Page 145 of Season of Gifts

Chapter seventy-four

Jay

Christmasmorningcoastedinon the dreaminess of the night before.Jay woke to the fluttery chirps of classical music from Henry’s phone at seven-thirty, way more reasonable than shrieking nieces and nephews before sunup, especially when Henry sweetened the deal with real hot chocolate.Only when everyone had drinks and cinnamon rolls—cranberry with the orange glaze!—did the gift-giving get going.With all the lounging around and laughing and fuzzy-warm family feelings, Jay didn’t even scoot back upstairs to trade pj’s for real clothes until after eleven.

He pushed up the sleeves on his new Christmas sweater just enough to study the bracelets Henry had clasped around his wrists.Day collars, really.Like the necklace for Alice.Everyday pieces for public consumption, still thrumming with the heat of Henry’s ownership.The braided leather matched the brown of his harness, of his new formal collar and cuffs.The silvery infinity symbol wrapping around the three loops matched the platinum chain on Alice’s necklace.And the two green stones on either side promised Henry’s eyes were on him.He could look down and see that claim whenever he wanted.All day long.All life long.

The sweater marked him as part of the family, too—a gift from Henry’s mom.A perfect fit, just roomy enough to move in with a turtleneck underneath.That and jeans would be fine for shoveling the walk.Fall yard cleanup had taught him where everything lived in the garage, and the overnight snow had left a good three-four inches behind.Henry hadn’t said anything, but if they needed to get Mom out to the car for any reason, they wouldn’t be doing it on a snow-covered walkway.

Downstairs, he grabbed his jacket to block the wind and carried his shoes to the nearby bench.The high back and carved arms gave it the imposing weight of a church pew.Would’ve felt as hard, too, if not for the plush red cushion along the seat.He shoved his feet into his high-tops.After the stiffness of his cycling shoes, his regular sneakers slouched like an old pair of sweats dangling off his hips.Not for real, but they sure felt loosey-goosey.As he tightened up the laces, the kids came strolling from the kitchen with empty hands.“Plates in the dishwasher, huh?Good job.Bet you got lots of plans for the rest of today with your new haul of stuff from Santa Claus.”

The littler one curved off his path back to the music room and stood before Jay, studying him intently.Even he had a formal pajama set like his dad’s, only smaller, and he was just six.Both boys had the same tidy haircut, sandy brown hair cut short and combed flat.“What are your plans, Uncle Jay?”

“Welp”—he exaggerated thepuhsound, and Gabriel’s cheeks rounded as he smiled—“figure that snow outside isn’t gonna clear itself.”

“You’re going outside?”The older boy glanced toward the front door.Snow drifted down past the tall looky-loo windows on either side.“In the snow?”

The thinnest thread ofwanthung in that restrained tenor.Fuck if Jay didn’t know that itch to be outside, to be free of the rigid demands and thepleases andthank-yous for a while.“Sure am.”He double knotted the lace.“Could use some help, if you two aren’t busy.”

“We’re not bu—”

“We should ask—”

The boys exchanged looks.The older one was the rule-follower; the younger must not have fully gotten that message yet.Jay gently shrugged, trying not to favor one side over the other.“Can’t hurt to ask.”

The asking took a minute and a half, tops, with Jay leaning in the doorframe and nodding when Henry’s brother gave him theAre you sure about this?look.As if he hadn’t wrangled four times as many nieces and nephews at once for years.They’d be done with unwrapping gifts at the farm by now too.

As Henry’s nephews trotted upstairs to put on outside clothes, Jay reclaimed his seat on the bench and called Nat.She’d give him the skinny without an interrogation.At least he knew his gifts had gone over like whipped cream on a waffle—Becky’s text blast included a dozen shots of the kids opening everything and a quick video chorus of them all, mostly in unison, shoutingThanks, Uncle Jay!

Nat took three rings to pick up, audio-only.

“Catch you stuffing your face?”

“What?No.Why would you ask that?”Nat coughed like she’d choked on a drink.“Merry Christmas, little brother.Good time in Maine?”

“Real good time.”Maybe better than any Christmas at home, but his chest twanged, and he pushed the thought aside.That was okay; Danny said Jay could examine thoughts on his own schedule, not just when they shoved their way to the front.“Alice got me this cool physics set, and I think maybe after dinner I’ll ask Henry’s nephews to help me figure it out.Waiting on them now to get out and play in the snow.”

He’d shovel first, real quick, but he could hardly be the best uncle if he didn’t at least build something with snow.Although—was he competing with Henry for best uncle?Henry was the read books aloud uncle, and Jay was the fling snow around uncle.He’d only become their uncle this morning.Yesterday he’d been Mr.Kress, and Alice had been Ms.Colvin.He was catching up fast.

“Of course you are.”Nat’s laugh tumbled down and landed on his shoulders like a cozy blanket.“How’s Henry’s mom doing?”

He gave her the short update.No big medical talks because of the holiday, but Henry and his brother were gonna have a confab, and tomorrow they’d sit down with Mom.“So no cardiac rehab today, but it’ll pick up again after.Like every day for six weeks, I think.How’s everyone at the farm?You and Peggy at each other’s throats yet?”

“Actually…” A long silence ended with a low, reedy sigh.“I don’t know.I’m not there.”

“You didn’t go home for Christmas?”Yikes, that was loud.Everyone else was still relaxing around the corner in the music room.He dropped his voice.“Everything okay with you?”

“Yeah, it’s amazing.Better.I, uh…” Nat chuckled, a quiet burst of happiness.“You inspired me.”

“I did?”Hell, maybe he’d started a mass exodus.Not ready to think about how that felt.He’d just tuck it under his hat until his next therapy session.Things might be getting crowded up there.“You’re fed up with Peggy too?”

“No.I mean yeah, I am, but that’s not what I mean.”Flustering Nat took a lot of doing.She was all snark and attitude, not the fumbling for words type.“Partly I’m not attending in solidarity with you.But also I, uh, your wedding was—and I thought—so I looked somebody up.”

Nat didn’t have big attachments.She had short-term flings and imaginary people she made up to keep Peggy off her back.He tipped his head against the wall.“Somebody who?”

“An old flame that I never should’ve left.”Her voice turned soft and syrupy sweet before she cleared her throat.“Gotta go.Thanks for the nudge, Jay.Give my love to Henry and Alice and your new mom-in-law.”

“Love you, Nat.”The call blipped out, and he tucked his phone away as Henry’s nephews came down the stairs wearing dark jeans so stiff they could’ve been yanked straight off a dry-cleaning rack.He’d get Alice to chatter at Nat later and find out about the mystery flame.Smacking his hands together, he grinned at the boys in their socks.“All right, so you’re ready to go?Let’s hoof it.”

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