Page 57 of Mistletoe Kisses

Arlo shook his head.

“My dad got Mom a shirt when we were kids. It had Christmas cookies on it and said something about Santa. As kids, we loved it. Mom and Dad always laughed when she wore it, and Mom only ever wore it at home. One day, my sister stole it, and without anyone realizing it, she wore it to school under her sweater.”

“Uh-oh. I sense trouble coming.” Arlo grinned and leaned forward. He dropped his chin onto his hand in a casual gesture that melted my heart.

“It was holiday school assembly day where each class performed a song. Warren was in middle school by then, but I was still in elementary school and remember watching the twins go on stage with their class. My sister must’ve taken off her sweater during the assembly because when she got on stage and to her spot in the front row, she wore Mom’s shirt over her skirt. She’d tied the bottom of it so it fit her better.”

“Oh god, what did the shirt say?”

“Remember it had Christmas cookies on it? The text read, ‘I put out for Santa.’ I didn’t understand why my sister got in trouble or why I’d caught my parents laughing so hard after scolding her that night. Years and years later, we were going through old photos and came across it, and Mom reminded us of the story.”

Arlo busted out laughing. “That’s hilarious. I bet your parents were mortified.”

“I think they were the talk of the PTA for a while. The year after that photo was uncovered, Mom gave us all matching shirts with the same thing on them.”

“Pretty sure my mom would’ve spontaneously combusted if I’d worn a shirt like that. She’s a kind woman but isn’t known for her sense of humor. Keaton’s parents are hilarious though. It took me some time to get used to it. They like to tease each other a lot, and I didn’t understand at first that teasing could be a sign of love.”

I nodded. “My family’s like that too. If you’re good with Keaton’s family, I’m sure you’d fit right in with mine.”

Arlo smiled so sweetly that it made my heart swell. “They seem really great.”

I smiled back and held on to the moments he held eye contact. “What did you and your mom do when you celebrated Christmas?”

Arlo told me a few of their traditions of baking cookies together and watching Christmas movies all day. Arlo spoke so much more freely to me than he did when we’d first met. It was an honor that he’d become so comfortable.

“Since Mom usually worked every day between Christmas and New Year’s, our celebration often didn’t come until the first of the year. Keaton’s family let me stay with them during breaks at college. I’d met them at Thanksgiving our first year, then Keaton convinced me to stay for Christmas that year. They’d only been around me that one weekend, and when I joined them for Christmas, they had a stocking squeezed onto the full mantel for me and got me my own pair of matching pajamas. My stocking goes up every year, and I always get a set of the new PJs.”

“That’s amazing, Arlo. I’m so glad you have them.”

“Me too. I don’t know what I would’ve done without them. Probably become a complete recluse and even more socially inept than I am now.”

I grabbed Arlo’s hand. “You’re not socially inept. There’s nothing wrong with taking your time to warm up to people. If anything, it makes it feel like an accomplishment when you do.”

That damn blush again.

As far as I noticed, nobody else was on the train. Just Arlo and me. It was easy to imagine all sorts of other dates for us in the future. I wanted to show him everything I loved about Oregon.

I’d learned about his past, but I also wanted to know about his future. What he wanted his life to be. “Are there any Christmas traditions you’d like to make?”

Arlo pulled his attention from the ocean and back to me. He looked into my eyes, then at his empty cocoa. “I’d like to have a partner I could swap gifts with at midnight on Christmas Eve. We could pick a different advent calendar to enjoy together each year. One with cheese or jams or beer or something.”

As I thought about his words, I slotted us into that vision. I wanted to enjoy advent wine and cheese with him each night and trade kisses while we opened gifts at midnight. Make him blush with a naughty gift after making him smile with a thoughtful one.

“Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas. Aren’t you two a handsome couple? How long have you two been together?”

Santa and Mrs. Claus stood at the end of our table. I’d been so wrapped up in Arlo that I hadn’t noticed them working their way through the car.

Arlo sputtered and looked at me with wide eyes.

“Our first date was last week.”

Mrs. Claus sighed happily. “Ah, to be young and falling in love. Christmas is the perfect time for it. Don’t you remember those days, Nicholas?”

He let out a belly laugh. “I sure do. My beard was a lot less white back then. I see you two have filled out your wishes. May I?” He collected the two envelopes and handed us two candy canes.

Love. We looked like we were falling in love. God, I wanted that with Arlo. I truly did. It was easy to picture us happily traipsing along the path headed in that direction. I wanted this to be one of many dates we enjoyed as we developed deep and lasting feelings for each other. I never expected to meet Arlo, but now it was hard to imagine my life without him. How could that happen so quickly?

When I looked at Arlo, he watched me with such longing that it took my breath away. Maybe he wanted that with me too.

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