Page 45 of Can I Tell You Something?
“Oh, that’s… you don’t have to do that,” I say, hopping up to block her path. I reach out to take them from her, but she just looks up at me and smiles. That pretty smile that’s throwing my world off its axis.
“Of course we do. You will not spend Christmas with us and be left out. And anyway…” she drops her voice to a whisper, “I happen to know Dad bought an alarming amount of sweets yesterday.”
“Yeah dude,” Ryan says, slapping me on the back. “You’re part of the family now. An extra brother.” Hannah raises her eyebrows in the exact same slightly horrified way I do. She crouches to line them up.
“There we go. Now all we have to do is go to sleep and hope Dad actually remembers to come down and fill them.”
The three of us tidy up after ourselves and turn off the kitchen light before heading to our separate rooms. From the top of the stairs, I glance back at the scene below. A perfectly sized tree, not too tall to be obnoxious or too small to seem pathetic, draped in warm twinkling lights sitting in the corner. Our completed puzzle on the coffee table for Cheryl to admire in the morning. The fire is dying out and in front of it, three pairs of shoes wait for Christmas magic.
I’m struck with a vision of my future. My shoes, her shoes, and a bunch of little ones, all in a row.
Chapter 27
Hannah
Christmasdaypassesliketreacle. Chocolate from my shoe for breakfast. Elf on the TV. Leftovers. A dip in the hot tub. A nap on the sofa.
And Cameron.
Cameron’s smiles across the room. Cameron’s thigh pressed against mine underneath the table. Cameron’s wink and a kiss blown my way when he walks backwards out of the room. Our little secrets.
I am in heaven, completely under his spell.
Yet we’re never alone, and when it comes to the great Richmond book exchange, I feel terrible that I don’t have a gift for him.
“In France, most families exchange presents on Christmas eve, but as we got older we decided it was ridiculous to ship a bunch of gifts out here only to take them home again,” I explain. “So we buy each other books and swap them on Christmas Day.”
Dad pipes up from behind his crossword puzzle. “You can never go wrong with a book.”
“I’m really sorry. If I’d known you were coming, I’d have brought something for you, too.”
“That’s absolutely unnecessary,” he says, pulling his phone from his pocket as he heads back upstairs. I don’t blame him for wanting to skip out on this part of the day. My phone buzzes a few seconds later, just as he disappears from view.
Cam:You already gave me the best gift possible x
Mum, Dad, and I pass our gifts around and I settle into the corner of the sofa to open mine. Of all our family traditions, I think this one is my favourite. The books I receive will be my closest companions for the rest of the trip, and my family always chooses well.
I’m pleasantly surprised to be given a collection of Nora Ephron essays.
“No law books?” I tease, reminding Dad of my first year of university when that’s all he bought me.
“No sweetheart, I learned my lesson there.”
“I have something for you all too, actually,” Cameron says, dropping into the seat next to me with an armful of books wrapped in sheets of old newspaper.
“You do?”
“Yeah, your brother told me about your tradition, so I picked up a few things at the airport before we left.”
“Cameron,” Mum scolds. “You didn’t have to do that. You’re our guest! We didn’t get you or Ryan anything.”
“Trust me, it’s the least I could do.”
“Yeah sorry, I guess I’m outed as an airport gift purchaser too,” Ryan laughs, producing his gifts from underneath the table. “And we couldn’t find gift wrap anywhere in town, so we had to wrap them inLe Monde.”
I watch as Dad opens a book about the history of the Hollywood Hills, and Mum a Stanley Tucci cookbook.
“Oh, my God. He’s my celebrity crush,” she shrieks, flipping through the pages.
