Inseparable

“Well, whoever the girl is who keeps picking up every frame and knickknack to look at the bottom and then put back. I just assumed she was dusting.”

“Fine, mother. I’ll bring you some more eggnog.”

I left Michael wanting and tended to my drunk mother. I had a feeling that the engagement ring would be coming soon. Once that was in place I wanted a quick ceremony and Michael’s entire will scrapped and started over from scratch with me entitled to everything.

It wasn’t that I didn’t love Michael. I did. But I needed to protect myself and that was what I was doing.

Chapter 17 – Tilly

"What is it with you two and the back seats of cars?" Sandy huffed over the phone.

“That’s funny.” I blurted. “That’s the same thing I said to him.”

“I mean, Brian likes it when I dress up in camouflage and pretend I’m Army Barbie but that’s nothing compared to you two.”

“I like Brian and now I’ve got this weird image in my head that you put there. What am I supposed to do with it?” I pleaded. “I’m asking you for help and you are messing with my brain. Thanks.”

“No. I’m not.” I heard her take a deep breath over the phone. “It was Christmas Eve. You’d both had a little drinkie-poo. You got caught up in the moment and now he texted you at eight o’clock in the morning a message to come and have coffee with him at his house. Don’t go.”

“What?” I gasped. “You didn’t even think about it.”

"Yes, I did. Remember what he did after the party? Look, you might want to put on a tough girl act for everyone else, maybe even yourself but I know you Tilly and that guy hurt your feelings. Don't tell me he isn't part of the reason you aren't dating anyone." I sat silently on the phone. "Plus he was a total douchebag in high school. A guy with that kind of money has

to be."

“No, he doesn’t have to be.”

“See? You’re agreeing with me.”

“Sandy, it was just like nothing had changed between us. He opened up to me and talked nicely to me. I can’t just give up on him.” I wasn’t sure if I was trying to convince Sandy or myself that Lucas was something special.

"Okay, how about this." She took a deep breath. "How about you tell him you can't make it today because it is, after all, Christmas Day. But that you'll call him in a day or two to get together. You can see how he reacts. If he gets mad and says no then you know you were just a bootie call. But if he says okay and you call him in two days and he's ready and waiting, well, I'll rethink my whole opinion of the guy."

“That’s actually not a bad idea.” I concurred.

“I’m not just a pretty face, Tilly. When are you going to realize that?”

“I guess I just did.”

Taking Sandy’s advice I politely declined Lucas’s offer. I texted him that I wasn’t able to come on. It was Christmas morning and I was getting ready to open presents with my parents but would be free for a little while tomorrow. I was polite and included a Santa smiley face.

"Come on, Tilly." My mom called . "By the time you get in here, it won't even be Christmas anymore."

“Tilly, do you want your flipping presents or not?” My dad teased.

“Yes! Yes!” I set my phone down and dashed into the front room. My mom had the Christmas tree decorated with at least six strands of lights. You could barely see the branches through them. Ornaments from when I was kid hung all over in between ribbons of tacky silver tinsel. The star at the top blinked prettily.

There weren't a lot of presents. There never were. But there were Christmas songs playing on the radio and the house smelled of freshly brewed coffee. My father insisted on playing the fireplace video on the television. It was a down-home tacky Christmas.

"Here, open mine first, Dad," I smirked as I handed my father a small package wrapped in brown paper that I drew Christmas trees and snowflakes on.

“Nice to see you went all out on the wrapping paper.”

“Do you know how expensive that stuff is? I get these bags from the grocery store for free when I buy my groceries.” I laughed.

When he opened it up he found a Swiss Army knife.

“How did you know?” He smiled happily.