Chapter Fifteen
Grandma called me on Christmas morning.
To most people, that would likely be a normal thing, but my grandmother was not a normal grandmother. She never called me. Not on holidays. Not on my birthday. Never ‘just because.’
That is why, as I answered her phone call, a cold twinge of fear ran up my spine. I assumed that the only scenario in which she would call me would be if something terrible had happened.
“Grandma, is everything okay?” I asked as I answered the phone.
I could hear her scoff. “Please, Jessa. Would you calm it with the dramatics? I only called to wish you a merry Christmas.”
My face scrunched up in confusion. “Oh. Okay—ah, thank you? Merry Christmas to you and Grandpa, too? Did you guys—”
“Anyway,” she interrupted. “Now that’s out of the way, I had something I wanted to discuss with you.”
For some reason, her words sent a sinking feeling straight to the pit of my stomach. “Right. What is it?”
“What are your plans for New Year’s?”
“New Year’s?”
“Yes, dear. Keep up, would you? What are you doing for New Year’s? I would like to host a party for you and Liam at your shops to welcome in the new year.”
My mouth fell open. “You what?” I could hardly believe her words.
Grandma tsked. “I said that I would like to host a party for New Year’s at your shop and Liam’s. Don’t worry about money, Grandpa and I will take care of all the expenses. Catering, decorations, entertainment—”
“Wait, stop. Why?”
There was this one proverb that Mom always used to say—something about not looking a gift horse in the mouth, but Grandma never did kind things just for the sake of being kind. I had to question it. There had to be something that she wanted out of all this.
A loud sigh came through the phone. “Can I not do something nice for my only granddaughter? I was thinking we could make it a real exclusive and upscale sort of thing. It’ll be great for business, no doubt.”
I wanted to cling to her words. I wanted to believe that for once, she was acting as the grandmother I had always craved, but that felt nearly impossible. “If you want to do this for me, then why would Liam be involved at all?”
“Jessa, the boy is practically family. I have enough resources to throw a nice party for each of you. Now, if you’re through being selfish, I wanted to go over catering. I was thinking hors d’oeuvres would work best rather than a full dinner, but I figured I should get your input.”
“My input?”
Another loud sigh. “Shall we do this later, after you’ve woken up a bit? You know how it drains me to repeat myself, dear.”
“No,” I stammered out. “No. Ah—hors d’oeuvres would be great, Grandma.”
I had no idea what had gotten into her. I figured perhaps it was the Christmas spirit or maybe a Christmas miracle. Regardless, I couldn’t let the opportunity go. I couldn’t give up the one thing I had wanted for so long, even if it felt a little suspicious.
“Excellent. Now, decorations. I was envisioning a silver and gold balloon arch for the entryway into each shop, but we need more. How do you feel about streamers?”
“Streamers? Okay, I guess?”
“Excellent. Streamers, balloons, oh—right. We’ll need to get you a nice dress, too. We can go pick one up tomorrow.”
I nodded as she continued to ramble off a list of things that would need to be done over the next week.
My heart was racing with hope.
* * *
In the week that followed, I spent more time with my grandmother than I probably had in my whole life.
We planned every last detail together. Shopped for dresses and decorations.
And when the evening of New Year’s Eve finally arrived, I found myself standing at the dead center of the most extravagant party I had ever seen.
I let myself feel excited. Let myself bask in the feeling of having an attentive grandmother who truly seemed to care for me. I still hadn’t figured out if she had some ulterior motive or not, but a part of me had decided that I didn’t really want to know.
Silver and gold decorations covered nearly every inch of The Prologue. The place was more full than it ever had been before. Everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time.
It was a fun feeling—getting to see so many of my regulars come in dressed up all nice. Most either made their way to the makeshift dance floor we had set up in the cafe area or grazed at the snack tables. Others, who preferred a more relaxed environment, set up with a book in the lounge.
Even I was dressed up nicer than usual. Grandma insisted that I needed an outfit befitting such an event. True to her word, the day after Christmas, we hopped around to every clothing store in town until we found the perfect dress.
It was a black, sparkly, floor-length gown with a slit on one side that went all the way to my upper thigh.
The dress was gorgeous, but it wasn’t something that I would ever normally buy or wear.
