The long dining room table was done up to its regular caliber, with a giant centerpiece made from a small frosted pine tree. Gingerbread cookies and little glass birds dangled and perched from the tree’s limbs. Paige and Sophia oohed and aahed over it, showering my mom with the compliments she loves.

“My designer in New York helped me with it,” Mom explained.

We all took our seats and I made sure to claim mine right next to Paige. Mariel brought the soup in, going into some lengthy explanation of what was in it, but I couldn’t listen. All I could think about was the conversation with Pops and Dominic.

Make my move… Stake my claim… I’d figured I did that months ago, and now here they were telling me I had to make my actions bigger.

Ideas began to form in my head as I watched Paige talking and nodding. The soft light from the chandelier made her hair and cheeks glow. I reached under the table and ran my thumb across the top of her thigh. She shot me an admonishing look.

Oh, but you like it, I wanted to say. Biting back a smirk, I picked up my soup spoon.

“Ugh, don’t even mention that,” Lia was saying, pointing her finger at Dom.

“What’s that?” I questioned.

Dominic chuckled. “I was just remembering the perm she got for her prom. Or, rather, the perm she tried to get. It looked like a rat’s nest remember?”

“Shut up,” Lia snapped. “Or else I’m going to tell everyone about your high school stash of magazines...”

Dominic’s mouth got tight and his nostrils flared as we got in a good laugh at his expense.

“Let’s all speak nicely to each other,” Mom said, picking up her wine glass and giving the contents a light swirl. “I’m certain there are better memories to discuss.”

Lia spoke up. “Remember those matching giant teddy bears Angelo and I got that one Christmas? He tried to take his to school with him he loved it so much.”

She giggled. “That’s so cute.”

“What about you girls?” Mom asked, looking from Sophia to Paige. “What are your best Christmas memories?”

The twins exchanged a glance.

Paige’s mouth fell slightly open. “Uh...”

“Last year,” Sophia quickly said. “We got a real tree for the first time. Remember Paige? We’d always wanted one but it always seemed like a hassle any other year so we always put up this fake one that comes in a box. Last Christmas, for the first time, it smelled like pine in our apartment. It was so great.”

“Yeah,” Paige said in an oddly thick voice. She nodded vigorously then looked at the table.

A lump formed in my throat. It was bothering her again. The Christmas thing.

I started to reach out to put my arm around Paige, but before I could touch her Pops reached across the table and patted her hand. “That sounds nice. Hopefully this Christmas will give that one a run for its money.”

She gave him a smile. It was dim, but she tried. “Thanks. I hope so too.”

A hush fell over the table, making the place feel more like a church than a dining room. Everyone knew what Paige had been through, and they consequently tended to tread carefully around her. Though they hadn’t been directly mentioned, the thought of Paige and Sophia’s parents was in the room.

The moment was broken by Lia clearing her throat. “What time is the mall closing?”

The mood gradually picked up from then. Desert helped, at least for Paige, who seemed content. I skipped the night cap, using exhaustion from the flight as an excuse, and took Paige to show her our room for the week.

“Wow,” she breathed, drifting into what had once been my childhood bedroom. All remnants from my Star Wars and guitar shredding days were gone, replaced instead by the simple furnishings. The best parts of the room were still there. Right above the bed a sun roof showed the crystal-clear night sky and wedged between the two floor length windows were the double doors leading out to a balcony.

I wanted that room when I was a kid, always eager to stay in it the few months of the year I was at the house. It wasn’t until I turned twelve that my parents thought I was old enough to stay in a room with a second-floor balcony.

In the summers between tenth and eleventh grade I’d snuck my fair share of girls in thanks to that balcony. If you climbed onto the garbage can around back and pulled yourself up to the first level roof you could then climb onto the second roof and, then, my balcony.

My parents would probably be horrified to find out that, while their security system did a good job of deterring burglars, it did nada in the face of hormonally charged teenagers.

“This is so nice,” Paige cooed, going to the double doors and opening them. A swift wind swept into the room and she quickly closed the doors.

Smiling, I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her. “It’s damned cold out there.”

“Yeah it is.” She shivered a bit in my arms.

I pushed some hair away from the back of her neck, breathing in a mix of her sweet shampoo and floral perfume as I grazed over her skin. “How are you feeling?”

“Good.” She tensed slightly in my arms, and slowly turned around to face me. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before about how I’ve been feeling. I didn’t want you to worry.”

“I can understand that, but you need to take care of yourself.”

Her lips twisted and she looked away. “Okay.”

“Hey,” I softly said, pulling her to me and putting my face within inches of hers. “I love you, all right? I want to make sure you’re happy.”

She nodded. “Do you think…”

“What?”

“Do you think Lia doesn’t like me?”

“Huh?”

With a sigh, she pulled away and walked for her suitcase. Flipping it open, she pulled out pajamas and a toiletry bag. “She kept staring at me.”

I started to smirk, but quickly corrected my face before Paige saw it. “Why would she not like you?”

“Exactly. I don’t know. It just doesn’t make sense.”

“Paige.” I walked over to where she knelt on the floor zipping her suitcase back up. “You were probably imagining it.”

She visibly bristled.

I quickly back tracked. “Not that you’re...” I gritted my teeth, lost for words.

Shit, was basically all I could think.

Paige stood up. “It’s okay. You’re right. I probably am. I’m just tired and maybe a little stressed out from the holidays.” She ran her palm over my arm.

“Was that weird for you, talking about Christmas before?”

She thought about it. “No. It’s the best Christmas I do remember. The ones when we were sixteen and seventeen were pretty awful, since we lived with our aunt. She wasn’t exactly a cheerful person.”

I planted my hands on her hips and pulled her to me. “Well you’re here now.”

“Yes,” she softly mused, looking up at me through thick black lashes. “Yes I am.”