and black flannel shirts fix the tree to the roof of my car by staying the hell out of their way and not protesting about my paint job more than twice while they secured the tree with tarp and bungee cords that I provided. Cris would have been all over that, double checking and testing the quality of the knots.
On impulse, I headed back over to the sleigh, where a weary looking young mom was struggling to get two rambunctious kids to sit still long enough so she could snap a picture.
“I’ll take the picture if you want to get in there with them,” I offered a bit awkwardly. Hopefully she wouldn’t think I was some kind of stalking perv.
“Would you?” She seemed relieved and excited, maybe the rest of the world wasn’t as paranoid and leery as I.
“Sure, if you’ll snap a picture of me for my boyfriend after.” Cris would get his annual photo of me in the Christmas sleigh after all.
She held out her gloved hand. “I’m Debbie Adams. The mischievous angels”—she grimaced wryly as I awkwardly took her hand—”are Chad and Brad.”
“Ben Cavelli. Twins, huh?” I accepted her camera as she seated herself between the two boys.
With their mom between them, the two demons turned into angels, smiling and snuggling into their mom’s down coat, looking up at her with laughing blue eyes. I must have taken half dozen candid shots before mom got the kids positioned the way she wanted them.
Five minutes, that was all the stillness the little ones could take, but I did snap the pic the now smiling mom wanted.
I handed her my phone, showed her how to take a picture with it, and brushed off her thanks. Instead of climbing into the seat of the sleigh though, I leaned back against the painted side of the crimson vehicle and whipped off my dark glasses. I would send the picture, along with one of the tree, to Cris before I went to bed tonight. I wouldn’t be looking my best, not without eyeliner and lip gloss, but I’d be genuinely smiling.
Sitting in my car, I laughed to see that the young mother had also taken a few candid shots…one of my ass in the tight denim jeans that was absolutely making the send-to-Cris cut.
Chapter Two
My parents and siblings knew, of course, that Cris wasn’t coming home as scheduled. The six messages on my phone by the time I got home made it perfectly clear they had decided to make sure I didn’t have time to mourn his absence.
I wrestled the tree into the house and brought the tree stand in from the garden shed. I could call my family as I decorated, then send pictures of the tree and the tree lot to Cris before I went to bed.
My family wasn’t that patient. I was cursing the tree stand and on the verge of cursing Cris’s golden opportunity when the doorbell rang. Flinging the wrench and screwdriver aside, I lurched to my feet and stomped petulantly to the door. The murmur of voices on the other side was indistinguishable, but it sounded like a lot of people.
It was. Mom and Dad stood at the head of a whole crowd of family—my sister and her husband, their two kids, my younger brother Abe, and his friend Trey who practically lived at my parents’ house. Everyone held some offering of food, and my mom held a wrapped package.
My stomach rumbled at the delicious odors wafting from the food dishes, and I stepped back to allow them all entry. The teens headed to the kitchen to grab sodas, the adults to the dining room. My mom grabbed my hand and held me in place as I moved to follow. I looked down into sympathetic green eyes.
“How are you doing, Ben honey?”
Tears gathered at her concern, but I brushed them away. Whether Cris was here or not, my family loved me. I could always count on them. Unlike a certain six foot golden-skinned blond charmer who was noticeably absent.
“I’m fine, Mom. Starving though,” I hinted, dodging toward the dining room again.
“You boys, you’ve been starving since you turned five. Before that you wouldn’t eat a darn
On impulse, I headed back over to the sleigh, where a weary looking young mom was struggling to get two rambunctious kids to sit still long enough so she could snap a picture.
“I’ll take the picture if you want to get in there with them,” I offered a bit awkwardly. Hopefully she wouldn’t think I was some kind of stalking perv.
“Would you?” She seemed relieved and excited, maybe the rest of the world wasn’t as paranoid and leery as I.
“Sure, if you’ll snap a picture of me for my boyfriend after.” Cris would get his annual photo of me in the Christmas sleigh after all.
She held out her gloved hand. “I’m Debbie Adams. The mischievous angels”—she grimaced wryly as I awkwardly took her hand—”are Chad and Brad.”
“Ben Cavelli. Twins, huh?” I accepted her camera as she seated herself between the two boys.
With their mom between them, the two demons turned into angels, smiling and snuggling into their mom’s down coat, looking up at her with laughing blue eyes. I must have taken half dozen candid shots before mom got the kids positioned the way she wanted them.
Five minutes, that was all the stillness the little ones could take, but I did snap the pic the now smiling mom wanted.
I handed her my phone, showed her how to take a picture with it, and brushed off her thanks. Instead of climbing into the seat of the sleigh though, I leaned back against the painted side of the crimson vehicle and whipped off my dark glasses. I would send the picture, along with one of the tree, to Cris before I went to bed tonight. I wouldn’t be looking my best, not without eyeliner and lip gloss, but I’d be genuinely smiling.
Sitting in my car, I laughed to see that the young mother had also taken a few candid shots…one of my ass in the tight denim jeans that was absolutely making the send-to-Cris cut.
Chapter Two
My parents and siblings knew, of course, that Cris wasn’t coming home as scheduled. The six messages on my phone by the time I got home made it perfectly clear they had decided to make sure I didn’t have time to mourn his absence.
I wrestled the tree into the house and brought the tree stand in from the garden shed. I could call my family as I decorated, then send pictures of the tree and the tree lot to Cris before I went to bed.
My family wasn’t that patient. I was cursing the tree stand and on the verge of cursing Cris’s golden opportunity when the doorbell rang. Flinging the wrench and screwdriver aside, I lurched to my feet and stomped petulantly to the door. The murmur of voices on the other side was indistinguishable, but it sounded like a lot of people.
It was. Mom and Dad stood at the head of a whole crowd of family—my sister and her husband, their two kids, my younger brother Abe, and his friend Trey who practically lived at my parents’ house. Everyone held some offering of food, and my mom held a wrapped package.
My stomach rumbled at the delicious odors wafting from the food dishes, and I stepped back to allow them all entry. The teens headed to the kitchen to grab sodas, the adults to the dining room. My mom grabbed my hand and held me in place as I moved to follow. I looked down into sympathetic green eyes.
“How are you doing, Ben honey?”
Tears gathered at her concern, but I brushed them away. Whether Cris was here or not, my family loved me. I could always count on them. Unlike a certain six foot golden-skinned blond charmer who was noticeably absent.
“I’m fine, Mom. Starving though,” I hinted, dodging toward the dining room again.
“You boys, you’ve been starving since you turned five. Before that you wouldn’t eat a darn
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