Aaron’s pulse sped up at the sound of Hunter’s deep voice.
“Speak of the devil! Were your ears burning? Come here, my boy.” Mrs. Myers stood, and Hunter approached. He allowed her to place her hands on the sides of his face. “Well, look at you. You’ve grown up awfully handsome, haven’t you?” She looked at Aaron for confirmation. “Hasn’t he?”
“Err… yes,” he mumbled.
Hunter’s eyebrows rose, and Aaron could tell he was holding back a laugh. But hell if Mrs. Myers wasn’t right! Hunter looked all rosy-cheeked from being out in the cold, his dark hair curling slightly from the moist air outside. His brown eyes radiated the glint of humor as he held Aaron’s gaze. But damned if Aaron was going to be jealous of a little old lady who got to put her hands on Hunter.
Hunter finally broke their gaze and extracted himself from Mrs. Myers’s hold by taking her hands in his. “It’s lovely to see you, Mrs. Myers. Mom told me that your husband isn’t well. I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“It is what it is, my dear.”
“Well, don’t you worry about a thing here. Aaron and I will do our best to make sure the hall looks as stunning as you usually do each year. You’ll be able to attend the dance as a guest and just enjoy yourself.”
“I can’t thank you both enough. Hopefully you’ll have a little fun while you’re at it. Getting ready for the dance has always been one of the highlights of my year. It’s actually rather nice to hand the reins over to the younger generation.” She looked between the two of them, gaze finally settling on Hunter. “It’s so lovely to have you back in town, Hunter, even if it’s only for Christmas.”
“It’s nice to be back.”
Aaron knew Hunter was lying through his perfect straight bright-white teeth but admired the guy for humoring her.
“I’m sure it will be an absolute pleasure for us to work together, Mrs. Myers,” Aaron said.See? I’m as good an actor as Hunter.“We won’t let you down.”
“In that case, I’ll leave you boys to it.” She patted the binder, before running her fingertips across the cover. “Take care of this for me, won’t you?”
“I will.” Aaron moved to stand, but she waved him back into his seat.
“No need to get up. You boys have a lot of do, and I don’t want to hold you up a moment longer.”
“Don’t be silly. I’ll walk you out,” Hunter said, taking her elbow.
She didn’t put up an argument, pausing only to gather her purse before looking gratefully at him. Aaron listened to their quiet conversation as Hunter escorted her to the door of the hall. He stood and poured a mug of coffee for Hunter, wondering how he took it. It had been six years since they’d spent any time together, and his tastes could have changed. Heck, he hadn’t even drunk coffee back then, both of them favoring milkshakes and sodas. The wave of melancholy was a surprise—who’d have thought he’d be disappointed not to know how Hunter took his coffee? Back then he’d known everything about Hunter, and Hunter had known everything about him, too. Well, Aaron hadthoughthe’d known everything about Hunter, but that had turned out to be bullshit, a complete and utter lie.
He was still staring at the dark brown liquid when Hunter reentered the kitchen. The room felt so much smaller with only the two of them in it.
“Hey,” Hunter said.
“Hey.” He passed over the mug and returned to his seat, picking up his own drink and taking a long sip.
Hunter sat. “Thanks.”
“There’s cream and sugar if you want it.” Aaron gestured with his head toward the cupboards.
“Nah, it’s fine like this. After the morning I’ve had, I need it strong.”
“I hope everything is okay?”
“Just family drama. Nothing I can’t handle.”
“Sure. Well, let me know if there’s anything I can do.” It was an automatic response, but Aaron was surprised to find he really did want to help.
He shook his head to clear the strange desire and dragged to the folder to him. Flipping it open, he flicked through the contents, noting pages of checklists, reams of notes, contact lists, plus a high-level schedule. As he turned through the pages one by one, he realized the binder was some sort of hybrid between a mood board and a planner. There were pages that looked as if they’d been referred to many times over many years, and some pages that looked more recent. Somebody, Mrs. Myers, he assumed, had cut out magazine photos of different types of festive decorations and beautiful tablescapes. There were also various quotes for obtaining new items and receipts from years past. The binder was a piece of history in itself, documenting every annual Christmas Dance over the last twenty or so years, from what Aaron could tell.
“That looks fairly comprehensive,” Hunter said. “So, what’s the approach you want to take?”
Aaron was surprised that Hunter was asking the question. He was used to the Cavendishes taking control of most situations and dictating what was to happen. He cleared his throat. “I was thinking maybe we should take stock of what's already been organized and see where we are on the schedule. Thankfully, I think most of the purchasing has already been done, at least for the new decorations, because I arranged a lot of that myself. We need to get the boxes of the old stuff from the storage room out the back and do an audit to make sure everything is undamaged, clean, and still in working order. Once we’ve done that, we’ll know if there’s anything else we need to buy or get repaired. Decorating also includes centerpieces and the like for all the tables, so we need to make sure that we have enough of everything needed for each place setting.”
“You sound like you know what you’re doing,” Hunter said.
“Yeah. I’ve lent a hand the last couple of years. I haven’t had to coordinate it before, as that’s usually left to your mom and Mrs. Myers, but I’ve seen enough to know what goes on.” In the back of his mind, he thought that maybe if Hunter had come to the annual Christmas dance in recent times then he would have been able to help too and he’d also know what to expect. He pushed the uncharitable thought away, reminding himself he’d decided to be more generous with the positive Christmas spirit.
