Page 47 of Must Love Christmas

“Ta. She sheds pretty quickly if she’s left alone.”

“So I shouldn’t dress her in a Christmas elf costume? It’d be a hit on Instagram.” At Simon’s look of horror, Garen laughed and said, “I’m only kidding on. Though she’d look adorable in a wee jingly hat.”

Simon shook his head and kept eating. “You’re so weird.”

“And you’re not weird at all, but I like you anyway.” Garen lounged sideways on the love seat and dangled his feet over one arm. “Talking of Christmas—”

“When are you not?”

“Ha. Anyway, my boxes of decorations are to be delivered from storage tomorrow. Normally I’d have the flat done up by now, but the Aberdeen Curl Fest was a week early this year.” He rubbed his heavy layer of sandy stubble with both hands. “I cannae believe it’s already the twenty-seventh.”

Simon opened his mouth to remind Garen of the snow globes and Christmas sundries that had already populated the flat before he’d gone into hospital, but then his mind snagged on the date.

Tomorrow, the twenty-eighth of November, was the race Simon had registered for in San Sebastián. It would’ve been his tenth marathon, a true landmark. Without this illness, he’d be in sunny Spain right now, not snowy Glasgow. Without this illness, he’d be preparing to run his heart out.

He would get there one day, he vowed silently—maybe not next year, but surely the year after that, even if he had to run the half-marathon instead of the full one. This nerve-ravaging beast wouldn’t keep him down forever.

“Or I could wait to decorate.”

Simon dragged his attention back to the present to see Garen looking at him. “Sorry, what? Why would you wait?”

“If…erm…” Garen fidgeted with the ties of his faded red hoodie. “If you decided to come back to the flat after the hospital instead of going to Liverpool. We could decorate together.”

Simon froze. Until this moment, he hadn’t truly entertained the possibility. Lying helpless in bed, all he’d wanted was the safety and security of his childhood home. “I won’t be getting about on my own, you know. I’ll need the wheelchair outside the flat and the walking frame inside it.”

“So that’s a maybe, then?”

“Well, erm…” Simon stammered, struggling to say no to those wide blue eyes. “Us living together wouldn’t be the same as before. I’m not the same.”

“You’re still you. I liked living with you.” Garen focused on his hoodie ties, tugging each one in turn to make the ends line up. “I think I’d like it even more now we’re, erm, friends.”

Erm, friends.Is that all they were? As much time as Garen had spent here—as much time as Simonwantedhim here—they’d clearly become more than mates, even if they’d not so much as kissed since the night they’d met.

But how would living together with Simon in his current state affect their relationship? He would try his best not to be a burden, but Garen would have to make accommodations he might come to resent, especially given his “very low tolerance for miserable situations.”

Even if Garen embraced his new role, the power imbalance might be too much for Simon. Things would get messy, and if there was one thing Simon couldn’t stand, it was a mess, literal or metaphorical.

The alternative was leaving Garen behind for weeks. Anything could happen during that time. Simon might come back to their flat in February and find Garen’s newest lover striding shirtless down their hallway.

“I’ll think about it,” Simon said.

“Cool. Oh, I had a brilliant idea at work last week: the International Museum of Gift Shops.” Garen spread his hands like he was picturing the words on a marquee. “So many museums have great gift shops, why not have a museum honoring them?”

Simon smiled at Garen’s favorite phrase:Why not?“That is absolutely cuckoo. So it would probably make millions.”

“Right? I’ve looked it up, and gift shops are the only thing in the world there’s no museum for. There’s even a Moist Towelette Museum in Michigan.”

“Sounds like my sort of place,” Simon said. “So what would be sold in the gift shop at the International Museum of Gift Shops?”

“Excellent question. I’m thinking a ‘Best of’ collection, samples of stuff sold at the featured gift shops. Along with commemorative plates, of course.”

As Garen kept brainstorming, Simon simply ate his souvlaki and tried to imagine living without him.

Chapter 10

27 Days UntilChristmas

“Don’t get overly excited,” Catriona said as she helped Simon ease back into his wheelchair, “but it’s time to talk discharge.”

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