A Waltz With Wolves (Book II in The Harrison Inc. Series) | ✓

Chapter Forty: Remember to Be Thankful

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The dining room table is lined generously with food; more food than any of us will be able to finish.

Dish after dish, the tinfoil being peeled off to reveal the pleasantries—pot roast, mashed potatoes, stuffing, salmon, vegetables, what have you. And of course, the turkey—centered on the long table, still intact. Fiona's brother, Ulysses, and William near the turkey to start carving it. Everyone watches with intrigued eyes, talking amongst themselves while salivating. I stand next to Sarah, refusing to look to my right because Sebastian is standing there; I feel his eyes on me.

"You're making it more awkward than it needs to be," Sarah says into my ear.

"What do you mean?"

"You can talk to him, you know. You don't have to avoid him like the plague."

"Isn't that what you told me to do?" I return a weak smile to one of the houseguests before speaking again. "I'm just...I don't know. I'm trying to keep it professional. Trying to keep things normal."

"Nothing we do is ever going to be normal, Leslie."

"Amen," we hear Lucas say. Apparently, Sarah was talking more loudly than she thought. Her and I glaring, Lucas finally retreats and accepts a glass of champagne from one of the maids.

"Just try to act normal," Sarah advises. Again, as if the first time didn't travel through clearly. Unable to restrain—unable to defend my position—I say it. I tell her, even though I had intended not to. I tell her that Sebastian confessed his love for me. Not only that, but I tell Sarah why he's actually going out with Claire; I tell Sarah Sebastian and I had sex again in Scotland, too. These confessionals were supposed to be kept to myself. Even Alejandro doesn't know any of this.

It's clear the information I've provided is a game-changer. Sarah, for once, doesn't have an immediate response. She stares at me like I'm a deep void of nonsense, then looks over at Sebastian, who is introducing Claire to Fiona and Oma. Fiona accepts Claire's hand politely but holds this uncertainty in her eyes. Of course, she doesn't feel like she's in any position to question her son's relationship choices; her and Sebastian never formed that mother-son bond she now wishes she would have formed. So, she smiles and welcomes Claire into her home and forgets any suspicions she wanted to bring up to Sebastian. But Sebastian isn't dumb. He sees that his mom is wary of him and Claire. Oma is, too; she isn't saying anything, which is scaring me. I can't help but wonder what an introduction between Claire and Gloria would have been like. Would Gloria openly disapprove of their relationship? Would Sebastian listen? I like to think he would have, which almost hurts to ponder upon.

Sarah expels a breath, "Holy shit," are the first words she says.

"I know." I stare at the table, counting the peas and carrots in a white porcelain bowl as a nervous pastime; twenty carrots and forty-eight peas so far, the rim of the bowl lined gold, fogged by steam.

"So, that explains the last three months then? It wasn't just about the photo of you two together at carrot top's birthday?"

I nod, "Pretty much."

"But you told him that you loved him back," Sarah says in an urgent whisper. "Right?"

I can't answer that question too quickly because the answer is essentially the reason why he and I are currently having a hard time even uttering words to each other that don't include anything involving our jobs. Sarah takes my silence as answer enough and groans tiredly; my life, my decisions, are exhausting to her at this point.

"It was just so sudden," I say, defending myself in any measly way I can. "I-I didn't know what to say. And I was still dating Alejandro at the time. "