Page 26 of A Christmas Mystery

So I say, “Okay. That makes sense.”

We both nod as if my words are true.

But I’m honestly not sure any of this makes sense at all.

***

WE END UP MOVING TOthe couch and finding a movie to watch on TV.

When I shiver, Theo digs up some hot chocolate packets from his cabinet and makes some for both of us. He offers me a soft throw blanket, and I cuddle up under it, sipping my hot chocolate and feeling cozy and comfortable, even with my wet hair.

We watch an old mystery film about an amateur detective following clues and solving an enigma of a case.

I enjoy every minute of it.

When the movie is over, it’s six thirty, so it’s well within the appropriate span of time to start fixing dinner.

He has a reasonably full refrigerator and freezer as well as a decent number of staples in his cabinets. He clearly is in the habit of cooking his meals at home somewhat often, so it’s not hard to find something for dinner.

He’s got some good sausage and gorgonzola, so I suggest pasta with sausage and a gorgonzola cheese sauce. He tells me I’ll have to take the lead on the sauce, so he ends up making us a simple salad to eat with the pasta.

He pours us both glasses from a bottle of merlot he pulls out of the cabinet above the refrigerator and then he turns on music while we cook.

It’s a mix of older country music. It kind of surprises me, although I’m not sure I ever put any thought into what kind of music Theo might listen to.

I’m smiling to myself about the twangy love song as I add dried pasta to boiling water when he glances over at me from the grape tomatoes he’s slicing in half. “What? Do you not like this music? Would you prefer some sort of mystical Zen yoga music?”

I laugh out loud. “I like the kind with forest and rain sounds interspersed.”

His mouth twitches. “I thought as much. I can find you something like that if you really want.”

“This is fine. Believe it or not, I don’t listen to nature sounds all the time. I just never thought of you and country music.”

“My grandpa used to listen to it all the time. I spent summers with him growing up, and I guess it made an impact.”

“I didn’t know you spent summers with your grandpa.” I search my mind, trying to recall whether this particular fact was something I should have known.

“Yeah. My folks liked to travel in the summer, so they sent me to him.”

“Didn’t you want to travel with them?”

“Sure. I wouldn’t have minded, but they never suggested it. They preferred adult trips. And I always loved staying with Grandpa. He taught me to drive and to shoot a rifle and to camp and all kinds of outdoorsy stuff I never would have done with my folks.”

I turn the sliced sausage to brown the other sides. “Where did he live?”

“In the mountains up toward Asheville. They were good summers. But that’s when I learned to like this music.”

“That makes sense. Is he still alive?”

“He is, but he had to move into an assisted living place a few years back. He hated it at first, but he’s finally gotten used to it. It’s a couple of hours away from here, but I go visit him as often as I can. At least once a month.”

“I’m sure that means a lot to him. Are you closer to him than to your parents?”

His relationship with his parents is also something I never considered before. I’m realizing now that I never really thought about him as a person—just an annoying accessory to Chris. Maybe that’s mostly Theo’s own fault since he always kept me at arm’s distance, but still...

It’s also partly my fault. I could have made more of an effort. He was important to Chris. Maybe he should have been important to me too.

He makes a face as he slides the cut tomatoes to one side and works on a cucumber. “I don’t know how to answer that. I don’t have a bad relationship with my parents. We haven’t always seen eye to eye though, and they don’t approve of all my choices.”

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