Page 6 of Holiday Home 3

“Right now, I guess,” Avril said, shrugging. “It wasjusta kiss. I know the timing was completely awful, but none of us here are like Anna, who thinks handholding requires a monthof formal courting. We’re all adult enough to know there’s a difference between a peck on the lips and me trying to drag him off to a bedroom or something.”

“It was a little more than a ‘peck on the lips,’ Avril.”

“Okay, well, it wasn’t a make-out session either. I kissed him. I shouldn’t have done it here, but I’m not going to be ashamed about kissing someone I like. No one should be ashamed about that.”

Easy, Avril,Liam thought nervously, sensing the subtext simmering beneath her final statement. The last thing he wanted right now was for them to return to the minefield so soon after escaping it.

Both women dashed his hopes on the rocks in short order.

“No one other than you has mentioned being ashamed of anything,” Tess retorted, mouth skewing downward at its ends.

Avril utilized her third shrug in as many minutes. “Just a sense I got. I think people should be more open about their feelings, that’s all. I bet it’d save everybody a lot of hassle and inner turmoil.”

“Only if other people are truly accepting of how others feel. Right or wrong, Anna worried about how we would react to not wanting to date Liam. Because of that, she kept us in the dark about it.”

“That’s fair,” the gorgeous redhead conceded. “I guess I’m a little too stubborn when it comes to Anna. But I’m usually plenty accepting of other things. Like I said, no shame from me. I want the people I care about to all be happy and untroubled.”

“Life is rarely so simple for most people.”

Avril nodded and showed a glimpse of self-awareness. “Yeah, I know; I’m the spoiled rich girl who doesn’t know how hard it is for most of the world. But this is just the life I was born into. Iamtrying to bring the people I care about along for theride.” Her eyes snapped back to him. “If they’d just let me buy their Christmas presents for them.”

“Not now, not next year,” Liam retorted, folding his arms stubbornly.

Snorting, Avril waved a dismissive hand in his direction before returning her gaze to Tess. “All I know is that I am who I am. Egocentric parts and all, I guess. I will try to temper my… tendencies going forward, at least in making sure it’s at the right time and place, but I’m probably not going to be able to ever sit on the bench and wait like Anna can. It’s just not how I’m made. I want to cram as much excitement and pleasure into my life as possible. I want to indulge and smile when I look at the years behind me, not sigh and think about all the things I let slip by because I was worried about what might go wrong or that things might not work out. I don’t think I could ever live my life hesitantly. It’s just not going to fly for me. And conceited as it is for a spoiled rich girl to say it, I think other people would experience a lot more contentment in their lives if they tried to do the same.”

By the end of Avril’s speech, Tess’s mouth had released the tension tugging its corners down. But that was all that Liam could discern from her countenance. Her gaze remained locked with Avril’s, who waited patiently for the older woman’s response. By comparison, she was a touch easier to read, primarily because of what shedidn’tdo. She didn’t lift her chin, smirk, or wear any form of smugness on her expression. Just sincerity. She’d placed her thoughts on the table, ready to trade with Tess if she was willing.

Whether she was willing or not, the opening of Tess’s front door fell like a guillotine through their conversation. Immediately, all three sets of eyes, in various degrees of frustration thatnowwas the time Anna returned, pivotedtoward the hallway. However, they all fixed their expressions well before Anna reappeared.

Liam knew he wasn’t the only one to breathe an internal sigh of relief when Anna reappeared, devoid of any puffy eyes or tearstains on her cheeks. The beautiful young woman smiled politely, as oblivious to the conversation she’d unknowingly interrupted as they were to the one she’d just finished herself.

“How bad was it?” Avril asked, concern flitting across her expression.

Anna shook her head. “It was my mother on the phone. My father’s currently in a meeting.”

“Would be great if he went on a business trip for a year or two,” Avril muttered.

“I don’t believe that will be happening. I haven’t checked the voicemails he’s left me.”

“Probably better not to,” Tess said. “How did Evelyn take the news?”

Anna’s pale green eyes shifted to him. “She’s… interested in meeting you. She…they, I’m sure, wanted to know our plans.”

“I’ll be available whenever you need me,” he said.

“Okay.” Anna swallowed but could not dispel the dreary cloud of anxiety hovering over her head. “I’ll connect with you so we can decide on the best day for… the meeting.”

“Just say when,” he said, sensing what was next along with the rest of the room.

“Thank you,” she said. “And thank you for having me over, Tess. I think I’ll be heading home now.”

“Of course,” Tess said, standing. He and Avril followed suit. “You are always welcome over here.”

Anna smiled and thanked her again. With Anna’s announced departure, Avril elected to join her. Some mild goodbyes followed, but it was clear to Liam that not everything, least of all the conversation that Tess and Avril had begun, hadbeen resolved. After seeing Anna and Avril to their respective cars, the former of which sat in his driveway, he and Tess lingered in his driveway once they pulled out and departed.

The question now was whether he was also supposed to head home. On his right, he could see the path through the tonnage of snow swamping their yards he’d so often cleaved through these past few days. His heart ached with worry about whether he’d unknowingly made his final passage through it when he and Tess had walked Anna to her car.

“Liam,” Tess said, yanking his gaze to his other side. She was staring at the headlights of Anna’s vanishing SUV, and no further words chased her utterance of his name.

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