End of Story(78)

His serious gaze took me. He had the most beautiful blue eyes I’d ever seen. “I know you are,” he said. “But it’s not your fault. You didn’t start any of this, did you?”

“No,” I agreed.

“No,” repeated Lars. “Of course you didn’t. No more than you’d lead me on or any of that other shit.”

And oh my God the relief. He believed me. He was on my side. My smile was shaky as all hell, but he returned it without hesitation. It was me and him against the world. Without reservation, this was something I could trust.

Then Aaron aggressively grabbed at my arm, yelling, “You lying little bi—”

Boom. That’s as far as he got. Lars’s fist shot out and connected with Aaron’s face. Aaron rebounded with a whimper as blood gushed from his nose. His mother went into apoplexy. That’s the order it happened in. And the party pretty much ended there.

While Aaron held ice wrapped in a kitchen towel to his face, Vivian ranted on. And on. And on some more. If only people had mute buttons. That would be so useful. When she turned my way, I just rolled my eyes. It only encouraged her to condemn me all the more, but I couldn’t help it. Deborah had asked them to wait until she’d seen off her guests. Promised that they’d straighten things out then. Whatever.

Santa better bring me some more fucks this Christmas. Because I was officially out of them. This had to have been the longest year in creation. At least with Lars at my side, it would eventually end on a high. Because I now believed we had a strong chance of making this work. We had to. Any other thought was...just, no.

Deborah and Henning had been hugging people and shaking hands and generally clearing the room of all their guests while the wait staff cleared the tables and the band packed away their instruments. It had been quite the night.

“He should press charges,” hollered the evil witch. Though that was being too mean to witches. Even the ones that were evil. Like I’m sure they had their reasons.

“And explain to the police how he assaulted Susie not once, but twice?” asked Cleo. “I’d very much like to hear that.”

She seemed to swell with rage, though her gaze turned wary. “My boy didn’t assault anyone.”

“We all saw him grab her. Try again.”

“Well, if he did it was only to make her apologize for all of those terrible lies!”

“Mom,” hissed Aaron. “That’s enough. You’re making it worse.”

The expression of affront Vivian displayed was quite good. I’d have given it a solid eight out of ten. But it was the stunned and beleaguered look of victimhood which followed that really won the day. The woman could overact. It sucked that the anniversary party had been ruined. I’d be sending Deborah flowers for sure.

We sat to the side of the room, Lars’s hand in my lap. I don’t think he really needed the bag of ice that I held to his knuckles. He’d repeatedly told me it was fine. But it gave me something to do. Nervous energy was running rife through me, though the worst of it was over. Too much adrenaline or something.

What mattered was that he’d chosen me. I should have known he would. However, shaking off thirty years of self-doubt took a little time.

“Not your fault,” said Lars. Again.

“I know, I know.”

“It’s time for us all to have a little talk.” Deborah, having sent off the last of the guests, stood between the two parties of contention. Henning stood beside her.

“We demand an apology,” said Vivian. “It’s the very least that we deserve.”

“That’s odd.” Deborah looked down her nose at her neighbor. “I was thinking the same thing. Only, I was hoping your son would come to his senses and realize how appalling his behavior has been tonight.”

“You’re taking that horrible girl’s side against ours?”

“Be careful what you say,” said Deborah. “You’re talking about a member of my family.”

Evil mom was aghast at this announcement. Her lips a perfect O of astonishment. “We’ve known each other for over twenty-five years. Our children grew up together. We’re close friends.”

“And I’ve excused and overlooked a lot in that time. But it ends now.” Deborah pushed back her shoulders. “Will you be apologizing to Susie or not?”

Before Aaron could answer, Vivian started talking for him. Which surprised approximately nobody. “Not. Most definitely not. He has done nothing to apologize for.”

“Then it’s time for you to leave.” And while Deborah’s voice was calm and measured, you could tell she meant every word.

“What?”

“Get out.”

“With pleasure,” sneered Vivian.

“This is just like a scene on a Turkish soap opera I saw once.” Tore sat with his arm slung around Cleo’s shoulders. If anything, he seemed pleased by the night’s events. Or at least, how they’d worked out. “Only she was waving her arms about as she said, ‘You’ll regret this! Mark my words!’ But in Turkish.”

“Sounds very dramatic,” said Cleo.

“Oh. It was.”

“I didn’t know you watched soap operas.”

Tore grinned. “I aim to constantly surprise and delight.”