Chapter 27
Everly
“Daddy!”
“Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!” Weighted down with a laptop bag and a rolling suitcase, Dad makes like he’s Santa or something. He kind of is, only he’s the gift he’s delivering.
I make it to him before Mom and get in one excellent hug before she edges me out of the way and hangs onto my father’s neck for dear life. Is that a tear in her eye?
How sweet. This is what thirty years of marriage should look like.
Mom cups Dad’s face. “Baby, what are you doing here?”
He holds her tight and presses a kiss to her lips. “Couldn’t stay away from my girls, now could I?”
I wrap my hands around Knox’s arm and wait for the fifty-something lovebirds to remember other people are present.
Finally, they break apart. Dad’s thinning hair is wind-whipped. His expression is pleasant, but he’s definitely sizing Knox up.
I wouldn’t expect anything less. I’m not nervous about it. Knox leaves no reason for a lady to worry. For once, I’ve chosen a man who gives me no cause for concern. No fear of secrets or lowbrow behavior. He’s just a great guy with good character.
“Dad, this is Knox Herd.” I nudge him forward. Not that I need to. Knox is confident, direct, and a gentleman.
They shake hands.
“I hear I have you to thank for seeing to it my wife didn’t have to forgo the Christmas wonderland in the front yard this year.”
“Everly and I worked together. Team effort.”
Mom takes charge of the situation, flapping the back of her hand at the men. “You two make yourself comfortable. Get to know each other. Phil, I’m going to add another setting to the table. Everly, come with me.”
Leave it to a mom to hijack a perfect moment.
But I follow her as directed and fill a glass with ice water and lemon, Dad’s drink of choice, while Mom takes down another Christmas plate and instructs me to grab a cloth napkin and silverware.
I steal a peek at the men chatting in the living room. Dad is in his recliner. Knox sits on the hearth, stockings and a blazing fire setting the coziest of scenes.
“Don’t look so nervous, honey.”
I strain for another look. “Do you think Dad will like him?”
“I don’t see how he couldn’t.”
My muscles relax. Knox has won Mom over hook, line, and sinker. Even as a grown adult, a parent’s happy approval means the world.
She goes to the edge of the living room, where Knox and Dad are engrossed in conversation. “Alright, you two. Come along. Dinner is served.”
In the dining room, Dad places his turned up palms on the table, and we all take hands while he prays, thanking God for the food and for safe travels home.
“Knox here has been telling me all about himself, Everly,” Dad says with a loaded fork almost to his mouth.
With my fork slipped under the first bite of squash, I smile at Knox. A flicker of discomfort has edged aside his normal easy manner, making me wish I could squeeze his hand. I would be nervous meeting his family, too.
The creak of hinges stalls the meal a second time.
“Helloooo. Anybody home!”
The front door slams. Oakley barrels around the corner of the dining room, dragging a suitcase. Wheels click against the faux wood flooring. “Surprise!” She flings her arms wide, as in, ta-da, party can now start.
Mom and Dad shoot to their feet.
“Dad?” Oakley races to embrace him. He pats her back as she holds on extralong. “I’m so glad you’re here!”
“Me too, sugar. Me too.”
Joy beams from Mom.
“What are you doing here, Oak?” My voice rises above the flurry of slowly subsiding greetings.
Released from all the hugs, she turns, placing her hands to her hips. “What do you think I’m doing here, sissy? It’s Christmas, duh.”
“I though you were spending the holiday with friends.”
She slides her purse down her shoulder and tosses it onto the floor by the buffet. “Changed my mind. Immature friends aren’t the same as family.”
Mom and I exchange looks.
Oakley pivots, slightly, but unmistakably, to Knox and puts her hands to her skinny hips. I could swear they share a silent exchange on a topic the rest of us don’t have a clue about.
She flicks her index finger back and forth between him and me. “What’s going on here? Update, please.”
“Oakley.” Gracious, little sisters are the worst.
“What? I need to catch up. You and the big guy are a for-real item now?”
“Oak. For crying out loud.” Subtlety has never been her gift.
Knox curls my fingers in his. “I think item works.”
Oakley’s eyes narrow. “So you’ve told her then?”
“Told me what?” Instinctively, my gaze skips back and forth between the two of them. My smile begins to feel like a ball that hit its high point and hangs midair right before the descent.
Knox’s jaw twitches, sending a rock plunking into my stomach.
Oakley releases the sigh of a longsuffering saint. “I warned you, Knox. You’ve had all kinds of time to come clean, but you haven’t, have you?”
“Come clean?” My mouth dries out in an instant. I’m vaguely aware of Mom and Dad looking on as I turn my full attention to Knox across the table.
Something has whipped up a storm in his eyes.
