Chapter 27
27
TESSA
The walk home was cold and did absolutely nothing to clear my head. I pulled out my phone and hit the buttons, pressing it up to my ear as the ringing began.
“Merry Christmas!” Val said brightly.
“Everything’s fucked,” I replied flatly. “Merry Christmas.”
“Shit. What happened? Grant?”
I sighed, looking to my left at a house with a beautiful lights display…and feeling nothing. “We were going to tell everyone today, but instead we’re broken up. It’s hard to wrap my head around,” I admitted.
“Did Grant do something, or…” they trailed off, and I snorted dryly.
“We both know it was me who blew it all to hell. Never Grant.”
“Do you want to tell me about it, or would you rather talk about other shit?”
I considered both options. “I don’t want to relive it all right now.”
“Fair enough. Did you get any good presents?”
I’d seen Grant get a cozy looking cable-knit sweater from his mom and I longed to cuddle my face into it while we watched a movie on my couch. “My parents got me one of those phone chargers that does the phone and watch at the same time.”
“That’s nice,” Val said.
“It is,” I agreed, my voice emotionless. “How was your grandma?”
Val made a noise that was somewhere between a grunt and a hum. “I don’t know. It seems like my grandma is trying, but I almost liked it better when she wasn’t. She asked me if I preferred pretty girls or ‘the other kind.’ That’s a quote from her, obviously.”
“Did you explain you’re not a lesbian?”
They sighed. “For the hundredth time? Yes, I did. It would appear that my grandmother can understand wanting to fuck both femme and masculine but not wanting to be both femme and masculine.”
“Well, hell, in the past year your grandmother has learned to accept both ‘L’ and ‘G.’ Maybe she’ll make her way to ‘B,’ ’T,’ and ‘Q’ next year.”
Val chuckled, but I could tell from their tone it had been a long day. “Perhaps.”
“Oh shit,” I muttered as I approached my own house. “I left my car on the wrong side of the street. I know there’s going to be two inches of snow tonight, but do you think I’ll get a ticket? It’s Christmas.”
“I mean, yes, possibly. I got one at your place last year,” Val replied.
I grunted unhappily. “I have a bunch of bags. This is so annoying.” I hefted my purse and the bag from my mom higher on one shoulder as I moved the paper bag full of food Agatha had given me to the hand that held my phone. Then I dug out my keys. “Ugh. I don’t have enough hands. I’m gonna have to let you go.”
“That’s fine,” Val said. “I should get back to the games portion of the evening anyhow.”
I paused at my car door. “Seriously though. Don’t think too much about your grandma. You’re Val. If she doesn’t get it yet, give her time.”
“Thanks, Tess. You wanna grab lunch tomorrow…maybe give me the details of the Grant debacle?”
“Sounds good. Call me.” We hung up and I stuffed the phone in my purse, tossing all the bags across to the passenger seat and getting in the car.
The easiest way to turn the car around was to drive to the end of the block and turn around in the intersection. It was a four-way stop and no one was out but me, so I made the maneuver quickly and pulled in front of my house on the opposite side of the street.
I opened the door again and had my foot out before I remembered my bags, and I leaned across the front seat to grab all three and leverage them over the console and into the door, swinging it open and stepping out.
I wasn’t even fully standing when I saw the headlights.