Free The BFF Bride by Allison Leigh Page B

unit, her stainless steel one looked brand-new. So did the coordinating range and the built-in microwave.
    “So what’re we going to do?” She took out a diet soda and pulled the tab. It was obvious she wasn’t going to offer him one.
    “Drive out there together.”
    She turned her head around, as though she had a pain in her neck.
    Of course, he was pretty certain his presence was the pain.
    “Tell me again why you couldn’t do this oh-so-important work of yours in Boston?”
    Her T-shirt had slipped off her shoulder again.
    He turned away from the sight and headed for the door. “Too many distractions there. I’ll drive on Wednesday.” His voice was abrupt. “Like you said. We’ll probably be safe after that until Christmas Eve.”
    * * *
    They weren’t safe.
    Two nights later, Tabby stared out the passenger window of Justin’s truck as they drove back into Weaver from her parents’ place.
    What was supposed to have taken only an hour or so—just long enough to politely eat and run—had ended up consuming the entire evening. Mostly because Jolie had invited Tabby’s brother and his family to join them.
    The only saving grace was that Evan and Leandra’s three kids—Hannah, Katie and Lucas—had kept the spotlight off Tabby and Justin.
    And the fact that they’d barely exchanged five words even though they’d sat next to each other at the dinner table.
    “Hannah looked good.” Justin’s voice broke the monotonous sound of the tires on the highway. Who knew how long ago the radio in the borrowed ranch truck had stopped working.
    “She’s comfortable at Mom and Dad’s.” Her eleven-year-old niece had autism. “She would have had a harder time with the whole crew at your folks’ place on Thanksgiving. That’s one of the reasons why Evan and Leandra tend to go see Helen in Gillette.” Helen was her dad’s stepmother. She was a difficult woman, to say the least. She had always been kind enough to Tabby, but the older she’d gotten, the less she appreciated Helen’s attitude toward Jolie. Even after all these years, Jolie and Helen’s relationship was strained.
    “Your grandmother still dote on Evan?”
    “To his chagrin, yes.”
    “He, uh, ever see—”
    She knew where he was going. “Darian?” Her father’s half brother was Evan’s biological father, though he’d never spent one minute of his life acting like one. That had always been the role Drew Taggart held. He’d met Tabby’s mom when she’d been pregnant with Evan, and they’d been married ever since. “No. Not for years, far as I know.” It wasn’t the only twist in her family tree, but given what was going on with the Clays and Templetons, it seemed mild in comparison. At least to her.
    To her it was easy. Jolie and Drew were her parents. Evan was her brother. End of story, as far as she was concerned.
    They fell silent, and she listened to the roll of the tires for a few more minutes. But it felt as if those tires were connected to a string that kept pulling tighter and tighter until she couldn’t bear the silence another second.
    “I didn’t know they were going to bring up the tree lighting,” she said abruptly. “It never occurred to me. You’re never here for it and—”
    “It’s not the end of the world.”
    She finally turned her head and looked at him.
    The only light came from the occasional headlights of an oncoming vehicle. But even though she felt that he’d become a stranger these past few years, his features were forever imprinted in her mind.
    “It’s just one more time when our families are going to be together and we’re going to have to keep pretending everything is hunky-dory between us.” The tree-lighting ceremony was a town affair, scheduled for the coming Friday, just two days away.
    She’d always enjoyed the festivity.
    Now, the entire idea of it made her want to climb into bed and pull the covers over her head.
    Could she do that until January without anyone noticing?
    Inside her