“This is not one of your Hallmark movies. Hot single men are never where you need them. Also, are there still legit lumberjacks living in the world today?”
“Mmmhhhmmm,” was the only dreamy reply my romantic sister could muster.
“We’ve got to get you reading different books. I’ll bring a Jane Austen for you tomorrow.”
“No. Listen to my latest I just finished. Even you’d love this one. This hot, reclusive lumberjack rescues a beautiful woman he found in the woods. She’d hurt her leg and lost her memory. So obviously, he had to take her back to his secluded cabin to help her heal and figure out who she was. It was the right thing to do.”
“I’m sorry. You’re right. It does sound like an American classic.”
“I’ll text you the name of it. You’re gonna love the cover.”
“Please tell me his shirt’s unbuttoned.”
“You’ll have to wait and see. Hopefully, we’ll find the real thing when we get there.” She paused, then added soberly, “I just…I’m not sure what to do about Glenn.”
My stomach began to tighten. I did not want to be set up, and I really didn’t need an unwanted ex-boyfriend hanging around with my family all week. I would soon be seeing my mother cuddled up with somebody who wasn’t my dad. I’d have to act normal around Russ all the while keeping my chin up and my smile in place so as not to ruin Christmas for everyone. I couldn’t handle the thought of some awkward setup. Not when I was just trying to survive the week with a smile still attached. Trying to keep my emotions civil would be a full-time job.
So, on a whim, I pulled out something I thought might save me…a harmless white lie.
“As good as a sexy lumberjack sounds, I’ve actually been seeing somebody the past few weeks, so I think Glenn and his mom might be disappointed.”
A long pause and then, “Wait, WHAT?” An explosion of excited words burst across the telephone from where she stood in New Hampshire and where I stood in Stanton. I pulled the phone away to save my eardrums. “When was this?! Why didn’t you tell me? What does he look like? OH MY GOSH, Olive, this is HUGE!”
“It’s all pretty new.”Extremely new. So new it’s almost not even worth mentioning ever again.“It’s not a big deal. I promise.”
“Tell me everything,” Chloe demanded. “Unless you’re lying. Wait. Are you lying? This sounds too convenient.”
I hesitated. If I was going to sell this, Chloe couldn’t know the truth. She and my mom were too close. Chloe would accidentally spill the beans, and I’d be tricked under the mistletoe with Glenn before I could stop it. No. I’d tell Chloe the truth after Christmas, when my imaginary lover got kicked to the proverbial curb. And she would understand. Actually, now that I thought about it, shehadto understand. She owed me one. She lied to me for three weeks about dating Dirk McCoy in high school. So…yeah. That didn’t make me sound petty at all.
“I’m not lying,” I lied.
“Okay, hold on. I’m putting on a show for the kids so I can listen uninterrupted in my bedroom. First love, yay!”
My eyes widened. “No, Chlo, I’m not in love. I just…we’ve gone out. Like on dates and stuff.” I stood and began pacing the floor, stopping at my chest of drawers near the window.
“Is he your boyfriend?”
My mind quickly did the math. Casual dates did not a boyfriend make. What was the saying again? Date as many guys as you wanted, but kiss only one? (Or in my case, none. A very big, fat none.) If I was going to play the fake-other-man card, I would need to put a title on it.
“Yup. He’s my boyfriend.”
“Who is he? How did you meet him?” This time, her voice had lowered a few octaves. Much less squealing and maybe a smidge suspicious? Like she was sniffing around and smelling something that didn’t quite add up. I needed to add a few irons to the fire.
“It’s all happened fast. The boyfriend title is…new. But I really like him.”
“Who is he? What’s his name?”
My hands stilled in my underwear drawer. Shoot. Whowashe?
I racked my brain to come up with a name. Some name. A name. There were none. NO names. I could think of no guy names. My brain was an empty sheet of paper. Men didn’t exist in this world. My life was at my school, and at school there was only…
No.
But suddenly my brain latched onto the name Miles and wouldn’t let go.
NO.
Miles. Miles. Miles. Miles.