Page 38 of Reeve

“It’s a good time,” he says, but his voice is all nervous and weird.

“Wait. Areyougood?”

“I’m…I’m fine,” he says, pulling out of the airport parking lot and pointing us toward home.

“I told you Belinda is retiring next week?” I chuckle. “She could barely wait for me to be certified.”

“She’s as old as Methuselah.”

“Paw Paw jokes that she used to be his babysitter.”

“I believe it,” says Aaron.

“How’s your dad doing?” I ask.

“He’s good. He’s…um…he went away for Christmas this year.”

“He did? He left Anchorage? Now that’s a shocker!”

Mr. Adams, who’s told me to call him Scott a million and one times, rarely leaves Anchorage. He loves being home.

“Yeah. He’s…actually, he’s here. This year, he’s here. In Skagway.”

“He is? That’s so nice! He never comes here for Christmas.”

“This year, he did.”

“Amazing,” I say, picking up my phone and texting Harper. I tell her we’ll be home in a few minutes. She tells me to go to the lodge for Christmas Eve, not to Hunter’s cabin. “Huh.”

“What’s up?”

“Harper says Christmas Eve is back at the lodge this year.”

“Oh, yeah. I heard that.”

“You did?” I ask. “But Hunter and Isabella have been hosting it ever since the chili night four years ago.”

He shrugs. “Time for a change, I guess.”

“So, where’s your dad tonight? At your place?”

“Your gran invited him to join us for Christmas Eve at the lodge,” he says.

“Aw! That’s nice. He’s there now?”

“He is.”

Aaron adjusts and readjusts his hands on the steering wheel, taking a deep breath and then letting it go in a long sigh.

“Aaron.”

“Reeve.”

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“What do you mean?”

“Christmas Eve is at the lodge this year. Your dad’s in town. And you’re about as nervous as a turkey the day before Thanksgiving.”

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