There was a roaring fire in the fireplace, a Christmas tree that looked covered in family mementos of years past. Eloise and Grandpa Jack were both still in their matching Santa pajamas, sitting on the floor with backs leaning against the couch. Richard Harrington looked odd without his ever-present phone in his hand, his arm resting on the back of the couch almost around his wife. Murphy was sure his phone was stashed somewhere close—just in case of an emergency. Tabitha Harrington looked almost relaxed. She was wearing jeans and a sweater, her hair soft around her shoulders. She held a mug of coffee and she was laughing at a story her father was telling her.
“Murphy, Merry Christmas!” Tabitha greeted. Hearing her mother’s greeting, Eloise jumped up and ran to Murphy pulling her to sit next to her on the floor. Grandpa Jack pushed a Santa mug full of coffee into her hands.
“Now that you’re here, we can open presents!” Eloise exclaimed, grabbing a wrapped present from under the tree. “This one is for you, Hank!” She tossed the present to her brother. He caught it one handed, the other clutching his own coffee.
Laughing, he settled down next to Murphy as Eloise turned back to the pile of gifts handing everyone one before looking for one for herself.
“Here, Murphy, this one is for you.”
“That one is from Tabitha and me,” Richard said. He had put aside the tie from Eloise he just finished opening and leaned his elbows on his knees. Tabitha seemed to lean forward as well waiting for Murphy to open the gift.
She bit her lip, the added attention making her feel even more guilty. With an encouraging smile from Hank, Murphy ripped the present open.
A cell phone. The Harringtons had gotten her a cell phone.
“Eloise had mentioned you didn’t have a phone, and we figured since you are Tripp’s girlfriend, it was the least we could do,” Tabitha said.
Murphy turned the box over in her hands. Her chest tightened. This was no longer about her fitting into a group of people. She was dragging the Harringtons down with her — wherever this was taking her.
“We have the plan payed up for the next six months, but we can extend that as long as you want. You don’t need to worry about a thing,” Richard added.
Murphy hesitated before responding, “Thank you.” For the first time, she realized she was taking advantage of the Harringtons. This isn’t what it was supposed to be like at all. She was just supposed to be in and out of their lives. Just to go to the brunch and get a taste of what it would be to be one of the “in” crowd. But this. This was something way deeper. How had she gotten to this place? The longer she stayed the harder it was going to be to simply fade away. This wasn’t right. She felt her eyes fill with tears and she bit down hard on her lip to keep them from falling. She was glad everyone had shifted their attention to Grandpa Jack who just opened a mega pack of silly string from Hank. Grandpa Jack proceeded to pop the cap off the can, and Tabitha was nervously telling her father to put it away.
Murphy could feel her breathing go shallow. They were all here. All the Harringtons plus Grandpa Jack. She could tell them who she really was. The phone felt like a brick in her hand. A phone. They had gotten her a phone — and a sparkly phone case too. Thirteen-year-old Murphy would have been over the moon, but seventeen-year-old Murphy just felt like a fake. She bit her bottom lip. Everyone was so happy now. Telling them today would ruin their Christmas. Tabitha was actually smiling. She couldn’t do that to them. She could wait until later.
“You okay?” Hank whispered.
Murphy blinked fast, clearing her eyes of the pesky emotion. She nodded at him, offering him a smile.
His eyes bored hers, searching. Her breath hitched. She tried to remind herself that there could be nothing there. Hank was a nice guy. After she told him her story, he would know Christmas was hard for her and wanted to make sure she was okay.
Their eyes held each other a minute more before Hank gave her shoulder a supporting squeeze and let his hand drop. Murphy had to get her emotions in check.
Screams and protesting erupted when Grandpa Jack let neon streams of silly string fly spraying anyone who dared try to move away. Murphy giggled, feeling the release of emotion. Grandpa Jack rescuing her from the climbing tension.
The day was filled with food, laughter, and at least four more surprise silly string attacks from Grandpa Jack, including much to the nurse on duty’s dismay, one in Tripp’s room.