He pushes his palms down the length of his thighs. I believe his flat smile for me is meant to reassure, but it enacts the opposite effect. My heart pounds.
“It’s nothing, Everly. Promise. You see…”
“Oh brother. Spit it out already. Just say the words, Herd.” She rolls her hand, prompting. “I. Own. The. Company. Everly.” She slaps both hands to her sides. “See. Not hard at all.”
It takes a second to add my sister’s broken words into a complete, whole thought. I gasp and stare. “You’re the owner of LHS Construction?”
“Um…” His Adam’s apple dips. “I’m one of them, yes.”
“Yep. Knox, his brother, and their dad. Equal owners. I looked it up—which, by the way, I am beyond shocked you haven’t. What kind of self-respecting Gen Z-er doesn’t stalk their prey?”
My head tilts completely off balance.
Oakley smirks. “Offices in three states and planning the opening of a fourth next year in Texas. Currently valued at almost $500 million dollars.” She rolls her eyes toward the ceiling, tapping fingertips together like she’s calculating. “Let’s see, that makes the value of Knox’s third—”
“Oakley Marie, that is enough!” Mom blurts. She wears a pressed-lip expression of pleased shock. Dad seems thoughtful.
“What…” That’s it. What. That’s all my useless mouth can sputter. “Why didn’t you say something?”
Oakley drops into a chair and sets her chin on her fist. “Yes, Knox, why? Hmm?”
“I, uh.” He clears his throat. “I just didn’t.”
That’s all he’s got? “Yeah, I’m noticing that.”
He winces. “What I’m saying is…well.” He rubs his chin. “Is this really a problem?”
How dare he. “That you own a multimillion dollar company? No. That you didn’t bother mentioning it to me? Yes.”
“I was planning to tell you and your mom tonight.”
That draws a snort from the cheap seats where, tsking, Oakley watches us like we’re characters in a movie. “I warned you, Knox.”
I shoot my sister a scowl I wish had thorns attached to poke her in her smart mouth. I’ll deal with her later.
Another glimpse at Knox’s worried face makes me want to hold him, tell him everything is fine, but… “I wish you’d told me. This feels like a subject that should have come up by now.” Why would he keep this secret?
My response feels weak, and that’s exactly how I feel. The rock in my gut has been joined by another, and now my entire middle aches. Lance sat on his true feelings for months before bothering to tell me. Ethan—
I study my feet covered in fuzzy Christmas socks. I was so comfortable with Knox I didn’t even put on shoes. Why would family bother with spiky heels on a cozy Christmas Eve with loved ones?
But Knox and I are far from family.
I don’t chance a direct look at him or at any of the eyes fixed on me. “Excuse me a moment.”
Knox reaches for my hand, but I make my escape. Tears burn my eyes.
The feeling of failure, repeated failure, tracks me up the stairs.
Knox
All eyes—three sets, six in total—are on me. Reviews appear to be mixed. Told-you-so lines are etched around Oakley’s eyes, but Mr. and Mrs. Wilkes just look confused.
“Have a seat, son, and tell us what just happened.” Mr. Wilkes—can I still call him Phil as he instructed in our pre-Oakley conversation—motions for me to sit.
I lower to the place at the table where my plate is piled high. What would happen if I bolted for the stairs? I swear I saw tears in Everly’s eyes before she did exactly that.
But why? This whole thing is, as the saying goes, a nothing burger.
“Yeah, Knox Herd. Tell us why you’ve been keeping secrets from my sister?”
“Oh, hush Oakley.” Claire makes a swatting motion in her daughter’s direction. “I’m sorry, Knox. Excuse my daughter, please.” She sighs. “Both of them.”
“Mom!”
“Don’t mom me. Do you really think it was your place to waltz in here and tell Knox’s secrets?”
“Do you hear yourself? You’re getting onto me when he’s the one keeping secrets. That’s the problem.” Oakley spins on me. “Why didn’t you tell Everly yourself?” She holds her chin high, uncowed.
The room falls silent. The pressure of all the eyeballs on me makes me squirm like a naughty child.
Okay, no more playing dumb, especially with myself. I get it.
I take a deep breath. “You’re one hundred percent right, Oakley.
I should have had the conversation with Everly by now.
I promise you, at first, it was an accidental oversight.
” I let my gaze linger on the table before facing my own personal firing squad head on.
“There are reasons I kept the info to myself—and I will explain those reasons, but I think Everly deserves the first explanation.” I address Mr. Wilkes, slanting my head toward the staircase. “If it would be alright, sir?”
He nods once, just barely smiling. “I suppose there’s no harm in that. Last room on the right.”
“Knock, knock.” I rap lightly on the mostly closed door at the end of the hall. The sound of sniffles tears at my soul. “Everly?” I push slowly as I say her name.