Page 38 of Promise Yule Be Mine
I narrowed my eyes and hummed. I was sure that wasn't true, but I wasn't going to say anything. I didn't need to. Kody was a client. Not a prospective date. I didn't need to compliment him any more than I already had, right?
As we left the dogs to their own devices and made our way upstairs, we bumped into Kody's mom.
She was a short, kind and vivacious woman. She'd been the life of the Parade of Lights last week, waving her glow sticks and cheering every float, dancing to the music, singing along. In a way, she reminded me a lot of my Momma.
"Oh Nova! Hello, dear. How are you?" she asked, trapping me in her embrace almost immediately.
"I'm great, thank you, Mrs. Campbell."
She exhaled as she let go. "Please, sweetheart. Call me Shelly. None of that Mrs. Campbell stuff. I don't need to be reminded of my age."
I nodded with a chuckle and Kody showed me up the stairs to the attic.
"Oh thank you so much for all the help, sweetheart. I don't know what these two would do without you. It's as if they don't evencare about this wedding," Shelly said just before we climbed the stairs.
"Mom!" Kody groaned but I winked at her and followed him upstairs.
It would’ve been a lie if I didn't admit I'd wondered the same myself many times since I'd arrived in Christmas Falls.
The attic was large and dark, stretching the entire length of the house with various piles of things buried under sheets scattered across the room.
Kody turned the lights on although it did very little to illuminate the attic, but he'd thought of that already as he handed me a torch.
"I'm pretty sure we put everything on that side but I could be wrong." He pointed to the far end and I followed him, lighting our path. "It's right above my room so we thought we'd put my stuff here to keep somewhat organized."
I helped him take the sheet off. There was a disassembled children's bed, an old-fashioned—but in perfect condition—crib, a little desk and boxes upon boxes all marked with different names. Clothes split into age groups, books split into grades and a box that practically made me melt into a puddle.
"Stuffed toys!" I lifted the first teddy bear from the box and hugged it.
It was a matted old brown bear with an eye missing and a few loose threads but it was what made it adorable.
"Ah. I see you found Mr. Tummy. That's embarrassing."
"Embarrassing? Are you kidding? He's so cute."
"He is?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Of course he is. Don't let him hear you." I covered the teddy's ears and Kody laughed. "My Dad used to love stuffed toys. He had a whole collection that he pretended was for us, but we all knew he loved them himself."
"Used to?" His smile dropped and he stared at me.
I sighed and bit my lip. "Yeah. He passed away a long time ago." I hugged Mr. Tummy tighter.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
I shook my head. "I know," I said. "It's okay. I've had years to come to terms with it."
Kody looked into the box and retrieved a long, powder blue stuffed centipede and shook its face in front of mine.
"Does someone ever come to terms with such a loss?" he asked.
I giggled away from the playful centipede and took another deep breath. "No. Not really. But you learn to put one foot in front of the other and go on, at the very least. I mean, I had five younger brothers to look after. Especially after my older brother left to join the Navy."
"Five? That's a big house."
I chuckled. "That's a loud house. Not sure about big. But yeah. There's seven of us. All but Slade, that's my oldest brother, live at home still."
"Wow." Kody's eyes widened. "And you guys get along?"