When all the paper and ribbon and tinsel settled, Murphy had received the phone from Richard and Tabitha and a bright pink and glittery case for said phone from Eloise. Grandpa Jack had thrown in a deck of cards and her very own pipe — which she would have to hide at the risk of expulsion. She also opened several gifts from Tripp. Eloise and Tabitha insisted they were stashed away in Tripp’s room there at home, but Murphy had a sneaking suspicion the girls had gone on a shopping spree. None of clothes she received looked anything like Claire’s style.
Claire. Tripp’s real girlfriend. Murphy felt like the world’s biggest shumck.
Standing in the hallway, she gathered her coat and scarf from Jarvis. Hank had jogged to his car to get it warmed up before the two-minute drive back to Iverson.
“Murphy?”
Murphy turned to see Tabitha coming up the hall. She stiffened when Tabitha put her arms around her. “Thank you.”
“F-for what?” Murphy stammered.
The older woman stepped back, hands still on Murphy’s shoulders. “You, you aren’t like the other girls Tripp has brought around.” Of course, there would be other girls. Murphy didn’t know why that sounded like such a shock. Tripp had had many different girlfriends over the years before Claire. Even he and Claire had only been going out for a few weeks at best. Murphy hadn’t thought that he would have brought them home to meet his family. “You’re so different. Refreshing. And Eloise and Hank love you.”
Murphy ducked her head. They loved her? She felt her deceit like it was written on her forehead. If only they could read it and save her the pain of breaking the news to them. Tabitha pulled her back into a hug.
“I wish it would just hurry up and snow already,” Hank came in from outside stomping his feet. “I was really hoping for a white Christmas. What gives?” He looked up catching a glimpse of his mother hugging Murphy. His eyebrows shot up. Murphy raised her hands just as perplexed as he was.
“I should let you get home. Hank, make sure she gets back safely.” Tabitha patted Murphy’s shoulder and left.
“That was strange.” Hank said. “What just happened?”
“I have no idea,” Murphy said, tugging her coat on. She tried to pick up her bags, but Hank took them from her, following her out to the car. Murphy was suddenly ready to be back at Iverson. Curled under her blanket. Fiona curled next to her. Fiona. Tripp’s cat. She inwardly groaned. What a hole had she dug for herself. No this wasn’t a hole, this was an entire abyss.
“You’re awfully quiet tonight, Cain.”
Murphy sucked in a deep breath. If she was brave, she would tell Hank the truth now. She would lay everything bare. She would leave the gifts in his car when he dropped her off. The gifts that were meant for someone else. The guilt was eating her insides.
But she wasn’t brave. Her admission would crush them, and she couldn’t do that to them. Didn’t want to do that to them.
“I’m just kind of tired.” Which wasn’t a lie. It just wasn’t the full truth. Christmas always seemed to wear Murphy out. It was always hard. She started remembering and the remembering brought the pain of what had been and what would never be. It brought the pain of what had come next.
She picked at the fraying edge of her jacket while watching the dark landscape fly by in the silence — kind of what she felt like the break was doing. Flying by so fast and so dark she couldn’t get a grasp on life. Couldn’t figure out what she needed to do.
That wasn’t true. She knew what she needed to do. But if she knew, then why wasn’t she acting on it. Why were the words getting stuck every time s
he tried to confess?
By the time Hank pulled the car up Iverson’s drive, Murphy felt like she was suffocating. She had already unwrapped her scarf and had it twisted into knots her lap.
She unbuckled as soon as Hank parked the car, hand already on the door handle. She opened the door grabbing the couple of gift bags that were on the floor in front of her. She was going to have to take the time to get the ones out of the back as well.
“Hey, Cain, what’s the rush?” Hank tugged her back into the car.
Murphy sucked in her bottom lip. Her heart stilled as her eyes dropped to a gift wrapped in brown paper on his lap.
“I was going to give this to you earlier but thought with all the hubbub I’d wait.”
Her hand shook a little as she took the gift from him.
“Really, if I could get you anything, I’d jet you off to a destination, but thought you might rather travel with Tripp once he wakes up.”
I’d rather travel with you. The realization shocked her with its honesty.
