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“Oh, honey It’s okay” Mary put the large cup down on the drawer The cup heaved hipped crea on the top of her hot chocolate That was the special Christmas hot chocolate that her mother did every December first, to celebrate the start of Christmas month

“It’s not okay”

“A lot of things always look worse on the day Give it ti is better in the ”

Autued her It wasn’t enough She had hurt her sister, and she was a horrible person Then she thought about Carter, and she felt she was the worst person in the world She’d kept him as a dirty little secret, and that’s not how you treat the man you love

“Mary, it’s okay,” her father said, co into the room

“Bill?”

“No, this is for me to deal with”

Her mother left the roo her in for a hug “I’m so sorry,” she said

“I don’t knohat the proble No man is worth this kind of tears”

“This isn’t about a ”

“Well, how about you tell me, and I’ll let you know if it’s really all that bad” He rubbed her back, and she closed her eyes, spilling everything out She didn’t go into too much detail because she wasn’t about to tell her father she fucked her sister’s ex, but he knew

“Oh, honey, I see why you think you should feel guilty, but you really shouldn’t”

“She loves him”

“We all know Summer We kno she flits frooodhair, the tattoos, they don’t exactly et it”

She chuckled “I love him”