Total pages in book: 18
Estimated words: 17853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 89(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 60(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 89(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 60(@300wpm)
“Well, the highway is still closed, from what I hear. They’re still clearing the snow. It should reopen in a few hours, though.”
“How do you know?”
“Bonnie Johnson called me, and her husband is on the snow removal crew. When it’s all clear, your father is going to go get Missy.”
“I don’t mind getting her.”
“You’re busy,” she says. “And your dad doesn’t mind, either. I’m just glad she stayed in town. Anyway, you take whatever you want out of that and trim your Christmas tree with your girl.”
With my girl.
I really like the sound of that.
“Thanks, Mom.” With my hands full, I bend down so she can kiss me on the cheek, and then I make my way down their freshly shoveled steps to my truck and head back to the cabin.
When I walk inside, I’m hit with the smell of popcorn.
“Did you remember the sewing thread?” Joy asks as she shakes a bag of microwave popcorn into a bowl.
“Yep, it’s in here. Along with about a hundred other things that my mom insisted I take.”
“Awesome,” she replies with a happy smile. “Thanks for running over to get it. I popped the corn, and we’re ready to start decorating.”
“Great.” I can hear the sarcasm in my voice.
“Come on, admit it. This is fun. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have cut that tree down for me.”
“Let’s see how the next hour goes before I admit that I’m having a good time.”
Joy rolls her eyes and opens the box, eyeing everything that Mom sent over. “This is good stuff. Do you want to do a color theme?”
“You’re asking me?”
“Okay, Scrooge, we won’t do a color theme. But let’s do reds and greens and golds. There seems to be a lot of that in here. I’ll hang ornaments while you make the popcorn garland.”
“Can I also eat the popcorn?”
“Fine by me. There’s more over there if we need it.”
“Deal. How’s the ankle?”
“It’s fine. I’m not even limping.”
“Is it sore?”
“Not really. Come on, let’s think about Christmas.”
And for the next couple of hours, I eat and string the popcorn while Joy decorates the tree. She even finds enough extra in that box to decorate my small kitchen table, and she hangs the extra lights around the window in the living room.
“It looks like Santa Claus threw up in here.”
“It does not,” Joy says with a laugh. “It looks festive and fun. And the blinking lights are pretty.”
“Here’s hoping they don’t burn my house down.”
“You have to keep the tree watered,” she says. “Don’t forget.”
“I probably will forget.”
“I’ll have to call and remind you, then.”
I grin and pull Joy into my arms, rocking her back and forth while I kiss the top of her head. “Or you could just plan on spending most of your nights here.”
“And commute into town for work?”
“Something like that.”
“What will the town say when everyone hears that I’ve shacked up with John Wild?”
“Who the fuck cares?”
She grins and boosts herself up on her toes to kiss me. “I don’t care.”
With one more glance around the room, Joy sighs and reaches for her jacket.
“I hate to do it, but I think I’d better head home if the roads are open. I have to do a few things before I go back to work tomorrow.”
I’m not ready to say goodbye to her. I wasn’t lying when I said that I wanted her here all the time, if she’d be willing to stay.
But I understand that she has things to do.
“Okay, let me call my mom real quick to see if she’s heard anything. She’s in touch with someone whose husband is on the snow removal crew.”
“Oh, good idea,” Joy says as I dial the number.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Mom, it’s me. Are the roads open?”
“Yes, they are. Your father should be back with Missy any time. Are you headed to town?”
“Yeah, I shouldn’t be long.”
“Be careful, son. Talk to you later. Oh! How did the tree turn out?”
I glance over at the decorated tree in the corner and the woman standing beside it.
“It’s all really great.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear it. See you soon.”
Once I’ve hung up, I turn to Joy. “Are you ready?”
“I’m ready.”
It’s as if we’ve been in our own sexy bubble for the past couple of days at the cabin, and now that I’m driving her to her car, the bubble has burst, and I’m kind of sad about it.
If the silence coming from the passenger seat is any indication, I’d say that I’m not alone there.
Neither of us says much as I drive us into town and make my way over to the fire hall.
“It’s amazing how much snow they cleared,” Joy says, pointing to the big snow piles along the side of the streets. “That storm was a doozy.”
“I personally enjoyed the storm.”
She looks my way and bites her lower lip. “Yeah. Me, too.”