Coming Back To You (33 page)

Her brother Johnny’s Audi was in her parents’
driveway when she turned onto their street.

“Shit.”

“What?”

“I forgot that Johnny was going to be here
today.” She had told Mark all about Johnny last year. How he’d made
her childhood a living hell and was the cause for much of the
insecurity Mark had helped her clear.

“Your brother?”

She nodded. “When he sees you with me, he’s
going to know that Jolene was telling the truth last summer.”
Jolene. Johnny’s friend. Ex-Solar employee who’d gotten the boot at
Mark’s hands.

“I can handle him.” Mark patted her thigh.

She shrugged and pulled into the driveway
behind Johnny’s car. “I guess everyone’s going to learn about you
sooner or later. Might as well be sooner.” She shut off the engine
and started to get out.

“Hey, wait a minute.” Mark grabbed her
wrist.

She turned. “What is it?”

He cupped her face in his palm. “I love you.
No matter what happens in there, we’ll get through this.”

Just hearing him say the words emboldened
her. “I love you, too. And, yes, we will.” They were ganache,
inseparable, better together than apart. Her family would just have
to deal.

He held her gaze a moment longer then kissed
her. “I’ll be right by your side the entire time.”

They gathered the truffles and stuffing and
approached the front door. The partially melted snow crunched under
Karma’s boots, and a cold wind bit her face.

“Here goes nothing.” She opened the door and
led him inside.

Warmth embraced her, and the smell of roasted
turkey and homemade rolls made her mouth water. Her mom refused to
have store-bought rolls on Thanksgiving. She made what she called
three-leaf clover rolls. Karma had helped her make them as a child.
They were always the highlight of the Thanksgiving dinner
table.

The sound of today’s pregame show and a baby
crying came from the family room. Johnny and Estelle’s one-year-old
daughter, Whitney.

“Shall we go say hello?” Karma gestured in
the direction of the voices.

“Sure.” He raised his eyebrows and nodded
toward the family room as if to say it was now or never. “Might as
well.”

Mark seemed to be taking the potential for
pending chaos better than she was, but that was probably only
because she knew what they were in for. He didn’t.

Still holding the containers of truffles and
stuffing, she led him into the family room and promptly
stopped.

“What’s she doing here?” Not only were Johnny
and Estelle there with Whitney, but so was Jolene. Her nemesis. The
devil herself.

Jo’s eyes formed into slits the second she
saw Mark. “I knew it!”

As if today wasn’t going to be hard enough,
seeing Jolene there was the icing made of shit on a rock cake.

Karma spun around and stormed into the
kitchen. “What’s Jo doing here?”

Her mom turned away from the stove. Her dad
was pulling a perfect, golden brown turkey out of the oven.

“Honey, hi. We didn’t hear you come in. We
were beginning to think you wouldn’t make it in time.” Her mom
stepped forward to hug her.

Her dad set the turkey on the counter.
“Where’s Brad? Have you two lovebirds set a date, yet?”

“Not exactly.” She clunked the bowl of
truffles on the counter. “Now, will one of you please tell me what
Jolene is doing here?”

In the living room, she heard Jolene bitching
to Johnny and Estelle about her and Mark.

Her mom and dad exchanged exasperated
glances. They didn’t like Jolene, either, so it made no sense why
they’d invited her for Thanksgiving dinner.

“She didn’t have anyone to spend the holiday
with. Her parents moved to Florida last winter, and she couldn’t
afford to fly down and be with them.” Her mom sighed. “So I told
Johnny she could join us. It
is
Thanksgiving, after all. No
one should spend Thanksgiving alone. Surely we can all get along
for a few hours, right?” She nodded, looking from Karma to her
dad.

Her mom had no idea. Tensions were already
going to spike once Dad saw Mark, but with Jolene there they would
be catastrophic.

From the living room, Jo’s voice grew more
shrill, as did Whitney’s wailing.

“Come on, honey,” her dad said. “I’m willing
to suck it up for the day if you are.” He patted her shoulder.
“Having you and Brad here will make things a lot ea…sier.” His
voice dropped, which was Karma’s cue that Mark had just entered the
kitchen behind her.

She turned as he set down the stuffing beside
the truffles.

