How My Brother's Best Friend Stole Christmas - Molly O'Keefe Page 0,50

horns and pushing open the front door. “Hey!” he cried as Wes stuck his head around it.

“Penny!” Wes yelled over his shoulder. “They’re done standing around outside.”

Penny stepped into the foyer, pushing her glasses up higher on her nose and smiling… no, beaming at all of them. “Hi! Happy New Year!”

There was the kicking off of snow and hanging up of coats. Penny shuffled us into the kitchen. It was a sleek modern kitchen that had cupboards with no handles and stainless steel appliances. I always thought it looked cold but with Wes standing there smiling so hard, I realized that the cabinets were actually a warm brown and the lighting was nice and soft and anyplace looked better when the people inside of it were in love.

Penny took down champagne glasses that I’d never seen before in Wes’s house while my brother popped a bottle of the good stuff. “Is Mom here?” I asked him as he poured and I handed full glasses to W.B. and Joy.

“Not yet.”

“She’s coming?”

He shrugged.

“Is this a joke?” I asked.

“It’s a party,” he said. “Try and relax.” He poured the last of the champagne into my glass and then tossed his arm around my shoulder. “I’d like to make a toast,” he said and we all lifted our glasses.

But then my brother, who was never at a loss for words looked over at Penny and was silent.

And then, to my surprise, it looked like my brother got tears in his eyes. Oh Lord, this is gonna be a weird night.

“To love,” he finally said and Penny beamed.

“And surprises,” Joy added.

“And friendship,” Sam said and tears were suddenly hot in my eyes. We all clinked glasses.

“Come on, dig in!” Penny said and pulled out little plates – something else I’d never seen and we all dug into the big, gorgeous cheese tray on the island. Wes refilled our glasses and got Sam a beer and then…within minutes it was a party. It was all my friends. All this love. Sam was laughing at something Wes said, and Penny was telling us the story of how Wes actually proposed, for real—in, of all places, a divorce lawyer’s office. And I felt myself losing my worry about the one thing that might ruin all this fun - my mom.

There was a knock and I didn’t bother to brace myself, but when Sam’s mother came through the door I was relieved and I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t.

“Happy New Year,” Betty said and Sam, Wes, and I rushed to hug her and take her coat and Penny took the cake she’d baked.

“It’s not that gingerbread,” Betty assured me. “Just chocolate.”

“It’s perfect,” I said.

“Champagne?” Wes asked Betty, and she shrugged with a coy smile. She wore a fancy sweatshirt that said PARTY in rainbow sequins.

“One won’t hurt.”

And then it was Sam and Betty and me standing in the hallway. “So?” She blinked at us from behind her glasses. “You two have something to tell me? A late Christmas present, maybe?”

“Mom,” Sam said, rebuked.

“I love him so much,” I blurted, and Betty’s eyebrows lifted. “I have for so long.”

“I know,” she said, squeezing my shoulder.

“I love her, too. For just as long,” Sam said.

“I know,” Betty said with a nod. “I’m just glad you two have finally figured it out. Have you talked? Really talked?”

“Yes,” Sam said. “I told her about the PTSD and the concussion and—”

“He agreed to therapy.”

Betty’s eyebrows went sky high and she let out a sigh so deep it was like she was deflating.

“I’m so glad. I’m so…” She kissed my cheek hard and then kissed her son’s cheek hard. “Damn happy. It’s the best Christmas present a mother could get.”

I felt that doubt I didn’t want to feel about how my own mother would not respond to this news with the same joy. And I hated it. I hated that it bothered me. That it might in any way hurt Sam.

“Come on,” Sam said, putting his arms around both of us. “There’s a cheese tray in here you should meet.”

Back in the kitchen another bottle of champagne was opened and I drank a glass. Maybe too fast—that was debatable.

Joy was explaining the success of her porn ornament line, something W.B. was clearly horrified by, and soon there was another bottle of champagne and even Sam was laughing. Like really laughing. Like bracing himself on my shoulder and laughing, and I hadn’t seen him that easy in so long that it went to my head with the