"Oh come on, it can't have been that bad."
Abby sighed, hitting the speaker button and setting her phone on her bathroom counter as she braced her hands on the edge of the counter and stared at herself in the mirror.
"Mackie, you weren't there," Abby said. "I thought he was going to snap the tree in half."
"Well, this is Brody we're talking about. You know he'll be on your doorstep in a few days with a box of chocolates and a big apology."
"I don't know about that. I just can't get the look on his face out of mind. I was up all last night thinking about it. He was pissed, yeah, but there was something more…something I can't quite put my finger on. To be honest, it kind of scared me, Mackie."
"I wish I were there right now," Mackie said. "You're still going to your parents' tonight, right?"
Abby groaned and nodded as she looked at her blotchy cheeks and bloodshot eyes and reached for her makeup bag. "Yeah. I'm supposed to be there in an hour to help my mom with Christmas Eve dinner."
"Use the heavy concealer," Mackie advised.
Abby paused with her hand in her makeup bag. "You can't even see me, how do you know I need heavy concealer?"
Mackie laughed. "I can hear it in your voice, Abby. You sound like you're going to burst into tears at any moment. If you sound that bad the day after a fight, chances are good that you look like hell. Just make sure you clean up before heading out, because if your brothers see you like that, it's lights-out for Brody."
"I know." Abby sighed and shook her head. "Listen, I've got to go. Say hi to your mom and stepdad for me, okay?"
"Will do. Take care of yourself, sweetie."
Abby turned off the phone and pushed it to the side of the counter. After quickly grabbing a hair tie and pulling her hair back into a loose bun, she studied her appearance in the mirror for a moment before reaching for the makeup bag and pulling out her foundation.
A few minutes later, she set the bottle down and frowned as she looked into the mirror again. "There's not enough makeup in the world for this," she muttered to herself in disgust. Tossing the foundation back into the bag, she sighed and reached for a heavier concealer stick, her hands freezing in the bag at the sound of a knock on her apartment door. She frowned and glanced at the clock. Mackie was in New York with her family, and by now her brothers and their families were already on their way to their parents' house. Shaking her head, she set down the makeup bag and walked across her apartment to the door. Hesitating for a moment, she pulled it open and took a step backward in surprise.
"Brody?" Abby stared in surprise at the sight of him standing in her hallway dressed in dark slacks and a dark dress shirt, his coat draped over his arm and a bouquet of red rose in his hand.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly, extending the bouquet to Abby. "I shouldn't have yelled at you yesterday. You were just trying to do something nice, and it wasn't fair of me to go off on you like that. You didn't know."
Abby's hands were shaking as she took the bouquet and held it up to smell the roses. She'd seen real anger and pain in his eyes because of her actions the day before, so she hadn't been prepared for him apologize this quickly - if at all, really. She was slightly stunned that he was even standing there in front of her so soon after the fight.
"Thank you," she said, unsure how else to respond.
"Do you, uh…do you really want to know why I don't celebrate Christmas?" Brody asked hesitantly.
Abby nodded. "I'm no expert on these things, but I'm pretty sure this relationship thing involves sharing things like that."
Brody nodded, his gaze traveling up and down Abby's outfit, settling on her high-heeled boots.
"You'll need different shoes," he said, his voice suddenly nearly devoid of emotion. "Flats. Sneakers, if you've got them handy. It's been snowing, so it might be a little muddy. Oh, and a heavy coat. It's below freezing out there."
"Where are we going?" Abby asked curiously, already halfway to her closet in search of more suitable shoes.
"Arlington Heights."
Abby frowned as she pulled a pair of sneakers from her closet. "Brody, that's like an hour's drive from here."
"I can make the drive in forty-two minutes flat if there's no traffic or ice on the roads."
Abby looked up from tying her shoes and shot him a skeptical look. "Forty-two minutes?"
Brody shrugged. "I've made that drive at least twice a year, every year since I was ten. I could probably do it in my sleep if I had to." He sighed and looked around the room. "You ready to go?"