Page 68 of Peppermint Bark

“I actually, accidentally, under the mistletoe kissed … your brother.”

Mallory choked on pie. “I must have misheard, because I heard that you kissed my brother. But that can’t be right.”

“A few weeks ago, um, we needed a Santa at the hospital, so your dad and I convinced Alex to do it.”

She fumbled for her water. “Wait, let me get this straight. My brother, who thinks Armani is slumming it, dressed as Santa? The red suit, the beard, all that?”

I nodded, still a little surprised that he agreed. "And you know Ruby from dinner last night? The nurses convinced her to lure us under the mistletoe. I was dressed as Mrs. Claus and I couldn’t reject him, right?”

“Definitely not,” Kate said, seeming to revel in my discomfort.

“But then he offered to do it again —”

“Voluntarily?” Mal asked.

“And he bought his own suit —”

“That snob.”

“There was mistletoe again, and he guided me over …”

“Oh my God,” Mallory said, her skull thumping hard on the headrest. “Alex kissed you. You kissed Alex.”

“Twice,” Kate said, voice edged with shock. And maybe awe?

“But that was it, right?" Mallory grimaced. "Two innocent pecks from Santa?”

The pause was so pregnant it had cankles.

“Um, not exactly.”

With a resounding smack to Mallory’s arm, Kate said: “You owe me 20 bucks.”

My eyes darted to the rearview mirror. She wore a satisfied grin, relieved to not hold my secret. Or maybe simply enjoying Mallory’s dramatic reaction.

“It was obvious at Cruz’s self-defense class that he had a crush on you,” she said as Mallory rummaged in her purse, slapping a bill into Kate’s outstretched palm. “But I didn't think you’d bother. He’s easy on the eyes, but nothing else about him is easy.”

“Please don’t joke about my brother being hard.”

“You asked her to call him. You brought him to her yoga class, then happy hour. You dragged him to the tree farm. This is essentially your doing.”

“Is this Stockholm Syndrome? Blink twice if he’s holding you hostage.”

“You asked her to defend the Pride Lands!” Kate fired back, and I felt a rush of surprised relief that she was backing me up. “You can’t call her Nala and not expect ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’!”

Mallory emitted a long, pained groan. “I hoped she was social-working him. Nobody needs to be social-worked more than Alex.”

We all hummed in agreement.

“Cut the crap, Mal, you told me that he was different around her," Kate said then told me, "She called me on her tipsy walk home when you told him you were transgender. She was worried he was going to freak out, and shocked when he just sat there mostly silent. She said he was so …”

“Anti-Lex,” Mallory lilted in a mesmerized tone, then pulled her left leg onto the cloth seat. “He was softer with you. And so worried when you had your flashback. I thought he felt guilty, but …”

“He brought apology burritos and crashed on my couch that night.” Or he planned to, anyway, until I asked him to stay and he held me while I cried … but she’d go apoplectic if I shared that.

“I didn’t expect to like him,” I whispered my confession. “He was a total jerk at first. But as Santa, he was attentive to the kids. He pays attention when I talk about work and my family. And you might not believe this, but he can be funny, in a self-deprecating way. And Mal?”

She curled up in the passenger seat, her expression an odd mix of disbelief and hope. I told her the one fact I knew she couldn’t argue: “I feel safe with him.”

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