“I thought you wanted me to be naughtier?” He lifted an eyebrow.
She laughed. “Later.”
He sighed with disappointment. “You do say that a lot, you know.”
“Hey, weren’t you satisfied in the shed?”
“Hmmm… well…”
Dusty playfully hit him on the arm.
“Don’t hurt me.” He rubbed the spot she’d hit.
“Toughen up, city boy.”
“You’re a hard taskmaster.”
“You remember that.” She pointed her finger at him, her eyes dancing with fun. He loved seeing her more relaxed, and to have this time with her was great. It was helping so much for him to think of a future with her, even if she were reluctant to let him move in.
She picked up a homemade bauble. “This is the first one I made. I remember Mom teaching me how to thread the sequins on a pin, and then where to stick it into on the foam sphere.”
“Very clever. I guess each decoration has a story?”
“They do.” She stepped over the box and hung the bauble on the tree.
“I look forward to hearing about them.” Blaise picked up a piece of woven wheat. “Tell me the story for this one?”
Dusty took it from him, her fingers brushed against his sending an electrifying bolt right through him.
“Mom made that for the first Christmas she and Dad had together.”
He saw the emotion build in her eyes. “You miss him.”
She nodded, turned her back, and hung it on the tree. Blaise moved in behind her, wrapping his arms around her. She leaned back into him, letting him support her, and he squeezed her tightly. Glad that for once, she was willing to fully open her heart to him.
Dusty patted his arm. “We should get this tree decorated.”
He reluctantly let go. “We should.” He bent down and picked up a tangled string of electric lights. “Tackle this first?”
“Yes.” She hated how the lights always ended up in a knotty mess. They worked together, untangling the lights and managing not to get in to an argument. Dusty hung them carefully around the branches. Then they started on placing the ornaments. Settling into a routine where Blaise would pick up a decoration and Dusty would share the story behind it as she hung it on the tree.
Blaise felt like they were finally bonding. This time together was precious, more so because he’d waited so long to get a moment where they could both be themselves together. And he was learning so much about her family through the stories of each decoration.
“Now, for the star on the top.” Dusty took out the big glitter gold star from its own box. “This is what Dad got Mom the Christmas before they were married.”
She went over to the tree, stood on her tippy toes trying to reach the top.
“Here.” Blaise put his arms around her. “I’ll lift you. Ready?”
She nodded. “Don’t drop me.”
“Geez, have some faith.” He chuckled. He’d learned ages ago her sense of humor was more on the sarcastic side.
“Okay… one, two, three.” He lifted her from the ground, holding her tight around the waist.
“Nearly… a little to the right… no the other right… got it.”
Blaise let her down a little too quickly, and she stumbled back into him but he caught her. “We’re done.”
