Page 116 of My Secret Snowflake
She reaches into the next sock and pulls out a picture of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
She smiles at me, but it’s more of a “this is cute” expression.
I can’t wait until she figures it out.
The next sock has a picture of a Yuletide cake. Her brow furrows. She clearly thinks I need some help in making scavenger hunts.
She opens up sock number five, which has a photo of the Hudson River.
“We should glue all these into a scrapbook,” she says. I love that she’s trying to make the best of what she clearly thinks is a random assortment of memories from our relationship so far.
Sock number six has a photo of my bicycle. On the back, I underlined the b faintly. She holds that picture for a moment. And then she looks back at the clues which are all lined up on the table.
“L for Levain Bakery, O for Oz, Oh cool. Love. But R for Rudoph, so not V. Unless is this supposed to be Vixen? But how does Yuletide cake fit in? Lovy. Or is it anebecause you eat a Yuletide cake? But this is clearly Rudoph. The nose is glowing red.”
I tilt my head, but I don’t say yes or no.
Clue number seven is a photo of the Rockefeller Christmas tree, and clue number eight is an abbreviation for Christmas.
“Xmas?” she asks.
I nod.
She writes down the first letters of all the words on a legal pad on my coffee table.
LORYHBRX
She glances at me quickly, her eyes widening. “Caesar’s cipher?”
I kiss her on the forehead. She quickly figures out the letters that are three letters behind these.
I LOVE YOU
“I love you,” she says.
“I love you,” I say. “Exactly.”
She puts her hands to her mouth and just stares at me. “This is so unbelievably romantic and perfect for me.”
“You’re unbelievably perfect for me in every way,” I say.
Chapter thirty-eight
Epilogue - Iris
Thebarisclosedfor Christmas Eve as we celebrate, family and friends only. The napkins are now crumpled, the dishes cleared, just empty or half-full cups of coffee or tea and dessert plates left, as everyone leans back, satiated, away from the tables decorated with red tablecloths and candles.
Our parents’ meeting went well. Our moms definitely clicked, and our dads were chatting. My siblings definitely get along with his sister, who flew back from London for the holiday week.
It feels weird not to have Lily here, but she’s with her dad, Rupert, and his family. She and her dad used to join us, after her mom passed.
“I can’t believe you’re both working for Shooting Stars,” Liam says. Xavier did not take it well when both Sebastian and I resigned—even though it was because of his ultimatum. He promoted Jin Ae, at least, as I recommended, and asked Bob to return.
“No work discussions,” Sebastian’s dad says, and Sebastian and his sister both look at their dad in surprise. “I’m not such an old dog that I can’t learn new tricks.”
Sebastian raises his glass to him. Sebastian then wraps his arm around me, and I snuggle into him.
My sister’s son, Jack, climbs into my lap. “Auntie Iris, how is Santa Claus going to leave us presents? We don’t have a chimney.”
