Chapter 12 Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Wyatt
Iwondered where Odette had gone. She’d been strangely quiet all evening. I found her sitting on a bench, eating a piece of cheesecake like it was everything. Relief set in as I sat next to her. She was clearly just hungry.
“Hey. I was worried I’d lost you.”
She shook her head. “I took a break.”
“Great. Well, when you’re done I—”
“Wyatt, I want to go home,” Odette said, her voice small. “I’m tired. I know you have people to see, so if you just want to stay, that is fine. I can go back by myself.”
“Uh, sweetheart, this isn’t Neandia. You cannot walk back home here at ten o’clock by yourself,” I said. “I’ll call for the car—for both of us. I won’t stay if you’re done.”
“No. It’s okay, really.” Odette squeezed my knee. “I’m just… not in the spirit, I guess. You’re catching up. I’m just worn out.”
I couldn’t hide my disappointment. I’d been looking forward to introducing her to everyone so much I’d forgotten she was jet lagged, barely medicated, and underfed.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “No. I’m not upset. We will have many more visits to catch up.”
“Wy—”
“Nope. We’re gonna head out. You finish your dessert and I will go say goodbye to a couple of people and grab our coats.”
I bid farewell to some close friends, then packed off. While I did wish we could have stayed longer, I knew Odette was done. Belabouring it wouldn’t help. She seemed intent to get out. I found her done with her food and waiting, hands neatly folded in her lap. She was patient, but unemotional.
“Do you want to walk?” I asked. “We should. It’s beautiful out and not too cold. We’re not far.”
“Oh… okay,” she agreed.
Coats on, we departed onto a freshly dusted path. In the moonlight, the sound of snow falling took up all the oxygen. The idyllic scene brought a smile to my face. I expected to see the same from Odette, but as I turned to her and squeezed my hand, she just stared out straight ahead.
“Odie, is there something wrong?” I asked.
“I just want to get home,” she murmured, voice thickening as if she was angry.
“Odette, if you’re upset about something, why don’t you tell me?”
“It doesn’t do any good. It will only ruin the evening,” Odette responded, dropping my hand. “I don’t want you to blame me for that.”
“Baby, I don’t know why you’re worried about that when all I am is worried about you.”
She scoffed and stomped onward. “It’s like you’re torturing me!”
I stopped and furrowed my brow. “How?”
Odette turned back, tears in her eyes. In angry French, she said, “You bring me here. You introduce me to all your friends. Oh, look! So-and-so is having another baby. Oh, so-and-so, just had a baby! Isn’t it darling?
Oh, and here are my completely ridiculously attractive friends I put together and now they’re engaged! It’s so exhausting!”
“Odie, I—”
“No. I have waited. I have been patient. You told me you wanted to propose and make it romantic—that I deserved it. But, Wyatt, I’ve waited.
I’ve been waiting. I have a dress designer on speed dial.
All I wanted was a summer wedding. That was all I wanted.
And I thought we were headed there. Boy, was I stupid to believe it! ”
My heart sank. It hadn’t occurred to me she’d felt like she was waiting at all.
“Odie, I… I love you. I adore you. You didn’t seem like you were in a rush.”
“I told you I cannot move in until we’re engaged.
I said all I want is to feel settled—not just for my sake, but for Theo’s.
My sisters all expected you would do it by now, but my patience is so thin.
I feel like you’re just rubbing other people’s engagements in my face now.
Am I just your young girlfriend who you string along but never intend to marry? Because, if so, just say it!”
I stepped forward to comfort her, but she stepped back and crossed her arms.
“No. Don’t apologize and promise to make up for it ‘someday’. I’m so tired of feeling lost—like you’re oblivious.”
I wasn’t. Without prompting, I got down on one knee and cursed the cold snow beneath me. No matter what, it was now or never.
She sniffled. “Don’t do that. It’s not—”
“Odette, please come here,” I said. “Please. I’m kneeling in the snow in a public park.”
I got a bit of a chuckle through tears as she stepped closer and took my outstretched hand.
“Odette, I love you. You’re everything I needed and nothing like I expected.
You love Theo so purely and care deeply about me and my family in a way I couldn’t even imagine.
I can’t imagine another day without you.
I swore I’d never let you go again and I’m sorry if me waiting for the perfect moment caused you pain, but—”
“The perfect moment is just us together, I promise,” she said through rolling tears.
“Veux-tu m'épouser?” I asked, as I’d practiced leading up to this moment.
Tears ran down her face, and for a minute, I wasn’t sure about anything.