"It's been.... difficult around here," Emma admitted. The way she spoke I knew she wasn't referring to her feelings for Jack. Emma took a deep breath, then let it out slowly as she shook her head. "Those two.... I have no idea how they'd stayed together as long as they did. It's a good thing Holly is resilient. That girl is holding up like a true little trooper."
"I wouldn't let her hear you call her little!" I teased, letting out a short laugh.
I wasn't sure what was going on between Jack and his wife, but I knew it wasn't good. Nick probably knew more than I did, but so far, he hadn't shared anything. Not that I could blame him. He probably didn't want to betray his brother's confidence. It wasn't like I shared everything Emma told me with him, and she wasn't even my sister, though she was the closest thing I had to one.
Holly came out of the kitchen a short while later, carrying a plate of cookies and grinning like she'd just won the Olympics. "Everything is clean!" she proclaimed, setting her trove of cookies on the low table. "Now we can have cookies!"
It was hard not to share in Holly's enthusiasm as we all dug into the freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. I practically moaned when I bit into the first one, reveling in its taste. It was the same recipe Nick and Jack's mom had taught me when I was just a little girl. I'd taught Emma how to bake them when I'd babysat her. Now, apparently, either Mrs. Frost or Emma had seen fit to pass that recipe along to Holly.
"These are delicious," I said as I reached for a second. Talking with Aspen and losing myself in a bottle of wine hadn't taken my mind off. Maybe having a girls' day and burying myself in sugar would do the trick.
It was worth a shot, at least.
"You know what this calls for?" Emma announced. The look she gave me told me we were on the same wavelength. We both had Frost men we needed to forget about for a bit. "Let's take this up to the theater and watch some movies!"
Holly let out a cheer at the idea. She jumped up and grabbed the platter of cookies and practically bolted toward the stairs. Emma and I giggled, stopping by the kitchen to get drinks before following her up there.
By the time we got there, the lights were dimmed and Holly had the remote in her hand, scrolling through what seemed like an endless list of movies. Finally she settled on a romantic Hallmark movie as we all settled in, the three of us curled up together on the plush couch right in front of the screen. It'd been so long since we had a chance to do this, just us girls, and I was not about to pass up this opportunity to forget how much life sucked!
We didn't need to eat the entire platter of cookies or down the large glasses of milk, but we did. By the time the movie had ended, we'd all eaten a month's worth of cookies. When we finally stood up off the couch, I felt like I would need to roll out to my car. But for a short while, I'd been able to put Nick out of my mind and focus on something else.
Part of me wished Holly hadn't chosen a sappy romance movie to watch, but I had to admit it was nice to see the couple have the happy ending they deserved after everything they'd gone through. It gave me hope I might eventually get my own happy ending, at some point. I just had no idea how to get there.
"Why don't you get all this cleaned up?" Emma suggested to Holly.
The girl looked like she wanted to argue, but she must have seen something in the look Emma gave her. Instead, she closed her mouth and nodded, scooping up all the dishes and running off with them downstairs.
Emma turned and grinned. Her eyes bored into me, and I stepped back, not sure I wanted to know what she'd just thought of. Whenever Emma got that look in her eyes, it meant she'd concocted some scheme or another. I'd seen that look many times over the years, and it never ended well.
"I just thought of the best way to get Nick to give you what you want," she said, still with that wolfish smirk on her face.
I tried to swallow the lump in my throat and settle my rapidly pounding heart. "Why do I have a feeling I won't like this plan?"
"You may not, but I know he will!"
4
Nick
"Come on, Nick. How have you not slept with the poor woman after all these years?" Aspen asked, peering at me over the top of his beer. We're in a small booth at the back of the bar and thankfully no one else is around to overhear him. Otherwise, I might have had to throttle my poor little brother.
Instead, I just glared at him. There was a time when glaring at Aspen would make him cower and run, but apparently, he'd outgrown that. Maybe it was because no one had whooped his ass in a few years. Right then, it was tempting to rectify that lapse. But I restrained myself, doubting the bartender would appreciate me knocking the crap out of my brother in the bar.
"Fuck off," I said, glaring at him some more. I didn't need my little brother judging my relationship with my wife. It wasn't like he was some paragon of good relationships either, not after the way everything imploded in his own marriage. No, it was better for him to keep his mouth shut about all things relationships.
Aspen laughed and took a sip of his beer. Despite my very obvious annoyance with him, he was still in a good mood. He was enjoying this conversation. I
