“I haven’t told Mason about Thanksgiving with Slade’s family,” Livvy said into the phone.
Felicity sighed. “You might need a new strategy. I didn’t think that things would be moving this fast with Mason.”
“Me either.” Livvy pulled the blanket on her bed over her. It was snowing outside again, and tomorrow was Thanksgiving. She and Mason had spent time together every night for the past week... and Livvy knew her heart was now involved.
She’d managed to put off seeing Slade, although she hadn’t yet backed out on Thanksgiving with his family. Which she’d decided to do, but she still hadn’t brought herself to cancel.
“I think you need to tell Slade before dinner with his family, because what if he does something like propose?” Felicity said.
Livvy scoffed. “He wouldn’t do that... I mean, there’s only been that one kiss.” A kiss she could barely remember, since everything Mason had been consuming her thoughts. “I’ll cancel on dinner, say I’m going to my family’s after all. Then things can just sort of die between Slade and me.”
Felicity’s silence told Livvy that her friend didn’t agree.
“That’s not fair to Mason,” Felicity said at last.
“I know.” Livvy did know. And she wasn’t trying to dangle both men... she was just dreading telling Slade that she’d been seeing Mason. Everything was great with Mason, except for the fact that he’d be returning to San Diego. Possibly before Christmas. Mason had written 200 pages of his book, and since his books were around 300 to 350 pages, it was like a giant ticking clock counting down.
“Tell Slade tonight,” Felicity pressed.
Livvy moaned. “It would be so much easier to lie, but I owe him the truth. I don’t want him hearing about Mason from someone else. We haven’t been outed yet, but once I’m free of Slade, things with Mason could get more public.”
“I could be your Cyrano de Bergerac,” Felicity offered.
“That’s why I love you, Felicity,” Livvy said. “You’re willing to dwell in the trenches with me.” She glanced at the time on her phone. 7:00 p.m. Slade was on call tonight, but if he wasn’t at the hospital, then he should be able to talk on the phone. Or in person. She sighed. “Okay, I’m leaving the house now and going over to Slade’s place. Weirdly, Mason got invited to do something with Dawson Harris, and even more weirdly, Mason accepted. So... I can confess my horribleness to Slade, then wallow in guilt the rest of the night alone. Wish me luck.”
Felicity gave a short laugh. “Good luck,” she said with confidence that Livvy didn’t feel. “And you can always come over to my place after for chocolate.”
“Thanks,” Livvy said, then hung up. She could do this... she had to do this. Mason was busy, and Slade was on call, probably sitting at his condo, waiting to be called into hero status again.
She left her bedroom and found her coat and boots. The snow was coming down pretty good now. Mallory had already left for the long weekend to be with her family, and Livvy would have Thanksgiving dinner with Felicity. Mason had insisted on sticking to his writing and frozen pizza. Maybe Livvy would surprise him with dessert.
She opened the garage and started up her car, then she drove slowly through the neighborhoods of Pine Valley. The snowplows weren’t out yet since the snow was so new, and she guessed service would be slow anyway with the holiday.
Slade lived in a newer condominium community. He’d never talked about his plans to buy a house, but Livvy had never asked him either. She’d only been to his place once, and it was obvious the last thing on his mind was decorating. He had nice furniture, but nothing on the walls.
Livvy parked and climbed out of her car. The cars in the parking lot were already piled with a couple inches of freshly fallen snow. Livvy hoped this would be a quick exchange—or breakup—so she could make it back home before the town was buried.
When she reached Slade’s door, she was surprised to see so many lights on. Voices were coming from the other side of the door—multiple voices—did he have people over? She couldn’t appear on his doorstep when he had company and break up with him. Stepping away, she was about to turn and leave when the door opened.
Two men came out, laughing about something.
Livvy glanced back, then wished she hadn’t. One of them was Slade.
Okay, so maybe his company was leaving and they could talk.
“Liv?” Slade said. “Hey, I didn’t know you were coming over.”
“Uh, yeah,” Livvy said. “I thought I’d stop by since I was . . .” Her voice trailed off. “Is this your brother?”
Slade grinned. The man next to him looked a lot like Slade, but older, with a bit of a paunch belly and a much thinner hairline.
“Mike’s in town for Thanksgiving and stopped over to watch the game, but his wife keeps texting him,” Slade said.
Mike laughed. “You know wives.” He elbowed his brother.
“Mike, this is Olivia Harmon,” Slade continued. “Liv, this is Mike.”
“Hi.” Livvy felt like she had a rock in her throat, but she stepped forward and shook Mike’s hand.
His hand was hot and clammy, and her hand was, well, cold.
“Great to meet you, Olivia,” Mike said. His teeth were as white and straight as Slade’s. “I’ve been wondering if my little brother was making up stories of his mystery girlfriend. Now I know you’re real.”
He and Slade laughed, and Livvy joined in, although her laugh burned her chest. How could she have thought showing up at Slade’s unannounced would be a good idea?
“Well, see you tomorrow, Olivia,” Mike continued. He leaned toward Slade and said in a stage whisper. “Mom’s going to love her.”
Slade actually blushed.
Livvy had never seem him blush or act self-conscious about anything. She’d also never seen him around his family. She wanted to run back to her car and drive home. Breaking up over texting was totally normal now, right?
“Hey, are you coming back in?” a woman said from the doorway. “It’s freezing out here.” The tall, willowy woman had sleek brown hair that hung almost to her waist. Since she also looked quite a bit like Slade, she could only be his sister, Jessica. Her green eyes widened as her gaze met Livvy’s.
