Morrie handed me my own cell phone. “I’ve installed a new app for you.” He pointed to the icon. It was an audiobook store, and he’d already loaded my account with enough money to keep me in books for a year. I could listen to my favorite authors while I stacked the shelves. I immediately downloadedShunnedby Steffanie Holmes and started listening.
My chest fluttered with nerves as I passed around my presents. They were all the same size and shape and went to everyone in the room. When I’d finished them up last night and wrapped them for under the tree, I’d felt quietly confident that I’d found the perfect gift for all the people I loved most. Now, I was having second thoughts. As Heathcliff took the parcel in his hands, I fought the sudden urge to snatch it back.
“What’s this?” Heathcliff tore off the wrapping to reveal a sheaf of papers. “Are you going to use this to bludgeon me until I agree to be on the cloud?”
“‘How Heathcliff Stole Christmas.’” Morrie read the title aloud from his copy. “Mina, what is this?”
My cheeks burned with heat. “It’s a story. I wrote up the mystery of the stolen tree and how we solved it. I thought…”
I couldn’t finish the sentence. I didn’t know what I was thinking. I’d typed out the story in a fit of excitement over the last few days, late at night while sitting at Heathcliff’s desk and on my phone while I waited at the vet clinic. Now, in the warm light of the fire, with six pairs of eyes staring back at me, I felt a complete fool.What a dumb Christmas present. Why would they want to read my ramblings? I should have just gone with the Dutch chocolate ravens...
Morrie’s eyes widened as he flicked through the pages. “This is amazing. And hilarious. You’ve spent at least three paragraphs describing how handsome I am. I approve.”
“Mina, I had no idea you could write.” Mum flicked through her ‘clean’ copy – there was a certain scene that appeared only in the guys’ manuscripts. “
“She was always my star pupil,” Mrs. Ellis declared, turning the pages eagerly. “I hope there’s lots of raunchy parts.”
“Look at the dedication,” Heathcliff whispered, his knuckles white as he gripped the pages.
Beside me, Quoth’s eyes darted across the paper. “To the men of Nevermore,” he read aloud, his voice trembling over the words. “It has made me better loving you … it has made me wiser, and easier, and brighter.’”
“That’s from Henry James,” I muttered. I’d written and rewritten that bloody dedication a hundred times in my own words but nothing seemed sufficient. I thought the words of one of my favorite writers might accurately convey my feelings for the guys.
Quoth threw his arms around me. “This is the most beautiful thing anyone has ever done for me.”
Morrie bent down and swept me into a fiery kiss. “It’s pretty great, gorgeous. You have a hidden talent for slinging words. Maybe there’s a creative career in your future yet.”
Heathcliff’s dark eyes bore into mine. He swallowed hard and opened his mouth to speak, but he didn’t say a thing. Instead, he tore me from Morrie’s grasp and devoured my lips with his. In his kiss, he said all the things that words were impossible to convey.
My heart fluttered at their praise and acceptance. I’d wanted so badly for them to like my gift, to understand that by bringing me into their world they’d given me the greatest gift of all. I wanted them to see how wonderful they were through my eyes.
After everyone finished reading and exclaiming over my story, Heathcliff handed out small wrapped boxes to Morrie and Quoth. He then removed a small envelope from his pocket and held it out to me.
I stared down at the envelope in his hand. “You already gave me a gift.”
“Maybe I’m making up for previous infractions.” He tapped the envelope in my hand. “Open it.”
I slid my nail under the seal. Inside was a Christmas card covered with dancing sheep in Santa hats. It said, “Seasons Bleatings,” which was totally more of a Morrie joke, but I’d give Heathcliff credit for originality. Inside was a folded paper covered in tiny writing. I held it up to the light and squinted at the words.
It was the deed to the shop.
“Look.” Heathcliff jabbed a finger at the top paragraph. “Bertie helped me draw it up. I had to give him a massive bonus to finish it on Christmas Eve, so he’s the happiest accountant you ever saw. There’s your name, all nice and proper. We’re now co-owners of Nevermore Bookshop.”
My name. All I had to do was sign on the line and Nevermore belonged to me. Heathcliff had given me the best gift of all – a future. A home.
Morrie leaned over my shoulder and whistled. “That’s hardly fair. Even my app can’t top that. I’m going to give you the deed to a real castle next year. Maybe that fancy Briarwood property near Crookshollow. Let’s see the Earl of Dour-ton Abbey topthat.”
I smiled at the gift box in Morrie’s hand. It was one of the boxes Heathcliff had been trying to hide. “What did you get?”
Grinning, Morrie held up an engraved silver keychain shaped like a book. “Mine says, ‘World’s most annoying criminal.’ Quoth got one, too. His has a line from ‘The Raven.’ And both of them include a brand new key for the flat. Our Grand Old Duke of Sourpuss is quite good at this Christmas thing.”
He was at that.
“I love you boys like you were my own sons. And Mina, you are like a daughter who doesn’t run away to Paris on Christmas.” Mrs. Ellis was on her fourth flute of Champagne. Her cheeks glowed pink as she leaned forward to pat Buster’s head. “I’m so sorry again Jonie caused you all that trouble. But thanks to you, another mystery has been solved.”
“Except for a few loose ends to wrap up,” I pointed out as Quoth hopped off my shoulder and fluttered upstairs. “We still don’t know where Roland went during the night. Or why the bauble was in the hallway upstairs.”
“I must’ve had all those baubles and shite stuck to my clothes when I knocked over the tree,” Heathcliff said. “I was trying to wrap your present with those poxy supplies your mum left lying around, but everything was so fiddly and complicated, and I was too drunk. I dragged everything upstairs and dumped it in my room to figure out in the morning. That bauble must’ve come along for the ride.”
