Katlyn Duncan - Wrapped Up for Christmas

A flash of Brett’s blond locks and million-watt smile threatened to crumple Angie’s composure.

Reese flipped her caramel hair over her shoulder. It seemed smoother than ever. Reese had been over the moon when she found out what pregnancy hormones did to her body. Her warm brown eyes peered down at Angie, filled with concern and warmth.

Angie couldn’t imagine starting a family, never mind getting married, since her life was already over. The dramatics were unnecessary, but it was hard to think of anyone but Brett at the moment. He had been the vision of her future. Now what?

‘Why don’t you grab Angie’s bags?’ Reese said to Jeremy.

He backed away as if Angie was a bomb ready to go off.

Angie stood straighter and wiped her face with her sleeve again. ‘Do I look okay?’

Reese raised an eyebrow. ‘I mean, I could lie and say you look great.’

Angie snorted a laugh, and more tears streamed down her face.

Reese folded her arms over her chest. ‘There are only two ways that dating your boss could go. Unfortunately, you got the short end of that deal.’

‘I never thought it would end like this.’

Reese patted Angie’s back before pulling her as close as she could, avoiding the basketball-sized lump under her shirt. ‘Love is a funny thing. Sometimes it blinds you.’

Angie wrinkled her nose at her friend. ‘That still doesn’t make me feel any better.’

Reese gently scratched the side of her belly. ‘It’s not supposed to. You’re hurting, and nothing I say is going to help until you start to heal. Right now, you can’t do anything about it. Brent—’

‘ Brett ,’ Angie corrected, even though the sour taste of his name made her already sensitive stomach quiver.

Reese waved her hands dismissively. ‘ Brett lied to you. Now you need to learn from it and move on. You’ve been on the go since you graduated from college. Take some time for yourself. Slow down and appreciate life.’

‘I can’t,’ Angie said.

‘Why not?’

‘Keeping busy is going to help me forget about him.’

‘Why not enjoy the time off and a chance to have a break? It’s Christmas, and you haven’t been home in forever.’

Angie shouldered her overpacked handbag she’d dropped at Reese’s feet. ‘Is any part of this conversation going to be helpful?’

Reese’s smile fell. ‘Were there any signs?’

Angie considered that question. It was all she had thought about when he informed her the day before Thanksgiving that they weren’t going to work out because of his fiancée. Fiancée!

The return to work was incredibly awkward. Angie didn’t flatter herself to think that every employee knew about her breakup, but all she could think about was where Brett was in the building and how she could avoid him. There was no way that she could watch Brett and his fiancée – soon, wife – strut around the hotel in front of her. Determined for them both not to get the better of her, she decided to quit and demanded proper severance pay to tide her over the Christmas period.

The signs, though? Angie spotted them immediately after coming out of her love cloud to stare them in the face.

Brett was away at least two weeks a month on business. She had made excuses for him, putting it down to work since he had a hotel to run. It had worked out well for her as she was busy planning events. Her work had started to pick up as Thanksgiving approached; everyone wanted a holiday party in the hotel during December. Every night she had passed out fast asleep well before ten to get up and do it all over again the next day. But that had been their routine.

‘He wasn’t around much lately,’ Angie admitted.

‘I guess absence didn’t make the heart grow fonder.’

Angie shot her a look.

‘Sorry,’ Reese said. ‘I can’t control it sometimes.’

When Reese’s family moved to Brookside, Connecticut when they were in the second grade, Angie liked her plucky attitude immediately. Her best friend’s sarcasm didn’t earn her many friends in high school or beyond. But Reese’s bluntness kept Angie down to earth, giving her a reality check as her mind tended to float up to the clouds. Even though it hurt to realize how idiotic she had been with Brett, she needed the truth now. It was the only way she could move on.

They walked over to Jeremy as he searched through every bag that passed him on the baggage carousel, much to the annoyance of the other travelers.

‘What color are your bags, Angie?’ Jeremy asked over his shoulder.

Angie wiped the residue streaks of tears from her face. ‘Green.’ When she had left for college, her dad insisted she had a set of suitcases for coming home. Even though they were a hideous shade, it was his way of helping her out when she traveled.

Jeremy rocked on his heels. ‘How festive.’

Reese lifted a small bag of trail mix from her back pocket. She ripped it open and started to snack. ‘I bet your mom is thrilled you’re coming home for Christmas. What did she say when you told her?’

Angie chewed on her lip. For the past five years, Angie had flown her mom out to visit her in San Diego for Christmas. It wasn’t the white Christmas they were used to at home, but for Angie, it was better than returning to a place which reminded her of her dad’s absence. Her mother didn’t complain too much when she sat on the terrace of Angie’s apartment, soaking in the sun. If all had gone well with Brett this year, everything would have been the same. It would have been the first time that Brett had been able to meet her mom.

‘Considering she hates flying, she was thrilled,’ Angie said, picking up one of her bags as it came by. Jeremy took another. ‘It finally gave her a chance to decorate the house. The Thompsons next door helped her with the tree and lights.’

‘The Thompsons?’ Reese asked with a snort. ‘I bet that was a struggle.’

Angie laughed and lunged for another of her bags.

‘I’ve got it!’ Jeremy appeared beside her and grabbed the handle before she could.

Angie stepped back and glanced down at Reese, licking her fingers for the last morsels of salt. ‘How are you feeling? Are you ready for the baby?’

Reese answered without looking up. ‘As ready as we’ll ever be.’ Reese snaked a hand around Angie’s waist. ‘I’m glad you’ll be here to meet her first.’

‘Wouldn’t miss it for the world.’

Reese raised an eyebrow.

Angie sighed. ‘It was going to be a surprise, but I did book a flight home after New Year’s.’ Another plan in her life she had to cancel.

Reese snorted. ‘You better have. Or else I would have kicked Brett’s butt for keeping you across the country.’

A break from California would get Angie’s head on straight again. Her life couldn’t get much worse, and she was determined to break her unlucky streak as soon as possible.

***

‘They’ve outdone themselves this year.’ Reese craned her neck to peer around the driver’s seat. The Thompsons next door spared no expense to make their house light up like a Christmas tree from December 1 stthrough mid-January every single year.

Angie had forgotten how brightly their house shone and the memory caught her by surprise. Each polished ornament from her childhood stood in the same place as if they were stored in a snow globe. Though there were a few new ones, including the six – no seven – elves appearing to prance along the sidewalk. She didn’t need to roll down her window to hear the joyous ‘ho ho ho!’ from the mechanical Santa surrounded by his famous reindeer.

Angie’s mom had always tried to keep her dad away from accepting Mr Thompson’s annual request for assistance with their display for fear of him breaking his neck falling from the roof. Her mom had aligned their Christmas tree shopping that same weekend for many years to avoid the argument. As a child, Angie had sometimes woken weeks after Christmas, hearing the sound from the Santa on the neighbor’s roof.