Make-Believe Marriage, page 17
She frowned and regarded the room. The apartment was quiet without her roommate, Shanice Gold. Shanice had flown back to Chicago the day before to spend the holidays with her family, leaving Kate alone. Again.
It wasn’t as though it was anything new. She’d spent many a Christmas on her own, but for some reason, this year it stung a little more than it had before.
She sighed, letting her eyes drift shut. Just then, her cell phone rang, and her lids flew back open. She reached for the phone and pressed it to her ear, still slouched on the sofa, her dress splayed out around her legs.
“Hello?”
“Kate, it’s Shanice.”
“Hi, Shan. How’d the flight go?”
“It was fine. It’s cold up here! Phew!”
“I’ll bet. Were your parents happy to see you?”
Shanice chuckled. “They were so excited and surprised that I came early.”
“That was a nice thing you did.”
“You know, I really think you should reconsider my offer. Come up here, spend the holidays with my family. They don’t mind, honestly. I already spoke to Mom about it, and she’s happy for you to come.”
Kate’s lips pursed. As much as she loved Shanice’s family, the idea of imposing on someone else’s Christmas didn’t appeal to her. Their invitation was kind, but she knew she’d just be in the way. Holidays were for families, and if you were one of the unlucky ones without a family, you just had to try and make it through on your own. It was the way things were and had been ever since her parents’ accident six years earlier.
Kate shook her head. “I don’t want to impose…”
“Nonsense. I want you to come. I can’t bear the idea of you sitting in our apartment with that poor excuse for a tree on your own. Please think about it.”
She eyed the quiet living room, the sagging tree, the fridge she knew held nothing but some sliced turkey, a bag of bread rolls from the local bakery, a tomato, and a cucumber along with a carton of almost-gone milk.
“Well…if you don’t think I’d be in the way.”
Shanice’s voice bubbled with triumph. “Not at all. I’m really looking forward to having you here, and you can help me fend off the ex-boyfriend.”
Kate laughed. “I’m not entirely convinced you want to fend him off.”
“Please, girl, that ship has sailed. I’m not going back… If he wanted to marry me, he would’ve put a ring on my finger years ago.”
Kate could almost hear the sway of Shanice’s head, picture the proud look on her friend’s pretty face as she flared her nostrils the way she did whenever the subject of the nameless ex-boyfriend came up. He was forever the one who got away, though Shanice always made it seem as though she’d left him. Kate knew the real story and how much her roommate’s heart had suffered.
“Okay, well, since you need help with the ex, I guess I’ll just have to come.”
“Wonderful!” cried Shanice. “And I have just the guy for you to meet.”
Kate sighed, and her eyes rolled. “Seriously? Come on, I don’t want to be set up at Christmas with some guy I’ve never met before. And by the way, I know he must be sloppy seconds or you’d be all over him.”
Shanice’s laughter echoed down the line. “He’s fine. He’s a nice guy. He’s just not my type. Way too…square for me. But he’d suit you.”
“Wow, thanks,” Kate said, her voice deadpan. “So, in your mind I suit the too-square type, huh? I’ll have you know, I can be kooky and quirky and whatever is the opposite of square.”
“Don’t I know it? I live with you, girl.” Shanice laughed again.
“I mean it. Please don’t set me up with anyone. I’m enjoying the single life right now, taking time to get to know myself and…”
“Get to know yourself? Honey, you’ve had twenty-five years to get to know yourself. If you ain’t done yet, there’s nothing gonna help you.” She chuckled at her own joke. “It’s time you got over that lousy former fiancé of yours. So, he cheated on you, that don’t mean that every guy you meet is gonna do the same. You’ve got to step out and trust again, or you’ll end up old and alone surrounded by cats. And let me tell you, cats don’t care whether you live or die. Is that what you want?”
“I know you’re right.” Kate sighed. “And I want to find someone. Eventually. I’m just not ready yet. Plus, it’s not like there are great guys waiting around every corner. Last time I looked, there was a distinct shortage of them in Atlanta.”
Shanice exhaled sharply. “Shoot! You’re right about that. I keep telling you, just come on back to church with me. That’s where all the good men are. I know we can both find someone in church. In fact, that can be our New Year’s resolution—to go to church together and find us a pair of good men to date.”
“Sounds like a plan.” It was the last thing Kate felt like doing. She hated the dating scene. Meeting someone, the awkward introductions, the first date where both parties did their best to ask the most banal questions possible, and then waiting for the phone call that might or might not come afterward. It was almost as bad as trudging around Atlanta in an attempt to secure a showing of her paintings in one of the many galleries scattered throughout the city—then waiting for the call that might be either life changing or soul crushing. She shuddered. After New Year’s, she’d just have to find a way to let Shanice down gently.
“Let me know what time you’re flying in, and I’ll come pick you up from the airport.”
“Okay, thanks.” Kate pushed herself off the sofa and wandered over to the tree. She eyed each branch—the carefully strung popcorn, the ornaments her grandmother had given her each year for Christmas when she was still alive, the drooping tip of the tree that refused to house her star.
She frowned, setting a hand on her hip. “I’ll call the airline shortly to set it up, but I have to deliver a few more Christmas-Grams over the next couple of days.”
“Are you still doing those?”
“Yep. They pay the bills. I’ve only got three to go this morning, and then two more tomorrow and three the next day, and I’ll be done. Apparently an elf delivering singing telegrams is the hot ticket holiday item this year.” She chuckled then hugged herself. If only it were true. She’d barely make enough to cover gifts for her friends and the extra on the heat bill to get her through the coldest part of winter.
“Well, take care and stay safe. You never know who you’re gonna meet going house to house and singing to strangers,” Shanice warned.
Kate picked the star up off the floor and aimed it at the drooping tip of the tree again. Maybe this time it’d stick. “Ain’t that the truth.”
Keep reading…
Also by Vivi Holt
CONTEMPORARY SERIES
Make-Believe
Make-Believe Fiancé
Make-Believe Wedding
Make-Believe Honeymoon
Make-Believe Husband
Make-Believe Proposal
Make-Believe Marriage
Email-Order
The Billionaire’s Email-Order Date
The Billionaire’s Email-Order Bride
Cowboys & Debutantes
Dalton
Eamon
Parker
The Complete Boxed Set
HISTORICAL SERIES
Cowboys & Debutantes (Historical)
Della
Hattie
Pearl
Paradise Valley
Of Peaks and Prairies
Winds of Paradise
Lost in Laredo
Cheyenne Reckoning
Forgotten Trails
Cutter’s Creek
The Strong One
The Betrothed
Cherished
Season of Love
Captivated
Beguiled
Orphan Brides Go West
Mail Order Bride: Christy
Mail Order Bride: Ramona
Mail Order Bride: Katie
Mail Order Bride: Holly
Visit my website at www.viviholt.com for an updated list of my books
About the Author
Vivi Holt was born in Australia. She grew up in the country, where she spent her youth riding horses at Pony Club, and adventuring through the fields and rivers around the farm. Her father was a builder, turned saddler, and her mother a nurse, who stayed home to raise their four children.
After graduating from a degree in International Relations, Vivi moved to Atlanta, Georgia to work for a year. It was there that she met her husband, and they were married three years later. She spent seven years living in Atlanta and travelled to various parts of the United States during that time, falling in love with the beauty of that immense country and the American people.
Vivi also studied for a Bachelor of Information Technology, and worked in the field ever since until becoming a full-time writer in 2016. She now lives in Brisbane, Australia with her husband and three small children. Married to a Baptist pastor, she is very active in her local church.
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Copyright © 2019 by Vivi Holt
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Vivi Holt, Make-Believe Marriage
