Chapter 37
Willow sat at the Prescotts’ long dining table, surrounded by chaos.
One of the kids spilled soup all over himself, two of the daycare alumni tossed pieces of bread at each other, and everyone talked over each other at the volume of a group of kindergartners at recess—not because they were arguing but because they were excited to be together.
Scottie was clearly in her element. She gestured animatedly as she told her dad all about Willow’s classic car, cracked jokes with her almost siblings, and gave a pep talk to her youngest cousin, whose girlfriend had just broken up with him.
When she rose to get the salt from the kitchen for Uncle Dave, she touched her mother’s shoulder as she squeezed past her chair.
Once she returned, she set a small, moose-shaped glass of eggnog down next to Willow’s plate. “In case you need it,” she whispered into Willow’s ear, then dove back into the conversation with her cousin.
Willow smoothed her finger over the antler-shaped handle of the glass but didn’t pick it up. Alcohol and family gatherings didn’t mix well for her. If she wanted to make a good impression, she couldn’t afford to lose control.
Instead, she slowly ate spoonfuls of the tasty broccoli-cheese soup and observed Scottie with her family.
It was fascinating to discover new facets of the woman she was falling in love with. Or maybe it wasn’t really a new side of Scottie. She was the same Scottie she’d known all along, just amplified.
What would Scottie think if she ever got to meet Willow’s own family? She would probably love Fiona once they got to know each other better, but Willow wasn’t so sure about her parents.
Carol slid the bread basket toward her. “You doing okay, hon?”
Willow nodded quickly. “Yes, thank you. The soup is delicious.”
“Thank you. We keep it simple on Christmas Eve”—Carol waved at the three giant steaming pots of soup and chili on the table—“to leave room for the big feast tomorrow.”
Finally, once every plate was empty and every piece of bread had disappeared, Rick slapped the table and rose. “All right, kitchen crew! Let’s roll!”
Scottie, Ben, Hazel, Noah, and the other cousins and daycare siblings jumped up and began to stack plates.
Willow got up to help.
Scottie’s mother stopped her with a decisive wave. “Rick and the kids have their system all worked out. You’d only get in the way. Stay and let us get to know you.”
Willow sank back onto her chair.
As Scottie followed her dad out, she sent a reassuring look back over her shoulder.
“So, Willow.” Scottie’s great-aunt Dorothy, a tiny woman in her eighties with startling blue eyes, turned toward her. “How did you meet our Sarah?”
“Um, Sarah?” Willow’s overwhelmed brain needed a few seconds to remember it was Scottie’s legal name. “Oh, you mean Scottie.”
The matriarch nodded. “How did you two lovebirds meet?”
For the first time, the chatter around the table stopped as everyone’s attention turned to Willow. They leaned toward her, eager to hear her answer—and Scottie wasn’t there to run interference.
Willow’s throat went bone-dry. She took a careful sip of the eggnog, buying herself a few seconds. “We, um, met at work.”
“Do you work in IT too?” one of Scottie’s aunts asked.
“Oh God, no.”
Everyone chuckled at Willow’s outburst, then regarded her with expectant gazes, obviously wanting to hear more.
Willow hesitated. Her mind raced. How could she tell them their story without revealing that her constant technological disasters had brought them together?
Even if they wouldn’t suspect that she had caused all the glitches, she wanted them to think she was someone worthy of kind, extraordinary Scottie, not some incompetent ditz who couldn’t even turn on a computer without help.
The Christmas lights on the tree flickered, and the smart speaker, playing soft Christmas music in the background, abruptly cut out, leaving an awkward silence.
Everything around Willow seemed to stop.
Her pulse thudded in her ears. Don’t panic. Whatever you do, don’t panic. That would make everything worse, causing more devices to glitch. Scottie’s family would then realize what an electrical hazard she was.
Willow held her breath, waiting for the disgruntled curses, the suspicious looks her way, the frantic attempts to fix the speaker or fiddle with the lights.
But no one batted an eye.
“I keep telling Rick they don’t accept expired coupons for the power bill,” Carol quipped. “He has to actually pay.”
Everyone laughed and moved on.
“Oh yeah, remember the year Rick—genius physics teacher that he is—was competing with the neighbors for the best holiday decorations and accidentally fried half the extension cords?” Aunt Pam threw in.
More laughter rippled through the living room.
The lights steadied, but the speaker stayed off.
No one seemed to care—or even notice. They were too busy teasing each other and telling stories about past holidays, their easy chatter replacing the music.
