Page 5 of Mistlefoes

“It’s the least you can do for us,” she continued, “since you moved a million miles away.”

I made a face, suppressing a grown. “You know the moon is less than 250,000 miles from Earth, right? I live closer to you than the moon.” And they said the astronomy I’d taken in college wouldn’t come in handy.

“Don’t be a smartass.”

“Yes, ma’am. Look, I, um, need to go. It was a long day at the store, and I want to go to bed early. I think I might be getting a cold.”

And the lies, they just kept coming. This conversationwasgiving me a headache, though.Andearning me a permanent place on Santa’s naughty list.

“Should I send you a get well care package? I can overnight it.”

“No. I promise I have everything I need. I just need to pop some vitamins, drink some tea, and get some sleep.”

She made a dithering sound, clearly on the fence about believing me. Fair. Still, I got off the phone as quickly as possible before I told even more lies or dug myself deeper into trouble. Lying, especially to people I loved, churned the acid in my stomach.

After we said goodbye, I turned back to my meal but soon gave up on it, since it was cold now and I didn’t have much of an appetite anyway. I carried the little cardboard tray into the kitchen and dumped it then shoved the fork into the dishwasher.

The basket of letters and bills above the machine reminded me I hadn’t picked up my mail from the box before coming inside that evening. Which gave me a valid excuse to check out the competition on my street so far. I totallywas notspying on Jack. Not the decorations or the man himself.

I shrugged on my coat and headed outside.

Jack was working on something near the street when I approached the edge of my yard.

“Don’t you have a job?” I scoffed, waving at the setup he’d done sometime that day.

“Yeah, same as you. Right down the block from you. You look adorable today. Is that a new sweater? It’s the perfect color for you.”

And now, I’d have to burn it.

God, the man was a little too cheerful. That was Jack, though. Always fun-loving, with all the ladies flirting with him, and him being a bro to all the bros. If I were absolutely honest, though, flirting aside, I hadn’t actually seen him go on a date since we’d broken up. He’d probably driven over to Grand Rapids or Adrian Point to hook up—when he wasn’t running his bookstore, pranking me, or putting up over-the-top light displays, anyway.

Ignoring him, I headed for my mailbox. It was bursting with catalogs and junk again.

“So what do you think?” he asked when I turned around with the small pile of mail in my hand.

I toyed with the idea of pretending not to understand him. Instead, I scanned my gaze over his yard and house. For all that he was my competition, the synchronized lights were impressive…much to my dismay.

“It looks great,” I said without any enthusiasm.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“I appreciate that. Yours are always top notch.”

I glanced over at my yard. Besides the lights trimming my house, windows and trees, I’d crafted a winter wonderland of penguins, reindeer and polar bears cavorting through the snow. No one knew, but I’d started making the wire forms for them last January.

Looking back, I gave him a half smile. “It’s not synchronized lights and music. You must really want the prize.”

“Prize? Sure. Yeah.”

My brow furrowed, but I didn’t question his response. I knew Jack well enough to be aware he was keeping something unsaid.

“Oh.”

He grinned. “I just really want to beat you this year.”

My eyes narrowed, my fingers crushing my mail.

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