Page 29 of Secret Santa

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It hurt more than I thought it would to drop my brothers off at the terminal. Despite the stress of the week, and the drama that brought them to Texas in the first place, having them in my space all week had been heaven. It was like we were kids again living under the same roof—except we had cable television, and we could eat and drink whatever we wanted.

Beckett: Your invite to my wedding just got upgraded to a plus one. I expect Ms. Copper Penny to accompany you. No excuses. Love you brother. I’ll see you on the Zoom on Wednesday.

It figured that USAS would schedule a determination meeting the day before Thanksgiving. I wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or a bad one. Though I guess if there were any press surrounding the meeting, at least it would get buried in Macy’s Thanksgiving parades and football rivalry weekend.

Priscilla: Man you were right about having such an obvious alarm code. Vandals broke in here sometime overnight and decked my entire diner out in vase after vase of flowers. What kind of hooligans would desecrate my space like that? ??

At five in the morning there wasn’t much by the way of flower stores other than the twenty-four hour Walmart and the twenty-four hour Target. But, between the two, I think the Murray brothers did quite a bang-up job of properly thanking her for one of the best dates I’d had in a while…mind blowing sex notwithstanding.

Presley: What in carnation!

Presley: They’ve got some nerve poppy-ing in there and making your daisy

Presley: Trust me when I say, I’m so thorny

Presley: Want some help with a deflower ?? ??

Priscilla: ??

Priscilla: ?? My pun loving heart is overfilling, I ain’t dande-lion

Priscilla: Thank you for the flowers ??

Priscilla: And apparently an invitation to Beckett’s wedding on New Year’s Eve?

Presley: That sneaky little bastard. He can’t even give me first crack at asking you

Presley: Will you be my date to my brother’s wedding? I would love for you to be there with me.

Priscilla: Oh my gosh! I would love to! That is so sweet of Beckett to invite me.

Presley: Hey… I invited you. ???? He just tried to force my hand by putting it in writing in case I chickened out.

Priscilla: Well, thank you for the invite. I’m over the moon. And thank you again for the flowers, they made my morning. ??

Presley: You made my morning, and my midnight, my ten o’clock…I’d keep going but the last thing I need is to be walking into a swim meeting sporting my own tent ??

Priscilla: You’ll do great! Bring home a W!

Home. That word set off all kinds of feelings skittering through my nervous system. What a home would look like with Priscilla for one. How easily she’d melded with my brothers. And, I knew the two of them could be pretty overwhelming.

Realistically I knew she meant the team should bring the win to the university, but the part of me that had been an island for so long desperately wanted what that word promised. Especially seeing how settled and happy my brothers were. It felt attainable. Bright with possibilities. The image of the brothers Murray with wives and kids, having beers in the backyard while watching a game. The women of our lives all thick as thieves as well, despite us living in different states.

It felt attainable. Not just attainable but within reach. And, for the first time I could remember, I wanted to reach out and grab it.

* * *

“Priscilla’s coconut cake…” Coach Kimball and I sat in our briefing room waiting for the kids to come in. The meet on Saturday had gone exceedingly well, so much so we found ourselves in top twenty-five territory, which would mean a chance to compete at the Swimming championships if we could maintain that kind of success through the rest of the season.

“Is the best in three counties.” Coach Kimball completed my thought.

“Yes, I know. But how did it get to be that way? Was there some kind of baking competition?”

Coach Kimball straightened his chair back and ran a hand over his face to hide his entertained chagrin.

“I keep forgetting you’re not Texan. There’s this thing called the State Fair. It’s a big deal here, especially being so close to the capitol. The year Priscilla came back, after her mom passed and she took over the diner, she was dead set on proving to the whole dang county that she was a force to be reckoned with. Her diner was barely open a month when the State Fair came around and wouldn’t you know she baked her little heart out. Entered all of her goodies for consideration. Her peach cobbler has won a few times too. But her coconut cake has been undefeated five years running. She’s even been asked by national baking tournaments to bring her coconut cake to bigger stages.”

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