Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
MARIAM
B ack in Austin, I could suddenly relate to what Arland had said that night in Sun Valley. I hadn’t been away from Texas for more than a couple weeks, but already, I felt different coming home than I had when I’d left.
Even in such a short period of time, something had shifted deep inside me, bringing with it a knowledge that this would always be home but, right then, it was also temporary. Before I even knew what was happening, it would be time to leave again and I would only be back next month for Christmas.
After that, all the holidays would be over for a while and I had absolutely no idea when I’d see Austin again. When I was finished in Sun Valley, I had no idea where I would end up. All of it made this visit seem so much more special, and I was intent on enjoying every moment.
I completely loved traditions and holidays, and Thanksgiving was one of my top two favorite days of the year. Gemma, Laurel, and I always spent most of our time together over the holidays, and this year was no different.
Deb, Laurel’s mom, was a world-renowned author and one of the best people in the world. She hosted Thanksgiving every year, and Gemma’s family as well as my own were also invited. Both pairs of parents had actually agreed to attend this year, which had come as a bit of a shock.
The girls and I threw ourselves wholeheartedly into the preparations with Deb every year, regardless of whether our families would be there or not. We always went, Gemma and me. So far, we hadn’t skipped a single year and I doubted we ever would.
After taking a walk with the girls the morning before Thanksgiving, we’d gone grocery shopping with Deb to pick up everything we’d need for the day, and now we were at the fall festival with Leif and his brother, Jack.
Gemma, Jack, and I were watching Leif and Laurel fall in love all over again, but Jack was the only one not getting all swoony about it. He sighed as he watched them stroll along ahead of us, hand in hand as they stared into each other’s eyes as if no one else existed.
“Well, this blows. Who’s up for more games? Apple bobbing was a lot more fun than I expected.” He smirked at me. “Especially because I finally won.”
I laughed. “I’ll take the title in the do-over next year. Don’t you worry.”
“Oh, I’m not worried,” he said easily, as cocky and competitive as ever. “Do you think they’ll even notice if we leave?”
“Nope,” Gemma replied dreamily. “I mean, just look at them. That right there? That’s love, people. Isn’t it spectacular?”
She pulled her phone out of her back pocket, checking it and sighing when there was nothing there from Noah. Or at least, I assumed that was who she wanted to hear from.
I’d been pretty surprised earlier when she’d asked Deb if he could come to Thanksgiving. Gemma had met the famous singer on our flight to New York on Halloween. One thing had led to another and then another, and the next I’d known, she’d invited the guy from the famous boy band to Austin for the holiday.
While I knew better than anyone how magnetic Gemma was, and while she’d talked about him almost nonstop after our trip, I honestly hadn’t been convinced they were still in touch. The guy was an honest-to-goodness popstar, for heaven’s sake.
I had tried to remain positive for her, but when she’d said in the grocery store that he really did want to come to Thanksgiving, I’d been shocked. It looked like they were still in touch and that he was still flying out here for the holidays.
My heart had soared for her. Gemma deserved the best guy on the planet. I just hoped Noah Parks knew how lucky he was—and he had better text her soon or he would have me to deal with.
Jack scoffed, drawing me out of my thoughts. “You call it spectacular. I think of it as a rerun of a show I’ve already seen. If you’ll excuse me, ladies, I think I see an old friend I should catch up with this evening.”
He tipped his head at us, then took off, making a beeline for some girl who’d been in the same year as him in high school. I glanced at Gemma. “And then there were two.”
She laughed and wrapped her arm around mine. “Good. I’ve been dying to hear all about Mr. Silver Fox and Sun Valley. Let’s hit the stalls for a bit and then we can go home, get into our pajamas, and have ourselves a good, old-fashioned girlie sleepover.”
Arms linked, I tucked her closer to my side, happy to be here with my friends even if I was also missing Arland. It was insanity, missing the presence of someone I barely even knew, and yet, every time I turned, I kind of wanted him to be there, even if it was just in the distance.
Sighing through the pangs of longing, I followed Gemma to the stalls and bought a few artisanal goods that reminded me of home to take back to Sun Valley with me. Gemma picked up a few things herself, a couple new scarves, a bohemian leather purse, and a whole handful of funky Christmas decorations, and then we called it a night.
Leif and Laurel were still wrapped up in each other and neither of us wanted to get in their way right now. Besides, the longer I was with my friend, the more I wanted to tell her the truth about what had happened with Arland.
Noah was a few years younger than us. We didn’t know exactly how many yet, but definitely a few, and that meant she was in an age-gap relationship herself right now. I knew Laurel would never judge, not even with Leif being the same age as us, but at the same time, I just wasn’t up for telling her just yet.
Besides, she had other stuff going on. Gemma and I were flying solo tonight, and as soon as she and I were in the car on the way back to what was now only her place, I couldn’t hold back anymore. There were probably better ways of being honest than just blurting it out, but in that moment, I couldn’t come up with any. “I slept with him.”
“Excuse me?”
“Arland. The Silver Fox.” I groaned. “I went home with him that night after you left Sun Valley.”
