Page 56 of Must Love Christmas

“He was an absolute star.” Garen found a pen and started a new entry.

“So were you.”

Garen looked down to see Simon’s eyes closed again, his dark lashes silhouetted against the pale-yellow pillowcase.

He wanted to crawl onto the bed and pull Simon close, use his own body to soothe the rampaging nerve pain. But with Simon’s condition, making any sort of move would feel like taking advantage.

Garen took a step back as the full weight of responsibility hit him. He’d done everything he could do to prepare—removed all the tripping hazards, bought a secondhand table and chairs for the kitchen so Simon could rest while he was in there, even ramped up his own strength training so he could physically support or even lift Simon if needed.

But none of those preparations could overcome Garen’s chronic absentmindedness. What if he forgot something important, and Simon got hurt? There were so many ways this could go wrong.

“Go back to sleep,” Simon said. “Don’t worry about me.”

As if he could sleep whilst imagining disasters.“I can wrap you up tomorrow, too. Or whenever you need it. But you’ll probably need to remind me.”

“Okay.”

“I know it’s hard to ask for help, and I’m sorry I won’t remember without being asked.”

“Garen,” Simon said in a strained voice. “You’ve done so much already.”

“I’m just compensating for screwing up later.” Garen gave a light laugh, but he meant every word.

When Simon remained silent, Garen switched off the faerie lights and turned to leave.

Simon’s voice stopped him at the door. “You know why I chose to stay here instead of going back to Liverpool?”

“Why?” Garen asked, half-hoping the answer would be,Because I couldn’t live without you.

“Because I wanted to do this on my own. Iwilldo this on my own. So any help you give is just a bonus. You’re not responsible for me.”

“I know I’m not,” Garen croaked out.

“And if I fail at this, it won’t be your fault, okay?”

Garen let out a long breath, feeling his knotted-up shoulder muscles unwind a wee bit. Simon might not have given him the answer he’d wanted, but it was definitely the answer he’d needed. “Okay.”

Chapter 12

19 Days UntilChristmas

In the nearly eight years he’d been curling, Garen had never thought much about what he did on the ice. Once he’d learned the basics, the sport had more or less come naturally to him. Like any curler, he’d had his ups and downs, and he’d seen the downs the same way he’d seen the ups: as passing phases.

Until now.

“So back to basics.” Oliver stood with Garen on the carpeted catwalk beside Sheet A at Shawlands Rink. “Curling is all about momentum. You’re a scientist, so tell me the formula for momentum.”

Garen wasn’tthatsort of scientist, so it took him a moment to dredge up the answer. “Erm…p = mv,momentum equals mass times velocity.”

“Bingo,” Oliver said. “Can you control your mass? Within reason, I mean.”

“No.”

“So finding your draw weight is about controlling your velocity. What determines that in curling?”

Garen knew this one. “How hard we push out of the hack.”

His coach’s face told him this was the wrong answer. “For a draw? When you want a light touch?”

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