Page 62 of Mistletoe Kisses

He laughed and dropped his head against my shoulder as he yawned into his fist. I was worried about how hard he was pushing himself when he was supposed to be on vacation, but I knew that helping Ron was important to him.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Always,” he said before yawning again.

“Why are you putting in so much time at the bookstore? I’m asking out of pure curiosity and not judgment.” I squeezed his leg.

He snuggled in closer and tucked his legs behind him. My heart squeezed while watching him make himself comfortable in my home.

“It feels good to make a difference.”

I hummed. That made sense, given what he’d shared with me about his job. They were fools to have let him go and were probably kicking themselves by now.

“Is it helping you work up the nerve to tell them you’re related?”

Arlo remained silent for a few moments. “I think so.”

I kissed the top of his head. “Do you think if they like you, there’s less chance they’ll be upset when you tell them?” I felt him nod.

I had a bone-deep certainty they wouldn’t be mad at him. They would be absolutely thrilled to know he was part of their family, and I couldn’t wait until Arlo truly accepted that for himself.

“I think I want to leave my mark on the place. Their lives. If it all goes south when I tell them, or, more likely, if I never work up the nerve to do it, I’ll at least have made a positive difference. And since my dad isn’t here to help Ron, I want to do what I can. For him.”

“Oh, honey.” I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him tight. The man had such big, beautiful feelings. “I love that you’re doing that for them, but I hope you know you don’t need to sacrifice yourself to help others. Is that how it was at your other job?” I’d gathered enough from his stories to suspect people had taken advantage of his generosity.

“I worked a lot of unpaid overtime and had work dumped on me by people who didn’t want to do it. Or from people who told me I’d do it better, so I did.”

That was probably why he’d gotten laid off. The people who made the decisions didn’t know they’d let go of someone who’d done so much more than they’d realized.

“It’s my fault I did so much and never took credit.”

It was like Arlo tiptoed to not inconvenience other people. To avoid stressing out his overworked mom, he’d never caused trouble growing up. He’d worked outside of his scope at his job without demanding credit or compensation because he wanted to pitch in.

“I get it. I really do. You’re an amazing person, Arlo. But you can’t help other people if you run yourself down. I’m glad you have Keaton to help make sure you take care of yourself, and I’m sure he’ll kill me if I send you back to Minneapolis with these bags under your eyes.” I traced the patch of skin.

Arlo laughed and stretched out until his head rested on my lap. “After he kills you, he’ll buy me concealer and show me how to put it on.”

“How are things going for him? Is he still staying at the Airbnb?”

Arlo gave me a teasing grin. “Oh yeah. He and his host have hit it off pretty well.”

“Like we have?” That gorgeous cheek flush again.

Arlo looked down at his hands, smiled wide through his lip nibbling, then raised his head to look into my eyes. “Yes.”

I’d love to meet Keaton. The man was the most important person in Arlo’s life. I wanted to meet his mom. I wanted to know the Arlo outside Dahlia Springs and in his real life. God, I wanted to be a part of that life.

I sure as hell didn’t want him to leave. I wanted more nights of him using my lap as a pillow while I combed his hair with my fingers.

I just wanted more Arlo.

Chapter27

Arlo

“Deckthe halls with boughs of holly. Fa la la la la la la la la.” I bopped and sang to the Christmas music playing on Lucas’s sound system while I vacuumed his carpet.

I’d considered going to the beach for the day while he worked, but I didn’t want to drive over the pass in the heavy rain. Instead, I spent the morning at the bookstore and then grabbed lunch at the Inkwell Bistro to chat with Lucas between customers.

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