Page 102 of Behind the Bars

Then, out of nowhere, a miracle happened. His hands wrapped around my back, and he pulled me in closer to him. He allowed me to hold him, and he held me right back. He didn’t let me go, and that simple fact made me want to cry. Elliott Adams, the boy who hardly opened up to anyone anymore, was allowing me to get close to him. I held on so tightly to him, because I could tell how much he needed to be held thatnight.

I was so thankful he held meback.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Jasmine

Winter movedinto New Orleans quickly, and the cold weather swept through along with it. Elliott and I had spent the past few weeks working on his surprise for TJ, and it was all coming together so nicely. I’d have been lying if I’d said it wasn’t nice to be spending so much time with him, too. Even though we didn’t talk a lot, just being near him seemed like a treasure, seeing how he kept so many people far, faraway.

A week before Christmas, I sat bundled up in my pajamas, watching holiday movies alone, drinking hot cocoa. Mama had never made a big deal of holidays, and we used to work through most of them, so even though I was alone, it felt special to just sit and watch festive movies in reindeerpajamas.

When the front door handle started wiggling around nine that night, I jumped out of my skin, turning around to see who was there. Instead of a person, I saw atree.

“What in the world…” I muttered before the tree was pushed farther into the apartment and a smiling Ray popped up frombehind.

“Merry Christmas, Snow White!” hehollered.

“Oh my gosh! What are you doing here?” I rushed over to pull him into ahug.

“It’s almost Christmas. Did you think I’d miss our first Christmastogether?”

I laughed. “You’reJewish.”

“Yeah, but decorating trees always sounded fun.” He lifted the tree and dragged it farther into the living room. “Also, side note, there’s about seven hundred dollars of decorations in the car and two more smaller trees for the dining room andkitchen.”

“Seriously?” I smirked, my hands pressed to my chest in excitement. “A tree for thekitchen?”

He shrugged. “For our first Christmas. We can tame things down nextyear.”

“We’ll celebrate Hanukkah next year,” I toldhim.

“How about next year we light the menorah and decorate the Christmastree?”

I smiled wide, nodding. “Deal.”

We stayed up late, adorning the apartment and laughing with one another, singing every Christmas song under the sun. By the time we finished, it looked as if we were standing in the middle of the North Pole. We had pretty much nailedChristmas.

“So, what do you think? You think I should try to cook a ham and a turkey for Christmas day?” Rayoffered.

“Good God, no.” I laughed, plopping down on the sofa. “I was actually thinking maybe we could have people over for dinner? Just a few friends, like TJ. He’s been through so much these past few weeks, and I know he’s feeling a bit down in the dumps, so I think a holiday dinner with loved ones could cheer him up,maybe.”

“That sounds like a solid plan. I can still definitely help cook,” hestarted.

“No, seriously—I don’t want anyone dying on my watch,” Ijoked.

He threw a couch pillow at me, and I tossed it rightback.

“I’m glad you’reback.”

He smiled. “Metoo.”

* * *

The next morningwhen I arrived at TJ’s house, Elliott was standing on the front porch with a mug in his hand. “Black coffee,” he told me, handing it myway.

I smiled at his thoughtfulness. “Thank you. How’s he doing this morning? How was lastnight?”

“He’s good. I put on a Miles Davis documentary for him to watch, and it seemed to ease his mind for abit.”

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