“And Lake Placid? That’s a horror movie, right? About a giant alligator?”
“It was billed as horror, but it’s really more of a satire or dark humor. It’s hilarious. And fitting. You know, with our own friendly neighborhood alligator.”
Jake tried to picture Christmas at Shelby’s house, twelve nights of watching these movies with her and her dad. His heart ached a little thinking of it. Christmas was always a hard time for him. As a kid, it had been the time of year where he saw the strain on his mother’s face. She wanted to give him and Candace a magical Christmas, but it was hard. His dad often had to drive his truck on Christmas, so wasn’t always home.
Now he usually celebrated with Candace and her family, but they also spent time with her husband’s family, so weren’t always around Christmas Day. Watching this list of movies with Shelby and her dad sounded surprisingly great. But where would they go this year? They wouldn’t be here.
“Do you decorate and all that? Or avoid the whole Christmas thing altogether?”
“This is Texas. We put lights on everything that’s not nailed down. We get two trees, because I want fake and Daddy wants real. I’m all for the decorating, but as far as the family traditions, we keep it light.”
Jake shook his head and smiled. He loved unwrapping the details about her. Everything was like a little surprise, revealing just how different she was from anyone he’d met. “Shelby, you’re the craziest girl I’ve ever met.”
Something shifted. She stiffened and jumped to her feet. She was off the dock before Jake could blink. Her face looked hard and angry, angrier than she had been when she came over waving the rideshare app in his face. That didn’t even touch this look on her face. “Goodnight, Jake.”
“Shelby—wait!”
But she spun on her heels and sprinted back to the house. Jake stood staring at the space next to him where Shelby had just been, trying to figure out what he’d said or done wrong.