“Mmhmm, well. Who knows.” Once again, I was feeling mighty suspicious at what was coming out of his mouth. “And Eunice, I assume, will be holding court after midnight mass as usual?”?
“And she’ll be up at the crack of dawn, baking, cooking, cleaning, and making the house look pristine for her Christmas Day open house, as if no one had ever lived there before.”?
“She’s a trooper, that one. Hopefully, I can put an end to that craziness when I’m the Wilder matriarch.” I could tell, without even looking at him, that what fell out of my mouth had the same effect on both of us. I could almost feel our hearts sinking in unison.?
“Did you decide to put a tree up, at least?” Lee asked quietly when we had both recovered.?
“No tree for me this year,” I sighed, picking at my food. “Who would see it but me?”?
“What’s Pickle going to use as a recon station now? Surely, this is her favorite time of year to plan stealth attacks.”
I worked my face to hide how upset I was. Christmas was always my favorite holiday, and it meant the world to me. Charlie and I would spend hours picking out the best tree we could afford, real of course, and we decorated it with the same painted shells my momma always put on her tree year after year.?
Keeping our Christmas tradition going was one of the last things that connected Charlie and me to our old life on Tybee Island. To our parents. But wewere older, both moving on. Maybe it was time to start something new on my own.
“Customer,” I said, nodding toward the window. I cleaned up our plates, wiped the salsa off the bar, and made us another drink. After checking my phone, I settled back down, waiting for Lee to wrap up with the to-go orders and send everyone off to something, presumably, more fun.
Savannah was a huge tourist hot-spot in the summer and fall months, but around the holidays, we didn’t see many folks around town that weren’t local.?
Not like O’Malley’s saw many people anyway.?
Since Lee was gracing the small, intimate stage at O’Malley’s on a regular basis, business had picked up a bit, but not like I wanted.
Not like Ineeded.?
I started to panic. I needed to plan this damn wedding, walk down the aisle, and somehow get my soon-to-be-husband to realize he shouldn’t sell this place to the highest bidder and just hand it over to me.?
With a shaky hand, I passed Lee his drink and got my stuff together. If he could handle the bar, maybe I could finish picking out my flowers and table settings. Two things Eunice wanted a decision made on by the first of the year. Once they were finally checked off the list, I could get her off my back.?
Until we shopped for the dress, of course.?
“I’m going to head upstairs for a while. Will you text me if you need help?”?
He looked nervous and defeated. I knew he wanted to tell me something, but kept his mouth shut, as usual. Maybe buying him his favorite meal to try and butter him up wasn’t going to work after all. There’d still be that unbreakable wall between us.?
“I’m good, go ahead,” he finally said, and I shot him a half-hearted smile before making my way up the back staircase.?
The second I entered the apartment, I could tell something was different. The rooms were darkened, and a faint, shimmering light bounced off the walls. I heard the low hum of Pickle purring somewhere in the distance, and I called out for her. Usually, she met me by the door, ready to attack should it finally be the intruder she’d been waiting on for years.?I followed the sound of her rumbling into the living room and sank onto the couch. I buried my face in my hands and let out a deep, raw sob.
A Christmas tree—a real, fresh off the lot balsam fir stood proudly inthe corner of the room. I stood up to get a closer look and fought back another wave of tears when I realized the ornaments were all my momma’s. I’d never seen anything so gorgeous in my entire life.?
On top of the tree, resting ever so gently, was the sea-star covered with shells that crowned our family tree for my whole young life. I struggled to catch my breath.
Did Charlie do this? I briefly thought it could have been Dane, but Christmas was never his thing. And, truth be told, only one person knew how important this tree, these ornaments, were to me.
“Merry Christmas, Magnolia,” Lee said, his voice catching slightly as he leaned on the doorframe, watching me take in what was in front of me. “You should always celebrate the holiday in the way you love. I hope you’re not mad.”?
I shook my head and dabbed at my eyes a bit. “I’m not mad, Lee. These are joyful tears.” I turned to look at him, fighting the urge to rush across the room and into his arms. “Thank you. It looks just like Momma’s did.”?
“I hope so. Charlie drummed up an old picture from when y’all were kids so I could see what it looked like. It’s not exact, but it’s—”?
“It’s perfect. It’s absolutely perfect,” I interrupted.?
A wide, toothy smile spread across his face and reached his eyes. It was the kind of smile I was used to seeing when we were together. The kind that only happened when he did something that made my heart melt.?
When he made one of those grand gestures to prove how much he loved me.?
“You should get back downstairs,” I said, snapping us both out of the moment. “Wouldn’t want to miss that one, random customer that could stop by.”?
