Page 124 of Season of Gifts

The whisper did her in.

Shoulders shaking, Alice swallowed back sobs.Her eyes leaked tears, and they refused to stop.“I think…”

Last night had been easier, relaying bare facts to Henry about a story Jay had already heard.She’d been focused on her husbands’ needs, not sinking into her own complicated feelings.“I think I made things worse.”

Mother wrapped an arm around her, nudging her closer, and a soft kiss landed on her forehead.“Take your time, darling girl.We’re listening.”

Chapter sixty-six

Jay

Jaydrapedhisfacein a teasing pout as Alice rearranged the shelves in the fridge.“A whole day?”

The Mrs.Eickhoff Memorial Black Forest Extravaganza—way too pretty to be just a cake—sat on a glass plate on the counter, waiting to chill.He’d gotten to do most of the work himself, following directions from Mom as she read from Lina’s recipe card.The steps had taken practically the whole afternoon, him beating eggs and whipping cream and handing out samples of boozy cherries while Alice spearheaded Team Caramel.Her job included a thermometer clipped to the pot while she did science on the stove.Henry split his time between them, cozy and sheltering and encouraging as he peered over their shoulders and made suggestions.

“A whole day indeed.”Henry swept Jay’s hair out of his eyes, lingering on the curve of his ear in a ticklish caress.“The flavors will soak into the chocolate sponge and be positively decadent by this time tomorrow.”

“And I’ve heard”—Alice backed out of the fridge and madeta-dahands at the new empty space—“that waiting is good for the soul.”

Her eyes had lost their redness.When he and Henry walked in with the groceries, Alice had been curled up next to Mom like a kid.Ollie was gonna slide in some questions when she called their mom and report back.He hadn’t decided yet on whether to ask Nat to give him the rundown from the farm on Christmas Day.Families were complicated.

“Immediacy has its benefits as well.”Mom winked at him as she plucked pieces of Alice’s caramel corn off the cookie sheet on the table.“We have an excellent appetizer right here, as well as those gorgeous apples for Christmas Eve.The three of you have outdone yourselves.”

The caramel apples sat in rows on wax paper.Some plain, some drizzled with chocolate, some rolled in candy coatings.Five hours the four of them had been in the kitchen, and he could’ve wished for five more.Helping in Peggy’s kitchen had never been like this.Even when Jay made the whipped cream look like cottage cheese, Henry laughed and hugged him and showed him the trick he’d learned from Lina the first time he got to make the whipped cream and messed up too.

“Well.”Jay cranked up the charm, dropping his pouty face for wide, blinking eyes and measuring the twitches in Henry’s lips.He was gonna smile any second now.“If it’ll bedecadent, I guess I can wait.”

Henry kissed the corner of Jay’s mouth.Better than a smile.

“I know you can, my very good boy,” Henry murmured, just loud enough for Jay’s dick to take notice.

The casual touches and asides had kept him in a subby haze all day long.Not enough to stiffen up, but enough to throb against his thigh and remind him who he belonged to.

“You want me to put it in?”

“Huh?”

Alice smiled at him, biting her lip, for sure holding off a laugh.

He dragged his brain back from where she’d sent it, because of course, yes, he absolutely wanted her to put it in.Just not, like,here.“Put what?”

“The decadent dessert.”She dipped her chin toward the cake.“To chill.”

“Oh!Yes.No.I mean, I got it.”Well now Henry and Alice were both grinning at him, their eyes bright and loving.Mom might’ve been laughing, but she was hiding her mouth behind her hand, so that didn’t count.

The thick glass plate with flower-petal edges was some family heirloom from the big cupboard.Mom was trusting him not to break it.Hefting it in both hands, he ferried it neatly into the space Alice had made.Under the fridge light, his chocolate crumble swirls swooped up the sides of the cake and Henry’s perfectly piped whipped cream curved in little nests for the shiny cherries on top.

“Gorgeous work, sweetheart.”Alice nudged the door shut with her hip and pecked his cheek.“You hungry?With all this yumminess we can’t eat yet, I’m starving.”

“Excellent.I have just the thing.”Henry pushed them both toward the table, and Mom used two fingers to slide the popcorn their way.“Dinner will be quite simple tonight.”

Simple turned out to beonlythree things.After scarfing a few handfuls of popcorn, Jay set the table and assembled the salads while Henry sped through prep, slid a pan in the oven, and started rice on the stove.Alice peppered Mom with questions, so they had stories of past Christmases the whole time.Dinner hadn’t been like this for weeks.Smooth and familiar, dancing around each other like they knew each other’s steps.Even being dressed couldn’t crush his high.

With everything in place, he slid into his seat and spread his fancy flowery cloth napkin over his lap.“I was thinking I’d call Nat.”

“Today?”Poinsettias bunched out like real flowers as Alice scrunched her napkin in her fingers.

“Christmas morning, I think.Or afternoon.”He wasn’t required to run ideas past his spouses, but after the weeks they’d just had, it couldn’t hurt to voice every thought in his head for a while.“Find out how stuff’s going”—what was being said about him—“and give her an excuse to duck out of the house and away from Peggy’s nagging.Not that Nat’s ever had trouble just telling her to fu—to shove it.”

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