Chapter 4
“Graham, you look so skinny!”
Graham braced himself as his mother smothered him in a bear hug outside the front door. “I guess my time at Barry’s is paying off then.”
His mother’s gaze shifted then to Coco getting out of the car in the driveway. “I didn’t know you were bringing company.”
Graham shrugged as if to feign innocence. “Well, Mom, I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“Hi, Ms. Bartlett,” Coco greeted as she ascended the porch steps. “My name’s Coco. I’m Graham’s—”
“Girlfriend!”
The starlet’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor.
Forcing a smile, Graham made a point of not meeting eyes with her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a loving squeeze. No doubt about it, he’d be getting an earful about this later. For now, though, his priority needed to be selling this.
And judging by the smile now beaming between his mother’s rosy cheeks, it appeared the cover story was working.
She let out a squeal of joy. “What?! Is this true? Come here, Coco!” She smothered the nonplussed actress in perhaps an even bigger bear hug.
“My name is Carol, but you can call me…Mom.” She took a step back to take in the sight of the young couple gracing her front porch.
“I can’t believe it. My boy, finally home for the holidays—and with my future daughter-in-law! ”
Coco cleared her throat intently. “About that…”
Her efforts to rebut, though, were futile. Carol threw her arms around them both, squeezing them in tight together. “This is the best Christmas gift a mother could ask for.”
Finally, just as Graham felt himself about to lose circulation, Carol released the pair from her death grip. “Graham here hasn’t been home for the holidays in ages,” she said by way of explanation to Coco.
“It sure has changed around here,” Graham inserted, recalling the empty streets during their drive in.
Carol’s jolly exterior dimmed. “We’re not what we used to be, it’s true. Outsiders have by and large forgotten about our Mistletoe Grove. It’s a shame, too. Without our holiday visitors, a lot of the local businesses have been struggling.”
“That’s awful,” Coco offered.
Carol waved the matter away. “Let’s not kill the mood, though. What’s important is that you’re home and you’re happy and the three of us are going to have the perfect old-fashioned Christmas together.”
Graham smiled through gritted teeth. “Great.”
“Well, let’s not stand here freezing our hineys off,” Carol reset. “Grab your things and let’s get settled.”
Graham picked up their suitcases off the porch. “I was thinking Coco could take the spare room in the basement?”
A knowing grin spread on Carol’s lips. “Oh, don’t be shy, Graham. I’m a modern woman. You don’t think you have to sleep in separate beds on my account, do you?” She shook her head to herself. “I insist you two bunk in Graham’s old room. I’ve still got it just how you left it.”
Graham felt as if an anvil had just dropped inside his stomach. “Lovely.”
* * *
“Girlfriend, Graham? Really?” Coco flopped her suitcase down on the bed. “And you didn’t think that maybe this was something you should have run by me beforehand?”
Graham shut the door to his childhood bedroom behind them. “I didn’t think you’d want to go for it.”
“You’re damn right I don’t want to go for it! This was not part of the plan, Graham.” She unclasped her suitcase to unpack.
Graham fought to maintain composure. “None of this was planned, Coco! I should be back in sunny LA right now, but instead, I’m stuck in this iced-over backwater playing babysitter to a grown adult because every time I blink, she’s causing a scene again.
” He took a calming breath. “Look, it’s because of you that we’re here, so the least you can do is go along with this charade. ”
A beat of silence followed as, chastened, Coco held her tongue. She sat down on the bed. “So, you’re not out to your mother, I presume?”
Graham released a groan. “I’m not out to anyone back home, Coco.”
She furrowed her brow, contemplating. “But you’re, like, a walking rainbow back in LA.”
“Well, let’s just say that, around here, my Yuletide’s not exactly gay.”
Coco flashed a conspiratorial smile. “Looks like we’re both undercover here, then.”
Before Graham could respond, he found himself interrupted by the arrival of his mother in the doorway. “Hurry up, you two. I have got to take you down to the town square. You’re going to love Mistletoe Grove, Coco.”
Graham winced at the idea of parading his loose cannon of a client around in public. “I don’t know, Mom. We had an awful long flight. I was thinking that maybe we just stay in?”
She shrugged, accepting. “In that case, we still need to watch my favorite holiday movie. Who wants popcorn?”
“You know what, on second thought,” Graham hastily replied, “a trip to the town square sounds lovely.”
A satisfied grin spread across Carol’s face. “Splendid. Be ready in five!” She spirited away without ceremony.
Alone with Graham, Coco narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “She sure managed to change your mind fast.”
“I’m, uh, not a fan of Christmas movies,” Graham sputtered, averting his gaze.
Coco, however, appeared to see right through him. “Not a fan of her favorite Christmas movie, you mean.”
“Right,” he answered, matter-of-fact.
She propped her hands on her hips. “And that would be…”
“Not important,” he remarked, hoping to shut the conversation down.
“Come on,” Coco said, sidling up close to him. “If I’m going to play the part of your pretend girlfriend for the holidays, I need to get to know your family.”
“Not like this, you don’t.”
She gave a coy shrug. “I guess I’ll just have to ask her myself, then.”
Now she had Graham’s attention. “Fine, but I need you to know this changes nothing.” He heaved an exasperated sigh. “Her favorite holiday movie is the original, black-and-white Holiday with the Wholesomes.”
A hundred-watt grin lit up Coco’s face.
“Don’t get any ideas, though. You are on no uncertain terms to reveal anything whatsoever related to starring in the remake, are we clear?”
“But, Graham, it’s your mother’s favorite.”
“I don’t care if it’s Mother Teresa’s favorite. We’re here to keep our heads down so, come Christmas Day, we can get our butts back to LA with our careers still intact, and if we’re really lucky, maybe even our dignity, too.”
She seemed to shrink at Graham’s rebuttal.
“Now, listen to me close, because I’m only going to say this once. So long as we’re here, we are Graham and Coco, a nauseatingly straight, tragically unremarkable young couple without a whiff of homosexual tendencies or embattled Hollywood backstory, capeesh?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “You must be a riot at parties, you know that?”
He continued, undeterred. “And furthermore, as your publicist in charge of orchestrating your triumphant comeback, I strictly and unconditionally forbid you while we’re here from engaging in any matters whatsoever including, but not limited to, scheming, plotting, trickery, conniving, or shenanigans. ”
Coco touched her cheeks mockingly. “Not shenanigans!”
Graham narrowed his eyes at her. “Coco, I’m serious.”
“You worry too much, Graham.” She gave her hair a toss. “Trust me, something tells me that, this holiday season, we’re both about to get what’s coming to us.”
He raised his face heavenward as Coco made her way to the doorway. “That’s just what I’m afraid of.”
Coco chose to ignore the dig. “Come on, I want to see this town square your mom’s so excited about.”
He said a silent prayer. Here goes nothing.