Page 47 of Fall Wherever They May

“Hot,” Marcy whispers, fanning her face, and I chuckle. Yeah, he is.

Tucker follows Cal as he walks over to the Christmas tree and begins strategically placing the presents underneath, talking a mile a minute. Cal picks up Puck, cuddling him and cooing at the little feller, while talking to Tucker.

Tucker notices me standing there and draws attention to me. “Oh, look! My mom is standing under the mistletoe!” He calls out excitedly with a conspiratorial smile, forcing Cal’s attention on us.

I look up and blush, then quickly jump back. The retreat causes me to bump into Mom.Damn it, River!I know she did this on purpose and put Tucker up to playing matchmaker.

Cal strides over to me and places a kiss on my cheek. “Merry Christmas,” he says in a low, sexy voice, causing goosebumps to pebble on my flesh under my cream sweater.

I clear my throat and turn towards my mom and Marcy as I try to mask how he’s affecting me. “Merry Christmas, Cal. This is my mom, Katherine, and River’s mom, Marcy. Mom, Marcy, this is Callan Miles.”

My mom gives him a hug. “Cal, it’s so nice to finally meet you. Tucker and Aspen talk so much about you; I feel like I know you already.”

He receives a hug and warm welcome from Marcy too, then follows me into the kitchen. “Need any help?”

“No. Y’all can go relax in the living room. I just need to throw the rolls in the oven to heat up, then we can eat. Do you want a glass of wine?”

“That would be great,” he says, heading for the living room with Mom and Marcy trailing after him. Marcy has her eyes trained on his spectacular ass, and I chuckle again.

I pour a glass of wine, take it to Cal, then go back in the kitchen to finish up. I hear everyone talking in the other room. Peeking around the corner, I find River and toss a glare her way. She smirks, then joins me in the kitchen.

“Is there anything I can do?”

I slap the kitchen towel in my hand onto the counter and say, “Yep! You can stop meddling, you hussy. What is that?” I nod up towards the mistletoe. She doubles over laughing. I squint my eyes at her again. “Go set the table.” I laugh. “You know what they say about payback.”

With a devious chuckle, River takes plates out of the cabinet and heads to the dining room. When the rolls are ready, I plate them and take them to the table. Someone has placed me right next to Cal. Tucker and River seem to be in on a covert operative mission to set us up, and it’s blatantly obvious. Mom and Marcy’s snickers prove all of them are up to something. I ignore their antics and sit between Mom and Cal. Cal says the prayer before we dig in. We aren’t a religious family, but we do always give thanks for our blessings during the holidays.

After dinner, Mom and I relax on the couch and catch up, River and Marcy separate gifts into piles, and the boys are left to wash the dishes. Once the dishes are washed and the food is put away, everyone takes a place in front of their pile of gifts. Tucker unwraps all his presents with excitement, showing them off with enthusiasm, while Cal and I snap pictures on our phones. When Tucker has unwrapped his last present, I focus on Cal.

He’s sitting on the floor next to Tucker with the box from me in his lap. Unwrapping the red foil, he curls over in laughter. In the box is a picture of us from the thrift store, wrapped in the Christmas scarf he wore that day. I thought the scarf would be a funny little gag gift, so I revisited the store last week and was surprised to find it still on the hook.

Everyone has finished opening presents when Mom reminds me that I still need to open mine.

I grab the one from Tucker first: a homemade clay ornament that he made in class before school released for break. I give him a hug and kiss him on his cheek. “Thank you, this means so much to me, Tucker.”

He hugs me back. “You’re welcome,” he says, then adds like an infomercial guru, “But wait, there’s more.”

I laugh. Tucker picks up a beautifully wrapped present from my stack and hands it to me. “It’s actually from me and Cal. Go on, open it,” he encourages, with a bright smile.

I unravel the gold bow and carefully open the black wrapping paper, revealing a black, velvet jewelry box. I flip open the box—resting inside is a gold bracelet with charms: a puck, a hockey stick, one round flat charm with the wordsHockey Momengraved, a heart, and a charm with the number eighty-five. I rub the number with my finger.

“It’s Tucker’s jersey number,” Cal points out.

Tucker laughs. “It’s your number too, Cal.”

“Thank you, both. It’s beautiful.” I study the bracelet again.

Cal takes the box from my hand and removes the bracelet. I watch his face as he takes my wrist in his hand, bringing it toward him. Carefully he clasps the bracelet around my wrist. His thumb caresses my pulse point, and his gaze locks with mine as I’m sure he feels my pulse racing a million beats per minute. His eyes flick down to my lips, then back up to my eyes.

“All set,” he whispers softly, licking his lips.

I’m lost in him when my mom interrupts the connection. “That’s so pretty,” she croons.

We finish unwrapping presents, then spend the rest of the evening playing games. It’s after eleven when everyone has snuck off to bed. Cal and I relax by the fire alone, drinking wine and talking.

Cal

Aspen’s long black waves tumble between her shoulder blades as she leans back on her elbows on the rug in front of the fire. The orange glow of the fire flickers across her face. One word describes her in this moment: stunning.

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