Page 22 of Under the Mistle-Foe

“I know after what happened to your mom, you felt like you needed to leave.”

My shoulders drooped. After Mom’s passing, I ran as far away from Christmas Falls as I could, and I hadn’t looked back since. I was a horrible son.

“I’m not saying this to shame you or make you feel bad.” Dad gently knocked my knee with his red cast. I looked up to face his serious expression. Dad had always been expressive in his emotions. He was easy to anger, then just as easily laughing away all his problems, but he was rarely serious like this, which only made me sit up a bit straighter.

“It’s okay if your heart isn’t here anymore. It’s okay to start over in a new city if that’s what you need to do. But every time you come back to visit me, I see the guilt and worry hanging over your head when you think I’m not looking. So I wanted you to know that I’m doing just fine.I’ll be okay, so you don’t have to worry about me or feel pressured every time you come to visit. Christmas Falls may no longer be your home,butthat doesn’t mean you can’t feel at home when you’re back.”

Christmas Falls may no longer be your home.

Those words hit me like a forty-ton truck. Because despite moving to New York, the Big Apple never felt like my home, not in the distinct way Christmas Falls had been for me.

But how was I supposed to find my home if I kept running instead of healing?

I needed some time to process this. It was nice knowing Dad hadn’t found me unreliable, and that he just hadn’t wanted to burden me, but I never wanted him to feel like a burden in the first place.

That was something I needed to work on within myself. I knew that. But those things were always easier said than done.

I stood and told Dad I was heading to grab a drink at Jolly Java. Before I left, he held something out for me. “Do me a favor and hang this on the arch outside. To celebrate one of my happy memories this year in Christmas Falls.”

The item dropped into my palm. It was the little frying pan ornament I’d gotten Dad on a whim at the Arts and Crafts Fair last week.

Fuck. The wind must have gotten inside the diner and stunned my eyes.

I gripped the little ornament and quickly turned awaybefore the wind got any stronger and had me tearing up completely.

It was another one of Mom’s traditions. She’d set up the mistletoe arch in front of the diner to wish everyone who walked through those doors happiness and love.

Then she had us slowly fill up the arch with happy memories of Christmas Falls from that year. Random ornaments we’d picked up throughout the year, notes we’d received, pictures capturing a moment we loved. I’d even tried to hang up a monster truck I’d gotten as a present one year. It’d been too heavy to place it at the top of the arch like I’d wanted, but I’d settled on displaying it in front of the arch for a day.

It didn’t matter what it was; the arch would be filled with all our cherished memories from that year. And it wasalwaysfull,everyyear.

I’d always avoided coming to the diner whenever I’d visited in December, scared that Dad kept this tradition going—andeven more scared he hadn’t. I pretended that if I couldn’t see it, then it wasn’t a scar that stabbed at my heart.

I’d only been back to Christmas Falls a handful of times this year and hadn’t had enough happy memories to contribute to the arch, but as I hung the first happy token—courtesy of Dad—I felt lighter than I had in years.

CHAPTER 10

REMY

I didn’t seeJett for the rest of the day. I was worried that I’d scared him off with my attitude this morning, and I couldn’t blame him. I wouldn’t want to be around someone like me either.

The next morning when I went to take out the diner’s sign to the front, Dad called something out to me. I looked back at him, distracted, as I opened the front door and took a step forward, which caused me to crash straight into someone.

“Easy there,” a deep voice rumbled in my ear as he steadied me and the sign in my hand. The glass door of the diner swinging shut behind me pushed me forward and deeper into the other person’s embrace.

Strong arms wrapped tighter around me, and a sweet scent filled my nose, which made complete sense considering all the candy the man ate.

Jett’s lopsided grin appeared in my vision. “You okay?” he asked with a hint of teasing in his eyes.

“Yeah, just feeling silly for almost falling when I’m always warning Dad about that these days,” I muttered and put asmuch space between us as I could, with the door behind me and all. Jett’s hands dropped as he stuffed them into his pocket. He was probably cold again. His fingers felt almost freezing.

I placed the sign beside the door, then flicked my gaze back to Jett. He was watching me, because, of course, he was. Even back in high school, he’d always been looking at me, but back then, I thought it was because he had some kind of grudge against me and was studying his enemy to form the perfect revenge.

I didn’t think that anymore, but his strange glances still confused the hell out of me.

There was a happy smile on his face, like yesterday hadn’t happened, but I knew I couldn’t just bury my mistakes like this. I was a jerk, and I should own up to that. At the very least, he deserved an apology.

“Listen, about yesterday…” I suddenly felt tight again and undid my little ponytail to release some of the tension. My hair floated down around me. I’d grown it out mostly as a whim, and to piss off one of the friends I’d made in New York since he’d said I wouldn’t look good with long hair. Joke’s on him because I looked fucking great.

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