Will

The ride down in the elevator was much less euphoric than the ride up. They were in a different car and it wasn’t decorated as festively as the one that took them to Santaland. The mistletoe was notably absent. And after what the Santa impersonator told Will, he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

Will kept glancing at Emma cautiously. It’s not that he didn’t believe Santa, or Franklin, rather. Franklin was the son of the super in Will’s building. He was only a few years older than Will, and was going to school for acting in the city. He’d been moonlighting as Santa at Macy’s for the past few years. So when Will was planning his day with Emma and Colin, he’d asked Franklin to tell him what they wished for so Will could swoop in and be the Christmas hero.

Of course Will hadn’t taken into account that both Emma and Colin would wish for things that he couldn’t buy. Will had been completely caught off guard by both of their requests. Colin wished for ‘the best Christmas ever.’ A nearly impossible task considering Will didn’t know anything about Colin’s previous holidays. And with Emma’s wish . . . he didn’t even know where to start. She wished she could make things right with him. Had she meant Will or Colin? And if she had meant Will, what had she done that she needed to make right? Did it mean she wanted something more?

Will was still pondering the endless possibilities of meanings when they arrived at the ground floor. The elevator doors slid open and they filed out, starting toward the exit until Colin pulled them back.

“Wait,” Colin called tugging at Emma’s arm.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“Will you help me pick out a Christmas present?”

She smiled. “Sure. Who’s it for?”

Colin waved her closer and whispered something in her ear.

Emma stood up and looked slyly at Will. “Oh, okay. Sure. That’s a good idea, buddy.” She faced Will. “Do you mind if we do some quick shopping?”

“Yeah. Of course.” Will started to follow them back into the maze of fragrances and cosmetics but Emma held her hand up.

“You kinda need to sit this one out,” she whispered nodding toward Colin, who was grinning like a criminal.

“We’re picking out something for you,” Colin said shyly.

Emma put her hands on her hips. “Colin, it’s not a surprise if you give it away,” she teased.

Colin giggled. “Oops!”

Will laughed and took the pile of jackets from Emma’s arms. “I’ll wait at the café on two. Have fun.”

“Thanks.” Emma grinned and took Colin’s hand.

As Will watched them go a knot tightened in his stomach. He needed to find a way to save their Christmas, and quickly.

Emma

“I’m telling you, he’ll love it,” Emma said reassuring Colin for the hundredth time that Will would like the tripod they’d picked out.

“But I don’t even know what it is?” Colin complained.

“That’s because you’re not a film maker. But Will is and he’s going to love your gift.”

As soon as Emma had seen the mini flexible tripod she knew it was the perfect gift for Will. He had a few larger ones he used with his professional cameras but this one would fit in his pocket for easy access when he was filming with his iPhone like he had been today.

Colin sighed, still unconvinced. “Maybe you should give him the Gorillapod and I should give him the tie.”

Emma laughed. There was no way she was giving up the tie. She found an identical one to replace the one Will had used as a tourniquet on her leg. “The tie is sort of an inside joke for us.”

“Why?”

“I kinda ruined one of his ties at a party the other night.”

“The night you stayed at Will’s house?”

Emma stopped walking. “How did you know I stayed there?”

“Will texted Dad to tell him you were sleeping at his house. I heard him and Mom fighting about it.”

Emma cringed for many reasons. It still felt weird to hear Colin call her father, Dad. But also, she couldn’t believe Will had been thoughtful enough to let her father know she was safe. Or that her father had a reaction at all. Had he been worried about her?

“Did my dad sound angry?” Emma asked.

“Oh yeah. But Mom told him to give you some space.”

That was even more shocking. If anything Tara should’ve been ratting Emma out for her snotty behavior. What was Tara’s angle?

“Is Will your boyfriend?” Colin asked interrupting Emma’s thoughts.

Emma flinched at the word. “No.”

“Why not?”

“It’s complicated.”

“But you like him?”

