Page 90 of Them Bones

After dinner, Dustin put on his rubber gloves and helped Jerry wash up. Laney took Shane’s hand, not-so-subtly tugging him towards the bedroom, but Shane shook his head.

“I have a surprise for you,” he said. “Get your coat.”

She scowled and he laughed, running his thumb over her bottom lip. “You’ll surviveone nightdon’t you think?” he whispered in her ear, kissing her sweetly.

“If I spontaneously combust, you only have yourself to blame,” she grumbled. He chuckled as they put on their coats and boots and clomped outside, the snow crunching beneath their feet, his arm wrapping around her shoulders and pulling her close.

It was dark already, but they veered off towards the tree line at the edge of the lot. Shane seemed to know where he was going, so she luxuriated in the feel of him pressed against her, the casualness with which he seemed to touch her now. Like a habit. Like it was something he’d just… always do.

It was quiet, the blanket of snow muffling the sounds of the wind and even their boots, the trees cocooning them like they were slipping into a secret cave, into some other reality where nobody existed but them.

After a few minutes, they stopped in a perfectly circular grove, all the trees leaning towards each other at the top creating a canopy, like a natural tipi made of pine.

In the middle was a small blue spruce tree, perfectly round, the exact same height as her.

Shane stepped towards the tree and reached into the branches; she heard a littleclick,and it was illuminated withwarm, white Christmas lights, glowing beneath the covering of snow.

It wasperfect.

“I thought about cutting it down and putting it up in the living room,” he said, looking at it, “but it didn’t feel right. It belongs here.” He shifted his gaze to her, and with blazing intensity, said “So do you.”

Her heart stuttered as she stared at the most gorgeous little Christmas tree she’d ever seen, hidden away, strung up with battery lights just for her.

She could feel it, feel the words pumping out of him, feel him trying to cram them back into his heart. But they were too loud, too strong, and came pouring out of him in waves with every heartbeat.

I love you.

Electricity arced between them, heat pooling between her legs, her chest tight.

I love you.

I love you.

I love you.

“I know,” she breathed. “I love you, too.”

SABRINA

Sabrina was surprised when she walked into the bakery that Thursday and saw Dustin. He always slipped out the back door as soon as he heard her key in the front lock, and she hadn’t interacted with him in probably close to a year.

“Hi,” she said, eyebrows raised.

He looked… different. He was definitely hitting puberty, now close to her height, and he was obviously spending more time outdoors because he wasn’t sickly pale. He was still thin, the kind of kid with a tiny build, but he looked fuller. Like he’d been using his body.

“Hi,” he said.

“Merry Christmas?” she offered. She didn’t really know what to say to him, they’d never spoken much. “Um… did you make sure to do extra of everything today? It’s Christmas Eve, everyone always comes rushing in for last minute rolls and dessert and… stuff.”

He nodded, gesturing to the double-stacked trays behind him.

“Here,” he said, handing her a square envelope.

She blinked in surprise but ran her finger under the envelope edge and peeled it open, pulling out a Christmas card.The cover had been done in thick, textured paint. It was the back of a girl, standing in the snow, bent at the waist and placing a carrot nose on a snowman. The girl was wrapped in a puffy red coat with a brown fur hood like Sabrina’s, dark curls spilling down her back. In the background was a small cabin, with a loaf of steaming bread cooling on a windowsill.

Inside, it just saidMerry Christmas.

“Dustin, this is so cool… it looks kind of like me!” she said, genuinely delighted. “Where did you find this?”

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