Kiss Her Once for Me (23)

“Come along, now.” Meemaw loops her arm through mine. “Katherine is dying to meet you.”

Meemaw drags me through the house, past the giant living room where the stockings are already hung along the fireplace mantel. Someone has added a plain red one to the end of the lineup, with the name Ellie written in glitter glue. My heart is in my throat as we turn the corner and see a woman in a dark green dress arranging a floral centerpiece on a formal dining room table. Behind me, Andrew clears his throat. “Mom?”

Katherine Kim looks up. She’s a gorgeous, flawlessly tailored Korean American woman in her early sixties, and I lament my Old Navy jeans once again. But Katherine only has eyes for her son, not my haggard appearance, and her face breaks into a smile. “Andrew!” She throws herself at him. “Oh, Merry Christmas! I’m so happy you’re here! It’s so good to have the family together!”

She plants kisses on both of his cheeks, and Andrew relaxes into his mother’s hug. “Mom,” he says when they break apart, “I want to introduce you to Ellie, my fiancée. Ellie, this is my mother, Katherine.”

Katherine is pulling me into a choke hold before I realize what’s happening. “Hello, Mrs. Kim!” I cough as she crushes me against her bony chest. “You have a lovely home!”

She releases me and waves her slender arms around. “No, no, it’s an absolute mess. Please, don’t even look at it! I came up yesterday to try to get things sorted, but there’s always so much to do around the holidays! But my goodness, dear, look at you!” She absently touches the tip of my braid. “It’s so nice to finally meet you!”

Finally? They’ve known about my existence for three days, at most. I try to think of an appropriate response, but a loving mother is touching my braid, and I’m feeling too much in this giant house, surrounding by these loud people, consumed by the unequivocal family Christmas of it all. I hadn’t expected this. In all the dread and panic leading up to this trip, it didn’t occur to me that I would be spending Christmas with a family.

Before I can respond, Katherine Kim bursts into tears.

“Mom!” Andrew moves closer to her with concern. “What’s wrong? What is it?”

Katherine waves her arms around again. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry—but I just can’t believe you’ve had a girlfriend for three months and we haven’t met her. And now you’re engaged, and she’s a stranger to us, and I feel like I’ve failed as your mother, like I haven’t—”

Katherine chokes on a mom-guilt sob, and Andrew sweeps in with another hug. “No, I’m sorry,” he says as he holds her against his chest. “With Dad out of the office dealing with Grandpa’s passing, I’ve been working too much. But Ellie and I are here now, Umma.”

With that, Andrew reaches out to thread our hands together. Mine is definitely sweaty from all the excitement, but Andrew doesn’t seem to mind. This person, this Andrew—he isn’t a Burberry coat or a snapback. He’s a well-worn sweater, comforting and familiar. An investment banker dude bro who genuinely loves his family.

And maybe, I think, full of sangria and drunk on secondhand familial affection, I could love him. Especially if loving Andrew means having the love of his family. Maybe Meredith was right, and maybe fake feelings will turn real. Maybe Andrew is someone I could build an emotional connection with.

“We’ll have over a week of family time!” Andrew tells his mother, and my heart turns to putty in my chest. “I didn’t even bring my work computer.”

Katherine blinks up at her son. “You didn’t?”

“Well, no, I mean I brought it. But I promise I won’t use it unless it’s an emergency.”

“No work,” Katherine echoes, demurely brushing away the evidence of her tears.

“Speaking of…” Andrew glances behind his mother into the large, modern kitchen. “Where’s Dad?”

Katherine drops her gaze and begins smoothing out an invisible wrinkle on her dress. “Your father couldn’t make it today. Something came up at work.”

“At… work?” Andrew repeats.

“Yes, he said he has that big land deal in the works with the South Waterfront property, and he missed so much time with the trip to France for your grandfather, so he needed to work through the weekend. But he said he’ll be here Monday morning.”

“Right. The land deal,” Andrew says, and his words are clipped, his loving expression now stern and unforgiving, with the same sense of secrecy he had in the car about his sister.

In the background, Burl Ives starts chanting, “Have a holly, jolly Christmas.”

It’s the best time of the year.

“Who needs more sangria?” Meemaw blurts, and she’s refilling my glass before I can protest.

Andrew is still glancing around the house. “And what about…” He coughs. “Is, uh… is Dylan coming this year?”

Katherine has returned to fluffing the flowers in the centerpiece. “Yes, of course. They’re driving up with your sister, who should be here any minute. In fact, she should have been here an hour ago, but you know how it is with her. She insists on towing that damn thing up the mountain.” Katherine turns to me with an apologetic expression. “My daughter lives like a nomad.”