“Chris, what do you think?” Shayna askedexpectantly.
“It's a sleigh,” I replied, not really sure what I was supposed to be getting excited about.
“It’s an ornament to go on our tree, silly,” she explained.
“Ah,” I replied, not missing her reference to ‘our tree’.
Something was going on with her. I wasn’t sure what it was, but this wasn’t normal. Shayna didn’t usually drop in on a weekday and she certainly didn't buy me gifts because it made her think of me. I was the one buying the gifts and sending the texts. But I didn’t have time to think about it. I had a customer coming back at the end of the day to pick up his battered old Ford, and I still hadn’t figured out what was wrong.
“You don’t like it?”
“No, I do. It’s just I really have to get back to work … this car …”
“Whatever,” she snapped before turning and sashaying across the workshop toward the door.
Like the pathetic puppy I was, I followed her, hot on her heels, and when I caught up with her, I wrapped my hand around her wrist and hauled her back to me. Who gave a fuck if I was dirty. Clothes could be washed, but watching her stalk out of there angry wasn’t going to cut it. Not with me.
“Chris, what are you …?” I cut off her question with a kiss.
It was a hard, punishing kiss and one that hopefully left her with something to think about for the rest of the afternoon.
When I pulled back, her lips were swollen and she was panting.
“I’ll see you tonight?” I questioned.
“You want to?” she replied, not bothering to hide the surprise in her voice.
“Of course,” I replied before stepping into her space, pushing her hair back from her neck and whispering in her ear. “I want you in my home and in my bed. And if you’re really lucky, I’ll do that thing with my tongue that you like,” Ipromised before nipping at her ear lobe and then putting distance between us.
Her face was flushed, and her tits heaved as she weighed my words.
With a huff, she declared she’d be there at six which meant I had four hours to figure this out and get it back on the road so I could spend the evening buried balls deep in the woman who knew exactly what I liked.
Two days later, I discovered why she liked sleighs so much.
I tugged the porcelain ornament out of the box and dropped it to the ground, watching as it shattered into a million tiny little pieces. At one point, that’s what I’d felt like, completely shattered, but now, finally, after what seemed like an eternity, it felt like I was starting to glue them back together.
As satisfying as it was to destroy what was left of my broken past, I couldn’t leave them like that. Someone could step on them and hurt themselves, and no one should have to shed another tear over my disastrous relationship history.
I cleaned up, grabbed everything we needed to make PB&Js, the carton of milk, and a bag of crisps, and headed for the door.
I’ll never know what made me stop, but before I gave it much thought I reached up and pulled down the mistletoe, stuffing it in my pocket, and heading back to the two girls who’d brought me back to life.
fifteen
HOLLY
I wokeup feeling a million times better than I had been. For the first time in what felt like forever, I didn’t feel exhausted when I opened my eyes. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and sat up. It was dark in the room with only the glow of the fire and the lamps. Chris and Noelle were sitting on the floor, hunched over concentrating quietly. My rustling must have caught their attention.
“Morning, sunshine,” Chris greeted with a wide smile. “How you feeling?”
“Better,” I conceded before quickly adding, “thank you.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Yeah, Mom. Guess what we had for dinner?” Noelle gushed. My daughter was a ball of energy and even feeling better, my fuzzy brain couldn’t keep up.
“What did you have?” I asked as my stomach rumbled.
