Page 68 of Getting Lucky

When they finished, they stood back and studied their work.

“It’s the most beautiful tree I’ve ever seen,” Maisie said with tears in her eyes. Chaco yipped as if to say she agreed.

“I like it,” Iris said with a soft smile and tears of her own.

Jack pulled Iris into a hug and kissed her forehead, then turned to Maisie, mouthingthank you.

She nodded, her chin quivering, and everything in him ached to hold her and reassure her that it was okay to move forward and leave the past behind. That she wasn’t losing anything important, because the things that mattered couldn’t be stored in boxes. He dropped his hold on Iris and was about to follow through on his instinct, but Maisie headed into the kitchen. “I think we’ve earned those cookies.”

When he and Iris joined her in the kitchen, she was ladling hot chocolate into mugs and dumping mini marshmallows on top. She handed mugs to both of them, and they all sat at the table, choosing cookies from the plate.

Maisie bit into one and made a hum of pleasure in the back of her throat that had him squirming uncomfortably in his chair. “These are really good,” she said. “I’m gonna need the recipe. The edges of mine always turn brown before the center is cooked.”

“Your butter probably got too soft,” Iris said. “You need to refrigerate the dough before you cut the shapes.”

Maisie’s eyes widened. “How is it you know more about baking than I do?”

Iris snorted. “I watch YouTube videos.”

“Kids these days,” Maisie said, but she grinned from ear to ear.

“What else do you usually do for decorations?” Iris asked. “I saw some stockings in the box.”

Maisie’s smile fell. “Let’s not hang those. I think it’s time to make some new traditions.”

A mischievous look filled Iris’s eyes. “You could put out reindeer food.”

“Do I want to know what that is?” Maisie asked, sounding apprehensive.

“Don’t fall for it,” Jack said. “It’s made of oats and glitter. Iris brought some home from preschool and dumped it all over my car. She was so upset because she thought Santa wouldn’t bring her presents if she didn’t have any. I had to look up the recipe.”

“How old were you?” Maisie asked in wonder. “You must have been in high school.”

“Yeah,” he said, suddenly feeling embarrassed. “A senior.”

“He’s always been there for me,” Iris said, blessing him with a look full of love. Then she turned to Maisie. “He was more of a parent than our mom.”

Jack was shocked to hear his sister admit to his role in her life, not that he was surprised she felt that way. Iris was usually very tight-lipped about their mother with people she hadn’t known for very long. The fact she was opening up to Maisie was a miracle, but it only drove home that Iris considered Maisie to beherfriend and thus off-limits to Jack.

What was he going to do about that?

They took their mugs into the living room, and Iris helped Maisie sort through the remaining decorations, deciding what to keep and what to pack back up. Jack could see it was hard for Maisie, but she soldiered on as though she was a woman on a mission to face her future. They ended up hanging garland on the fireplace, and to his surprise, Maisie pulled the five stockings from the box and set them aside, announcing everything else in the box could be thrown out.

Iris, who was fluffing a tattered wreath, looked up, her eyes rounding when she saw the size of the box of discards. But she kept right on working, and when she finished, she hung some leftover ornaments on the wreath and then had Jack hang it on the front door.

“Your house is officially festive,” Iris said.

Maisie released a contented sigh. “Maybe next year I’ll plan far enough ahead so I can put Christmas lights outside.”

Jack glanced up at her. “I’ll be right back.”

He hopped in the car while Iris and Maisie shouted after him. Ignoring them, he headed to the local twenty-four-hour Walmart. A half hour later he pulled into the driveway again, and both Maisie and Iris walked out to greet him. Chaco and Einstein trailed after them, and both dogs rushed him, Einstein going so far as to lick his hand again. Apparently, he’d finally broken through with the dog.

“Where did you go?” Maisie demanded, her hands propped on her hips.

Grinning, he held up the two Walmart bags. “Again, the pickings were slim, so this will have to do.”

Maisie herded the dogs back into the house, and he unpacked the boxes of netted lights and tossed them over the bushes in front of her house. He was relieved he’d remembered correctly that she had seven plants. Once the netted lights were in place, he linked them all together and connected them to the extension cord he’d bought. Iris and Maisie stood in the front yard while he crouched next to the outlet.

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