Gemma let out a loud whoop and started dancing in the driver’s seat of her car. “Get it, girl! Hot damn! So you really did it, then? You checked off the first item of your list?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t do it because of the list.”
She scoffed down laughter. “Do you really think I let Noah kiss me in that bathroom because of the list? Of course not. It was great that I got to tick off my first item because of it, but if I hadn’t wanted to kiss him, I wouldn’t have done it. Just like Laurel wouldn’t have been going around kissing Leif again if she didn’t want to.”
“So what are you saying?”
“That you don’t have to qualify or justify what you did or why you did it.” She let out another squeal, glancing at me and widening her eyes. “So, how was it? Have you seen him again since? Are you guys, like, a thing now?”
“No,” I said unhappily. “We can’t be a thing, even though I have seen him again. In fact, I’ve seen him almost every day since you left. He’s Brian’s business partner, Gem. He’s my boss.”
“Shit. What?”
“You heard me.” I blew out a frustrated breath through my nostrils. “We’ve agreed that Brian can never know and that it can’t happen again on account of him being my boss and all.”
She blinked hard, taking a moment to absorb the information before she released a long, slow breath. “Wow. That’s… unexpected. How small is that town?”
“Right?!” I exclaimed and slammed back in my seat, my head shaking. “How is it possible that the only man I’ve ever been low-key enchanted by is someone I’m not allowed to touch?”
“Low-key enchanted by?” she repeated on a squeak. “Mimi, that’s huge for you! Why aren’t you allowed to touch him? So what if he’s your boss? It’s only two months. It’s not like you’re starting a whole career there. And he enchanted your pants off before you started working together.”
“Maybe, but for these two months, he is still my boss, and he’s Brian’s friend. My brother would kill me. And then he’d kill Arland, and then he’d bring us both back to life to kill us all over again. He’s Brian’s age, Gemma. If not a bit older. It’s just not possible for us to be anything.”
“I beg to differ,” she said immediately. “Noah’s younger than I am. Does it bother me? Sure, but I’m not going to let that stop me.”
“Noah isn’t your brother’s friend, or your boss.”
“No, but I’d let him boss me around in bed all he wants,” she said playfully. Then she glanced at what I assumed was a crestfallen expression on my face, and sighed. “Look, there are no hard and fast rules here. Unless you’ve signed something at Everwood Chalet saying you won’t fraternize with your coworkers. At worst, what you’re dealing with is bending the rule of not getting with your brother’s friend, but you’re not a guy. Their stupid rules don’t apply to us.”
I groaned. “I was afraid you’d say that.”
Gemma giggled as she turned into her driveway. “Let the rules go for once in your life, Mims. You’ll be happier for it, and besides, I haven’t seen you like this about a guy in a long time. Maybe not ever. Your eyes light up when you’re talking about him, even if all you’re saying is that you can’t be together.”
“I can’t let the rules go.” I scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”
“But is it really?” she asked, parking in front of her garage and winking at me. “I don’t think it’s ridiculous at all. He’s a super-hot older man who could teach you all the things and leave you many orgasms richer by the time you have to leave Idaho.”
“Leave Idaho as a ho? No thank you. And what is it with you and orgasms?” I asked, laughing as we climbed out of her car and walked to the door. “I feel like I’ve heard you reference them a lot recently.”
“Noah,” she said simply, winking at me. As I followed her into the house, she turned to look at me over her shoulder and sighed dreamily. “I’m telling you, that man has made me look at the world in a whole new way even if we did only hook up once. See? Age gaps can be a great way to get the perspective you never knew you needed.”
I laughed, envying her ability to live on the bright side and constantly see the silver linings. For the rest of the night, I tried to follow her example, filling her in on all things Arland and listening to her talk about Noah.
The next morning, we were up early, racing through showering and getting dressed before we went to Deb’s to help with the cooking. In the afternoon, the guests started arriving. While Gemma was with Noah—who had actually shown up to regular, suburban Thanksgiving dinner—and Laurel was with Leif, I finally got a chance to catch up with my parents.
Mom smiled at me. “Do you really think Brian is doing well all the way over there in Sun Valley? We were hoping that he’d find his way back to Austin eventually, but he sounds ecstatic about this Chalet they’re building.”
“It’s incredible,” I said honestly, genuinely missing the place already. “You never know what will happen in the future, but for now, I wouldn’t count on Brian moving back here anytime soon. He seems really happy and their resort is going to be awesome in the true sense of the word once it’s ready. Well, at least, I was in awe of the place when they first showed me around, and it wasn’t even done yet.”
A proud smile lifted Dad’s cheeks and his chest puffed out. “That boy has always believed that if you’re going to do something, you do it well.”
Mom took his hand and shot him a grin. “He got that from you.”
She turned back to me. “We’ll be visiting in a few weeks for the opening. We’re staying at the lodge, but I’m hoping we’ll all get to spend some time together.”
“You bet.” I returned her smile but the thought of Arland and my parents in the same room was a little disconcerting.
At the moment, everything with him felt so far removed from my real, normal life, and yet, when my parents got there, that fantasy land I’d been living in with him would converge with my life, and I was afraid it would make it all feel too real.