“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Shopping. Accumulating stuff. Status symbols. I hate all that. I’m not into it. I like things to be functional. And don’t get me started on sports. You know how many guys live and breathe football? It’s a stupid game, and I don’t know why people have any interest in watching it. I mean, at least the ones playing are getting exercise. And Christmas. All those decorations. And the stupid-ass gifts people exchange. What’s the point of any of it?”
She let out a tiny laugh. “Maybe you should kick me out of your bed, because Iama Christmas elf. And I did show up at your house and sing you a Christmas song. Maybe you hate me, too,”
“That’s different, though. You’re just getting paid to do it. Like me, filling in for my uncle.”
“But I do like Christmas. In fact, I kind of love it.”
I groaned. “Really? You do all that gift buying and shit?”
“Mm. Not so much that. I don’t have much money for splurges like that. But I do try to make things for the people I care about. I knitted a wool scarf for Astrid this year. She’s going to love it. It’s colorful, like a rainbow. She gets into that sort of thing, and no one’s ever knitted her a scarf before. Isn’t that sad?”
That stopped me in my tracks. It sounded nice. And now I found myself yearning for it. I’d ripped my current scarf a few years back and never thought about replacing it. “No one’s everdone that for me, either. I don’t think it’s very common for people to go around knitting scarves for someone.”
Chloe’s voice was quiet, an unsung melody in the rhythm of her words. I could listen to her talk for hours. “What do you care about then?”
“Rod. Sally. My friends. This place.” I thought about it for a second. “And Red Oak Mountain.”
Her voice was getting softer, and I could hear that she was getting sleepy. “Mm, that sounds like a nice list of things to care about. Those are the kinds of things I care about. My friends. My family, even though I don’t get to see any of them often. But I don’t have a Red Oak Mountain. That part’s missing for me. Maybe someday I’ll have that, too.”
“Red Oak Mountain’s easy,” I rumbled. “It’s right here. If you want a place like this, it’s within grabbing distance. Friends and family are priceless, though. I can’t import your friends here.”
“No. But maybe they’d come visit me…”
And with that, her words trailed off. Her breathing softened, and I could tell she was on the verge of falling asleep, had maybe even dipped over to the other side between waking and sleeping life.
My heart was hammering in my chest. Had she just hinted that she would move here?
That was just random talk. She didn’t mean it. And even if she did, it didn’t mean she’d be moving here forme.
But something inside me held on to the idea.
I realized with some degree of shock that I liked the idea of Chloe moving here and living with me.
We could build a life together. A quiet life.
I hadn’t so much asthoughtabout a woman since Tiffany.
After that train wreck of a relationship, I’d thought I was done with women for good.
But that had all been before Chloe stepped onto my uncle’s sleigh.
The second I’d seen her, I’d known. And tonight had proven it. We had so much in common. And plenty that wasn’t in common, like her bizarre love of Christmas. But even that felt comfortable somehow. I could see her coaxing me into decorating a tree, putting an elf up on the fireplace mantel. Maybe even stringing some Christmas lights out on the back deck.
I bet the deck would look nice all lit up. Cheery.
That jolted through me, and I stared at her in horror. All I could make out was the soft halo of her hair surrounding her cherub face.
If she stuck around, she was going to ruin me. Before I knew it, I’d be running around wearing matching Christmas sweaters with the woman.
But even worse was the idea that she mightnotstick around.
How was it possible for me to feel so attached to her so quickly?
Something wasn’t normal about my reaction to her.
I could already feel that there was going to be a giant void in my life when she drove away.
