Chapter 13 Rae
RAE
An hour passed, and while we ate our small, prepared lunches, the mood had grown somber. I was confident in Davis, and he rarely made me worry, but I was panicked over the fact that the three girls were out there. I couldn’t imagine how scared they must be, and I hated seeing Haley worry.
Every few minutes, she’d search the tree line, and she’d even gone outside a few times to pace around the perimeter, calling for them. Nora and I stayed back, sad and fearful, but we both knew it was nothing compared to what she was feeling.
I decided I’d help by taking her mind off it, at least for a while.
“So Haley, I saw the storefront you’re leasing.”
Haley’s eyes swung over, meeting mine. It was like she was mentally moving things around in her head, so she’d be able to have this conversation.
“You know what, Rae…” she let out a heavy sigh, “I was going to lie and tell you how amazing the new store was going to be, and how excited I am about it, but the truth is, I was turned down for the funds. I paid cash to the owner for advertising the sign until after Christmas, but that’s it.”
“So there’s not going to be a Santa village?” Something in my stomach churned, like I’d just kicked someone who’d already fallen down.
Haley swiped at her eyes. “I was going to pay for some actors to show up but not because of the competition. Once the girls heard about what I was planning, they got all excited and asked if they could be a part of the set, as elves and Santa’s helpers.
They wanted it to be our new family tradition.
” She admitted softly. “They even begged Liam to wear a suit and stuff it with a pillow and play Santa. They said we could be a family from the North Pole. Me as Mrs. Claus, and them as our helpers. They said Jaime could wear a reindeer costume, which would make everyone swoon.”
Tears lined my eyes as my friend explained herself, and I imagined her perfect son in a cute little reindeer costume. “He would make everyone swoon.”
“He would, but I’m done with the competition. I miss my friends. Even right now, in the midst of all my panic and fear, all I keep thinking is how grateful I am to have you both. You’re my rocks, and you have no idea how grateful I am that you pulled me into your friend group.”
Nora’s eyes were red and filled to the brim with unshed tears. “Of course we did, we love you. I call it quits too. I didn’t even care who hosted Christmas; I just wanted to win the Best Decked title because I’m a designer, but it’s not worth losing you guys over.”
Haley and Nora grabbed hands, giving each other smiles, and it made the tight knot in my throat worsen until I was trying to speak around a horrible sob.
“I’m sorry, okay. I know I’m the problem and I totally hate that I’m so insecure, but I refuse to take the prize after you both worked so hard to win it.”
Both women blushed, proving they likely did underhanded things to get ahead. I couldn’t judge them; I was planning to use the town parade and festival as a way to sway the volunteer judges.
“Why was it so important to you, Rae?” Nora gently asked, shoving my foot with her boot.
We’d shed all of our layers, down to just our jeans, shoes and tank tops. Our windows were cracked, but there was enough heat from us being in the car, that the heater didn’t even need to run for very long before we were nice and toasty again.
I didn’t want to talk about this part of myself, or how ugly my thoughts had run, but these were my best friends, and I did miss them. I wanted them to forgive me, and that was going to have to start somewhere.
“I was worried that you two would start vacationing together and leave me out.” I sniffed, feeling another sob work up my throat.
“I know that’s so stupid, but I couldn’t shake this feeling.
I mean, you guys are in-laws now, and your kids are cousins, and you both live in town, so you do more things together. ”
Nora gently laid her son, Kane, in his carrier and leaned over to grab my hand.
“Rae, you’re my family. We’ve been best friends our entire lives; we go all the way back to every embarrassing moment I can ever even think of.
You were my sister before I had Haley. Not that I don’t love that I have Haley now too,” she looked up at Haley and smiled, “but you’ve always been my person. ”
Haley clicked her tongue. “You gorgeous idiot, if you had any idea how difficult it is to join your club, you’d never question your place in Nora’s life again.
From the outside, you two are like the same person, you’re solid and there’s no wiggle room to slide in-between.
Which works fine for me, I’d never dream of coming between you two.
I’m happy just being in your orbit, but you’ll never lose your place here. ”
“But that’s easy for you guys to say now, but relationships waver and shift all the time. People talk about how their best friends aren’t a part of their lives anymore, and sometimes people move away. What if you both go to California and decide to move there?”
Nora burst into laughter first, then Haley joined with a cute giggle.
“Do you see Liam moving our kids to California, or anywhere that isn’t Macon?
Our support system is here, our lives, our businesses.
It’s all here, and I know I don’t have the past you do with Nora, but you’re my person too, Rae.
I love you like a sister. If we go to California for a vacation, you’re coming with us.
We’d never leave you guys out like that. ”
Suddenly, I felt incredibly small and foolish.
“You guys, I was so mean. I wanted to drive up here and cut down all the best trees last night. I also stole all your yard decorations, Nora.” An ugly cry fell from my lips, nearly waking my son.
Nora winced and then peeked at Haley.
“I broke into Haley’s house, stole her Santa, and then used the key Loretta gave me to take the Frosty and Santa.”
Haley and I both yelled, “I knew it!” at the same time.
With another flinch, Haley confessed, “I bought out all the hot cocoa bombs.”
“Oh my god, I knew it. Where did you stash them?” Nora asked, sitting up in the seat next to me.
“I gave them to a homeless shelter.” Haley covered her face, then let out a deep laugh.
At some point, we’d all started laughing, and it felt so good.
Even Haley had stopped staring out the window every five minutes.
Nora told us about her romp in the town gazebo, which had Haley scrunching her nose and plugging her ears.
We let her do that for a few minutes while Nora filled me in on the sordid, dirty details and how good the sex was, even if there were people outside.
“Holy shit, Mrs. Newman was talking about the gazebo and acting all weird the other day, saying people in this town had no propriety. I had no clue what she was talking about.”
Nora laughed again, covering her face.
“Well, I still want to know where the guys went last night. Did any of you figure it out?”
Haley shook her head.
“Colson had glitter on his arms, so I’m honestly wondering if they went to McGrady’s.”
Haley snorted first, then I followed, while Nora gaped at us both.
“It’s not funny! My husband could have been cheating.”
We laughed even harder, and we knew Nora would crack because, seconds later, she was laughing too. “Is it pathetic that our town doesn’t even have a strip club? We just have to assume it’s some girl wearing glittered lotion on her skin sleazing it up down at McGrady’s.”
We were all laughing so hard that we could barely breathe when all the sudden my phone rang. Our laughter stopped immediately when I saw that it was Davis calling.
Shooting up in a panic, I practically shouted, “Davis?”
“Rae, honey can you hear me?”
“Yes, I’m here.” Nora and Haley leaned closer as I put the phone on speaker.
Davis continued, “we’re safe, we found an empty cabin up the way a little bit. I’m going to drop the location. Do you think you can make it here?”
“Yes, of course, we can. Is everyone okay?”
My husband let out relieved sigh. “Yeah, everyone is good.”
Nora and Haley both sagged in their chairs, like a weight had been lifted.
“Okay, we’re on our way.”
We disconnected the call, and within the span of fifteen minutes, we were pulling in front of a two-story cabin that didn’t look abandoned at all. In fact, it looked like it might belong to someone closer to Haley’s tax bracket than ours.
“What is going on, this doesn’t look abandoned,” Nora mused, carrying her two baby carriers.
Haley shut the door, holding Jaime to her chest. “Why does this look so familiar?”
Reaching the steps, we each crowded the front door nervously when it suddenly swung open and Mila greeted us with a massive smile.
“Welcome to our first annual Best Friends Christmas party!”