“Yeah.” Frederick nodded. “Uh-huh. They’ll be fine.”
“Good,” Joe said, already walking away. “Because they’re here.”
Frederick couldn’t believe he got to see her again.What?He didn’t “get to” do anything. Hehadto see her. Her presence was beingforcedon him. If he had a choice, he definitely wouldn’t see her again. But he had no choice but toendureher company. And the knot loosening in his chest was not relief but resignation.
With his blood pounding in his ears, he turned toward the kitchen door with… dread. He held his breath with his eyes glued to the entrance, with dread. He craned his neck and searched for her heart-shaped face, with dread. The fluttering in his stomach was not butterflies but dread. Dread, not yearning.
Either way, he wanted to pull a Homer Simpson and fade back into a hedge. Unfortunately, he wasn’t a hapless cartoon character. More importantly, there was no hedge in the station kitchen.
Joe kissed Coraline and took two pie plates from her hands. Bethany followed, carrying a giant foil-covered plate that could only be the turkey. Then Anne walked into the kitchen with a big box of sparkling apple cider in her arms. How did she exude such quiet elegance while carrying an unwieldy box?
Anne was only five foot four, but she used to carry herself in a way that made people swear up and down that she was much taller. But when he saw her last time, she’d seemed even smaller than her actual height, like she’d shrunken in on herself.
Tonight, she stood with her back straight and her shoulders back with that stubborn chin of hers tilted up just so. The hollows of her cheeks had filled out, and she had more color in them. And her hair fell down one shoulder in a glistening cascade, its luster restored. A sigh slipped past his lips, relieved despite himself. Being back home must be doing her some good.
His eyes roamed her face, over the soft curve of her eyebrows, the delicate bridge of her small, straight nose, and the perfect shape of her not-too-thin, not-too-full lips. No one feature stood out as her best one. She didn’t have enormous eyes that you could fall into, or lush Cupid’s bow lips that begged to be kissed—not that her soft, expressive lips were any less tempting. But all her features came together in a way that made her face exquisitely lovely. A face you could look at for hours on end and never tire of.
Frederick jolted out of his trance and rushed toward Anne, his arms already lifting to take the box from her.What the fuck am I doing?He managed to adjust course at the last second and came to a halt in front of Bethany.
“Hello, Bethany.” He held his arms out to her with a forced smile. He saw Anne freeze from the corner of his eyes, and hischeeks cramped from the effort of hanging on to his smile. “Allow me. That looks much too heavy.”
“Hi, Captain Nam.” Bethany blushed, handing him the platter. “Thank you so much.”
“Captain Nam?” He raised his eyebrows, his smile becoming less strained. “Should I call you Ms. Hong, then?”
“No, of course not.” She giggled, a hand fluttering to her mouth.
“Then please call me Frederick.” He turned to make his way toward the dining table, but his lips thinned, noticing that Anne still held the box loaded with a dozen bottles of apple cider.
“Hi, I’m Pete,” his friend said, belatedly stepping up to Anne. “Let me take that from you.”
About fucking time, Frederick thought.
“Hi, Pete. I’m Anne.” She swiveled her torso slightly away from him. “But don’t let me trouble you. I can manage.”
Frederick barely held back his scoff. Knowing her, she probably insisted on carrying the heaviest box from the car. She was as stubborn as ever.Just take the box from her already, he wanted to yell at his friend. Instead, he resolutely turned his gaze away from them and offered a distracted smile to Bethany, who waited patiently at his side.
Joe grinned at him from across the kitchen before leaning down to whisper something to his fiancée. Frederick had a sinking feeling that they were congratulating each other on their matchmaking prowess.God, what a mess.He forced himself to walk toward the dining table, but he couldn’t stop himself from glancing over his shoulder.
“I insist.” Pete carefully wrestled the box out of Anne’s hands. “My wife would not approve of me standing idle.”
“Well, thank you. I really appreciate it.” She smiled, while surreptitiously squeezing her upper arms.
She can manage, my ass.Frederick took another minuscule step toward the table, his shoulders tense with frustration.
“It’s my pleasure.” His friend stood grinning vacuously at Anne until she delicately cleared her throat, her eyes fluttering to her toes. Pete turned beet red. “I’m so sorry for staring. It’s just that my wife, Katie, and I are huge fans of yours. But I promise not to be weird. From now on.”
Anne laughed, pressing a hand to her chest, and the melodic warmth of the sound seeped into Frederick’s bones. He closed his eyes and swallowed thickly. Then sudden, irrational anger bloomed in his chest that he wasn’t the one who’d elicited her laughter.
“That is so sweet of you guys,” she said warmly. “And you weren’t being weird. I was just being socially awkward.”
“No, I was definitely being weird.” Pete chuckled, sounding relieved. “Let me go put these away before I embarrass myself further. I hope we can chat more later.”
Frederick ripped his attention away at last and set the platter down at the place of honor in the center of the dining table. Bethany busied herself, taking off the aluminum foil to reveal a golden-brown turkey surrounded by orange and lemon slices, sprigs of fresh herbs, and fresh cranberries.
“Wow.” His eyes widened. “That looks like something out of a food magazine.”
“I’m really happy with how it turned out,” Bethany said with a proud smile. “I took an astronomical number of pictures.”
