Let It Snow Part 8

They were engaged three months later. Married seven months after that. And she never, ever told him about Max and their spring in Boston. As far as Eric knew, Max and Annie had a long high school relations.h.i.+p and nothing more.

For her, it was a secret worth keeping. It would only hurt Eric to know the truth. It would only damage their relations.h.i.+p, cause uncomfortable questions to arise, unfortunate answers to unfurl. And she would like to say that it didn't matter what happened in the past, that it had no effect on their relations.h.i.+p, but she couldn't say that. It wasn't true.

For Eric, though, her secret would be tantamount to lying. She knew that now. And maybe he was right.

There are things that go unspoken out of simple harmlessness. These are things that you never tell people, not because they would be harmful, but because they're not particularly interesting or relevant. But, there are other things, secret things, that you intentionally keep quiet. Maybe Eric's right that these are lies by omission.

"Anyone ready for dessert?" Eric asks.

Annie looks at him, then she looks around the table at everyone. They're all looking at her, waiting for her.

"Right. Dessert," she says.

Annie rises from the table, starts to move toward the kitchen, stops, turns around. "I have pumpkin and apple pie. What would everyone like?" She asks looking toward Max first.

"I'll have apple," he says.

"A la mode?"

"No, the pie is fine."

She goes around the rest of the table with everyone telling her what they want, and then disappears into the kitchen.

Eric stands up. "Well, I guess I'll clear these dishes," he says, grabbing his plate and Annie's.

"No, let me," Holly says, standing and moving toward Eric to grab the plates from him.

"I'll help you," Michael says, standing with his and Amy's plate.

Holly stops and glares at him for a moment. He can feel her glaring, but he ignores her.

Holly moves toward the kitchen with the plates, Michael follows closely behind after grabbing Max's plate.

Annie is standing in the kitchen, leaning on the counter of the kitchen island, staring into the two pies planted in front of her.

Holly moves to the sink, places the plates in the sink. She turns, and takes the other plates from Michael, who's suddenly standing behind her.

"Thank you," she says.

"Who is he?" Michael asks.

"Who?" Holly asks moving away from him and grabbing a knife from a drawer. She hands the knife to Annie. "Don't you thing you should start cutting those pies?"

"Right," Annie says.

"Who is hea"this Tim guy?"

"He's a friend."

"Only a friend?" Michael asks.

"I don't see how that's any of your business."

"I disagree. We both knowa""

"Michael, sorry. Could you get the ice cream and whipped cream for me?" Annie asks.

"Sure," he says. "We both know you were supposed to come here to meet with me tonight. We were supposed to be here together."

"Were we?"

"You know what I mean."

"No, enlighten me."

"This was supposed to be a date."

"I don't remember being asked on a date, and I don't remember agreeing to a date."

"Annie, tell her."

"I don't want any part of this conversation right now," Annie says.

"But youa" Michael says, almost pleading for someone to be on his side.

"Michael, I don't owe youa""

"Do you have any feelings for him, this guya"this Tim?"

"Don't be daft. What kind of question is that?"

"Michael, could you put a scoop of ice cream on all the apple pie plates except one. And, Holly, could you put whipped cream on all the pumpkin pie plates, except for one. And that one pumpkin pie without whipped cream needs a scoop of ice cream."

"Ice cream on pumpkin pie?" Michael asks.

"I'm not asking you to eat it."

Michael starts scooping the ice cream onto the plates, reaching over Holly to do it.

"I don't know why it's daft to ask about your feelings for someone, particularly when you know how I feel about you."

"Because it's personal."

"So, you do feel something for this guya"this Tim."

"Will you please quit saying his name like that? You say it like it's some invective. You don't even know him."

"I know he's standing in the way of me getting closer to you."

"No, I'm standing in the way of you getting closer to me."

"Why?" Michael asks, and he looks at her, right at her. And they are close.

She looks at him, and his eyesa"those intense, dark brown Michael eyesa"are boring into her, and she is caught breathless for a second, her mind spinning for an answer.

"Well?" Annie asks, looking at Holly.

Holly looks at Annie, and then back at Michael. She takes her finger and dips it in the whipped cream and puts a dab of cream on Michael's nose. "That's why," she says.

Michael wipes his nose, and licks the cream off his finger. "What's that mean?"

