He sighed and walked me through the steps. I could feel Nina smiling at us. I turned to her once the evidence of my potty mouth was erased and Noah had run off to surveil someone else.
“What?” I demanded.
“Just thinking about how lucky I am. I mean, come on, would you look at this thing?” She held up her arm so the diamonds in her new tennis bracelet glinted in the firelight.
“You like it? That’s the first ofmanygifts to come,” I assured her. “A couple of them are destined for these shelves.”
I gestured to the bookshelves surrounding us. I’d kept my rare book dealer busy for the past few months.
She leaned over to kiss me on the cheek. “I’m sure I’m going to love anything and everything you have planned. But you forgot to getyourChristmas Eve gift from me.”
I’d been so busy handing out the sanctioned gifts to each of my family members it had totally slipped my mind that I needed to open one as well. But it didn’t matter. No gift could compare to what I already had in the people surrounding me.
“I can wait until tomorrow,” I said. “Look, everyone is wrapped up in each other.”
We glanced around the room to find Noah doing some sort of interpretive dance for Drew and Emilia, and Gwen dozing against Harrison’s chest on the couch opposite us, and Candace and my father slow dancing to Bing Crosby by the Christmas tree.
“Well, Ican’twait,” she insisted. “And besides, you’re the only one who didn’t get something. You deserve a little treat.”
Her eyes twinkled as she handed me a small envelope.
“This is tiny,” I said as I took it from her. I shook it. “Is it the keys to a new car?”
She snorted a laugh. “Please. As if you need more.”
“What? You can never have enough shoes, I can never have enough cars.”
She slapped my arm.
“Can I ask questions about what it might be?” I asked.
She gestured for me to give it a shot.
“Okay. Is it something I said I want?”
Nina nodded. “Oh yeah. A bunch of times.”
“Is it just for me? Like, I don’t know, paragliding lessons?”
She sputtered. “It is not just for you, and there’s no way in hell I’d ever give you a death-wish gift like that!”
I twisted up my mouth. “Hmm. Is it a temporary thing? Like a dinner with my favorite chef from Paris? Or is it something that I’ll have forever, like a nice watch?”
“It’s a forever present.”
“Can I share it?” I asked.
“You better.” She was beaming at me like someone who knew she’d nailed her gift giving.
“Is it…” I trailed off. “Hmm.”
“Oh my God, would you please just open it?” Nina huffed at me with fake indignation.
“Fine,” I said as I slid my finger along the envelope seam.
She clapped her hands in almost the exact way Noah did when he was too excited to contain himself.
I pulled out a tiny slip of folded paper and held it up in front of her. She nodded.