“Mr. and Mrs. Mason.” He held out his
hand.

Her dad glared at Mark’s polite gesture and
pointedly stuffed his hand in his jeans pocket. Her mom looked like
she’d just seen Adolf Hitler’s ghost as she glanced back and forth
between them. Karma could almost hear the questions racing through
her mind.
Who’s this and what happened to Brad?

Mark lowered his hand and she slipped hers
around it. “Mom, Dad, I want you to meet Mark. He’s my…” What
exactly was he? Friend with benefits? Fiancé? Lover?

“Boyfriend. I’m Karma’s boyfriend.”

She turned and smiled at him. “Okay, yes.
He’s my boyfriend.”

Her dad cursed and threw the oven mitt he’d
been holding onto the counter. “Damn it, Karma.”

“But…what about…?” Her mom looked completely
lost. “What happened to Brad?” Her gaze dropped to Karma’s hand as
if searching for the engagement ring she’d been wearing only a few
days ago.

“I broke up with him.” Karma jutted out her
chin, forcing her shoulders back.

“You what?” Her dad slapped his palm against
the counter. “No, I won’t let you do this, Karma. Absolutely
not.”

“It’s done, Dad! You can’t stop it.”

Jolene rushed into the fray, Johnny right
behind her. Estelle must have stayed back with the baby.

“You bitch!” Jo said, glaring between her and
Mark. “I knew it! You made me out to be a liar. I lost my job
because of you.” She surged forward as if preparing to take a
swing.

Mark’s arm shot out, and his hand latched on
to Jo’s shoulder, forcing her to stay at arm’s length. “Let’s get
one thing straight. You lost your job because you were completely
inept, pawned off your work on everyone else—mostly Karma, weren’t
accountable to your job, and stirred up trouble everywhere you
turned.
That’s
why you lost your job. And the extramarital
affair with your boss didn’t help.”

Jolene gasped and jerked backward as if
slapped. “Fuck you!”

Mark smirked. “No thanks. I’m perfectly happy
with what I’ve got right here.” His hand tightened around
Karma’s.

“I bet you are.” Jo lunged forward again,
getting past Mark this time. Her hand shot out and slapped Karma
across the cheek.

Oh hell no!

Karma let go of Mark’s hand, cocked her arm,
and punched Jo in the chin before Jolene even knew what hit
her.

Jolene cried out and shielded her face from
further assault as Johnny stepped between them to help break things
up.

Tense silence unfolded over the next several
seconds as the aggression calmed.

Her dad still wasn’t finished, though.
“Karma, I won’t have this man in my home.” He jabbed his finger
toward Mark.

Her mom turned concerned eyes toward him and
covered her mouth. “John, don’t—”

“No, Cathy.” Her dad waved off her mom. “This
man is the reason our daughter has been in therapy since
last
Thanksgiving.” He slashed his arm through the air as if
that indicated going back in time. “He took advantage of our baby,
used her, then left when he was finished. And he’ll do it again,
mark my words.”

Karma’s hand latched onto Mark’s with such
ferocity it was a wonder she didn’t snap the thing clean off.

“That’s not true!” She refused to let her
father belittle what she and Mark had.

“I never meant to hurt her.” Mark pulled her
against him as if protecting her. “I love her. I’ve always loved
her. I want to marry her.”

What! Karma’s gaze flashed to his. Had he
just said he wanted to marry her?

“Over my dead body!” Her dad took a menacing
step forward, fists clenched.

Her mom grabbed onto his arm. “John, calm
down. Don’t.”

“Get out of my house!” Her dad swung his
finger toward the door.

“Dad!” She couldn’t believe her father was
kicking her out on Thanksgiving.

Her dad’s gaze met hers. His pain and
disappointment sliced into her. “I love you, honey, but you’re
making a mistake. A big mistake. He’ll only hurt you again, and I
won’t stand by and watch this time while he does.”

Karma glanced around at the accusing faces.
Jolene seethed with self-satisfaction, even though her face was
swelling. Johnny frowned as he looked from her to Dad and back
again. Her mom’s shocked and dazed expression made Karma feel sorry
for her. But her dad’s stern, resolute scowl spoke the loudest of
them all.

