6 Mountain Brothers for Christmas

“I hope so,” I said. “You don't deserve that. And you don't deserve to have such a freak trying to make your life difficult.”

“I just need to pick a higher caliber of woman apparently,” he said with a wink.

“I think you've already picked a better one,” I teased. “But I may be a little bit biased.”

“Oh no,” he said, kissing the tip of my nose. “I've managed to get the cream of the crop with this one. She's something special, that's for sure.”

“You better be tal

king about me,” I said, playfully punching him.

“Actually, I was talking about our maid,” he said. “She's really something.”

I giggled and slapped him in the arm. “You jerk.”

“Of course I'm talking about you,” he laughed. We kissed, and even though I had a mess to deal with back home, I was currently in paradise with the man of my dreams. I could forget about my mom for now ,and just savor what remained of this trip. Reality would hit us sooner or later, but we might as well enjoy the fantasy while it lasted.

***

The rest of our trip seemed to fly by, and we both slept hard on the plane heading back home. We couldn't let that hammock and that ocean view go to waste, and of course, we had to make use of the entire bungalow, inside and out. It had been physically draining and we were both worn out.

Not to mention, I needed to be emotionally prepared for the fallout with my mom when I got home. When we landed, Sebastian asked me if he should come over with me, but I told him it would only make it worse and that I'd handle it.

“I'll talk to her first,” I said. “And then you can stop by later, perhaps. She's got no real choice. She's going to have to get used to us being together.”

While I wasn't officially Sebastian's girlfriend – mainly because he hadn't asked yet – we were very much in a relationship; albeit, a complicated one.

I had texted my mom from Bali and told her we'd talk when I got back. She tried to call me several times after that, but I kept telling her the same thing; we'd talk when I got back. Period. There was no reason for her to ruin the rest of the trip by being dramatic. I didn't need or want her hysterics. But now that I was standing on my front porch, I was dreading the backlash I'd kept pushing off. It was a bill I knew was coming due, and I had no other choice but to pay it.

As soon as I opened the door, my mother was standing there in the foyer, glass of wine in hand, a well-practiced look of disapproval on her face.

“Have fun in Bali?” she asked, downing the glass of wine.

“Yes, lots of fun actually,” I said, surprised that she'd started things out so casually. I'd expected her to be breathing fire the moment my feet hit the driveway. “What's going on? You wanted to talk?”

“Come, sit down, Violet,” she said, sitting on the couch and patting the seat next to her.

In that moment, I could see tears in her eyes. She was going to cry. Oh God, I couldn't handle it when my mother cried.

But I sat down beside her.

“So, guess who I talked to while you were gone?”

I had an idea, but I didn't say her name. “Who?”

“Sebastian's ex-girlfriend, Jessica.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked. “She's crazy, you do know that, don't you, Mom? I mean, she's certifiable.”

“Of course I do,” she said with a nervous laugh. “Crazier than half the people in the loony bin, if you ask me. I never did like her, but Sebastian did and that was all that mattered at the time.”

I kept waiting. She'd talked to Jessica, so I knew there was more.

“ Jessica said she had something to show me, which I refused to look at because it's Jessica and I have no interest in her drama,” she said and a wave of relief flooded my body. “But since I wouldn't look at the attachments she'd sent along, she told me that they were proof you and Sebastian were having a thing. Of course, I told her she was being completely ridiculous. ”

“So, you didn't believe her?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Of course not,” mom scoffed. “You and Sebastian? He's a good man, and wouldn't do something like that.”