“Oh, hi there.” Her smile was wide and full of anticipation. “You’re Liv?”
She nodded because her throat was suddenly dry.
“Yeah, we’re coming in,” Slade said. He placed a hand on her back, and she had no choice but to walk into his apartment.
“Nice to meet you at last. I’m Jessica,” Jessica said. “We were all about to wring Slade’s neck for not bringing you to our family dinners.”
Livvy smiled despite the sick feeling growing in her stomach. Apparently everyone in Slade’s family knew about her.
She moved past the entryway and into the living room where a football game was on, and the coffee table was littered with drinks and bowls of chips. Two other people were there, and Livvy recognized one of them.
“Hi, Sarah,” Livvy said, and before she could ask what her connection was to Slade’s family, Jessica answered her question.
“Oh, of course you know Sarah Lynne,” Jessica said. “Sarah and I go way back. High school if you can believe it. Our boys are the same age, too.”
Sarah smiled at Jessica. “And both boys are a load of trouble.”
Jessica laughed. “True.”
Livvy could definitely see the two women as friends. They had similar, graceful looks, and both had friendly personalities.
Slade draped an arm over her shoulder.
Livvy tried not to stiffen, but it was impossible to tamp down the embarrassed heat rising in her neck, because Sarah was looking directly at Livvy—with a knowing look in her eyes. Sarah had been a witness to Livvy and Mason’s breakfasts at the café. Since that first breakfast Livvy had been to with Mason, they’d met there two other times. They’d never shown any affection in public, but Livvy knew that Sarah wasn’t dense.
“Liv, I’d like you to meet Ben,” Slade said, “who’s married to my sister.”
“Hi,” Livvy said to the dark-haired man who had just risen from the couch. He stepped forward and shook her hand.
“Now it’s a real party,” Jessica said, all smiles. Another set of perfectly straight white teeth. “And Slade says more people are coming.”
Livvy didn’t know if she could handle any more people. Slade’s family was plenty. Please don’t be his parents, she silently begged. How would it be to meet his parents tonight, only to have Slade show up for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow and announce their breakup? It was hard enough meeting his brother and sister.
Livvy wished that Sarah was a closer friend, then maybe she could pull Sarah aside and explain a couple of things. Instead she’d have to deal with knowing Sarah was probably judging her pretty harshly right now, and rightfully so.
“Are you hungry?” Slade asked. “We have pizza and salad in the kitchen.”
“Not really—” Livvy started to say when Jessica clasped her arm.
“I’ll show you,” Jessica said. “Then we can have some girl time. I can’t tell you how hard it is to get Slade to eat anything but rabbit food. He’s such a health nut. But he says you like pizza.”
Livvy breathed. “I do.”
Jessica laughed. “What a relief. My brother’s girlfriend is normal.”
Livvy laughed too, but it was forced. Before she knew it, she was being tugged into the kitchen by Jessica.
Sarah joined them too. “Oh, good, a break from the men chest-pounding about their high school football days.”
“Nothing is so important as high school football,” Jessica said with a smirk.
Sarah laughed and shook her head. Livvy smiled, but it felt like she was moving mountains to do so. Normally the pizza would look delicious, but Livvy knew she couldn’t eat a thing.
“So what kind of pizza do you want?” Jessica picked up a plate as if she was about to dish it up for Livvy. “Are you a pepperoni gal, or do you like the gourmet?”
“I’m not that hungry,” Livvy said. “I’ll just have a drink for now.”
“All right,” Jessica said, waving the plate. “If you’re sure... ?”
Livvy nodded and poured a drink of soda and took a sip, as if to prove her point. “So where are you from?” she asked Jessica.
As Jessica talked, Livvy wondered how long she could make small talk before coming up with some excuse to leave. She could always use the weather, but everyone here probably had a car and would have to drive as well. And she didn’t want to corner Slade into being gallant and saying he could take her home in his Land Rover later.
Livvy nodded at whatever Jessica was saying about her two kids. Apparently she had a daughter and a son.
“They’ve probably worn out Grandma and Grandpa by now,” Jessica said. “I should text my mom.”
Good. Livvy could use Jessica’s momentum to leave to leave herself.
“Oh,” Jessica said in the next moment. “They’re watching Moana together. Adorable.”
Sarah said something about how her son was obsessed with Moana too, when the doorbell rang. Livvy’s stomach tightened as she heard new voices coming from the other room. Male voices.
And then everything around her stilled as she felt the blood drain from her face.
Mason was here. She also picked out Dawson’s voice, which was loud and clear as he introduced Mason to Ben.
Slade said something, and everyone laughed.
Livvy looked toward the kitchen window. She could totally fit through it. Climb out and creep down the stairs. Jump in her car and leave.
“Well, sounds like Slade’s lawyer friend is here, Sarah,” Jessica said with a wink. “Is he as cute as you told me?”
Sarah flushed. “You can be the judge of that.”
Jessica sighed a happy sigh. “Sometimes I miss the single days, but most of the time I don’t.”
Sarah laughed a bit nervously. “Dating with a kid is a whole other ball game.”
Jessica nodded. “I’ll bet.” She looked at Livvy. “Well, let’s go rejoin the men, shall we?”
What could she say? I’ll stay in here and eat. Then make her window escape?
It seemed that Jessica was a very hands-on woman, and she linked arms with Livvy, steering her into the living room.
Slade sat perched on one of the arms of the couch. Ben sat on the other end of the couch. And Dawson and Mason were sitting in two chairs. Mason was leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees, his eyes on the TV screen.
Livvy’s heart went into overdrive as he looked up and their gazes met.