Page 46 of Always Us

“There needs to be even distribution of the evergreen tips. Some up, some down, and a couple shooting out each side.”

“Really?” She adjusts the branch, making it just like I instructed. She starts mumbling again. “I don’t know why it matters as long as it fills in the space.”

I laugh. “I’m kidding, Jade. I made that up.”

“Garret! I thought you were serious.”

“I know. It was hilarious. You want some help?’

“I thought you said you wouldn’t.”

I hop over the couch and meet her by the tree. “I was joking. Of course I’ll help.”

She fluffs another branch, shaking her head, smiling. “Why were you teasing me? You know I don’t know anything about Christmas trees.”

“Because you’re fun to tease. You always believe me when I make shit up.” I glance over and see that she’s doing every branch the way I told her to. “Jade, you don’t have to follow my instructions. I told you I was kidding.”

She stands back to look at the branches. “I know, but your stupid technique actually works. They look better when I do it that way.”

“Then you shouldn’t say it’s stupid.” I kiss her. “We need music.” I shut the TV off and put my phone in the speaker dock and turn on some holiday classics. The song about roasting chestnuts on an open fire starts playing. I grab her from behind, hugging her. “How’s that? Feeling Christmasy yet?”

She flips around. “When did you load Christmas songs on your phone?”

“I always keep a few on there. I like Christmas music.”

“I love this song.” She closes her eyes, presses her cheek against my chest, and just listens, smiling contently.

It may still be November, but I can already tell this is going to be a great Christmas.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

11

JADE

I could stay like this for a very long time. Hugging Garret while listening to Christmas music. Last year I was with him at Christmas but that was at his dad’s house. This year we get to have our own Christmas with our very own tree. Well, actually, we’ll be at his dad’s house again on the actual day, but we’ll spend most of December here at home, enjoying our tree and our lights and doing whatever holiday traditions we decide to start.

The song ends and I pull away. “Let’s keep fluffing so we can do the lights.”

He doesn’t let me go. “You sure? This is kind of nice.”

“It’ll be even nicer when the lights are up and we can turn all the other lights off.”

“True. Okay, you keep working on the branches and I’ll get the lights.”

Garret rummages through the closet and comes back with extension cords and power cords. He takes the lights out of the boxes and checks that they work, then helps me finish the tree.

I keep watching him to see if he’s okay because I still find it odd that he’s acting this way when his grandfather’s dying. Is he trying to pretend it isn’t happening? Hide his sadness with holiday fun? Or maybe, like he said, he really isn’t that sad about it. I just find that hard to believe after seeing how upset he was last Fourth of July when his grandfather rejected him. Garret was really hurt by that and I know he was hoping that someday he’d have a relationship with his grandfather again. So did something happen since then to make him not even care that his grandfather is in a coma and going to die soon?

“You want to put them on or do you want me to?” Garret has the lights stretched out and ready to go.

“You do it. I’ll hold them for you.”

He weaves the strands in and out of the branches and when he’s halfway up the tree I say, “Is that a certain technique or are you just making it up as you go?”

“This is how my mom did it when I was a kid. She said the lights fill the tree better if you go from the inside of the tree to the outside, instead of only going around the outside. And it’s true. You end up with a better looking tree.”

“Did your dad help with the tree?”

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