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daughter and being the perfect wife.
    I sank beside her on the window seat. “Hannah told me you were crying.”
    “Did she?” She gave a long, drawn-out sigh. “I tried to hide it from her, but she’s very perceptive.”
    “Is it Matt?” I asked. “Where is he?”
    “He left to get more firewood, but I think that was just an excuse to get out of the house.” Her voice cracked a little at the last words, and I worried she might start crying again. She shook it off with a smile. “Can you believe it’s snowing this much? We might actually have a white Christmas this year.”
    “Are you two fighting about me being here?” I asked, ignoring her question. “Because I plan to get my own place as soon as I have enough money saved up, I swear.” Which would take longer now that I was without a job again. Dammit.
    “No, we love having you here. You’re such a help with Hannah. Marriage is just tough sometimes.”
    Once, they’d been Patricia Collins and Matthew Nakamura, valedictorian and class president, prom queen and king, that one couple everyone admired and predicted great things for—until they’d gotten married at eighteen when Trish found out she was pregnant. All Trish’s plans for college had vanished after that, and she’d become a stay-at-home mom while Matt worked nights as a security guard and went to college (and now, law school) during the day. They were only able to buy this house with the help of his parents—with plenty of bedrooms for more kids in the future—but lately, I had the feeling that wasn’t what my sister wanted.
    She turned to face me and flashed a big smile, wiping at her eyes. “Enough about that. It’s Christmas Eve and I’m done being upset. How was your day?”
    Even though she didn’t want to talk about it, I could tell things with Matt were strained lately. From my bedroom I could often hear them fighting, but I wasn’t sure what about if it wasn’t me. But with our parents waiting and Christmas Eve dinner about to start, this wasn’t the time to talk about it. Instead, I’d do my sisterly duty and distract her with how much worse my own life was—one of our favorite pastimes.
    “My day was shit,” I said. “Don’t tell Mom and Dad, but I got fired.”
    “Oh, Becca. What happened?”
    “The usual. I mouthed off to my manager ‘cause I can’t seem to stay out of trouble for five minutes.”
    “That’s why I love you.” She gave me a quick squeeze, and I hugged her back hard, trying to give her strength. Or maybe I needed some of
her
strength.
    “That’s not even the worst of it. Brett dumped me, too.”
    “What? No! I really thought this one might be a keeper.”
    “Turns out he didn’t feel that way about me. He said I wasn’t the type of girl his parents would want him to date or some bullshit.”
    “What a butthole,” my sister said, the closest she ever came to swearing. She wrapped an arm around me. “I’m sorry.”
    “It’s okay. He was boring anyway.” I leaned against her, and we stared out the window, at the snow dancing through the air and all the shining, decorated houses. “But um… I sort of ran into that guy I told you about. Andy.”
    She squealed, making me jump. “The Comic-Con hook-up? Who you had the best sex of your life with? No freaking way!”
    “That’s him. And, uh, he’s coming to dinner tonight.”
    “Oh my gosh, this is the best news I’ve heard all day.” She clapped her hands together in a way that reminded me so much of our mom. “I always knew the two of you would find each other again. And on Christmas Eve? It’s so romantic!”
    I rolled my eyes. “Let’s not get carried away here. Besides, he’s just doing me a favor. He’s going to pretend to be Brett.”
    “Um, why?”
    “Because that’s who Mom and Dad are expecting tonight—my perfect boyfriend. Then they’ll see that I’ve changed and will help me go back to college.”
    She stared at me for a heartbeat, and then she dissolved