Page 63 of Sweet Silver Bells
“That line is six miles long.” Darius frowned.
“I think that’s called Christmas spirit.” Hunter laughed.
“All of the forced fun,” Sadie teased, not meeting Nina’s eyes.
“Come on, Tom,” Darius said, making Nina’s eyes lighten a bit.
As their group trudged through the line, the holiday music on the speakers died down, and a band was setting up in front of the Christmas tree. Hunter saw a trombone, an electric guitar, a set of drums, and a saxophone gleaming from the decorations on the tree.
“At least the music is going to get more lively.” Hunter motioned toward the musicians.
“Forty bucks for three beers? I’m a teacher, man.” Darius complained to the poor girl working in the window. “Sorry, guys, we are going Dutch.”
Darius paid, collected a single twenty-ounce plastic cup filled with a foamy yellow liquid, and let the others move through the window. Hunter went next, collected his alcohol, being thelast of their smaller, divided group to not order the hot mug of spiced mule. The cold condensation on his hands after some of his drink bounced over the rim made him regret not ordering something hot, so he began to chug.
“Whoa, there's a lumberjack,” Darius laughed. “I know I joked about double fisting, but you’re really going for it.”
“I just want it out of my hands,” Hunter said, gasping for air with only a fifth of the beer left as the others gathered around him. His head immediately got lighter, his shoulders relaxed, and his blood warmed.
“Are they still in line for the carousel?” Sadie asked. “I wanted to get to know this new girl better.”
“I’m not happy that she was pulled away from me,” Hunter said, eyeing the carousel in the distance, unable to make out any individual people.
“A little possessive, are we, then? Hunter, that’s certainly a new side of you I’ve never seen,” Sadie said, sipping her spiced steaming mug and then frowning. “Ooh, that’s not good.”
Sadie wasn’t wrong. Hunter’s anxiety had been growing, his fingers throbbing since Olivia’s hand was not laced within his.
“The drink helps, but yeah, it’s a new relationship, and she’s new to the area. I’m a little protective.”
“I like tipsy Hunter,” Darius said. “He’s an entirely more dominant type of man.”
“I went to his house yesterday, and I thought she was going to jump on me, attack me; so you know, it could be some of her hostile influence.” Sadie snorted.
“I didn’t get hostile from her,” Nina said, “more whimsical, a woodland fairy.”
“With claws,” Sadie muttered.
“Let’s talk about how jealous you sound.” Darius laughed at Sadie.
“I’m not going anywhere, Sadie.” Hunter sighed, gulping down the last of his beer. “Let’s go explore so I can go home.”
“That’s the spirit,” Darius said, cheering his beer in the air. “We can head over in that general direction so they can catch up.”
The five began walking down the row toward the carousel, vendors smiling and trying to attract customers to their handmade trinkets. Their pace was slow as they perused hand-knitted scarves, caramel popcorn in ribbon-wrapped jars, and jewelry.
Hunter stopped at one of the tables, picking up a necklace with a moon pendant hanging from a silver chain. It glistened as if it were made of the very snow that threatened to start falling from the sky at any moment, a sheen over the pendant that caught and held onto any light it could pull.
“Spooky necklace,” Darius said. “She’s into that stuff, then, your new girl? The dark and the ominous?”
“It’s just a moon, Darius,” Hunter said, but he wasn’t wrong; it did remind him of Olivia.
“I’ll take this,” he said, holding it up to the vendor. He then handed over some cash before moving on.
“Oh my gosh,” Nina squealed. “Look at those ornaments. Tiny reindeer made out of walnuts. I wonder if I can make this an art project for the kindergartners next year.”
“I think suggesting that five-year-olds can make what someone is trying to sell can be defeating,” Hunter heard Tom say.
“Tom’s kind of a dick, no?” Darius lowered his voice.
