“I need to process! Make sense of what I’m feeling. And stop feeling so angry about you bailing on Thanksgiving. I’m just not in the right mind-set to talk about something as big as moving across the country.” It wasn’t the entire truth, but for the sake of our discussion, it had to be enough.

He took a step back. “Okay. I can respect that.”

I reached for my keys on the kitchen counter, where I’d dropped them on my way in. “I think I’m going to go.”

He ran his hands through his hair, his agitation clear. “Lane, wait.” He caught my hand and pulled me into a hug. I let him wrap his arms around me, but I didn’t hug back. I just stood there, my arms tucked between us, my cheek leaning against his chest. “You do know how sorry I am, right?”

I nodded. “I know.”

“I don’t want you to give up on us because of all this, okay? Thanksgiving stinks, I know, but I’ll make it up to you. I promise. And then we can look forward. Move forward. California would be great for us, Lane. I know it would.”

I shifted out of his arms. “I’m not giving up on anything. I just need a little time.”

His shoulders slumped, but he nodded his head. “I understand.”

“I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Okay.”

Before I was even out of the kitchen, Simon appeared in the doorway. “Oh. Hey,” he said.

“Where’d you come from?” Jamie said. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“I came in through the basement. Dave borrowed my tools before he moved out and never gave them back, so I dropped by to pick them up. What’s up with you?”

Jamie stood frozen, his hands resting on the table behind him, looking from me to Simon, then back to me again. I could almost see the wheels turning in his brain. Something was up.

“What is he doing?” Simon whispered to me.

“I have no idea.”

Jamie finally moved, a smile stretching wide across his face. “Lane. I think I just solved our problem.”

“What problem?” Simon asked.

“What are you doing for Thanksgiving?” Jamie asked, his eyes boring into his brother.

“Me?” Simon asked. “Nothing. Going home, I think.”

“Want to go to Asheville instead?”

“Jamie, what are you doing?” I said.

He took a step forward. “It’s perfect. He goes to Thanksgiving with you and pretends to be your boyfriend. He meets Abuela, everyone is happy because Lane is happy, and then after the first of the year, you guys break up and you’re back with me.”

“Back up,” Simon said. “Why aren’t you going to Thanksgiving with Lane?”

“Because he’s going to California for a meeting with Byron.” I didn’t even try to keep the bitterness out of my voice.

“Seriously? On Thanksgiving?”