Page 52 of Christmas Wishes

Her fingers worked surprisingly fast. Especially given the painful-looking arthritis knots. “Tell me about your life back in Minneapolis.”

I bit my tongue as I carefully tried to push the hook through the right spot. “I’m not sure what to share. I’m jobless, apartmentless for the time being, and I hate the snow. It’s so fucking cold for half the year. Then we try to cram a year’s worth of shit into the summer, except there’s the swamp-ass humidity of summer, endless mosquitos, and nonstop construction. At least I’ve gotten good about covering mosquito bites with makeup.” There were nice things about it, too, but I felt like I spent half of each year grumpy, then the spring gearing up for all the summer activities, summer going by in a frantic, sweaty blur, then preparing for winter depression all fall.

“The half the year of snow is an issue here too, but you seem fine with our snow.” She looked up at me from above the rim of her glasses.

“It’s different here. Less oppressive. Or maybe that’s the vacation relaxation talking.”

“We get the dry heat in the summer too. It’s nice, and it always cools off at night.”

I wished it cooled off like the desert during summer nights back home.

“Tell me about what you love back home.” It was amazing that she could keep crocheting while looking at me. I didn’t dare take my eyes off my work.

I smiled. “My best friend, Arlo. You’d adore him. He’s the sweetest guy. It takes him a while to warm up to people, but when he does, he’s the best friend you could ever ask for.”

“He sounds lovely. Is he the one you sent to Oregon?”

I nodded. I hadn’t voiced the thought yet, but it had been playing at the edges of my mind since we decided to extend our trips. “I’m curious if he’ll choose to stay in Oregon. He’s there because he never knew his dad, and last year, he learned that his dad’s family lives there. He says they’re amazing people, and I’d love for him to try to make up for lost time with them.” Since she didn’t know Arlo, I felt like I could tell her about him.

She paused her project and dropped it onto her lap. “Won’t you miss him?”

“Terribly, but it would be good for him.” I double-checked the pattern to make sure I was doing the right thing.

I knew Arlo thought I took pity on him or there was an inequity in our relationship, with Arlo being the “needier” one. I didn’t view it that way at all. Arlo was the one person in the world who made me feel important. Not a sex toy, a fun way to spend an evening, ambitionless, or someone who only cared about having fun. Or whatever other way people came up with to write me off. Arlo treated me like I mattered. He saw my value, even when I didn’t.

It would be difficult to live in Minneapolis without him, but it would make me so happy to see Arlo break out from the safety of our bubble and expand his circle. Sending him to Oregon with the goal of meeting his family had been a long shot, but I’d never expected Arlo to enjoy his time in Oregon so much. I hoped he was finding not only independence on his trip, but confidence.

“What about you?”

I blinked. “What do you mean?”

She picked up her coffee. “Would you consider living somewhere else?”

I thought about it for a moment. “Maybe, but it’s hard to imagine moving away from my family. Despite there being a trillion of us, everyone’s stayed pretty close to home base. No one lives more than a couple of hour’s drive apart.”

Doris hummed. “You strike me as the kind of guy who likes to break new ground.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that, but we shared a smile. That was a way better way to think about things than my being an epic fuck-up with no direction and no ability to stick with something, or someone,for the long haul.

After a few moments of silence, she picked her project back up. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, do you do makeup lessons?”

“I have. It’s fun. What are you thinking?”

“There are a few women at the senior center who would enjoy some tips. The old tactics don’t always work on our ‘mature’ skin anymore. Lordy, I hate that word.”

I laughed. I wasn’t fond of it either. “I’d love to help. You name the time and place, and I’ll be there.”

She smiled. “Perfect. I’ll set something up for after the storm passes.”

That got me excited. I loved helping people feel good in makeup, and I’d tried to learn about working with mature skin when Mom started asking me questions about makeup. I’d love to help Doris in any way I could. Maybe, just maybe, when I left Juniper Ridge, Doris and Riggs might join the exclusive club—with a current membership of only Arlo—of people who thought I had something to offer.

Chapter28

Riggs

After stoppingby Doris’s once I finished work for the day to make sure she was ready for the storm and dealing with several frantic calls from people with generator issues because they hadn’t had them inspected in the off-season, I was back at Nico’s house to finalize prep. I carried the window-sealing supplies back to the garage and spent a while there pulling out supplies we probably wouldn’t need but didn’t want to be digging around for in an emergency. This house always got hit harder in storms than Doris’s, so there was a risk we’d get snowed in for a day or two.

I’d helped Nico prep for a storm before, so I had a vague idea of where things were, but I hadn’t done an inventory of everything in there yet. That was one of a hundred things on myI’ll get to it eventuallylist. I was grateful Nico had pulled me in to help him install a battery backup system and solar panels a few years back. That would make everything more comfortable.

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