Page 20 of A Candy Cane Christmas
Always.
Except for last Friday evening, when Luci had dropped by and picked us up for an impromptu date.
Ohh, it’d made me uncomfortable at first. There had been ants crawling all over me, the itchy feeling as if my skin was tootight for me. The nagging in my brain that said I was making a fool of myself because I had no idea how to behave or how to fingerpaint, so it didn’t look worse than my four-year-old daughter’s painting looked.
Hell—ooo kitty, I’d even locked myself in his bathroom for a good ten minutes, leaving my daughter in his care, just for the chance to get my bearings. When I’d felt like I had myself under control again, I left the bathroom, only to be thrown back into the chaos as soon as I entered the living room.
It was my worst nightmare.
And one of the best, funnest evenings in my life.
“Daddy, do we still have time to make the peppermint bark before Grandma and Grandpa get here?” Hazel asked from her spot on the couch, a picture book sitting on her lap.
Time to make a decision.
“We wanted to ask Luci to join us, remember?” I said, a wave of nerves hitting me square in the chest. A part of me expected her to tell me she didn’t want Luci to help us. Which was utter nonsense. The whole week it’d been Luci this, Luci that. What was Luci doing? Does he have time for us to finish the painting?
He did, so we spent Wednesday afternoon covering the giant canvas in glue and way too much glitter.
“Yes, let’s go!” Hazel jumped up from the couch, the book hitting the hardwood floor with a dull thud. “I want Grandma to meet him. I bet she likes him. What do you think, Daddy? Do you think Grandma will like Luci? I mean, he’s an elf. I bet she’s really impressed we’re friends with an elf.”
Hazel gave me a wide grin, rolling to her tiptoes, rocking up and down in excitement, her hands folded in front of her chest.
The air was punched from my chest as I was hit by a freight train of memories. Josie, looking at me with that exact expression, her dark brown ponytail bouncing up and down.“Can we? Can we, can we, can we pleeaaaase go dress shopping tomorrow?”It’d been the last time we were out together. Hazel, she, and I, wandering around the city, trying to find the perfect prom dress for her.
“Daddy? Where are you? I’m waiting!”
I heard the telltale click of the apartment door opening. Shaking my head, I shoved the memories aside. Even three years later, the similarities between Hazel and Josie occasionally threw me off and sent me on a trip down memory lane.
“I’m here,” I said, hurrying out of the living room.
Apparently, I was doing this. Well,wewere doing this. Kidnapping Luci for an impromptu date. Doing the same thing I’d asked him not to do a second time. Then again, I had the feeling Luci wouldn’t mind.
He was the go-with-the-flow type. Taking things the way they were.
“Do you think the glue is dry now?” Hazel asked, jumping down the stairs. “It was a lot of glue, so it takes a long time to dry, but it’s been ages.” My little drama queen let out a long sigh.
“If Luci’s home, we can check.”
I still didn’t have the slightest idea where to put a five-foot painting of a Christmas tree, but I’d figure it out.
By the time I made it down the stairs, Hazel was already furiously knocking on Luci’s door.
“Mr. Elf? I mean Luci? Are you home? We want to… Ohh, you’re home!”
My heart jumped in my chest, kick-starting into a faster pace.
“Uhm, hi,” I said, raising my hand to wave at him when all I wanted was to hug him and hold him close.
“Hey,” he answered, his voice filled with warmth and a hint of amusement. For once, he wasn’t wearing paint-stained clothes, just a regular hoodie and sweatpants. His hair wasn’t in a bun either, but hanging in curls down to his chest.
“Do you want to come with us?” Hazel interjected, drawing Luci’s eyes away from me. “Daddy bought chocolate and candy canes—the mint ones—and he says we can make peppermint bark. But only with you. I want to make peppermint bark, so you need to come.” Holding out her hand, she waited for him to take it and just let himself be kidnapped.
Silent laughter flashed over his face and settled into a smirk as he looked up at me. “Peppermint bark?”
I shrugged, going for nonchalance, but failing miserably. My cheeks burned with heat because I knew he knew that this was all for him. He was the one who’d ordered everything peppermint that day in the coffee shop, not me. And I’d even told him I’d noticed.
“Yes!” Hazel shouted, impatiently crossing her arms in front of her. “Can you come? Grandma and Grandpa will pick me up in an hour, so we don’t have much time.”