Willow stared at them. She was starting to understand a lot about Scottie now that she had met her family.
Scottie could be the goofy, upbeat, outgoing person that she was because she’d never been asked to be anything else—never been told to be careful, to not touch anything, to rein in her emotions so she wouldn’t cause a short circuit.
“Everything okay in here?” Scottie strode into the room and began to gather unused paper napkins, but Willow knew it was just an excuse to check on her. “Are you all being nice to Willow?”
“If you haven’t scared her off yet, I’m sure we won’t manage,” her great-aunt said. “Now shoo! She was about to tell us how you two met!”
Scottie hesitated, lingering behind Willow.
Willow leaned back until her head brushed Scottie’s chest. “It’s okay.”
Scottie softly squeezed her shoulder, then walked out, but not before giving everyone at the table a warning look.
“So?” Great-Aunt Dorothy said.
Willow took a steadying breath and fought down her anxiety. In this unflappable chaos of a family, maybe you could break the blender and would still be welcomed with a hug.
“I started as an admin at Kudos—the company Scottie works for—in October, and during the first few weeks, I needed IT’s help a lot. Scottie was usually the one who showed up to fix my messes.”
“I bet she volunteered,” Scottie’s mother said with a knowing grin.
No one asked why she’d needed so much help from IT. Maybe they assumed she had fabricated those tech emergencies so she would get to talk to Scottie.
Willow exhaled and lowered her tense shoulders. “Hm, I never found out if she actually did. I thought maybe she just kept drawing the short straw. It took us getting stuck in an elevator to make me realize she was interested too.”
Chairs scraped over the hardwood floor as everyone slid closer, hanging on her every word.
“You got stuck in an elevator together?” Great-Aunt Dorothy’s blue eyes widened. “Tell us more!”
So Willow did.
~ ~ ~
It was close to midnight when Scottie’s mother shoved the decks of cards to the middle of the table and got up. “All right, everyone. I’m calling it a night. I have to get up early to get the turkey in the oven.”
A round of groans and protests rose, but everyone stood anyway.
Chaos broke out as they all hugged, cracked one last joke, and tried to determine whose car had to pull out first to clear the tangle in the driveway.
Scottie kept an eye on Willow, making sure she was doing okay with being hugged and squeezed by every aunt, uncle, cousin, and almost sibling. At least no zaps happened this time.
Willow had seemed to relax the tiniest bit after dinner and had held her own during the card game. In fact, when the time came to add up the scores, everyone had been surprised to find Willow had come out on top.
Everyone but Scottie. She’d seen it coming. Willow was a good observer who watched others closely, and she was quick to adjust her play whenever necessary.
Scottie tried to keep her proud grin in check but knew it was hopeless. Her chest puffed up at how damn clever her girlfriend was—and how hard she’d tried to fit in with her boisterous family.
Her father wrenched Scottie from her thoughts by engulfing her in an embrace. “It’s good to have you home—and to see you so happy.” He gave her a hearty pat on the back and nodded in Willow’s direction. “I like her, even though she won half my retirement fund.”
Warmth filled her at his easy acceptance, even as she protested: “We weren’t even playing for money, Dad.”
“Good thing,” he said before Scottie’s mom dragged him upstairs.
Finally, it was just Scottie and Willow in the living room.
“Come on, card shark. Let’s go to bed.” Scottie took her hand and led her up the creaking stairs.
The quiet of Scottie’s old bedroom settled around them like a cozy blanket.
Willow looked around, and Scottie tried to see her childhood sanctuary through Willow’s eyes.
They both took in the narrow bookcase crammed full of battered comic books, the sleek model of the Star Trek: Voyager spaceship dangling from the ceiling, and a signed soccer jersey pinned next to the faded poster of a band that she had only hung up because she’d had a crush on their pretty lead singer.
It was a little strange to have Willow in this space, but she realized she wasn’t embarrassed to give her a glimpse of teenage Scottie.
“Very cute,” Willow said with a smile.
“Not half as cute as you.” Scottie swiped a strand of hair behind Willow’s ear and studied her. “How are you holding up? Really.”
Willow had been an absolute trooper all night, chatting with Hazel, holding her own even against Uncle Dave in the card game, and bearing the good-natured arguments that had broken out at the table with a patient smile.
Scottie had to bite her lip a few times to keep from laughing at the look on Willow’s face—as if she were watching a documentary about an animal species that was fascinating but possibly about to eat her alive.
“I’m okay,” Willow said. “I mean, you know how I am about parties.”