Chapter 15
Chapter fifteen
Nash
Stephanie wasn’t kidding about the Christmas fanatics. I hadn’t even toured the whole place, and I’d already counted four trees between the living room, entryway, and the two Charlie Brown trees on the upper mezzanine floor leading to the sleeping wings. And I had no doubt there were more.
Across from a palatial washroom, I found the Mistletoe Room. It had one of those fancy lacquered brass nameplates on the door with the name. And judging by the Pine, Juniper, and Holly rooms I’d passed on the way here, forest themed seemed to be the order of the day.
“Who in the Kris Kringle of Christmas are you?” an extremely feminine voice that sounded vaguely familiar demanded as I awkwardly tried to wrangle Stephanie’s luggage into the Mistletoe.
Whirling around, I caught a glimpse of the unseen voice. Curly brown hair, wild and free with snapping hazel eyes, much like Stephanie’s, and a hefty volume of literature in her hand. Was that Shakespeare or a Bible? Both would hurt upon impact.
“Uh…” I stammered, unsure of myself. Why did this woman look so familiar? Nana had said Mistletoe, right? And why am I mentally referring to her as Nana? That’s Mrs. Addams to you.
“Well?” the woodland pixie snapped, prepared to wallop me with her tome of choice.
The light clicked in my memory. Cousin Hailey. I cleared my throat and offered her my hand, slipping into business mode. “You must be Hailey. I’m Nash Prescott, Stephanie’s boyfriend. I was told to bring her luggage here—”
Hailey’s shriek shattered whatever hearing I had left after the initial Addams family mega blast. “Oh my goodness! Boyfriend! Stephie Lou!” she screamed, bolting from the room.
I inhaled deeply and pinched the bridge of my nose. One week. One week of noise. For Stephanie. For us. I can do this.
More shrieking erupted downstairs, and I’d wager a guess the energetic sprite of a woman had found Stephanie.
The… complicated welcome of Stephanie’s family wasn’t lost on me.
She was clearly beloved and despised at the same time.
But the welcome of those who loved her… wow.
I’d been alone most of my adult life, excepting Ryan and Emmett.
My grandparents had passed in my teens, and my mom…
I’d lost any version of her around the same time.
Once Genesis started up and grew rapidly successful, she started contacting me again, asking for money.
I’d funded four stints of rehab, and it stuck for a while, until she found a new guy who drew her back into the drugs.
I hated her choices, and my heart broke a little more every time I heard she wasn’t clean anymore.
Now I just dreaded her phone calls when she’d ask for rent money and promise to do better. But they were empty words. I’d heard them all my life. And I hated the fact I was only worth something to her when she needed the money.
So I was alone. Alexis, my college girlfriend, was my first and last serious relationship.
And that had ended in a dumpster fire of a disaster.
It’d just been me and the guys, and by extension, their families.
This level of familial connections and community was as foreign as snow for Christmas on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Realizing I shouldn’t be caught standing in the middle of Stephanie’s room, I slipped back out into the hall.
But I wasn’t ready to face the exuberance and tensions below after dwelling on the weighty chapter of my past. The way my thoughts turned back to my childhood Christmases, my grandparents, and how alone I felt made me uncomfortable.
A small nook tucked into the panelled wall sat nestled at the end of the hallway, overlooking the star-studded sky and the silhouetted shape of the Tetons. I stood there for a moment, lost in thought. Praying I wouldn’t mess this week up beyond repair.
I tried to imagine that the Addams actually wanted me here.
Or that Stephanie and I were a real couple.
Maybe I should be honest with her about my past. She was certainly giving me a window into her world this week.
Maybe it was time I returned the favour.
Not because of a bargain, but because I wanted to open up. Maybe.
You’ll never be enough for her. You weren’t for Alexis.
I shoved the thoughts away and hurried back towards the stairs.
I might have been ready to take on my familial past, but I wasn’t ready to battle the lies from a former girlfriend right now.
The enemy camp was preferable to the war with a ghost inside my own head.