Page 69 of The Holidays with Mr. Mitchell
“Not surprising.”
“We’ve prepared three approaches,” she continued briskly. “Option one: humor. Option two: dignified silence. Option three: a joint statement with Mrs. Mitchell.”
“Option three,” I said. “If I can get her to answer her damn phone.”
Her brows shot up. “So, we’re moving forward with the couple statement?”
“Draft the damn thing,” I said. “But make sure it sounds like me, and not like a man apologizing for having a sense of humor and a family that knows no end to their ludicrous pranks.”
“Yes, Mr. Mitchell.”
The hours blurred together.Meetings, edits, damage control. By the time PR finished putting out fires, it was after six. I checked my phone for what felt like the hundredth time. Nothing from Avery. No calls. No texts. Not even a sarcastic meme.
This ongoing silence hit me harder than the goddamn headlines.
I finally gave up, left the office, and drove straight to the Malibu house. She wasn’t there, so I had some hope that maybe she was at home and perhaps we could just get past all this stupid shit. That is, if she would finally fucking talk to me.
When I pulled into the garage, I felt a weight lift off my chest. Her car was there, and the lights were on in the house.
I stepped inside quietly. The scent of her perfume was faint but enough to twist something in my chest. Fuck, I’d missed her. I walked into the living area and found her sitting on the edge of the sofa, wearing jeans and a soft white sweater, eyes red and glassy.
For a second, I didn’t know what to say. Seeing her like that knocked the air out of me. Did this shit really fuck with our marriage in the worst way possible?
Avery looked up. “You’re home.”
“Finally,” I said quietly, walking toward her. “PR had me locked in my office all day cleaning up the circus that woke me up this morning.”
She gave a weak laugh. “How the hell did this spiral so hard with us?”
I sat down beside her, close enough that our knees touched. “I suppose we both just let it get stupid.”
Her lip trembled. “I didn’t mean to make you look bad, Jim. I just wanted to get even with your ass for driving me insane with that damn rescue tree. I can’t believe it’s come to this. It was supposed to be some silly and funny?—”
“I know.” I reached over and brushed my thumb along her cheek. “And for the record, you could never upset me. Even if you were the reason I’m trending as some billionaire bachelor having a midlife crisis,” I said with a laugh. “It’s just noise, Av. Dumb, viral, pointless noise.”
She sniffed, trying to smile. “All this shit between us just wasted a whole damn week.”
“Yeah,” I said, leaning in until my forehead rested against hers. “A week wasted fighting is one week too many. I never want to lose another like that with you.”
Her breath hitched, and I kissed her slow, sure, and long fucking overdue.
When I pulled back, she whispered, “So…we’re good?”
I smiled faintly. “We were nevernotgood, gorgeous. We’re just two idiots in love who let the internet and a dead brown tree get between us.”
She laughed through a tear. “God, that sounds ridiculous when you say it out loud.”
“It is ridiculous,” I said, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her against my chest. “But it’s over. No more games. No Mitchell family wars. Just us.”
“Just us,” she echoed softly, settling against me. “Ash took the girls until tomorrow.” Her smile—and that look I’d been craving all week—shifted something in me, flipping every thought to exactly how we needed to make sure this fight was over.
I scooped her up into my arms, kissed her neck, and strode toward the stairs. “I’m about to show you how much I’ve missed you this past week,” I said, kissing her temple.
“Promise we won’t stop until we’ve made up for all this wasted time,” she said, her lips trailing along my jaw and down my neck.
“Baby, you’re going to want a week’s vacation from me when I’m done proving how much I’ve missed you.”
With our phones left behind and our bedroom at our mercy, I moved swiftly toward the bed, and for the first time all week, the world finally shut up, and it was just me fervently showing my wife how much I loved every part of her.
