Chapter Two
The next day, I’m driving us to his parents’ house for their Christmas Eve dinner.
Despite it being called a dinner, it starts at two in the afternoon and we’re expected to arrive by noon to help.
This usually means I’m in the kitchen with his mom cooking while Rhys plays with his niece and nephew in the rec room.
To be fair, they are a handful, and he does help set and clear the table.
“So, still no cookies?” Rhys asks when we’re halfway there.
Snorting, I reply, “Your mom is the baker and you know it.” As if I could ever compete with her supreme baking skills. That’s why I usually make a side dish.
“I do know it, but it still isn’t going to stop me from wanting your cookies.”
When he looks over at me with his trademark grin, I can’t help but smile.
This time, however, I don’t just smile. Butterflies dance around my stomach, too.
That’s… strange. Then again, ever since he kissed me last night, I’ve been feeling some sort of way.
I mean, Rhys and I are best friends, that remains unchanged.
But that kiss.
That kiss.
It didn’t mean anything. He was just messing with Nora’s head. Playing games.
Why didn’t it feel like a game?
At the next stoplight, I sneak a glance over in his direction. He genuinely seems unfazed by the whole situation, given how he keeps joking around about me baking cookies again. Maybe to him everything is normal and I’m just overreacting. That wouldn’t be completely out of character for me.
The bizarre feelings I’m having are, though.
When we arrive, Rhys’s mom, Tess, envelops us each in a tight hug. “Merry Christmas! Oh, I’m so happy you’re both finally here.”
“Did you bake cookies?” Rhys asks her. When I smack his arm, he frowns. “Mom, she hit me.”
She rolls her eyes and waves off his complaint. “I’m sure you deserved it.”
I let out a snicker while Rhys makes a face. He says, “Of course you take her side.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” she answers. “You’ve always been the instigator. And, yes, I did bake cookies, but you can’t have any until after dinner.”
Rhys’s four-year-old nephew Elias walks over. “That’s what she told me, too,” he says, crossing his arms.
Rhys takes his hand. “Come on, let’s go do something to get our mind off cookies.”
The two of them leave the room while his mom and I head to the kitchen. His sister, Quinn, is sitting at the kitchen table holding her baby Jade. She stands up and gives me a side hug. “I take it Rhys is already off with Elias wreaking havoc.”
“You know him well,” I reply as I press a kiss to Jade’s cheek. She looks up, giving me a gummy smile as she reaches out, grabbing hold of my finger. The little squeeze from her tiny hand warms my heart. “She’s precious.”
“She is, but only when she doesn’t need a diaper change. Could you hold her for a sec? I have to go grab the diaper bag.”
“Of course.”
Quinn places Jade in my arms and leaves the room. I gently bounce her while making silly faces. Jade looks up at me with curiosity, then blows some bubbles, making me laugh.
“You’re a natural with children, Hadley,” Tess says.
Normally, I wouldn’t give a second thought to the comment because I’m used to people telling me this.
I’ve always been good with kids. But today, after all the unusual feelings swirling in my brain in the last twenty-four hours, it feels different.
As much as I enjoy spending time with nieces and nephews, I would love to someday have a family of my own.
Someday seems to continually become further and further away.
But it wouldn’t have to be someday if Rhys and I…
Wait a minute. What is going on in my head? Rhys and I are friends! Just friends. Best friends.
Right? Right.
After Quinn returns and takes Jade back, I start to help Tess with dinner. She’s keeping an eye on the roast in the crockpot while I mash the potatoes.
“Everything smells so delicious,” I tell her.
“As it should be,” she says with a warm smile. “It’s Christmas after all.”
Simon, Rhys’s dad, comes into the kitchen donning a Santa hat. “Ho, ho, ho!”
“Merry Christmas, Simon,” I tell him.
“Merry Christmas, Hadley,” he says. He strolls over to Tess, holding a piece of mistletoe over her head. She grins and they kiss. Tess and Simon have always been such loving parents. Their love is evident in their relationship as well as through their kids and grandkids.
Rhys pops into the kitchen and walks over to me. “Make sure to leave them lumpy.”
I bump my arm into his. “That’s how they always are, you dork.”
“Hey, stop fighting,” Simon says. He reaches over our heads with the mistletoe. “Come on, kiss and make up.”
My heart skips a beat. Of course this would happen today, too! Rhys and I exchange a look, then he smiles and leans forward, touching my cheek with his hand. I close my eyes and hold my breath in anticipation… only to have him press a soft kiss to my forehead.
When I look up at him again, he’s smirking. “Nice try, Dad.” He takes a piece of chocolate from the candy jar and leaves the room, not knowing how that move just affected me.
A little over an hour later, we’re all sitting at the long mahogany dining-room table passing dishes and plates around.
Rhys is, of course, right next to me, as he always is.
The nearness of him didn’t used to unnerve me like it is now.
I somehow pull myself together enough to pretend as though nothing has changed.
Even if it feels like it has.
Partway through the dinner, Tess asks, “So, Rhys… are you seeing anyone?”
Thankfully I didn’t have anything in my mouth, otherwise I would’ve choked. His parents are notorious for instigating overly personal conversations such as this in front of an audience, so I shouldn’t have been surprised.
Rhys sighs. “Don’t you think I would have told you if I was?”
“Well, things can change quickly,” she replies.
“I talked to you two days ago on the phone.”
“A lot can happen in two days.”
I can’t help the giggle that escapes my lips, which was a mistake, because Tess then turns her attention to me.
Uh-oh.
“How about you, dear?” Tess asks.
“Um… what about me?” I ask, even though I know the question.
“Are you seeing anyone?”
Shaking my head, I say, “No, I’m not seeing anyone.”
Quinn rolls her eyes as she wipes Jade’s face. “You know, Mom, you’ve gotta stop bugging them about that stuff. I mean, look at me. I didn’t get married until I was almost thirty.” She leans her head on her husband Bryce’s shoulder.
Bryce nods in agreement. “Some of us are just late bloomers.”
I can only hope the expression on my face is saying thank you when I look at them. I’ve never understood the pressure to get married young. Not that I can say I haven’t been feeling a bit of that pressure to share a home or start a family internally recently, but that’s another story entirely.
“I know, darling,” Tess responds. “I just want to see my boy get married to a nice girl. And to see Hadley get married to a nice boy.”
The way she looks between Rhys and me definitely says more than she’s letting on.
It seems matchmaking is in the air this holiday season.
I peek over at Rhys and can see a little smile forming on the corner of his mouth.
Is he smiling because he knows what his mom is implying? Or is he smiling because he likes me?
Well, I mean, he obviously likes me because we’re friends, but does he really like me? In that way?
Romantically?
Is Tess on to something with us? Does she see something we can’t see?
Or maybe, just maybe, I do see it and don’t want to admit it.
I push the thought aside and continue to eat my dinner.
I’m not going to stress over this right now.
I’ve already been dealing with some strange feelings, and I don’t need to aggravate it any more than it already has been.
Besides, Quinn and Bryce are right. I don’t need to rush anything just because of societal expectations. I’ll find my Prince Charming one day.
But what if he really has been right in front of me all along?