However, it was the only dress I tried on that day that didn’t make Grandma immediately scowl, so that was the dress I chose.
It wasn’t until an hour short of midnight that I was able to escape my shop and sneak over to Liam’s. The Galaxy Gamers Cafe housed the dessert table—an effort to get people to come from one shop to the other, as well as all the board games one could ever dream of.
As I stepped out into the freezing cold of late December, I could quickly see that I wasn’t alone.
Usually, by sunset, Rosewood Avenue was as good as dead, but on this particular evening, even in the dark as it neared midnight, there were several groups of people, all varying levels of intoxicated, lingering up and down the street.
The majority of them, though, seemed to hang in the space just between Liam’s shop and mine.
His place was warmer than mine was, something I was grateful for with how much skin my dress revealed. While most of the people inside The Prologue were either dancing or curled up with a book, everyone inside Liam’s shop was playing games and chatting.
I found Liam toward the back of his shop. He was dressed in the same way that he always was for nice events. A button-up shirt with a blazer thrown over top and a light-colored pair of chinos.
There was clearly a reason he always opted for such an outfit. Liam looked incredibly tempting. It was honestly a shock to find him alone—no one but me aiming to grab his attention.
His back was pressed against the wall, and his gaze raked over the crowd until finally, it landed on me.
Liam’s posture straightened up immediately. “I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight,” he admitted.
Liam’s eyes widened as he took notice of my outfit. It was the nicest thing that I had ever worn—certainly the most beautiful dress he had ever seen me wear.
“You look incredible.”
My cheeks flushed at his words and, for once, I welcomed the feeling. “Thank you. You don’t look half-bad yourself.”
We had barely spoken since our kiss in my grandparents’ back garden. Every interaction since then had all been in the presence of Grandma as we worked to plan this event.
A small smile tugged at my lips as I stood beside him. “It looks like everyone is having a good time.”
“Your grandma sure knows how to throw a party.”
I nodded. Parties were the one thing that Grandma always did right. I could imagine her in another life being the queen of a kingdom, throwing lavish balls every chance she had.
A blanket of silence fell over us. Things with Liam had always felt so natural. It was rare that an occasion arose where I had no idea what to say to him.
But we kissed. We had finally kissed, and I had no idea how to broach that topic.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to.
“Would you like to dance with me, Jess?”
My eyes flickered up to meet his. There was something so vulnerable in his expression. His soft features were framed with hope.
I didn’t want to say no, but even if I did, it would have been impossible to when he was looking at me like that. “Yes.”
Taking Liam’s hand felt like silently crossing over the line.
It was almost silly. We had kissed. There had been some sort of tension building between us for months.
And yet, it was dancing with him that felt like finally crossing over that invisible line, from friends to something more.
Something different, new, and completely unexplored.
I trailed behind him as he led me to the dance floor. The game tables had all been pushed closer together to make a space large enough for at least a few people to dance, but no one was. No one aside from us.
I had this tiny, quiet voice in the back of my mind telling me that I should have felt embarrassed.
I had my hands wrapped loosely around the back of his neck, and his own hands were resting on the small of my back.
We were dancing like two teenagers at prom in the middle of a packed party—a party full of people who were not dancing.
I should have felt embarrassed, but I didn’t. Likely because, as we swayed to the beat of the music, the only thing on my mind was Liam.
As the music faded from one song to the next, Liam leaned in close. Shivers crawled up my spine as I felt his warm breath against my ear when he began to ask, “Jess, I was wondering if…”
I waited for a moment, but he didn’t continue. “If?”
His body seemed to stiffen, and his grip on me tightened slightly. Then, he pulled away. “I have to go deal with something.”
Within a few seconds, Liam had vanished into the crowd. In a haze of confusion, I followed after him, only to finally find him deep in conversation with my grandparents.
Grandma was clutching a microphone, and her eyes were narrowed at him as she spoke.
“What’s going on?” I asked as I approached.
“Jessa,” Grandma said, her tone sharp. “What are you doing here? You’re the host. It’s rude to leave while the party is still going on. Have I taught you nothing over the past week? What if someone needs something from you?”
I flashed her an apologetic frown. “Sorry, Grandma. I only came over for a minute to see how Liam was doing.”