Hank prattled on as if he was actually nervous. “But I saw this at the bookstore last week and thought that it might be perfect.”
Murphy let the wrapping fall away revealing a leather-bound journal. “A travel journal?”
“A travel journal. That way once you start traveling if you can’t take your big map with you, you can record all your destinations here.”
While she was appreciative of the phone and phone case that came from the Harringtons and the gifts that were wrapped supposedly from Tripp, this gift, a gift from the heart, meant so much more.
“Hank.” His name was a whisper as she flipped through the pages. Pages waiting to be filled by her travels.
“Anyways. I saw it and thought you needed it.” Hank pushed a hand through his hair.
“It’s perfect. Thank you,” Murphy turned in her seat. Still one foot out the door. She couldn’t bring herself to leave.
Hank lifted his hand toward Murphy but before he touched her curled his hand into a fist. He blew out a nervous laugh, bounced his fist on the steering wheel. “I’d better let you get going.”
Murphy sat there, frozen though not from the cold. Was it possible that Hank—
No, she wouldn’t even let her mind go there. But maybe … possibly … could Hank have feelings for her? The thought thrilled and terrified her. She was Tripp’s girlfriend. Fake girlfriend. She was supposed to care about him. Was supposed to be there for him so that when he woke up he’d see what a great fit she was for him. That he’d see her.
But the reality of it was that this sweet boy in front of her saw her better than she saw herself. Hank was stealing her heart all while Tripp was sleeping.
“Yeah,” Murphy ducked her head, tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. What was she thinking? She had to get out of here. Her insides felt like molten lava. She was freezing and burning up all at the same time.
With one final look at Hank, she slipped from the car, and grabbed her bags from the back.
“Hey, Cain,” Hank called before the door closed all the way.
“Yes?” Her heart was racing. Was this it? Was he going to profess his undying love?
Hank looked at her. That one gaze shooting icy hot sparks through her. She sucked in a breath, holding it. This was it. He was going to—
“The Christmas bash is tomorrow. I just wanted to see if you made your mind up about coming.”
—Remind her about the party.
Her lungs deflated. She had completely read that wrong. Maybe he didn’t feel for her what she was feeling for him. Or maybe she was just projecting her feelings for Tripp onto Hank. Yes, that’s what was happening. She was still in love with Tripp.
“I mean I know that you said you’d think about it, but Eloise is dying for you to come and save her the boredom. And Mother would really like you to be there—she’s already set your place. It’s important to her, especially since everything with Tripp…”
Murphy smiled. “Of course, I’ll be there.”
“Great. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She let the door close and dashed up the steps and into the warmth of Iverson.
This was ridiculous. She was being ridiculous. Letting the bags fall to the floor, Murphy leaned against the wall. She needed to get her feelings under control. She hit her head on the wall, as if that could actually drive thoughts of Hank and her feelings for him from her mind.
Groaning she looked at the packages at her feet. She wasn’t really sure what she was going to do with them since she didn’t feel like she should keep them. Maybe it would be better to just put them in Claire’s room. That’s who these gifts were meant for anyway.
Text Notifications
From Eloise Harrington (09:37 PM)
Am I your very first text? Like ever?
From Murphy Cain (09:41 PM)
Ever ever : )
From Eloise Harrington (09:42)
So cool.
From Hank Harrington (09:45 PM)
Welcome to the land of not the old fashioned!
From Murphy Cain (09:47 PM)
Haha
From Hank Harrington (09:52 PM)
: )
Chapter Fifteen
“This had better be good,” Emmaline’s words slurred together. She flipped on the lamp at the same time she pushed up her sleep mask, groaning and shooting the lamp a dirty look for the offensive bright light.
Murphy was pacing back and forth in her room. She stopped and bent over the computer when she heard her friend’s spluttering. “Oh good. You’re awake.”
She felt bad for video calling Emmaline so late, or early, but this seemed like a good enough reason. It was an emergency.
Emmaline pushed her comforter off and sat up, pulling her computer to her knees. “Well, I am now. What’s going on? I think you’re starting to resemble Fiona there.”
