A Wilde Christmas Ch. 07

The next day, Wynter was up early as she had trouble sleeping. She went downstairs to the kitchen and boiled a pot of Destiny's Winter tea just for the smell. She set up her camera and laptop at the breakfast nook and started editing the pictures she took. She then reactivated her social media accounts. After she exposed her ex Michael, she deactivated all her social media accounts to avoid the backlash over her actions. Wynter felt something was off between her and Michael when she moved to Austin to be with him, but Michael made it seem like it was all in her head. She wasn't proud of her actions, but she did install a keylogger on his Macbook. Within a week she had proof of his affair with her stepsister Denise: she had chats, emails, and photo proof of their relationship going back at least 6 months.

Wynter, feeling equally devastated and furious, screenshot everything and posted it on her Facebook tagging Michael, Denise, her dad, his wife Lisa, and Michael's parents and siblings. Every vile text, sext, and email was made public and Wynter simply captioned it: YOU TWO BITCHES DESERVE EACH OTHER. In less than an hour, her phone was blowing up. She received calls and texts from everyone: Michael pleading to talk to her, Denise demanding she delete the post, Lisa begging for her to do the same, her cousins simultaneously wanting to know if she was ok and to fuck Michael and Denise up, and her "friends" asking for details of what was going on. She didn't respond to anyone but her dad. His call was the only one she answered. The first thing he said to her was that legal action could be taken against her for what she posted online.

She thought the affair devastated her, but her dad's words broke something in her. She sat and listened to his legal jargon and threats for less than 5 minutes before hanging up. She knew her dad didn't make idle threats, so she immediately deleted her post and deactivated all her social media accounts. She packed up her belongings and drove straight to Lucky. Once she got there, she blocked all their numbers. After a month of still getting phone calls and texts from random numbers, she changed her number. Her dad's parents still lived in Lucky, so she had no doubt they knew where she was. She hadn't heard from any of them since.

Having her social media accounts restored made her anxious about any of them trying to reach out, but she figured they moved on by now. She privated her profile and quickly blocked Michael's and Denise's accounts and removed anyone from her friends or followers who were mutual friends with them. Feeling that her accounts were secure, she began uploading the photos from the past week on her profiles. She was sending the edited photos to guests from the tree trimming party who asked for them when Amira joined her in the kitchen.

"Why did I think you were down here cooking or cleaning?" Amira asked.

"I have no idea. You know me better than that." Wynter deadpanned.

"Don't I child. You're struggling to make tea? That ain't how you make it!" Amira said, turning off the stove.

"I know. It's for the smell. Doesn't it smell like winter in here?" Wynter asked, suggestively.

"It smells like no food. What do you want to eat?" Amira responded.

After breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast, Wynter got ready to meet Liberty at the recreation center. A Christmas Arts and Crafts event was happening and Liberty asked for Wynter to stop by and take photos of the event. Wynter agreed without hesitation- she still wanted to change people's perceptions of her. What better way than taking adorable pictures of their kids and offering digital copies for free?

Wynter got dressed and met Liberty at the town square where the recreational center was. Wynter went into one of the meeting rooms that was set up for the event. Multiple tables were set with children making ornaments, decorating Santa hats and stockings, or painting handmade woodcrafts. She spotted Jack right away, he was with a woman and 2 kids painting ornaments. Liberty greeted her and quickly told her that was Jack's brother's wife and kids, but Wynter gave no reaction. She promptly ignored him and focused on the event. It was a jovial mess and after a couple of hours of taking pictures and crafting with Liberty's older brother RJ and his kids, Wynter was covered in glitter. She had to take a break to clean up and start organizing photos to show parents before the event ended.

She found a quiet corner in the lobby with an empty table and set her computer up. It wasn't until she sat down that she realized a girl was underneath the table, crocheting what looked like a scarf.

"Oh! Hi, I didn't see you there." Wynter said, scooting back to observe her.

"That's ok. Nobody does." She shrugged, looking up at her briefly. "You're pretty."

"Thank you, so are you! I love your glasses." Wynter complimented her purple-rimmed glasses.

"I made a case for them!" The girl said, raising her arm to show her a purple crochet pouch clipped to her jeans.

"That is genius. You made that?" Wynter said, impressed.

"Yes, 2 years ago. I had to fix it 'cause my brother ripped it, but I attached a clip to it. See?"

"I see. I hate that your brother broke it, but the clip is everything. If you don't have pockets and don't want to carry a bag, that's a lifesaver." Wynter commented.

"I don't think it'll save anyone's life, but I like it." The girl remarked, bluntly.

Wynter smiled. "True. What's your name?"

"Ellie."

