Chapter 16 FLETCHER #2
“Guess you better go shower then.”
She scrambles out of the dining room.
In the silence, I clear my throat and turn to Vince. “So, um. Sarah invited you to Christmas Eve dinner.”
He blinks. “She did?”
I nod, trying not to look too hopeful.
“And what do you think?” he asks carefully.
I immediately reach for his hand. “I want you there, Vince.”
Something shifts between us—something heavy and meaningful. This isn’t just dinner. It’s an invitation into my life in a way I don’t do lightly.
“It’s always at Sarah’s,” I continue. “They have the most room. Anyway, it’s her, Ryan, Ryan’s kids, his parents, sometimes his grandparents.
His brother. Sarah’s parents usually come too, but they’re out of town this year.
Oh, and Darren is always there, so you’ll know him too.
” I can practically see his face getting paler with all these names.
“It’s full, but it’s not usually chaotic.
They’re a good bunch of people. We just eat together and play games. Sometimes watch a movie.”
Vince looks genuinely surprised. “You still spend Christmas with your ex?”
“Yeah. Always have. We kept it up for Georgie after the divorce, trying to keep things normal. Then, after a while, Sarah insisted we just… keep going. She even invited Darren after our parents died.” I shrug a little.
“Sarah’s parents didn’t love it at first, but now…
” I trail off, heart warming. I’m so damn grateful for Sarah’s and Ryan’s families. Truly.
“But now?” Vince presses.
“Now, they’re family,” I say simply. “That’s the only way I can explain it.”
Vince hesitates. “And they won’t care if I’m there?”
I squeeze his hand again. “I think they’ll be happy about it. They’d want to meet you. So, think about it?”
He doesn’t even pause. “Yeah, I’ll go.”
Relief and something dangerously close to joy spreads through me. “Really?”
He squeezes my hand before pulling away. “Sounds nice.”
Georgie reappears sometime later in a rush of hoodies and leather purses. Her phone is pressed to her ear as she hurriedly slips her shoes on.
“I’m late,” she announces, like it’s my fault she took a thirty-minute shower. “Avalon’s dad is already outside.”
“Keys,” I say automatically.
She skids to a stop, spins back, grabs them off the hook, and pauses just long enough to glance between Vince and I again. Her mouth quirks.
“Bye,” she says, then disappears out the door.
The house goes still in the way it only ever does after she leaves—too quiet, like it’s holding its breath.
Vince exhales slowly. His shoulders drop an inch.
“We’ve got a few hours. Want to do anything?”
He smirks. “I can think of a few things.”
I refill our coffee, but instead of taking his mug to the table, Vince follows me around the kitchen, leaning against the counter, watching as I load the dishwasher.
He looks… curious. Like he’s cataloging small things—the mismatched plates, the magnet-covered fridge, the faint dent in the floor where Georgie dropped the cast iron years ago and insisted it wasn’t her fault.
“You really do have a great home,” he says quietly.
“Thanks. Took me a while to make it my own. After Sarah left I mean. I was never great at coordinating stuff.”
“Could’ve fooled me.” He gestures vaguely. “It definitely feels like a home. Georgie’s lucky.”
His comment makes me look at him harder. “Did you not have that growing up?”
He makes a cold, bitter sound. “No. My parents were in the military, so we moved often. Mom never bought decorations. Sometimes we were lucky to even have pictures on the wall at all. She’d often just prop them up with a kickstand so she didn’t make holes in the walls.”
I frown. “That’s sad.”
He shrugs. “It is what it is.”
We end up back at the table, coffee growing cold between us, talking about nothing and everything. Vince asks about Georgie’s movie. I ask about his shift later. It’s easy in a way that still surprises me. No need to fill the gaps, no pressure.
At some point, Christmas comes up again—not directly, but like he can’t resist asking.
“So,” Vince says, tracing the rim of his mug with his thumb. “What’s Christmas Eve like at Sarah’s? What should I expect?”
I smile. “It’s busy, but like I said, not too chaotic.
Especially now that the kids have grown up.
Ryan has two boys, and Ryan’s brother, Nate, has a daughter.
It was always fun seeing them together since they’re close in age.
Anyway, there’s always too much food, and pie.
Always pie.” I shrug. “I don’t know how to explain it. It’s just… nice.”
“Sounds it.”
“We used to alternate who Georgie spent Christmas morning with, but now we let her choose. She usually stays there to be with her stepbrothers.” I hesitate. “What about you? Growing up, I mean. What was Christmas like?”
Vince shrugs, scrubbing a hand along his stubbled jaw. He has two new nicks from shaving. “It was fine. My parents weren’t big on traditions, so it was always just kind of thrown together. My brother and I lost interest in it after a while.”
“You lost interest in Christmas?” I gasp.
He focuses on his mug. “They never made it anything to look forward to, you know.”
Well, damn. No wonder he seems uninterested. He hasn’t felt the Christmas magic.
“Then, in the army, Christmas just became something I got through, you know? Base dinners. Or spending it with whatever group I ended up with. Ace and Bucket always tried to make it special, but it was still… empty for us.” He smiles a little, remembering something.
“Then after the army, it was just work. Double shifts. I always volunteered to work on Christmas since I didn’t have anyone to be with.
” He shrugs again. “It’s been that way my whole life. ”
I picture him alone in his apartment, Christmas lights on someone else’s balcony glowing through the window. My throat tightens.
“Do you work this year?”
“The bar is always open on Christmas Eve, but no. Declan gave me the night off. They’re closed Christmas Day.”
“Well, good,” I say carefully. “Because Sarah will blow your mind. She goes overboard. It’s like tinsel and lights palooza over there.”
He gestures to the sparkling lights and stockings in my living room and grins. “More than this?”
I snort. “Oh yeah. Sarah goes full Hallmark movie this time of year.”
“I’ll pretend to know what that means.”
I gasp. “You’ve never seen a Hallmark Christmas movie?”
“No?”
“Oh, you sweet, sweet man. Come on.”
We move to the couch, and I pull a blanket over our legs. Vince wraps an arm around me. It’s easy to lean into him, especially without Georgie around.
“Okay. Prepare for gloriously cheesy lines, all the wonderful feelings, and everything smothered in Christmas goodness.”
He looks mildly horrified. And it makes me laugh.
As the movie plays, I realize it’s been at least three years since I’ve watched a holiday movie.
Georgie is usually too busy now, and I don’t enjoy watching them alone.
To my surprise, Vince is completely absorbed, laughing at all the right places.
For a guy who prefers action flicks, it feels like a huge win.
I suddenly can’t wait to see him in Sarah’s tinsel-filled home.
I want that future so much.
It won’t be too much for him, right? I imagine him cringing at all the lights and crowds of energetic people, wishing he could escape, and it fills me with doubt.
Curling into him, I hold Vince tight.
Please don’t let this scare him away.