Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
MATTHEW
My body comes alive as I have Avery tucked under my arm.
Not only am I warring with the rushing anxiety of having McKenzie walking toward us, but am now overcome with a different set of emotions, having Avery’s body pressed against mine.
I want to rub my sternum to find some relief from the building anxiety, but I can’t.
McKenzie knows it’s my telltale sign of being uncomfortable, and I have a sneaky suspicion that Avery picked up on it during our drive last night.
I can’t let either of them know they affect me the way they do, even if it’s for very different reasons.
Even though my body is alive with conflicting feelings, there’s an undercurrent of calm.
Like a stillness in the eye of a storm. With every breath, Avery’s scent of warm gingerbread spices takes a little of the stress away.
Leaning into her, the squeeze of her hand on my waist and the gentle weight of her head on my shoulder, brings more of a calm.
By the time McKenzie stands in front of us, I start to feel my heartbeat calm, returning to near normal.
Interesting.
“Hi, McKenzie,” I manage to make out, gently squeezing Avery’s shoulder in a silent thank you.
“My goodness, it’s been a long time,” McKenzie says as she loops her hand through the arm of the man next to her, a fake smile plastered on her face.
I remember that smile. It was reserved for two types of people. Those she wants to impress but doesn’t actually want to spend time with, and those that she’s forced to spend time with out of politeness. I think we fall somewhere in the middle of those two.
“Yup, it’s been a while.” Diverting my eyes to the man next to her, I tip my chin with a mumbled, “Cal.”
“Matthew,” he responds, thankfully not using the same nickname McKenzie apparently refuses to give up.
Shifting my attention to look down at Avery, the last of the tension in my chest dissipates at the sight of her smile.
There’s nothing fake about it. In fact, there’s nothing fake about Avery at all.
The more I get to know her, the more I see that she’s exactly what she seems. Maybe it’s my history with McKenzie or being in the city all these years, but it’s like a breath of fresh air being with her.
“Who’s this?”
McKenzie’s inquisitive voice draws me out of the hold that Avery’s gaze has on me. Reluctantly, I break away from Avery’s blue eyes that now remind me of the Christmas ornaments my mom used to put on our tree, especially in the glittering lights from the tents.
Fitting for my little elf.
“I’d like you to meet my girlfriend, Avery Geller.”
“Girlfriend?” McKenzie squawks, rolling her eyes over Avery from top to bottom. “Your mom didn’t mention anything about you having a girlfriend.”
The reminder that Mom keeps McKenzie, and the town, updated about me, irks me, but at the same time, knowing that it’s about me being with Avery makes it more—tolerable.
“We were keeping it quiet for a while. You know how my mom is. I tell her Avery and I are dating and the next thing I know, she’s sending wedding invites,” I joke. I was hoping to diffuse the situation, but now I see I made it even more awkward.
It brings up the memories of my mom telling the whole town that McKenzie and I were going to get married after university, only to have her engaged to Cal.
I couldn’t handle the level of pity and sadness on everyone’s face whenever they tried to talk to me.
It’s one thing that pushed me to move to Vancouver sooner than I had planned.
Then there’s the way Avery is holding on to my waist so tightly I can feel her nails bite into me through my clothes.
I feel bad knowing she didn’t sign up for things to move this quickly.
I may have downplayed how intense my mom can be.
While she won’t be sending out actual invites, knowing my mom, the town will know every detail we give her about the relationship before the end of the night.
“Right,” McKenzie says unconvincingly before turning to Avery. “It’s nice to meet you, Ava.”
“Avery,” she corrects with a beaming smile.
“Sure.” McKenzie’s tone is flat before she turns to Cal, patting him on the chest, the large ring on her left hand shining in the winter sun.
The size of the diamond is something that I never would have been able to afford during our time together.
Even now, I can’t help but think that the price would be equivalent to the down payment of a home, possibly even the outright purchase of one in a town like Gingerbread Grove.
“Matty, you remember this stunning man here from all those years ago.” She blinks her eyes up at me as she gives his chest another pat. “Angela, this is Cal.”