“What?” Murphy looked behind her to the puff of fur that was pacing back and forth behind her.
“And what in the world are those?” Emmaline pointed a finger at the pile of gifts that Murphy had tossed on the bed.
Murphy turned and looked as if there was a pack of spiders behind her ready to pounce. “Gifts,” she said. “From the Harringtons. Emmaline. Focus.”
Her friend blinked, a slow grin spreading on her face. She propped her chin on her hand. “I’m totally focused.”
“Right. Emmaline, I have a problem.” Murphy was back to pacing and chewing her thumbnail.
“Do tell,” Emmaline yawned.
Murphy stopped her back and forth and put her face directly on the screen. “Emma, I’m serious here!”
“Murph, first, no more of that ridiculous pacing. You’re giving me a headache. Second, you need to explain what in the world is going on. I can’t fix the problem until I hear what it is.” Emmaline took a swig of a Diet Coke that was sitting on her nightstand. Apparently, it was warm, or flat, because she instantly spit it back into the can.
“The Christmas party thing,” Murphy spit out in a single breath.
“The Harrington’s Christmas Ball?”
Murphy nodded her head up and down feeling like a bobble head. She sucked in air feeling like she couldn’t get enough.
“So, what about it?”
“It’s kind of tomorrow. Tonight? I don’t even know what day it is,” Murphy ran her fingers through her hair.
“That’s your problem?” Emmaline deadpanned. “Are you sure your tizzy isn’t about Hank?”
“Hank? Why would it be about Hank?”
“Um, because you so like him!”
Murphy paused. “No. It’s totally about the party. Ball. Whatever. I have no idea what in the world I’m supposed to do at one of these things. This is not my thing. I don’t even think I have anything to wear.” Murphy was back to pacing, alternating between wringing her hands and biting her thumbnail. “Besides what if someone from school sees me there? They are definitely going to know that I’m not Tripp’s girlfriend.” A s
ickening thought struck Murphy. “Emmaline, what if Claire shows up?”
“Is that all?” Emmaline fell back against her pillows.
“Is that all?” Murphy squeaked. “I can’t go to a party and be introduced to everyone as Tripp’s girlfriend. Emma, I’m not Tripp’s girlfriend!”
Emmaline looked at Murphy incredulously, her coke can paused half way back to the nightstand.
Murphy waved a hand toward her computer. “I know, I know. You can skip the ‘I told you so.’”
“Ok, well, now that we’ve got that out of the way, I have a simple solution. You’re going to go to the party.”
“Wait? What?”
Emmaline, the one that had been dead set against her playing girlfriend since the very beginning. Only two days ago she wasn’t talking to Murphy because of it. And now she was what? Telling her to embrace it?
“Oh, it’s too early for this.” Emmaline rolled her eyes and pushed herself out of her bed. Balancing her laptop in front of her with one hand, she crossed the room and took a Diet Coke from the mini fridge. Popping it open, she took a long, drawn-out swig. “Don’t looked so shocked, Murph. The simple fact is, you can’t back out of this right now.”
“Why not? This seems like the perfect time to back out of this.”
“And to answer your Claire question,” Emmaline said ignoring the question. “I know for a fact she’s not going to be at the party. My stuck-up cousin didn’t want to leave the beach and her new Cabana boy.”
“Cabana boy? Clarie’s cheating?”
“Does that really surprise you? It’s not like she’s trying to hide it. Look,” Emmaline pulled up photos on her phone that Claire had posted online. Photo after photo of her in barely-there bikinis draped over a tanned boy with a body that could give anyone in Hollywood a run for their money.
Claire cheating. That’s why she hadn’t tried to contact Tripp. Murphy felt panic settle in her stomach as she started to consider going to the party. She didn’t do well in crowds. She was awkward and not eloquent and definitely not the high-class girl from Iverson the Harringtons expected. But maybe that wasn’t a bad thing. She glanced at the shiny cell phone they’d gifted her. Remembered Tabitha’s hug. They seemed to like her… “You’re the one who told me I should tell them in the first place.”
It Happened at Christmas Page 13