The Broody Brit for Christmas (Holiday Springs #1) - M.J. Fields Page 0,47
hand and gives it a squeeze. We remain silent for the next several minutes.
Pulling into my driveway, I see Nellie’s vehicle, a little red Mercedes-Benz, sitting in the driveway.
“Would you like me to go in with you?” he asks.
“No.” I shake my head. “Of course not.”
“You have ten minutes, and no, Nikki, it’s not being possessive or controlling. She crossed a line last night.” His features tighten, showing that he’s quite serious, and my chest tightens. It’s slightly overwhelming, but not in a bad way, quite the opposite actually. It’s like my heart receiving a much-needed hug.
“I’ll be back in nine.”
The smile I receive from him… incredible.
Stepping out of the vehicle, I turn and lean back in. “What should I wear?”
“Very casual. Jeans, yoga pants, whatever you’ll be comfortable in, and layers. As you know, the weather turns on a dime here.”
I’m thankful that the door is unlocked when I turn the handle, but when I walk in Nellie is standing at the sink, as if she’d been waiting for the moment I walked in. Turns out, I’m not so thankful at all.
“The dishes are still waiting,” she snaps as if she’s in charge of me.
“I don't know if you realize it, but I wasn't even here last night.”
I start walking toward the stairs and hear her following me.
I stop and pat our old Duke on the head and wait for whatever crap she’s going to start with me.
“The whole town's talking about where you’ve been for two nights in a row.”
I look over my shoulder as I scratch behind Duke’s ear. “The whole town can talk all they want. I’m an adult, and so is Raff.”
“Do you think my parents want to hear about how their skank of a niece bed hops from one man to the next like this?” She snaps her fingers in my face.
“Townes and I haven’t been together for months. It’s over. I’m allowed to move on.”
“Maybe you shouldn't pick a rebound who has a child.”
Biting my tongue, I scratch Duke behind the ear before walking up the stairs to change.
“Where are you going?” she calls behind me, and I don't say a thing because she is actually acting insane.
Two things my parents always said hold true in this instance, ‘If you have nothing to say, don’t say anything at all,’ and ‘Don't poke crazy,’ the latter one I never understood until right this minute.
I close the door behind me, walk to my closet, push past all my aunt’s knitting supplies, and grab a pair of jeans, a tan lightweight sweater, and my off-white pea coat that’s thin enough for fall.
I pull off the sweatshirt Raff had let me borrow to wear and pull the sweater over my head and continue dressing. As I’m pulling up my jeans, the door opens.
“Are you going to do the dishes before you go and further embarrass this family?”
I could say so many things right now to put her in her place, but I don't bother.
“Oh my God, really, you’re going to be so childish and pretend like I’m not even here!”
Grabbing a small black weekender bag from under my bed, I tell her, “I’m not pretending anything. I’m simply not going to fight with you because we’re family.”
“When it’s convenient for you! You never even came to visit. We weren't good enough for you, were we?”
Shocked, I look up at her as I shove some clothes into my overnight bag. “That’s not true, Nellie. I love you all.”
“Yeah,” she huffs, “so you send in your holiday cards, birthday cards, and a phone call a couple times a year. You never even asked me to come visit.”
“That’s not true, you all came to visit me in—”
“Twice! And we weren't even good enough to stay with you in your fancy penthouse.”
“Nellie, it was never my penthouse,” I sigh. “And if it hurt your feelings, I can assure you it was never my intention, but trust me when I tell you, I understand that pain.”
“Where are you going?”
“Raff has a soccer game,” I say, zipping up my bag.
She rolls her eyes. “And staying with him.”
Hefting my bag over my shoulder, I nod.
She gives me a disgusted look, turns: and walks away, mumbling, “And like usual, she will just disrupt anyone's lives for her own selfish needs.”
I grab my spare keys off my dresser because somehow my other set ended up locked in my Jeep. I pick up my makeup bag, then look around the room, a room that was once mine.