Sweet Liar (Candy #2)(65)

“I should get back,” I said, glancing at my watch. “Jonah will worry if I’m gone too long.”

“Since when do you give a crap about not worrying people?”

I just shrugged.

“You looove him,” Theo sang.

“Shut up.” I rolled my eyes.

“So let me know if you end up spending Christmas in Ryberg. Maybe I’ll come by and see you.”

Christmas in Ryberg? With Lorraine and Jonah instead of at home by myself? I hadn’t even thought of that. Past Christmases spent here didn’t hold very good memories, and last Christmas I’d told myself I would spend the next one in Glenn Valley. I couldn’t have imagined that I would be back in Ryberg, and definitely not under these circumstances.

While I didn’t mind the idea of being with Jonah and Lorraine, my heart felt heavy at the loss of the Christmas I’d looked forward to having. Next year, I decided with determination, I would spend this holiday with my father, or I wouldn’t celebrate it or acknowledge it at all.

As I said good-bye to Theo, my gaze wandered over him, noticing the changes in him since last year. There were no jokes about this being his last Christmas. He wasn’t morose. It was like giving up the fight and accepting his fate had given him a new outlook. Most likely, having the chemo out of his body and not feeling so sick all the time had something to do with it.

I wondered how long it would last. Eventually the tumors would grow big enough to affect him again. How would he feel when that happened? Would he change his mind once his health took a turn for the worse, when it might be too late to do anything about it?

Smiling through my worry so he wouldn’t see, I hugged Theo good-bye, promising to let him know my plans for Christmas once I checked with Lorraine. On the way back, I stopped at the pet store in the town center and picked up all the things Pumpkin would need to stay at Lorraine’s house. It felt so odd being back in this town. I was worried about running into my aunt and uncle or my cousins, but I didn’t, of course.

When I arrived back at Lorraine’s house, I found Jonah sitting with her in the living room, looking at old photographs.

“How’s Theo?” Jonah asked as I carried in my bags of supplies.

“He’s good.”

He jumped up to help when he saw how loaded down I was. “This stuff is for Pumpkin?”

I glanced at Lorraine, who smiled but looked apprehensive. “All that for one cat?”

“Merry Christmas.” I grinned, and she laughed and shook her head.

After setting up the litter box in what looked like Lorraine’s office, I poured food into a bowl for Pumpkin, set out some water, and joined Jonah and Lorraine in the living room.

“So, Theo and Heather have become friends,” I said.

“What?” Jonah looked at me like I said they’d moved to Siberia or something equally outrageous.

“Didn’t I tell you? She told me she liked him that day we went bowling, and asked me to give him her number.” I shrugged. “Looks like it’s mutual.”

Jonah scratched his cheek, his forehead furrowing. “Heather and Theo? Is that a good idea?”

“That’s what I thought at first too, but Heather knows his situation, and I kind of admire her for not letting it scare her off.”

His expression turned thoughtful as he cocked his head at me.

“What about you, Candy?” Lorraine asked. “Are you dating anyone?”

Jonah shot her a look, one that seemed to warn her to change the subject. According to Lorraine, my father told her about Jonah and me, and so I wondered why she’d ask if she knew there was once something between us.

“I’ve decided to become a nun, actually,” I replied, avoiding the question.

Jonah arched a brow at me. “You? A nun?”

I pretended to be offended. “What? Can’t you picture it?”

He laughed. “No.”

“You’re probably right. I wouldn’t be very good at it. I’ve never even seen Sister Act or The Sound of Music, and I can’t carry a tune to save my life.”

Lorraine chuckled, and Jonah shook his head in that way he had when I amused him in more of a cute way than a funny way.

“So, these are the pictures I was looking for when I went to your house,” I told Jonah, picking up a photograph of him as a kid with two front teeth missing. “The ones that are meant to be displayed so you can feel humiliated when your friends come over.”

“I didn’t know you took them when you left,” Jonah said to his mother.

“Of course I took them.”

Looking at the box of pictures, I thought of my own house and the memories inside it. “Will I ever be able to go home again?” I asked.

Jonah looked up from the photograph in his hand. His hesitant expression told me I wouldn’t like his answer.

He cleared his throat and put down the picture. “I don’t know.”

My chest grew tight at the thought of never going back there again. “What about all our things? What would happen to them?”

He hesitated, before shaking his head

When I stood there unmoving, feeling dazed, Lorraine put her hand on my arm. “They’re just things, Candy. You can replace things.”

I nodded, wiping quickly at my eyes so the tears didn’t fall.