Page 12 of Holiday Home 3
On her way toward the checkout, she glanced unsuspiciously over her shoulder. Upon seeing him and Victoria, she immediately did a doubletake, confused about how the one beautiful woman he’d entered the store had suddenly become a completely different but still exquisitely beautiful one. She blinked owlishly and almost drove her cart into a stack of coffee machines stacked near the checkout lanes.
Believe me, it’s just as shocking to me,Liam thought, clamping down on a smile at the comical near collision.
“Avril… did something earlier,” Liam said, treading anxiously into a pool of unknown depths. “And it got her chewed out by Tess. Like,actuallychewed out. In a way that caused Avril to… well, kind of wither, I guess. I was pretty shocked about it. I’d never seen her become so timid and apologetic before. So, I just wanted your thoughts on why you think she reacted like that.”
As far as explanations went, he knew he hadn’t adequately equipped Victoria to cast her judgment on what had transpired earlier. He’d picked his words carefully, hoping to discern her initial response before diving into the specifics.
Victoria’s expression offered him no such avenues of determination. He knew she and Avril were incredibly close, as evidenced by the very phone call they must have had while she was on her way to Costco. He’d also seen her respond protectively when she’d heard about how Trent had spoken to her during their outing to the mall a few days ago. Outwardly arctic or not, Liam knew Victoria had a warm spot reserved for Avril.
“I’ll need you to be a little more specific,” she said, which at least informed him that she hadn’t heard about this part from Avril. “What did she do, and how exactly did Tess admonish her?”
Still hesitant about how Victoria might react when she heard about his kiss with Avril, he chose to answer her latter question first. “Tess said she was really disappointed in her and that she’d acted somewhat narcissistically with what she did. Avril looked like she’d seen a ghost after that, and it wasn’t until Tess clarified that she didn’t think Avril was a narcissist that she finally started becoming her old self again.”
It wasn’t a precise retelling of what Tess had said, but he didn’t know how to summarize it all concisely. He ended up wishing he hadn’t brought this all up, but it was too late.
Victoria’s sharp gaze plunged into him. She’d informed him on Christmas Eve that she’d never truly glared at him before, that her naturally acerbic stare did not count as a glare. Feeling his insides squirm due to the severity of her current stare, he wondered if she’d say the same thing about how she was staring at him right now.
“And what is it she did that caused Tess to say such a thing to her?”
I should have just kept my mouth shut and talked with Avril about it,Liam realized. But the damage was done, and Victoria’s harsh stare demanded an answer.
“Uh, she, uh, kissed me.”
“Excuse me?”
He knew right then and there that no failing student of hers had ever dared to find her after hours and beg for extra credit. Swallowing, he finally forced himself to explain things properly.
“After Anna explained we’d been tricking them about us being into one another the whole time, Avril kissed me and called ‘dibs.’ That’s what caused Tess to say the things she did. She said that she knew Avril hadn’t done it on purpose but that what she’d done had pretty much stolen the focus away from Anna’s troubles and put it on her. Everything got hashed out—really—so I don’t think there’s any bad blood or anything. It’s just the way Avril reacted and how she needed Tess to promise she didn’t think she was a narcissist that’s stuck with me. Since you know her well, I just figured you might know more about why she reacted so strongly at the time.”
Victoria glanced around. At first, Liam thought she might have somehow seen Tess somewhere in the store, whichimmediately lurched his heart into his throat. Thankfully, he saw where her gaze ended by following her sightlines.
“Let’s have a seat for this,” she said, nodding toward the tables in the food court.
He immediately nodded. “Sure.”
Along the way, with his body between Victoria and his phone, Liam braved a glance at it. He found two texts, both from Tess, on his phone.
The first informed him that she’d decided to abandon their shopping plans and get back to her car ASAP. The second, which had come in a couple of minutes ago, informed him that she’d found where Victoria’s car was parked and that it was far enough away that Tess had stayed in their original parking spot, where she now waited for him.
Okay. Be there soon. Having conversation. All good.
Shoving his phone back into his pocket as they reached the food court, Victoria guided them to the nearest empty table. Leaving her cart by its side, she motioned for him to sit on the opposite red bench from where she took residence. Once he’d done so, Victoria interlaced her hands and laid them on the table.
“I can indeed tell you why Avril reacted so strongly to what Tess said. Before that, is there anything else you’re leaving out about this… kiss she gave you.”
“Other than that it caused all of our jaws to hit the floor, no, not really.”
“Are you upset with her because of it?”
“No, I’m not. I mean, I was at the beginning, but I’m not now. Apologies were given, and I think it’s all been resolved. I’m not holding any ill-will toward her over it.”
So long as she doesn’t pull a stunt like that again.
Per usual, Victoria’s icy stare offered no indication if she believed him, but she didn’t press the topic further.
“Like you’ve asked, this conversation will stay between us. All right?”
It was the furthest thing from a request, and Liam quickly assented with a nod.