Isabelle: A
re you awake?
Tess: Yes.
She didn’t write anything back.
Tess: I just need to drink another coffee to wake up my neurons, and then I can help with whatever you need.
Isabelle: I don’t need anything, silly. Was just checking on you. Do you have any plans today?
Tess: Yup, I need to send all of last night’s orders to the factory.
Isabelle: Wow. I know we both live by the motto #HUSTLE, but you can probably take a day off.
Tess: I will, don’t worry. AFTER I send the orders :)
Isabelle: So you’ll be home all day?
Tess: Yes. But we can plan something in the afternoon.
Isabelle: Let’s talk after you’re done.
Tess: Sure :)
The second coffee didn’t help as much as I hoped either, but then again, what could mere caffeine do against that hollow feeling in my chest?
Armed with a third cup and my laptop, I turned on the Christmas lights on the balcony before sitting in my armchair. Yep, it was one of those days when I needed all the holiday spirit I could get. Except the lights didn’t do the trick. I needed just a bit more Christmas in my home.
Setting my laptop aside, I brought out my box of decorations from the storage room.
I could do this very quickly. I was a pro at decorating under every circumstance. Even the year Mom moved us to New York and had neither space nor money for decorations, I turned our little apartment into Christmasland. All I needed was a trip to Goodwill, scissors, paint, and glue. And I’d done it all before Mom had even come home from work. I’d known it would lift everyone’s mood, and I’d been right. Even Mom smiled that day, and I’d rarely seen her smile since the divorce. Christmas was magic—for me at least, it had always been.
I was only going to need ten minutes.
Half an hour later, I was sweaty and swearing, because I couldn’t untangle the last set of Christmas lights.
I only stopped because my doorbell rang. Had Isabelle decided to pay me a visit after all? Or was it someone from my family? Come to think of it, I could do with some Winchester love right now. My apartment was cozy, with the Christmas lights, fake tree, silvery garlands, and painted globes hanging everywhere, but I still would love a bear hug from one of my brothers or Hunter.
“Come in. The door’s open,” I said loudly, still trying to untie the Christmas lights. I heard the door open and only looked up when footsteps approached, then promptly stopped.
Liam.
He was wearing jeans and a blue sweater that molded perfectly around those steely muscles and brought out the depths of his eyes. He sported a five-o’clock shadow, and his hair was messy. He just rolled out of bed and looked drop-dead sexy. I felt very self-conscious in my old yellow sweater and leggings. They were the first things I found in my closet, and I’d put them on without giving them a second thought, even though they looked like rags.
He stared at my hands, then swept his gaze around the room before focusing on me again.
“Liam, what... Was I supposed to know you were coming?” I asked.
I hadn’t looked at my phone since starting Operation Christmas and didn’t hear it chime with a message or a call.
“No. It’s supposed to be a surprise.”
My heart was beating so fast. Last evening, I’d told him so many things and hadn’t given him time to say much. I was afraid of what he had to say now.
“How did you know I was home?” It quickly occurred to me. “Oh, Isabelle.”
He smiled at last, and my stomach unclenched a little.