“Fine.” She let go of Mark’s hand and grabbed
the truffles off the counter. Mark picked up the stuffing. “If
you’re going to make me choose…” She scanned the room one last time
then glared at her dad. “Then I choose Mark.”

This hadn’t gone at all as she’d wanted, but
that wasn’t her fault. Shoving Johnny and Jolene out of the way,
she marched to the front door and back out into the cold.

The door slammed behind Mark as he joined her
at the car.

“Would you like me to drive?” he said
quietly.

As tears formed on the rims of her eyelids,
she nodded. “Yes, please.” With trembling fingers, she pulled her
keys from her purse and handed them over.

He helped her into the passenger seat, took
his place behind the wheel, and didn’t say a word as he drove them
away from her parents’ house.

After a few minutes, he reached for her hand.
“You okay?”

She wrapped both her hands around his, leaned
across the seat, and placed her forehead on his shoulder. “Yes.”
Shit had gone south with her dad, but as long as she was with Mark,
everything would be fine.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause so much
trouble.”

“It’s not your fault.” Hopefully, it would
just take her dad a little time to come around and realize Mark was
good for her. That he was here to stay this time.

They drove around for a while until they
found an open convenience store. Inside, there was one cooler
devoted to frozen foods, and they pulled out two turkey and gravy
TV dinners.

At home, they turned on the football game,
heated the dinners, then took the stuffing, the truffles, and the
white sectioned trays of heated food into the living room and
parked behind the coffee table.

“Not exactly what you’d anticipated for
Thanksgiving, is it?” Mark swirled his fork in his instant mashed
potatoes.

She smiled. “No, but at least you’re
here.”

A puff of air burst from his nose. “Are you
sure that’s such a good thing? I’m the reason you’re not stuffed
with a real Thanksgiving dinner right now.”

She set down her fork and took his hand.
“This
is
a real Thanksgiving dinner. What would have been
fake is if I’d shown up at my parents’ house today with Brad. I
didn’t love him. Not like I love you.”

She kissed him, letting the perfection of her
feelings pour from her soul into his. She didn’t care what they
ate, as long as they were together.

“I’ll make it up to you,” he said. “This
weekend, I’ll make you a real Thanksgiving dinner.”

“With pumpkin pie?”

“Absolutely.” He caressed her face. “And we
can stay in, just the two of us. We’ll watch football and make
love.”

She smiled. “And get to know one another
again.”

His lips brushed hers. “Definitely. I have so
much to tell you. So many things I wanted to say and never
did.”

“Me, too.”

After dinner, Mark helped clear the dishes
then disappeared in the bedroom for a couple of minutes before
meeting her back in the living room. He held a shallow white box
and set it in her lap as he sat down beside her on the couch.

“What’s this?” She picked up the box. It
weighed hardly anything.

“I bought it for you last Christmas. I
grabbed it yesterday when I went to my apartment, so I could
finally give it to you.”

“You bought me a Christmas present last year?
Even though we weren’t together?”

He nodded. “I was trying to be
optimistic.”

“I see.” She ran her fingertips over the
white box, touched by how much he’d thought about her in their time
apart.

He gestured toward the box. “Go ahead. Open
it.”

She lifted the lid to find the most beautiful
pleated Hermès scarf in vibrant shades of green and blue. She
didn’t know much about scarves, but she knew Hermès was
expensive.

“Mark…”

He lifted it from her hand and wrapped it
around her neck, securing it with a loose knot. “It looks perfect
on you.”

Her fingertips caressed the rich silk. “You
didn’t need to buy me a gift.”

He leaned forward and rested his forehead
against hers. “Yes I did,” he whispered. “It allowed me to feel
closer to you and gave me hope I’d be with you again.”

Since he put it that way, she could
understand. She’d done the same with the pillowcase and sheets
she’d tucked away in her keepsake box for similar reasons.

After a long, intimate moment, he pulled
back, grabbed one of the truffles from the bowl, and lifted it
toward her. “Would you like to do the honors?”

“What? See whether I got it right this
time?”

A serious expression fell over his face as he
slipped the truffle into her mouth. “No. To see whether
we
did.”

She bit into the truffle and succulent,
smooth, perfect ganache spilled over her tongue. “Mmmm.” She
nodded. They’d most definitely gotten it right. “It’s perfect.”