12 Days 'til Christmas ✓

chapter twenty-nine

t w e n t y - n i n e

*

I've lost Casper. He's literally nowhere to be found, and I swear I've searched every room of my sister's deceptively large house. One minute he was schmoozing someone I don't even know, one of India's friends I guess, and in the time it took me to find a refill of prosecco, he vanished. I spent some time with my sisters, and my dad gave me a soppy talk

Now I have two glasses of wine and no boyfriend, and another of India's friends – or perhaps a husband of a friend, more likely – is giving me a weird look. What was originally going to be a family New Year's Eve party has ended up being quite a big event, her house opened up to friends and family alike, and after twenty minutes I wanted to write down all of my information on a piece of paper pinned to my chest.

By now, I'm pretty sure everyone knows who I am – sister number three, yes my name really is Bethlehem – and what I do, where I live, who I'm with. Except I'm not with Casper, because he's gone and done a disappearing act at twenty to midnight.

He has made himself right at home with my family, effortlessly flitting between my parents and my sisters and charming the socks off all of them. We got here hours ago, in plenty of time for a family supper before everyone else started arriving for the party to celebrate the end of another year, and I watched in awe as Casper managed to make my dad laugh with dumb legal jokes that he must have googled before we got here.

"Beth!" Mum calls out, swooping into the hall with a tipsy flourish, her scarf trailing behind her. "How are you, darling? I feel like I've hardly seen you all night!"

"Hey, Mum. It's probably been an hour," I say with a chuckle. She has a fresh glass in her hand, drinking her Buck's Fizz like it's straight orange juice. "Have you seen Cas anywhere?"

She taps her chin and pouts, all of her movements exaggerated when she's had a few, and the furrow above her brows deepens in thought. "He was eating cocktail sausages last I saw. Hungry little boy."

I snort. "Hardly a little boy, Mum."

She laughs like a teenager, and before she has time to make an inappropriate comment, I squeeze her shoulders and head back to the kitchen.

How the hell does my sister live in a place like this? The rooms are huge squares, bustling with people, and a long garden slopes down into an orchard before a line of tall evergreens. She and her husband must make more than I thought. Or, more likely, she doesn't spend half her pay check in cafes. I daren't check my bank for how much a month I put down on coffee.

"Hey, Bee!" comes a voice from the other side of the kitchen. Juneau pops up with a plate full of finger food, half a vegan cocktail sausage on a stick in her hand. All the food tonight is vegan, courtesy of one of India's many useful friends, and I'm pleasantly surprised.

"What's up, Junie?" I ask, as I scour the room and find no sign of my boyfriend.

"Where's your arm candy gone?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

Juneau frowns. "I don't have any arm candy, unfortunately. I seem to be going through a savoury spell."

"I meant, have you seen Cas anywhere?"

"Oh." She laughs. She's tipsy too. "Does he smoke? If he does, there's a bunch of vegan smokers outside. Or maybe they're vapers. Or juulers. For all I know, it's a big pot circle." With another laugh, she throws out her hands. "I don't know, Busy Bee. Better find him, though, or you'll end up having to kiss your poor lonely sister at midnight."