"It's a secret."

"You know that just about everything you do, even the stuff you do to put me off, only makes me like you more," Michael says.

A second or two pa.s.ses, and the intensity of the quiet grows.

"Michael, why do you do this to me?" Holly asks. "Why do you say things like that?"

"I just say what I think."

"Well, stop it. It makes mea It gives mea""

"I won't stop. I can't."

"You're going to have to stop for the moment," Annie says. "We need to get these plates out there. I'll take these three, and if you could get the rest for me," Annie says, and moves out into the dining room.

Holly reaches down and grabs two plates. She starts to move away from Michael, but he stops her. He puts his hand on her bare arm, inches above the elbow. She stops as suddenly as his warm hand meets her skin, and a shudder rolls up her backa"a good shudder. A shudder she wouldn't mind feeling again. And again.

"Tell me that you're not interested and I'll leave you alone."

"I've never said I wasn't interested," she says. She's trying not to look at him, afraid the look in her eyes will surrender too much.

"But do you desire me?"

"Michael, Ia"

"You can't just say it?"

"I can't."

"But this guya What does it mean?"

"It's nothing," she says, turning to look at him, and, finally, a softness, a vulnerability is apparent in her eyes. He's never seen her look at him that way before, and he knows he's pierced a wall. "He's an old friend of John's. I asked him to come with me tonight because I'm not sure I'm ready for this."

"Okay, I understand. Just know that I'm here. I'm waiting for you. And I'm a patient man, buta You're just about all I think about. You're mya"

"Michaela""

"My constant. And if you tell me to give you s.p.a.ce, that you don't want me to pursue you anymore, it will crush me, but I'd rather know before Ia""

"Don't stop. I don't want you to stop," she says, and he watches the curtain fall and the lights come up inside her. Maybe he's projecting, but, for the first time, he feels the soft certainty of love rest between them. His whole body is screaming and he desperately wants to scoop her up, kiss her on the mouth. But he just stands there, his hand near her elbow, staring into her beautiful blue eyes.

"Guys," Annie says, looking in at them. "Come on. The ice cream's going to melt."

"Right. Sorry," Holly says, and moves from Michael toward the kitchen.

"Holly," he says.

"Yeah?" she asks, turning toward him once more.

"Now, everything changes. We can be wonderful now."

She doesn't say anything, but a big grin bursts on her face, and her instinct tells her to cover the smile with her hand, but she's carrying two plates. Her happiness is naked.

"What kind of person says that?" she asks, shaking her head as she leaves the kitchen.

He hits the counter top with his hand, and whispers, "Yes. Yes. Yes." Then he grabs the last three plates and walks from the kitchen to the dining room with a whole new rhythm to his step.

Michael walks around the table, hands Wendy her plate of pumpkin pie, and asks, "Who eats ice cream with pumpkin pie?"

Holly laughs out loud at this, and it startles the room. Michael looks at her. He laughs too.

"Did we miss something?" Eric asks.

"Yeah, what were guys up to in there?" Wendy asks.

"Nothing. They're just being silly," Annie says.

Michael sits down and hands Amy her dessert.

"What's so funny?" Amy asks, putting her hand on Michael's wrist.

It suddenly occurs to hima"looking down at Amy's hand, feeling how softly her hand slides from his wrist, leaving a hint of tenderness behind ita"that Annie has sat him next to her to push them together. But as quickly as it occurs to him, he pushes the thought away, tries not to dwell on it. Besides, Annie wouldn't try to set him up with someone else when she knows how hard he's been pursuing Holly. So, he tries to shake the whole idea out of his head.

But when he looks over at Amy, she's smiling at him, and there is something in those eyes, something soft and wanting. Now, suddenly, he feels that he can'ta"if there's any possibility of confusiona"lead her to believe that he's interested in her in any way.

He takes a bite of his apple pie, and smiles nervously back at Amy.

"Well?" she asks.

"It's good."

"No, not the pie. I asked what was so funny a second ago."

"Oh, right," he says. "Nothing, really. I'd said something about pumpkin pie and ice cream when we were in the kitchen, and when I said it again just now, Holly justa" He stops himself. "Listen," he says, leaning close to her, lowering his voice, "I'm sorry. I don't want to offend you, but you know that I'm interested in Holly, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. Why?"