She nodded, unbelievably flustered to be admitting that to a seven-year-old when she hadn’t even fully admitted it to herself.

“And Will likes you,” Colin said like it was plainly obvious.

“Why do you think he likes me?” Emma asked.

“He’s nice to you.”

“Will’s nice to everyone,” she said. Almost to a fault.

“Yeah, but he asks Dad about you all the time.”

Emma felt her heart flutter. “He does?”

Colin grinned. “I think he loves you.”

“Colin!” Emma hissed. “You can’t go around saying things like that.”

“Why not?”

“Because . . .” What could she say? Because she didn’t know how she felt about him? Because if he did, she wasn’t sure she knew what that would mean? Colin looked expectantly at her. “Can you just trust me on this one?”

Colin chewed his lip as if he was truly mulling it over. He finally sighed. “Okay, but I still don’t think we found Will the perfect gift. He’s the coolest and I want to get him something great.”

“Tell you what,” Emma said. “We’ll give him the Gorillapod first and if he doesn’t like it, I’ll say it’s from me and you can give him the tie.”

Colin scrunched up his face. He wasn’t buying.

“And Christmas is still a few days away, so we’ll keep searching for the perfect gift.”

“Deal!” Colin said, sticking his hand out.

Emma shook it. “You drive a hard bargain, little man.”

Colin looked delighted with himself.

“I had fun with you today,” Emma admitted.

“Me too. It was the best day of my life.”

Emma’s heart melted a little more. She glanced at her phone to avoid looking at Colin’s adoring face for fear she might cry. But when she saw the time she frowned. They’d been gone longer than she planned. “We better get home. Plus, Will’s been waiting.”

Colin held Emma’s hand on the escalator, cheerfully chatting as they made their way to the Herald Square Café on the second floor. Emma saw Will sitting at one of the high-backed bar chairs with his back to them. Their jackets were piled on the empty chair next to him, but Emma’s eyes went directly to the occupied chair across from Will. Liz sat there, twirling a piece of her long black hair around her finger, grinning like Christmas had come early.

Emma’s heart plummeted. What the hell was Liz doing here? Emma watched in horror as Liz snapped selfie after selfie of her and Will, leaning in disgustingly close. God, she was like a freaking stalker-azzi! But then Emma reminder herself that for all she knew, Will had called Liz. He could deny that they were a couple all he wanted, but there was definitely something going on between them. Emma knew the Manhattan social circle was small. But casual acquaintances didn’t run into each other that often. And there was nothing casual about the way Liz was running her hands over Will’s shoulders. It looked more like she was staking her claim.

Emma considered sneaking away, but Colin blew that plan out of the water when he marched through the busy café calling to Will, holding his giftwrapped present in the air.

Liz sneered when she saw Emma scuttling up behind Colin. “Emmy! What a nice surprise. And who is this?” Liz asked looking at Colin.

“This is Colin Emerson,” Will said making the introductions. “Colin, this is Liz Vanderveer.”

“Hi Liz. You’re pretty.”

Liz practically purred. “Oh aren’t you precious? You’re Tara’s son, aren’t you?”

“Yep. And Emma’s brother,” Colin replied proudly.

“Is that so?” Liz asked smugly.

“Hey look!” Colin exclaimed pointing to the ceiling. “Mistletoe.”

He held his little hand up to Liz for a high-five, but she didn’t see it, considering she was busy crushing her painted red lips against Will’s.

Emma pounced, tackling Liz from her chair and beating the conniving wench with her velvet Gucci stilettos. At least that’s what she did in her head. In reality, Emma only lunged for Colin’s hand. She gave him a swift high-five and gathered their jackets before dragging him abruptly from the café.

“Wait? Why are we leaving?” Colin protested. “What about Will?”

“Will’s busy.”

“But—”

“No buts, Colin. We need to go!”

Colin pouted but he didn’t protest as Emma tugged him to the elevators, even as they heard Will shouting after them.