"Nice to meet you Ellie. I'm Wynter. Is it OK if I work here?"

"Yes. Your name is Winter? Like the season?"

"Yes, with a Y instead of an I."

"Why?"

Wynter chuckled. "Because my mom loved winter and I was born on winter solstice."

"What's that?"

"It's the first day of Winter. It's when our part of the world is the farthest from the sun, so it has the shortest daylight and the longest night." Wynter explained.

"That's cool. I was just born on April 4th."

"That's pretty cool too. A spring birthday sounds fun. I always thought an Alice in Wonderland garden theme party would be amazing."

"What's Alice in Wonderland?"

"A Disney classic movie, based on a book about a girl who falls into a rabbit hole."

"That sounds weird. I love weird stuff."

"Same." Wynter agreed.

Ellie worked on her crochet, periodically popping up to look at what Wynter was doing. She even helped Wynter with the names of kids and grouped the photos. When Wynter told her she was going to take more photos, Ellie put her yarn down to follow her.

"You don't want to make an ornament or paint?" Wynter asked Ellie as they walked into the craft room.

"No, too messy."

"Right, I'm gonna have glitter on me for weeks. Can I take a picture of you with the art?"

"No." She answered bluntly, making Wynter grin. She wasn't sure about Ellie's age, she looked older than she acted, but Wynter loved her honest energy. She hoped she never outgrew it. "Can I take a picture?" Ellie requested.

Wynter showed her the camera and instructed her how it worked. She was taking a picture when someone called Ellie's name.

"Ellie, there you are!" A woman's voice called from behind them.

Wynter turned around to see Jack and a woman walking towards them. Jack was holding a toddler who was maybe 2 or 3. He was casually dressed, but still fashionable in a navy hoodie, matching sweatpants, a beige jacket, and tan Yeezys Boost. The only jewelry she could see were diamond studs in his ears. She just knew his wardrobe was immaculate and would have looked forward to seeing his outfits, if she wasn't trying to avoid him.

"Mom! I want a camera and the Alice in Wonderland book added to my Christmas list." Ellie said brightly as they joined them.

"And I wanted you to stay with your sister! Your uncle was scared you were lost when he didn't see you." Ellie's mom admonished her.

"Ezekiel, you were scared?" Ellie smiled, deviously.

Jack smiled at her. "Naw, I ain't never scared. I knew you would come out eventually."

"Stop lying. You were texting me for 10 minutes back to back." Ellie's mother nudged him playfully.

"I told you I have the best hiding spots." Ellie turned to Wynter. "Don't tell him about my spot."

"What spot?" Wynter winked at her.

"Where you found me hiding," Ellie told her matter-of-factly, causing them all to laugh.

"Oh, right. I won't say a thing." Wynter put her finger over her lips.

"I'm Elena, Ellie's mom. Thank you for keeping an eye on her. I asked my brother-in-law here to babysit for 5 minutes."

"Mom, I'm 12, I don't need a babysitter! Evelyn does!" Ellie protested.

Elena looked exasperated and Wynter nodded in agreement. "I'm Wynter, and Ellie was a big help to me. Thank you, Ellie."

"Oh, Wynter?" Elena said, interested as she looked over at Jack. He hadn't said a word to her or even looked her way. Maybe he was preoccupied with the toddler, but Wynter doubted it. There was an awkward silence before Ellie spoke up again, unaware of the mood change.

"Yes, like the season. With a Y." Ellie told her.

Wynter smiled at Ellie. "Don't forget you left your project in your hiding space. I gotta go take more photos. Elena, if you leave your number or email with Rosa, I will send you all the pictures I took with your kids today. Y'all have fun." Wynter said, politely before leaving the group.

She went back to taking pictures, but couldn't help finding Jack behind the camera. He looked completely at ease and happy with his nephew and nieces. She hated how solemn and quiet he was around her. She took a couple more photos of him before she focused on the rest of the room.

When the event was over, Liberty pulled her aside.

"So great news, the overall consensus on you is that you are either on good meds or your dad was overreacting. I had people reach out about booking you for Christmas photos and a few guys asking if you're looking to date."

Wynter shook her head. "That's no to both, but thanks for the feedback."

"Speaking of dating, I got some more info about Jackson..."

Before Liberty could say anything else, a staff member needed Liberty's help. When Liberty left, Wynter couldn't help but wonder what information she found out about Jack. Wynter hadn't told Libby she spoke to Jack at her dad's tree-trimming party. After the way he ignored her, Wynter was starting to regret what she said to him. As much as she wanted it to be a one-night stand with a random man, it wasn't. Lucky was small enough that they would run into each other. If Elena could pick up on the awkwardness between them, everyone would. Before she second-guessed herself, she went back out to the lobby to catch him before he left. Thankfully, Jack was talking to the front receptionist. She waited until the conversation was over before she approached him.

