Page 24 of A Little Merry

Connor 7

Twenty-five minutes later, with wet, slicked-back hair, and wearing a simple red dress with a full skirt, Miss Merry Christmas sashayed back into the living room that had somehow been transformed into a Christmas wonderland. Lorelei Gilmore was even sipping coffee with her daughter Rory inside Luke’s Diner on the small TV in the corner. No volume, which was probably a good choice.

Normally, I’d hate all of this and want to get out of here as soon as possible, but because I knew where we were headed, I dug in deeper.

Hell, I even wore my old Santa hat that I’d tossed into a box in the back of my closet three years ago. It still looked great.

“What’s all this?” she asked as she strolled in closer, looking positively stunning.

I’d quickly showered and pulled on a pair of clean jeans, not taking the time to button my black shirt or step into shoes. I figured shoes were optional.

“Wait… you didn’t do any of this?” I asked, as she gazed around at the twinkling white lights strung around the windows and the archways and even dangling in long strands along one of the walls. The tree was completely decorated, and garland had been added on every surface. Even our dishes had been cleaned up.

“No,” she said, slowly spinning around in the middle of the room. Evergreen garland had even been strung around the littlefake fireplace that emitted a warm glow, and soft Christmas music serenaded us. “I had nothing to do with this.”

“Neither did I.”

“Then who…”

“Noelle!” she said, cutting me off. “It had to be her, but she barely had enough time. I’m convinced she’s magical. I’m sure of it. There’s something special about her that I can’t pinpoint, but she keeps fulfilling my Christmas wishes, and I haven’t a clue how she gets them done, but she does. Like, how the heck did she know neither of us would be in this room? And that I wished that I had taken the time to finish decorating? And what about the TV? Weird. She must be an angel or an elf or something unworldly.”

I walked in closer to her. “Who is she, anyway?”

“What do you mean? She’s our neighbor.”

“From which apartment?”

Thinking about Noelle was getting to me now. Like she really was some kind of angel or elf.

“I don’t know, exactly. I haven’t had the time to figure that out yet.”

Merry smelled like lilies and orange blossoms and roses. Her scent drove me crazy, and I couldn’t wait to kiss her, really kiss her.

“There are only four apartments in this building and the loft on the roof that Ethan rents. Unless she lives in the basement or in the back of the laundry room, she can’t live here. I’ve seen her around, at least I think I have. She’s been to my coffee shop before, but I’ve never really spoken to her before today, so how the hell does she know anything about me? It’s some kind of Christmas mystery.”

“She knowseverythingabout you… and about your two best friends, as well.”

This was getting creepy. I barely knew her, yet she knew all about me. How did that work?

“And what about you? Does she know everything about you?”

“I think she does, yes. I believe there’s a bit of magic to her, more than I probably think, but let’s not talk about Noelle right now. I see you poured the wine. I’d love some,” she said, holding out her delicate hand. I’d already opened the bottle in my apartment and grabbed our glasses off the table. Now, everything sat on a small end table. I handed her a filled glass.

“To us,” I said, clinking her glass.

As soon as our glasses met, I wondered how the hell this ever happened. Why was I feeling so happy? I hadn’t felt pure joy in so long, I was scared to allow it in. Ever since the wedding debacle, and even before the wedding, I’d been chronically sad. Which played right into the runaway bride scenario. I thought my bride would make me happy. Instead, the reality of my overcompensating for her apprehensions before the wedding, which I felt but dismissed, made everything worse.

Happiness had to come from within, not from outside of me.

I learned that the hard way.

I couldn’t pinpoint my recent joy on Merry’s influence, not entirely, anyway. Sure, some of it had to do with her, but it had more to do with how I felt even when she wasn’t around. Like I was going to be all right. Like, the worst was over. So, for now, I was simply going to accept these foreign emotions, and just be grateful that I could feel anything good again.

“To us,” she said, her grin contagious. “May we have one of the best Christmases ever.”

“Ever!” Before she could take another sip, I slipped her glass out of her hand and placed them both on the table. Then my lips were on hers, and I walked her back to her sofa, where we fell back onto it but never broke the kiss. The last thing I saw other than her lovely face was the view out the window wheresnowflakes the size of quarters drifted over the entire town, which triggered a thought about Ethan and Lucas out there in the square, trying to sell paintings Ethan never thought he would even show anyone, much less sell.

Ethan, Lucas, and I had snuck a short conversation about the possibility of sharing Merry while she had run off for a pit stop this morning during the setup. I didn’t think anything could come of it, but Ethan wanted to get everyone’s buy in, just in case.

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