug as I typed a message to Nick.
Candy:You better be stuck in a ditch somewhere.
Nick:It’s always nice hearing from you.
Candy:If you want nice, then send your mother to a hotel.
Nick:No can do.
Of course not because that would have been too easy, and it would have made me too happy. Blissfully so, in fact. What did it matter about that, though? So long as his precious mother was happy.
“What are you doing over there, grinding the beans yourself, dear?” Virginia asked, her impatience coming through loud and clear.
I glanced upward and left my phone face down on the counter.Don’t rip her head off. Don’t do it.Finally, grinding my teeth, I spun on my heel. “Just making sure you get the perfect cup.” She was allergic to cinnamon, and we wouldn’t have wanted any of that to wind up in there. “Tell me, do you still take your coffee with cream and sugar?”Or have you changed it to a simple black cup to match your heart?
She nudged her chin up, hardly looking at me as she responded. “Do you still serve sludge?”
Sludge?We had only the best coffee imported from Peru. It was mold-free, low acid, and organic. Equal parts sweet and full-bodied, its bean varietals originated as a mutation of bourbon, giving it a rich sensation with hints of praline and chocolate.
I leaned against the counter, bracing my hands behind me as I tapped my acrylics on the edge. “I didn’t realize you didn’t like our coffee.”
Her face scrunched, and her eyes narrowed. “That’s because you don’t listen, dear.”
I inhaled.
She grinned, but it wasn’t in the least bit sincere. “Not to worry. You shouldn’t strain yourself thinking back. It’s been quite a while since I’ve been here. I would have come more, but it seems my invitations all got lost in the mail.”
What, so now she needed an invitation to stop by? Did that mean Nick had actually invited this viper into our home? On our last Christmas together? “I didn’t—”
Shaking her head, she placed a hand up. “Never mind that. Why don’t you check the coffee? I can’t attest to your multitasking abilities.”
Oh, that woman had my veins burning as heat ran through them.
I.
Hated.
Her.
She was worse than a hangnail.
Worse than a knockoff masquerading as an original.
I turned around, pretending to check the coffee, and shut my eyes. Maybe if I ignored her, she’d go away. It sounded juvenile, but honestly, short of a temper tantrum, I would have tried almost anything. On an inhale, I opened my eyes and watched the last bits drip down and pulled the dripper from the carafe before she could say that grounds escaped and were floating in her cup.
“This is a new pot, so perhaps it’ll change the experience for you,” I explained, my face feeling like an egg about to crack withthe intensity of my smile. I was forcing it, but I didn’t think I had any other choice.
“It seems like you’re too good for filters, so I doubt that very much.”
Groaning inwardly, I bit down on my tongue so hard, in fact, I feared I’d make myself bleed. “The glass has a filter built in,” I tried to explain, but didn’t go into it further because I truly believed it would’ve been nothing more than a waste of my energy. Energy I needed to start reserving if she was going to be with us until after the holiday.
I resisted banging the mug down on the table in front of her, instead setting it down far more gently. “Here you go.” I feared my heart would thump right out of my chest with how worked up she was getting me. I’d go into cardiac arrest before Nick returned home.
