being the last day before our month-long break, I was kind of sad that I wouldn’t get to see Kin on a daily basis. I’d come to rely on her. She was my voice of reason at times when I was losing my mind.
“I know what I wish I was doing,” Kin said as we left the building. “Every Christmas we would go to Aspen for at least a week. Carter has a cabin up there and we go out and cut down our own tree then decorate it with all kinds of stupid things. My mom saved every handcrafted ornament that we made in grade school, so it has a lot of bells, construction paper, and Styrofoam-cup reindeers.” She paused and I watched as her throat worked before she let out a sad-sounding laugh and shook her head. “When I asked my father if I could do that this year with Carter and the twins, he refused to talk about it with me. Apparently, Jillian has a big social calendar this time of the year and I’m expected to go to all the parties with them.”
My heart ached for her. This was the first Christmas Kin would be without her mother. She couldn’t even have a reprieve from her father to go see the three people who would be sharing the same pain that she was feeling right now.
We were getting closer to my Range Rover and I could see Georgia and her younger sister, Carolina, sitting in their car waiting impatiently. I slowed my steps when Kin did, neither of us wanting to say goodbye just yet.
“Step sandwich!”
I nearly jumped out of my skin when a beautiful blond chick came out of nowhere and wrapped her arms around Kin. Seconds later, Kin completely disappeared when a pair of massive arms wrapped around her from behind. I tensed up and Marcus moved to stand between me and the craziness that was suddenly taking place before my eyes.
Kin didn’t seem all that worried about being smothered by the two people holding onto her like she might disappear at any second. She was laughing—and maybe even crying from the sound of it—as she and the two newcomers jumped around, still holding each other.
I took a small step to the left to see around Marcus’s shoulders better. I stood there for what felt like forever but was really only about a minute before the big blond guy stepped back, grinning down at Kin. “Miss us?”
Kin scrubbed her now free hands across her cheeks, scrubbing away at twin rivers of tears. “Miss you? So much it hurts.” She kissed the blond chick’s cheek and hugged her hard before pulling back. “What are you two doing here?”
“Daddy said that your step-monster wouldn’t let you come to us for Christmas, so as soon as the semester ended, we grabbed the first plane out to be with you. You have to put up with Caleb’s ugly face for four full weeks. Daddy will be here on Monday. He had some business to take care of before he could get here, but we couldn’t wait to see you.”
Kin wasn’t normally the kind of girl to jump up and down and squeal but she did exactly that even before the blond chick had stopped speaking. “Yes, yes, yes!”
Marcus cleared his throat loudly enough to catch the threesome’s attention and Kin finally remembered that I was standing there. The grin that was splitting her face in half was probably the brightest I’d ever seen from her. “Lucy, come and meet my brother and sister.”
I’d thought that that was who these two were, but now that Kin had confirmed it,I felt stupid for not making the connection sooner. Angie and Caleb Jacobson were exactly as Kin had described them to me. Angie with her long blond hair, blue eyes, and happy smil e— the chick was drop-dead gorgeous. Caleb with his killer grin, matching blue eyes, shaggy blond hair and looks that belonged on the freaking cover of GQ would have had any girl in our school drooling in a heartbeat.
Angie was the first to offer me her hand. “Lucy? I’ve heard so much about you.” Her hand tightened on mine and she pulled me in for a squeezing hug. “Thank you so much for taking care of Kin for
“I know what I wish I was doing,” Kin said as we left the building. “Every Christmas we would go to Aspen for at least a week. Carter has a cabin up there and we go out and cut down our own tree then decorate it with all kinds of stupid things. My mom saved every handcrafted ornament that we made in grade school, so it has a lot of bells, construction paper, and Styrofoam-cup reindeers.” She paused and I watched as her throat worked before she let out a sad-sounding laugh and shook her head. “When I asked my father if I could do that this year with Carter and the twins, he refused to talk about it with me. Apparently, Jillian has a big social calendar this time of the year and I’m expected to go to all the parties with them.”
My heart ached for her. This was the first Christmas Kin would be without her mother. She couldn’t even have a reprieve from her father to go see the three people who would be sharing the same pain that she was feeling right now.
We were getting closer to my Range Rover and I could see Georgia and her younger sister, Carolina, sitting in their car waiting impatiently. I slowed my steps when Kin did, neither of us wanting to say goodbye just yet.
“Step sandwich!”
I nearly jumped out of my skin when a beautiful blond chick came out of nowhere and wrapped her arms around Kin. Seconds later, Kin completely disappeared when a pair of massive arms wrapped around her from behind. I tensed up and Marcus moved to stand between me and the craziness that was suddenly taking place before my eyes.
Kin didn’t seem all that worried about being smothered by the two people holding onto her like she might disappear at any second. She was laughing—and maybe even crying from the sound of it—as she and the two newcomers jumped around, still holding each other.
I took a small step to the left to see around Marcus’s shoulders better. I stood there for what felt like forever but was really only about a minute before the big blond guy stepped back, grinning down at Kin. “Miss us?”
Kin scrubbed her now free hands across her cheeks, scrubbing away at twin rivers of tears. “Miss you? So much it hurts.” She kissed the blond chick’s cheek and hugged her hard before pulling back. “What are you two doing here?”
“Daddy said that your step-monster wouldn’t let you come to us for Christmas, so as soon as the semester ended, we grabbed the first plane out to be with you. You have to put up with Caleb’s ugly face for four full weeks. Daddy will be here on Monday. He had some business to take care of before he could get here, but we couldn’t wait to see you.”
Kin wasn’t normally the kind of girl to jump up and down and squeal but she did exactly that even before the blond chick had stopped speaking. “Yes, yes, yes!”
Marcus cleared his throat loudly enough to catch the threesome’s attention and Kin finally remembered that I was standing there. The grin that was splitting her face in half was probably the brightest I’d ever seen from her. “Lucy, come and meet my brother and sister.”
I’d thought that that was who these two were, but now that Kin had confirmed it,I felt stupid for not making the connection sooner. Angie and Caleb Jacobson were exactly as Kin had described them to me. Angie with her long blond hair, blue eyes, and happy smil e— the chick was drop-dead gorgeous. Caleb with his killer grin, matching blue eyes, shaggy blond hair and looks that belonged on the freaking cover of GQ would have had any girl in our school drooling in a heartbeat.
Angie was the first to offer me her hand. “Lucy? I’ve heard so much about you.” Her hand tightened on mine and she pulled me in for a squeezing hug. “Thank you so much for taking care of Kin for
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