“It’s Avery,” she grits through her now forced smile. “And as you probably remember, Matthew doesn’t like to be called any nicknames.”
A sense of pride surges through me as Avery corrects her about my nickname. Like my mom, it’s always been pointless to correct McKenzie as she never listened, even when we were dating.
“Oh, Matty. What’s a nickname between friends, right?” McKenzie insists, her fake smile getting wider.
“It’s Matthew,” I correct firmly, with more confidence than I’ve had in a long time.
“It’s nice to meet you, Avery,” Cal says, shooting a sideways look at his wife. “Welcome to Gingerbread Grove. You’re just in time for the kickoff to the Yuletide Games. I hope you and Matthew are going to sign up and compete.”
“We were thinking about it,” Avery say, smiling up at me.
She takes my breath away when her smile shifts to one that is genuine. True. One that I know is for me because now that she’s met McKenzie and seen Gingerbread Grove, I think she gets it. She understands why I was hesitant to come back alone and face all of this without someone by my side.
“So…what about Mitch? He didn’t come back here with you?” McKenzie asks, her voice getting higher the longer we are talking.
I know it’s her sign that she’s getting frustrated with the conversation. Likely, because I’m not showing up like the heartbroken fool I was years ago.
Another reason I will be forever in Avery’s debt. Even though I haven’t wished to be with my ex-girlfriend for years, I no doubt would have tried to avoid her at all costs rather than be reminded that I’m alone.
Except now, I don’t have to be.
“He’s still in Vancouver.” Even though I don’t want to, I draw my gaze away from Avery, scanning the crowd to see if there’s any way of getting us out of his conversation. “He’s running the office while I’m here.”
“You two were always inseparable,” McKenzie muses.
“And you still are, aren’t you, babe?” Avery says.
“You should hear all the things these two get up to in the city; isn’t that right, Matthew?
But I guess you don’t have much time to get into too much trouble anymore now that your company has taken off the way it has.
These two work harder than anyone I know! ”
“Uh, yeah.” I cover my mouth with my hands to hide my laugh listening to Avery’s antics. I don’t know where Avery is going with this as she’s never even met Mitch, but I’m letting her roll with it and enjoying the entertainment while she’s doing it.
“I’m not sure ‘Matthew’ and ‘trouble’ have ever been uttered in the same sentence before,” McKenzie utters under her breath.
Avery hugs me tighter as her smile becomes more strained, and she glares at McKenzie in a way that’s almost terrifying. “I guess that’s what happens when you lose touch with people. They change. Grow. Move on.”
I wonder just how many of those true crime podcasts she’s listened to.
“Anyway…” Cal says, clearing his throat. “Happy to have you back, Matthew. You’ll be a last minute entry as a couple, but I’ll be sure to add both of your names to the games and get a schedule sent off to you.”
Avery continues her stare off with McKenzie as she speaks. “Thank you, Cal. Babe, do you mind showing me that tent with the apple cider you were telling me about? I can smell it from here and it smells amazing.”
“Of course,” I answer blankly as I try to decipher the silent war the two women seem to be having. “I guess we’d better get going, then.”
“Nice seeing you two.” With another nod, Cal leads his wife off in the opposite direction, whispering frantically to her as they walk through the snow-lined path.
“So that was McKenzie…”
“Yup.” I turn and lead her toward the tents, needing space from whatever just happened.
Amidst the tension in that conversation, there’s something else that I’m feeling.
I can only hope that she’s feeling the same thing, too.
I don’t know if I’ll be able to put myself out there just to be hurt—to find out that she was only faking this whole time.
Whatever this is feels real—like, really real—and I don’t know if I like it.
Needing to break the spell she has over me at the moment, I take my arm from around her shoulders and grab her hand, linking her fingers with mine. We both walk in silence as we toss our now-empty coffee cups in the trash before making our way towards the cider tent.
“That was…” I start, not knowing how to address the terror that just happened.
“Interesting.” Avery finishes, squeezing my hand. “I don’t get it.”
“Get what?”
“You and McKenzie.”