Breathe Out (Just Breathe, #2)(135)
Tears flow as a smile spreads across my face. “Thank you.”
Kim steps in and hugs me. “You’re welcome.”
Amy comes down the hall and adds herself to our hug, not saying a word. The three of us stay connected for several moments.
“Everything okay?” Jared inquires from down the hall.
“Yep,” Amy replies.
Kim and Amy disappear leaving Jared and me to ourselves.
“You okay, Kitten?” Jared checks, watching my eyes as he holds my face.
“Yeah,” I chuckle, wiping away tears.
“What’s going on?”
“She was just verifying that Maggie’s good,” I say.
“Of course she is,” he confirms.
“No,” I giggle. “I mean about with the baby.”
“Oh. You mean the baby’s healthy.”
“Yes,” I confirm.
“What did Kim say?” he asks eagerly.
“That Maggie really focused on healing and that she and the baby are great,” I explain.
Jared smiles more and hugs me. We stay connected for a few beats before returning to our friends and family for the rest of the night. I manage to sneak into my room early enough to avoid saying goodnight to Joe. The feeling that I need to talk to him stirs, but I don’t know what to say or where I would begin.
My phone buzzes just before midnight, indicating that Joe is calling. My heart is torn about answering — should I?
One Hundred Two
I couldn’t bring myself to answer the phone when Joe called last night. I’m starting to think that avoiding him may be making it worse — for myself and probably him too. The holiday isn’t helping either. I’m not a big fan of any family holiday, and spending it back on the East Coast is extremely challenging.
With today being Christmas Eve, everyone who is staying in the rental home with me is gone for the day until late afternoon. Maggie and her family went out for a day of adventure. Pop-Pop and Joanna are visiting Joanna’s son here in New York and Jared and Nathan are having a romantic day. Sadie and I are hanging out in my bedroom, too lazy to go out in the cold. I definitely do not miss the winter weather.
When I get too hungry to put lunch off any longer, I make my way into the kitchen. With my sandwich and soup in hand, I curl up on the couch with Sadie and put on a movie — I’ve been reading all morning. Once I’m done eating, I leave the television on while I start preparing dinner for everyone.
It isn’t until the evening time, as I’m getting ready for bed, that I finally text Joe back. He’s called and texted me at least two times a day since I left his place the last time I was there. The first message he’s written that I feel comfortable responding to is when he writes Merry Christmas. I write the same message, but nothing else.
Christmas is a blur for me, but I do my best to be as cheerful as I can for the children. The next day, I head back to New Jersey alone and spend breakfast with the Brittany, Leslie, Martin and Celia. After a few hours with them, I make my way over to Mr. and Mrs. Nelson, wanting to see if I can make it into my parents’s house. My fingers trail over the keys the Nelsons gave me when I notice something odd about my keychain — there are two extra keys.
I go over in my head what each key is for, including the two for my childhood home, but there are two that I don’t recognize. Wait a second! Joe thinks he can sneak them on and I won’t notice? How did he get them on my keychain?
While spending time with Mr. and Mrs. Nelson, I’m able to laugh and recount some fun memories from my past with them, but I’m unable to make it inside my parents’ house. I don’t mention that I have been weighing pros and cons about going in, and thankfully, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson don’t bring up the topic while I’m visiting.
On the way back to New York, I have Taylor stop off at a store and I get a small, padded envelope. I toss Joe’s keys in and seal it. Before returning to my family, Taylor drives me over to Joe’s. I sit outside in the car debating whether or not to call Anna to see if Joe is home or not. Instead of leaving it up to chance that he is home, I write Joe’s full name on the package and take it inside to the guards in the lobby.
“Mr. Covelli is home, Ms. Peterson,” the older gentleman informs. “You can take this right up to him if you’d like.”
“Thank you,” I reply. “But, that’s not necessary.”
“Yes, Miss,” he answers sweetly.
“Please make sure he gets this once I’ve left,” I request politely, handing him the package.
“Sure thing, Ms. Peterson.”
“Thank you,” I reply.
“Have a Happy New Year, Ms. Peterson,” he says as I walk away from his desk.
“You as well,” I return kindly.
One Hundred Three
A few days after Christmas, my friends and I are up in Connecticut for some skiing. The trip was planned before we left the West Coast. We rented a large log cabin for privacy and security measures with our bodyguards in a cabin across the street from us. Mid-morning, we get settled in the place and take a short stroll around the resort. By lunch, Jared, Nathan, Maggie, Henry, Jimmy, Allen, Joe and I are on the slopes. Most of us have never skied or snowboarded before, and with Maggie being pregnant, we all decide that we’ll have just as much fun acting like children by snow tubing. The eight of us spend several hours on the slopes. Sadie runs up and down the hill, but by the third time she gets to the top, she jumps on my lap right as I push off, riding down in the tube with me. She follows me up for another ride, but jumps out of my tube and into Joe’s when he’s a quarter of the way down the hill — I guess I wasn’t moving fast enough. Each time Jared, Nathan, Joe or I head down the hill when she makes it all the way to the top or half way, Sadie launches herself at us.