Page 12 of A Little Merry

Scary, sad towns and cities where people no longer lived. It made me want to cry just looking at his vision of the world.

The street lights and the Christmas lights were all on in the town when we finally finished, and the trees sparkled with magic. Five-feet-high nutcrackers and snow sculptures lined the sidewalks. Kids and adults glided over the ice in the small skating rink, and Santa’s lap was continually filled by the next hopeful child willing to bare his or her soul to the jolly round man, asking for their deepest desire. Most children wanted toys, games, and bikes, while some children wanted a puppy or a kitty or even a bearded dragon, which could live up to twenty years. I wondered how many of these kids would have their Christmas wish come true, just like I wondered about mine.

That silver star on the top of the tallest tree shone brighter than anything else in the square, and I loved gazing up at it. I felt as though it had been placed there just for me, and even though I hadn’t gotten my wish yet, I knew I was surrounded by folks who needed my help. I loved helping people, and Lucas, Connor, and Ethan really needed it.

“Don’t you have anything a little more… festive?” I asked as Ethan and I stood in his studio located on the roof of our building.

His studio was right out of a movie with two square paned, window walls, and doors that showed off a view of the entire town and the tree-covered landscape beyond. It could have been such a happy room if it weren’t for all the dark paintings that surrounded us. Even the two regular walls had been painted steel gray.

“I don’t do festive,” he snapped, as he stacked some of the painting we’d just brought back upstairs.

I refused to bite on his sarcasm. I slipped out of my cherry-red princess coat, revealing my bright red Christmas sweater. I hung my coat on a hook near the door. He didn’t balk, so I figured staying for a while was an okay thing to do.

Lucas had helped with bringing the artwork back to the studio, then disappeared to his own apartment. He said he had a couple videos to make for his millions of followers.

I turned back to Ethan and asked my next question in the sweetest voice I could produce. “I have a feeling deep down inside you love festive, but something happened to discourage you.”

I knew exactly what had happened to him, Noelle had told me, but I wanted to hear his version.

I walked across the wooden floor, my boot heels striking the floor with a gentle crack until I came to a large oilcloth spattered with different shades of paint.

“Is it okay to walk on this?” I asked, hesitant to disrupt anything. There were shelves on one wall that contained bins with brushes, and all sorts of painting tools. The long wooden table held cans filled with brushes of all kinds. The table itself was spattered and splashed with paint, mostly blacks and golds. The floor had been white washed, with very few drops of paint. I assumed that drop cloths had been used regularly.

“Sure. All the paint is dry. I haven’t been painting for the last few days. Trying to sort through everything getting ready for this art fair.”

I stepped in closer to him as he carefully sorted through some of his canvases.

He’d also taken off his coat, revealing a black-knit shirt that clung to his muscled body. These guys had some of the hardest chests and muscled arms I’d ever seen. Like they all worked out at the same place, which they probably did—inside Lucas’apartment. I could only imagine the small gym he had set up in there for all his videos.

“You know, and I might be completely wrong on this, but I think deep down inside, there’s a happy person waiting to burst out. You’ve gotten so accustomed to hiding that part of you, Mr. Happy Christmas is almost completely gone.”

Ethan turned and looked at me. “Who are you? An elf? A Christmas angel? What? A member of the happy police?”

I shook my head. “None of the above. Just a girl who tries to be kind and spread a little joy wherever I go. I have a feeling that you paint festive better than anyone and have done it before, but something happened.”

He grinned, and damn if his entire attitude didn’t give me a flash of happy. Something I hadn’t seen all day.

“Fine. I’ll tell you the truth. Why? I don’t know, but there’s something about you. Something in the way you move.”

“Attracts you like no other lover?”

“You know that song?”

“Beatles… George Harrison to be exact… and thanks for the compliment… but so far, I’m not your lover.”

He walked towards me. “Maybe we should correct that.”

“I hardly know you.”

The heat was there… had been since we first met, but was I ready to take this further when we’d only known each other for a matter of hours?

Maybe…

“That doesn’t mean we can’t be lovers.”

The man certainly knew how to attract me.

“What about Lucas?”

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