Every Little Kiss by Kim Amos

sides.”
    “Deal.”
    Abe could already picture his parents’ apartment—the tiny, overstuffed kitchen, the living room with its smattering of macramé and newspapers, the little bedroom with the handmade quilt. His mom would probably brew mint tea. Abe would uncork a bottle of wine with dinner. They’d eat on the same plates they’d had growing up, and his mom would probably try to get him and Stu to curl up in sleeping bags on their cramped living room floor, like they were twelve again.
    Hell, they might even do it.
    Because who knew how many more Christmases they’d have together?
    Abe frowned, hating how tentative everything seemed lately. And that his usual tactic of holding himself at arm’s length from all of it wasn’t working anymore. Briefly, he debated asking Stu about how to be happier, how to be more easygoing. Stu’s apartment by the river might be cramped and damp, but he was content with it. And where Abe would keep one woman in his bed for ninety days max, Stu was always welcoming scores of women into his life for as long as they wanted to stay. To be fair, it was usually until they found out there were other ladies in Stu’s mix, but, somehow, it all worked for his little brother.
    The Wild scored again, and Abe leaped to his feet, cheering. All he wanted to do was focus on being here, rooting for his favorite team with his brother in tow. And of course there was the prospect of tomorrow, of seeing Casey Tanner for the tree lighting, which had his gut twisting in ways that he wasn’t used to.
    Briefly, he debated telling Stu about her, but a fight on the ice distracted him, and he lost track of it until the ride home. He almost opened his mouth as they headed out of Saint Paul, back to White Pine, but instead he asked his brother if he wanted to stop for burgers.
    Casey Tanner was his secret—at least for now. He wasn’t sure what to expect when he saw her tomorrow, and on the off chance it was terrible, he wouldn’t have to explain to his brother what happened. He could just move on to seeing someone else.
    Inside the A&W, when his brother asked him if he had someplace to be, Abe was surprised to find he’d been staring at his watch, counting the hours until the tree lighting.
    “No, just trying to figure out if I missed a special airing of The Bridge on the River Kwai ,” he said. Stu shrugged and tore into his second burger. Abe shifted his arm so he wouldn’t see his watch face and start thinking about Casey all over again.
    *  *  *
    Casey smiled and tried not to stare at Dave Englund’s dark hair and the toned muscles as he poured her and Audrey each a pint of his new seasonal winter ale. Audrey rounded out the introductions while Dave manned the tap.
    “Casey lives in White Pine now, working down at Robot Lit, the tutoring place in town.”
    “Nice,” he said. “It must be so rewarding working with the kids.”
    “It is,” Casey answered, “though mostly I’m focused on spreadsheets. I’m an accountant.”
    “Oh,” Dave said, sliding the glasses across the polished bar. A thick post hammered through the top of his left ear glinted in the light. “That’s—well, that’s cool, too.”
    “Another new tattoo?” Audrey asked, grabbing Dave’s forearm. Casey stared at the swirls and patterns into which were etched chef’s knives and whisks and even an asparagus stalk.
    “The pint glass. For the new ales,” Dave said.
    Audrey smiled. “Dave’s taken to expressing himself through body art and beer,” she said.
    “So you made this?” Casey asked, lifting her pint and staring at the light-gold liquid.
    “You bet. There’s a little bit of orange in there, to brighten it up. See if you can taste it.”
    She and Audrey clinked glasses and took their first sips while the jukebox cranked out “American Pie” by Don McLean. Casey was ready to love a beer that matched her favorite season, but the moment the first drop hit her tongue, she had to force herself to