Fitz closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. “Heis what I was looking for.” Fitz opened his eyes and glared at Ace. “Anston Sharpe, I am going to wrap this garland around your neck and strangle you with it!”
Ace took off with a howl of laughter.
Merry looked to Leo. “Where did he come from? Was he hiding back there waiting for someone to say that?”
“It’s Ace. We don’t ask questions,” Leo said, shaking his head. “He defies logic and science.”
“Now that he’s gone, we can get to work,” Fitz muttered. Thankfully, since the stalls were decorated for various holidays and festivities throughout the year, they were already equipped with hooks and clamps. Ladder set up, Fitz took hold of one end of the garland and started attaching it to the special hooks on the wood. “What are you up to?” Fitz asked Leo.
Leo blinked up at him. He lifted the garland in his hand. “Holding garland. Also, did you know there’s a city in Texas called Garland? I wonder if it gets confusing at Christmastime.”
Fitz glanced down at him. “Good question. However, I was referring to your recent escapades.” Over the last few days, Leo had been very cagey. It wasn’t like him.
Leo might get lost in his head quite often, but he was never secretive. He’d even disappeared last night and hadn’t replied to their texts or answered their calls. After realizing no one in their family had heard from him for hours, they went out in search of him, only to find he’d been sound asleep at the cabin the whole time.
“I can’t tell you.” Leo’s cheeks flushed. “I’m sorry. It’s a secret.”
Fitz paused. Since when did Leo keep secrets? “Does it have to do with King?”
“Yes.”
Interesting. Considering Leo’s interest in “Santa” or rather the town mayor who looked like Santa, Fitz guessed it had something to do with King’s Christmas present. Usually, Leo asked for help. Matters of the heart either came easy, depending on the logic, or didn’t.
Gift-giving was challenging for Leo because it was one of the few times he was conflicted. His head wanted to gift something practical, while his heart wanted something special that would make the other person happy.
“Well, just ask for help if you need it, okay?”
“Of course,” Leo replied, beaming brightly. “So Colton told Ace, who told Lucky, who told Mason, who told Red, who told Laz, who told Gio, who told Joker, who told me that Colton asked Jack if he ever thought of proposing.”
“What?” Fitz turned so quickly that he lost his balance on the ladder. He yelped and flailed his arms as he fell back, but instead of hitting the snow-covered cobblestone, he stared up at a bearded face. “Noel?”
“Careful, Fitz.” Noel placed Fitz on his feet and, with a sweet smile, handed Fitz his fallen hat and earmuffs. “Here.”
“Thank you.” Fitz fixed his hair, then secured the earmuffs and hat back on his head. “Is everything okay? I thought you were helping with the lights on the main street.”
“I am. I was picking up one of the boxes of lights that went astray. Would you, um….” He glanced at Merry, who stood there unmoving, eyes wide. Merry quickly turned and pretended to inspect the garland in his hands. This had to be one of the most challenging matches Fitz had ever faced. He followed Noel when he motioned to the side.
“Would you have dinner with me tonight?”
Surely, Fitz had heard wrong. “Noel, I’m sorry, I’m—”
Noel took hold of Fitz’s hands. “Please, it’s really important. I want to talk to you about something.”
Oh! Noel probably wanted to talk about a certain cute little blond who had a crush on him but seemed incapable of even making eye contact. Maybe between the two of them, they could devise a way to help ease Merry’s nerves around his handsome lumberjack.
“Um, yes. Okay.”
“Perfect. I’ll meet you at The Jolly Stag at six-thirty?”
“Sure.” Fitz watched Noel walk away. Well, that was certainly an interesting development. He turned and jumped with a start. Why was everyone trying to scare the daylights out of him today? He put a hand to his chest. “Merry, you scared me.”
“You’re having dinner with him?” Merry asked, his eyes filled with hurt.
“Yes, but we’re—”
“I need to go.” Merry spun around and took off before Fitz could utter another word.
“What just happened?” Fitz murmured, confused. Surely Merry didn’t think that Fitz was interested in Noel? Granted, he and Merry had only known each other a short time, and Merry didn’t know Fitz all that well, but still….
