Page 32 of Secret Santa

Kelsey came skipping down the aisle of the bus, singing and waving the gift in her hand before flopping into the seat next to me. Thanksgiving and Black Friday had been heaven. Being able to laze in bed until noon, made it so much harder to wake up at four on Saturday morning to catch our bus for the divisional conference finals. I could feel the pull back to Priscilla as I sat trying so hard to focus on stats and strategies as we waited for the rest of the team to file in. Oklahoma wasn’t a terribly far ride by bus, but we had a schedule we needed to stick to, especially if we wanted to make the most of our pool sessions this afternoon.

“Well, aren’t you going to open it?” she asked, pointing to the gift in my hands with far too much enthusiasm this early in the morning.

“Can I wait until my eyes are open and I have a full grip on my faculties?” I joked, wishing my coffee would cool down enough to get at least the tiniest sip of it into my system.

Seeing as how she didn’t intend to leave until I did, I turned over the package and undid the tape that bound the wrapping paper. Inside was a frame was a picture of me and my brothers. Harris, with his Elvis Presley sunglasses and mutton chops that he was in the process of placing on his face. Beckett’s reaction to Harris’ goofball nature was quintessentially Beckett with his chagrined smile and heavenward gaze. I looked at both of them with a smile so large it wrinkled the skin around my eyes and my mouth. The three of us looked blissfully happy. The moment was so pure and felt sobrotherlyI had to look away for a minute lest I lose my shit in front of Kelsey.

“Aww, that’s the cutest picture!” She lifted it from my hands so she could inspect it. “I remember this day. It was when Harris and Beckett had an Elvis impersonation contest and you and Miss Priscilla went for a ride around the square.”

The picture felt incredibly intimate. Something that a stranger wouldn’t have thought to get me. It was the kind of gift that people whoknewyou gifted you to whisperI see youand I know the things that light you from the inside.

Sure there were plenty of people in the diner that day. Fitzy, Kelsey, Tiernan, even some of our neighbors like Clara and Olive. But I couldn’t imagine any of them knew me well enough to know what this kind of picture would mean to me. She gave herself away with a gift like this. And as the realization hit, so many other things clicked into place.

It was barely after four, and I didn’t want to risk waking her up. She finally had help in the diner again which meant she had the luxury of waking up at a normal time again. I wouldn’t take that away from her, even with a flowery text message about how deeply I loved my gift. It could wait.

ChapterTwenty-Two

The gift I’d asked Kelsey to give to Presley would probably give me away. I could have held onto that picture and given it to him as a Christmas gift. But after everything he’d gone through at work, I wanted him to remember he had a solid cheering section with him as he went into competition season. He’d told me if they did well at the divisional championships, they’d make it to the NCAA tournament for the first time in the school’s history. I wanted that for him more than anything else. But even if they fell short—it was a bit of a longshot as they were going into the tournament ranked number four—the town still buzzed with all of the hope he brought to the team.

“What a great write up of you in the paper sugar!” Fitzy waltzed into the diner, holding said paper in her hand.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I told her, unfolding the paper.

LoveaBULLS!

The headline read

Swim Team Gives Back to Neighbor in Need.

My lungs constricted as the headline knocked into my solar plexus. I scanned the article which discussed my cook breaking his ankle which left me alone, shouldering the burden of holiday orders needing to get out. Enter stage left the swim team, led by Coach Murray, who were all thrilled to lend a helping hand. There were some quotes from the kids about being proud to help a place they frequented so often and a couple of statements from people who lived in the area about how they didn’t know I’d stayed afloat in such desperate times. I had to stop reading because my pulse raced so hard I could see my heart beat in the wavy way the words constricted on the page.

“Why would he do this?” I choked on the words, looking to Fitzy for explanation.

“Do this? Hon nothing wasdoneto you. This is a great story. What fantastic publicity both for the diner and his swim team.”

Me: Why would you do this?

I texted Presley without even thinking about the words my fingers typed on my screen.

Me: Using my diner to help your little PR nightmare?

Me: How dare you.

Me: I am not nor will I ever be someone’s charity case.

I stared at my phone waiting for a response. Any kind of explanation but it didn’t come. Of course, it wouldn’t. He probably didn’t even have his phone on him.

Me: This was low, Presley.

Me: After everything I told you, I would have never expected this from you.

Writing the words didn’t make me feel any better. In fact, it only made me feel worse. Used. Like I’d shown him the deepest part of me, and he used it to gain notoriety for himself and wipe away the memories of what had just happened with the doping accusation. As if to say “Oh hey! Over here! Look I’m actually a good guy.”

“Priscilla, you need to calm down sugar.” Fitzy’s wrinkled hand stayed my own, preventing me from typing anything else. “Maybe you should call him before you shoot off words you won’t be able to take back.”

Perhaps she was right. At that moment I didn’t want her to be. My heart throbbed. The poisoned steel of betrayal pulsed through every heartbeat.

“Priscilla, please hear what I’m saying. That man would never do anythingtoyou like you think he would. If he wanted to hurt you, why would he have spent the last few weeks making sure you didn’t burn out? Why would he worry about you as much as I do if all he cared about was a little bit of publicity?”

---