A Fool's Gold Christmas (Fool's Gold #9.5)

Evie met her sister-in-law’s gaze but didn’t say a word. Heidi’s problem had nothing to do with the volume of food she’d eaten and everything to do with being pregnant. But Evie was going to keep her secret.

Charlie walked up to her and put her arm around her shoulders. “Gideon came to me this morning,” she said. “I made a few calls and here we are. We would have come sooner, but you had your rehearsal and we didn’t want to get in the way.”

“I don’t understand,” Evie told her.

“It’s a Fool’s Gold thing. We come, we show support, we get drunk and eat crap. You cry.”

“In front of everyone?”

“Trust me, you’ll feel better.”

“Did you go through this?”

“No. I ran because I wasn’t brave enough to face my friends. But you’re tougher than me.”

“How can you say that?” Charlie was the most impressive person Evie knew.

Charlie stared at her. “Evie, look at yourself. You’ve been on your own since you were seventeen, with no support. You practically raised yourself and you turned out great. Two months into a new job, you get the whole Dance of the Winter King dumped on you and you manage to pull it all together. Who else could do that?”

It was a question she didn’t know how to answer. Honestly, she’d never thought of herself as special. In her mind, she’d actually screwed up a lot. She wasn’t talented enough to stay in Juilliard and she’d never been able to settle on a job she loved. Until now.

“I’m sorry about Dante,” Charlie told her. “For what it’s worth, I think he’s going to regret losing you for the rest of his life.”

“I really hope so.”

Charlie grinned. “That’s my girl.”

Evie was led into the living room and settled in the middle of the sofa. All the other women gathered around. Her mom sat next to her. Jo handed out the peppermint martinis, which turned out to be delicious and went down far too easily.

Evie sipped, aware that everyone was watching her.

“I’ll start,” a redhead said. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, Alexander draped over one thigh. “I’m Liz, by the way. Married to Ethan.” She pointed at the triplets. “He’s their brother.”

Nevada groaned. “I suppose that makes what he did our fault?”

Liz laughed. “Technically, it does.”

“We’re sorry,” Montana told her.

“I accept your apology.” Liz turned back to Evie. “Ethan and I had a past, which made things complicated.”

“And a kid,” Charlie said.

“Yes. A son that Ethan didn’t know about. When things got ugly, I didn’t know what to do. I was trapped here, alone. But everyone came through for me.”

“Me, too,” Heidi said. “When Rafe was being stupid, my friends had buttons printed up. Team Heidi and Team Rafe.” She smiled smugly. “There were a lot more Team Heidi buttons around town.”

Charlie shrugged. “I can’t bond. I ran.”

While Evie appreciated the stories, they all had something in common. Each of the men in question might have acted stupid, but in the end, one by one, they’d come around. There was a shiny wedding band on every left-hand ring finger. Well, except for Annabelle and Charlie, who had engagement rings. No one in this room had lost the man of her dreams. Only Evie.

She swallowed against the familiar tightness in her throat. The last thing she wanted was to start crying. The problem was, she knew the truth. There wouldn’t be a happy ending for her. Not really. Dante had the best reason of all to avoid love. He believed the emotion was dangerous. His mother had died because he’d fallen in love.

Tears filled her eyes. She fought them, but one trickled onto her cheek, followed by another. Her mother pulled her close.

“Remind yourself he’s a jerk, and one day you won’t be in love with him anymore,” May murmured.

“Does saying that help?”

“No, but eventually it turns out to be true. You go ahead and cry. When you’re done, we’ll have ice cream, and I happen to know that really does help.”

* * *

EVIE’S BREAKUP PARTY HANGOVER lasted for nearly two days. The first day she’d had to excuse herself twice from rehearsal to go throw up, and if she never, ever tasted peppermint again in her life, it would be too soon. The second day the only lingering effects of the alcohol and cookies was a gently pounding headache. On the morning of the third day, she woke feeling like her regular self.

She rolled over and found Alexander was already up and busy with his morning ablutions. She watched him carefully wash his face, first licking the side of his paw, then wiping it across his face and over his ear. He was thorough and patient, but in the end, clean.

“’Morning,” she said when he looked up at her.

He started to purr and walked toward her for his cuddle. She pulled him next to her and rubbed him all over before finishing with a good chin scratch.