He Took Her To The Lake We Promised To See Together Chapter 03

He Took Her To The Lake We Promised To See Together Chapter 03

That night, Ethan booked a Christmas Eve dinner at a restaurant on the Moonsea waterfront.

When the server led us into the private dining room, there were only three chairs at the table.

Mason slapped a hand to his forehead.

“I forgot Emma was coming when I made the reservation.”

The server had to squeeze in an extra chair beside the service entrance.

Sophie sat next to Ethan, facing the windows and the holiday lights beyond them.

I was wedged by the door and had to stand every time a server brought in another dish.

When Ethan noticed I wasn’t eating, he lowered his voice.

“It’s just a chair. Does it really matter where you sit?”

I nodded.

“No. It doesn’t.”

The seat beside him hadn’t belonged to me for a long time anyway.

Halfway through dinner, our server brought out three custom holiday cookies and three hand-painted wooden ornaments.

The cookies were stamped Cole, Bennett, and Reed.

Set side by side, the three ornaments formed a snowy Christmas-tree scene.

There was still nothing for me.

Sophie held hers out.

“You can have mine.”

But her name was carved clearly into the back.

Ethan put a hand over hers.

“Keep it. Emma doesn’t like this stuff.”

I looked at him.

“How do you know I don’t?”

He froze for a second.

“You’ve never asked for any of it before.”

Because I’d never gotten one, he’d decided I didn’t want one.

Even the excuses for leaving me out came easily now.

After dinner, Sophie suggested the holiday ring toss.

The winner would get the last glowing reindeer lantern.

Ethan played three rounds with her.

When the final ring landed, Sophie hugged the glowing lantern to her chest, beaming so hard her eyes crinkled.

“Ethan, how are you good at everything?”

“I used to play this with Emma.”

It was the first time he’d mentioned me all evening.

And even then, it was only because he’d used something he’d learned with me to win Sophie a gift.

Mason raised his phone.

“Get closer. I’ll take a picture.”

The paired reindeer glowed between them, making Ethan and Sophie look like a couple who’d been together for years.

I got up and stepped onto the terrace.

Ethan followed a moment later.

“Are you mad?”

“No.”

He rubbed between his brows.

“When we’re done here, I’ll take you on the holiday lights cruise. Just the two of us.”

I looked at him.

“Just us?”

Ethan went quiet for a beat, then nodded.

“Just us.”

We had barely reached the lakeside pier when Sophie got a call from the camera shop.

Her face went white. “The memory card got corrupted again. It has the video from my mom’s last Christmas on it.”

Ethan answered immediately.

“I’ll go with you.”

I asked, “What about the cruise?”

“Get on the boat with Mason. I’ll handle this and come back.”

“The boat leaves in ten minutes.”

“Then take the next one.”

“And if you miss that one too?”

Ethan’s expression hardened.

“Emma, that’s the last Christmas video Sophie has of her mother. Can you seriously not see what’s more important right now?”

He pressed the tickets into my hand and climbed into a cab with Sophie.

Mason hurried after them.

“I know cameras. I’ll come help.”

Just like that, I was the only one left at the pier.

The attendant called to me.

“Ma’am, we’re about to leave. Is your boyfriend coming or not?”

I looked toward where Ethan had disappeared.

“He’s not coming.”

“Then are you boarding by yourself?”

I looked down at the two tickets in my hand.

When we were eighteen, Ethan had promised that we’d take a boat together, hang a personalized Christmas wish ornament by the lake, and then walk all the way to the end of the Moonsea Promenade.

I’d asked him what happened when we reached the end.

He’d said, “When we get there, we’ll get married.”

After four years of waiting, I didn’t even make it onto the boat.

“No. I’m not going.”

I handed the tickets to the attendant and walked away.

By the lake, couples gathered near the stone steps, writing names and wishes on personalized Christmas ornaments.

An elderly vendor called out to me.

“Miss, buy one. Put both your names on it. Maybe it’ll bring you some luck.”

I had a small name card in my bag, already filled out with Ethan’s name and mine.

I’d planned to attach it to a Christmas wish ornament with him, then tell him I was ready to build a life together.

I didn’t need it anymore.

I dropped the card into a trash can.

“No, thanks.”

The vendor asked, “Not waiting for your boyfriend?”

I looked at the Christmas lights glowing along the water.

“No. I’m done waiting.”

I sat down on a bench and opened the digital contract the project team had sent me.

The project lead had warned me that it would last a year, with the first phase based in the New Mexico high desert. Once I joined, I couldn’t simply walk away whenever I wanted.

For the past month, I’d held off on signing because Ethan wouldn’t accept a long-distance relationship.

For once, I wanted to choose something for myself.

I signed my name at the bottom.

Emma Parker.

With my signature, it was official.

A message from the project coordinator came in almost immediately.

Project Coordinator: [The car will pick you up at the hotel tomorrow night at ten. Does that still work for you?]

Emma: [Yes.]

At 9:30 that night, the final holiday lights cruise left the pier.

Ethan never showed up.

At 9:45, he sent me a photo.

Sophie was sitting inside the camera shop, holding a reindeer-shaped gingerbread cookie and smiling.

Ethan: [We got the video back. Sophie’s treating us to a late-night snack.]

Ethan: [I sent you the location. Come over.]

I turned off my phone and stood up.

The two unused boat tickets were still lying on the bench behind me.

At eighteen, I’d never imagined that the Christmas I’d waited four years for would end without me ever setting foot on the boat.

It didn’t matter anymore.

I’d already chosen a different path.

And this time, I didn’t need Ethan to walk it with me.