"Hey Jack... or Ezekiel." She started, hesitantly.

"It's Jack or Jackson." He said, sternly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Ellie called you Ezekiel, so I wasn't 100% sure." Wynter said, apologetically.

"It's ok. My brother, Elijah, carried on the tradition of all E names. When Ellie figured that out, she refused to call me Jackson. She said we're the E family." Jack explained.

"Ah, ok. I can tell Ellie is uncompromising when it comes to her opinions." Wynter grinned.

"Yeah, she's on the spectrum for autism so she doesn't pick up on other's feelings very well." He mentioned, in a flat tone.

"Oh, I didn't even realize that." Wynter admitted. "I admire that about her. I wish I could be a little more uncompromising when it comes to my feelings."

"You did a pretty good job of advocating for yourself last night." He stated.

Wynter sighed, he was not making this easy at all. "Look, I don't know what all you heard about me-"

"I don't listen to town hearsay." he stopped her. "That's one of the reasons I don't like Lucky- everyone is always in everyone's business. Anything I know about you is going to come from you."

Wynter nodded. "Ok, well, this last year for me has been, honestly, a shit show. I know it's going to sound like a lie, but the weekend I met you was the first time I went out and had fun in years. I lived in the moment: I didn't overthink it or make it more than what it was or have any regrets. I wanted to keep it that way. Seeing you again threw me off and I started thinking too much and I just wanted to go back to not knowing who you were." Wynter detailed, flustered.

Jack listened patiently as she continued.

"But that's not reality. And it wasn't cool of me to say that to you. I'm sorry. I don't want to not know you and I don't want it to be awkward between us. Can we start over? As friends?"

"I don't know." He said, thoughtfully. "I don't have friends I've seen naked." When Wynter looked at him in disbelief, he chuckled. "I'm just fucking with you."

Wynter tried hard to keep the smile off her face. "I thought we already discussed not to fuck with me like that?"

"We're starting over, right? I gotta forget everything I know." He laughed.

His laugh was too infectious, she couldn't help laughing too. "Fine. I'm Wynter Wilde, not to be fucked with." She said, sticking out her hand.

"Ezekiel Jackson, but my friends call me Jackson." He said, grabbing her hand in a firm handshake. "And you're a Wilde, a descendant of the founder of Lucky?" He gasped, dramatically, while caressing her hand.

"You play too much. You're supposed to forget all that." She chided him, trying to pull her hand away. He gripped it tighter.

"I will. Just one more thing. Can you unblock me? I tried to reach out to you, but the text didn't go through and I couldn't find you anywhere online."

"Oh, yeah. Imma need your number to unblock you." Wynter blushed.

"Oh wow, a block and delete." He laughed, good-humored. "Was our night together that bad for you?"

"We're not talking about that." she smirked. "I told you I didn't want to overthink things like you reaching out or me texting you, so I deleted and blocked you. That was before I knew who you were." Wynter explained.

"I understand." He said, letting go of her hand so she could pull out her phone. He gave her his number and Wynter unblocked him.

"And as of this morning, I have social media accounts. Just search my name." Wynter told him.

"Bet. Now is that Wynter with a Y or an I?" Jackson teased.

She rolled her eyes, playfully. "Bye Jackson."

"Nice to meet you Wynter." Jackson said with a wave.

"We'll see." She smiled at him. He returned her smile before leaving.

"What was that?" Liberty said, rejoining her as soon as Jackson left. "That was a whole lotta handholding and smiling."

"Nothing, we cleared the air and decided to be cool," Wynter responded.

"Cool huh? How cool? Like fuck buddy cool or dating cool?" Liberty inquired.

"Neither. Just-friends-cool. Lucky is too small not to be friendly." Wynter elaborated.

"Ok... so you ready for me to spill his tea, because I got it!" Liberty smiled.

"No." Wynter declined.

"No?"

"No. It's hearsay right?" Wynter asked.

"I mean, yeah. I haven't asked him about it."

"Then I don't need to know. I want him to learn about me, from me. I need to give him that same respect." Wynter declared.

"Awww, that's sweet. Stupid, but sweet." Liberty cooed.

"Shut up. We're going to your parent's for lunch, right?" Wynter changed the subject.

"Yes, I've been thinking about the leftovers from the party since last night." Liberty groaned.

Wynter looked at her, confused. "But the party was last night... The food was there. Fresh."

"Yeah, and so were a bunch of people in my face. I'm tryna pig out in peace. Hopefully, my brothers didn't get to them already." Liberty proclaimed.

"Say less, let's go!"