Grant could put the tree up. Sunny wasn’t about to evenattemptthat, not with the huge spike he assumed had to go in the trunk.
He’d actually never dealt with a real tree before, and it seemed like a lot of effort to go to, but he understood why Grant wanted one. When he was a kid, he’d definitely associated them with perfect Christmases.
When he made it back to the living room, he found Grant with newspaper, matches, and firewood from the shed outside.
“Do you… know how to do that?” Sunny asked.
He didn’t have the first idea, but he couldn’t see why Grant would, either.
“Patience,” Grant said, focused on the fireplace.
Sunny went to the car to start bringing in the food. It was cold enough out that putting all of it in the fridge would probably warm it up a little, but it still seemed like the kind of thing he should do.
By the time Sunny was finished stacking food in the refrigerator and putting the dry goods in the cupboards, he walked back into the living room to see a cheerfully-crackling fire, the tree firmly in the stand, and Grant standing on the plush rug in front of it, warming his hands and grinning to himself.
“Wow,” Sunny said as he took in the sight. “Sorry for doubting you. Where’d you learn to build a fire?”
“YouTube,” Grant responded. “I’ve watched like twenty videos about it. I think I did okay.”
“Now I’mevenmore impressed.” Sunny smiled. “Look at you, teaching yourself how to do things with the internet.”
“I can dosomethings,” Grant said. “I’m not actually a helpless baby. I know how to use the internet to find things out. I’m notthatold.”
“I know.” Sunny went over to stand beside him. “And I know you’re not a helpless baby. You’re a very competent man who just needs a little help to do everything he does. I mean, there are things I can’t do. If we see a spider, it is absolutely your job to deal with it, because I’ll be busy standing on the couch and screaming. And I couldnotdo your job. All those people asking me to make decisions that might tank the whole company if I screw it up? No, nuh uh. Nope. Too much responsibility, not interested.”
Grant chuckled. “You’d be fine at my job. You’re very organized.”
“Organized, sure. But I’m really not much of a decision-maker. Definitely not on the scale of the decisions you’re supposed to make.”
“I figure if the whole thing crashes down around me then I won’t have to go into work the next day, so either way it’s not so bad.” Grant shrugged. “I’m really not as important as you seem to think I am.”
“Well, you seem pretty important from my perspective.Andyou sign my paychecks, so I’d rather you didn’t tank the company,” Sunny said. “But no pressure.”
“I’ll try. For you. But no promises.” Grant yawned widely. “Oh. Excuse me.”
Sunny’s heart melted, which was something that happened a lot around Grant these days. “You should take a nap,” he said, not wanting Grant to stay up for his sake. “I can take care of everything else.”
Grant hesitated, staring into the fire for a few more moments. “You sure? Because I didn’t bring you here to leave you with all the work.”
“I’m sure. You’re about to have a long few days. Consider this a Christmas gift.”
Grant reached out to squeeze Sunny’s shoulder. “You’re one of a kind, you know that?”
Sunny grinned. “I know. Go. I’ll wake you when I’m hungry if you’re not already up. Deal?”
“Deal. I haven’t forgotten that I owe you dinner,” Grant said.
“I saw the extremely nice steaks among the groceries, so I’ll hold you to that.”
Sunny was looking forward to dinner with Grant for a whole host of reasons, but the steaks were right near the top of the list.
Grant himself, obviously, was the first entry.
“Okay, I’m going for a nap,” Grant said, turning to head for the stairs. “If you decide you need one too, just… leave it, and I’ll take care of it later.”
“I always keep my promises,” Sunny said.
“That’s my line,” Grant called from the stairs, disappearing up to the landing.
Sunny waited until he heard the bedroom door close behind Grant, then grabbed the car keys from the coffee table to get to work.
This place was going to glitter from the floor to the ceiling, and Hope was going to love it.
