“There she is, the woman whose stolen my best friend’s heart,” Calvin greets me and Juliette at the door.

“Don’t embarrass me now.” I help Juliette take her coat off and hand it to Calvin.

“No. Please. Embarrass him. I want to hear it.” She slides her arm around my back, resting her hand in the back pocket of my jeans. I jump when she gives me a squeeze.

“Landon!”

“Hi, Monica,” I say to Calvin’s girlfriend as she steals me away from Juliette into a big hug. “You don’t come around here too much anymore. You’re always with this one. I assume this is Juliette? Hi, Juliette. It’s so nice to meet you. I’m Monica, Calvin’s girlfriend. Well, his live-in girlfriend, not wife, but who needs a ring, right? Wine, anyone?”

Monica takes a breath, and I wonder how she doesn’t pass out from fitting so much into one breath. She’s been hinting around to Calvin for a few months she wants to get married. Now she’s flat out telling him what she wants. I must talk to Calvin about that later to see how he’s dealing with it. He doesn’t discuss marriage often, but when he does, he gives me the impression he’s more against it than for it. That should make for an interesting conversation between him and Monica.

Monica disappears into the kitchen to pour us some wine. “Dude, I don’t know if she can be any more straightforward than that.”

“Yeah, she thought I was getting her a ring for Christmas. When she opened her gift card to Michael’s she wasn’t too happy.”

“A gift card?” Juliette repeats with a skeptical tone.

“It was five hundred dollars, and she loves to scrapbook and make crafts. I thought it was perfect!”

“Is he being serious right now?” Juliette points to Calvin.

“Unfortunately, yes.” I pat him on the back. “You have fun with that. We’re going to mingle.” I guide Juliette away from my friend as she waves goodbye. “Sorry about him.”

She laughs. “Don’t apologize. He may not know how to pick out a gift, but who am I to judge? I’m not exactly Santa Claus over here.”

“Nope. You’re a sexy elf, and we happen to be under a mistletoe.” She looks up, and before she realizes there is no mistletoe, I kiss her.

“What was that for?”

“Do I need a reason to kiss you?”

“No. Do it again.”

I do as she says, wishing we hadn’t come to this party, and we were at one of our houses instead. If we’re lucky, we can find a place to sneak off to at Calvin’s house. The place is pretty packed for the party though. I recognize a few faces from the gym, and a couple people I met in the past. There are more people here I don’t know than I do.

“Since I don’t know anyone, I think we should find Monica and our wine.”

“I like the way you think.” I take Juliette’s hand. As we’re about to enter the kitchen, Calvin stops us.

“Landon, hold up.”

He’s with a man I recognize but can’t quite place. His bright orange hair should be easy to put to a name. I rake my memory, nothing coming to mind.

“This is my buddy Tim Middleton.”

“Tim!” I snap my fingers. “Yes, you work at Livingston, Pierce, & Johnson. I’m sorry, I don’t recall what you do there.”

“IT. Security mostly. Like you, but I secure computers, not the building.”

We shake hands, and I try to remember the last time I saw him. His company is in the building across from Security Haven. Sometimes I would see him when I went out for lunch, and one time I met with someone at his company to sell our services. They weren’t interested.

“Nice to see you. How are things at LP&J?”

“Great. We’ve acquired a new company, much like Security Haven did. Look, man, I’m sorry about what happened there.”

Good news travels everywhere, I guess.

“Calvin filled me in.”

He lifts his beer bottle toward me as though he is reading my mind. I’m not sure how I feel about Calvin gossiping about my lack of employment, but I’m glad my firing didn’t make headline news or anything, either. “They invited me back to work as an independent contractor. I went for like ten minutes. Once they showed me to my office, I took one look around and couldn’t figure out why I was there. They lost their chance when they fired me. I shouldn’t go back.”

“I hear you do awesome work. It’s their loss.”

“Thanks, man.” Juliette’s hand rubs up and down my back.

“So, what if I tell you we’re looking to hire someone?”

“Oh? I thought you didn’t want to bring a company in.”

“We don’t. We’re creating our own division. I recommended you as the head of it.”

My eyes almost pop out of my head. “What?” Juliette drops her hand and takes mine, squeezing it. “Are you serious?”

“Serious as a heart attack. Why don’t you come by the office on the second?” He pulls a card out of his pocket and hands it to me. “Ask for me, and I’ll bring you in to meet my boss. I think this will be a good fit.”

“Yeah. That sounds wonderful. Thanks, man.” I acknowledge both Tim and Calvin because I should thank both. I’m grateful Calvin thought of me and passed my name onto Tim. He may suck at being a boyfriend sometimes, but his heart is certainly in the right place.

“Honey, that’s incredible!” Juliette jumps into my arms with a small squeal. She kisses me, and I lose myself in it for a moment. “Next year is going to be great! I can feel it!”

My body goes limp as I think of my sister. Next year may be a positive one for me, especially if I’m hired onto a new job and this relationship with Juliette keeps getting better, but for her, it’s not so awesome.

“Landon,” she pulls me away from the party to a spot in the back of the living room where no one is seated. “I’m sorry I said that. Well, I’m not sorry. I mean, it’s okay for you to be happy while Courtney goes through treatment. It’s probably better you are happy. She needs your positive vibes more than anything right now.”

With every word she says, I blink my tears away. It’s difficult to think of my life moving forward while my sister’s is at a standstill. I’m in the fast lane while she’s on a detour with an unknown path.

“Trust me like I know you do.” Her hands wrap around my fist, so warm and soft. If there’s anything I know right now, it’s that I trust Juliette.

“Okay,” I say. “Let’s enjoy the evening.”

And we do. We spend the night talking with people we’ve never met, make a few new friends, and laugh with Calvin and Monica. When the clock strikes midnight, and we share our first kiss of the new year, I truly believe everything will turn out okay.