Santa's Secret

“How’s work?” I ask, breaking the silence.

“I’m wondering if we should announce our intent to marry tomorrow while I’m at church or wait until the tree lighting ceremony.”

I can’t hold back my laughter, even though I’m trying. Aiden and I both look at Holly, fearful that I might wake her. For a kid who closed her eyes to pretend to sleep, it didn’t take her long to pass out. “I can call Calvin and ask him to come get me.”

He shakes his head. “No, it’s not worth it. No one should be driving in this stuff. I’ll find a way to deal with your brother.”

“He’s as bad as my mother.”

“He did learn from her,” Aiden points out. “After the incident at the mall, he serenaded me with the hero song.”

“No, he didn’t?”

Aiden doesn’t even have to confirm what he told me. I know Dominic well enough to know he’d do something ridiculous like that. “I’m sorry. He’s just…”

“Dominic—”

“The donkey.” I interrupt Aiden to finish. “I should ask my parents if that’s why they named him Dominic. Maybe they had a premonition before he was born.”

Aiden does everything he can to hold back his laughter. Holly stirs, causing us both to cover our mouths. “No more jokes.” He begs.

“I can’t help it. Dom tortured me while I was growing up. I can at least poke fun at his name, especially at Christmastime. I think tomorrow I’m going to play it loudly and make snorting sounds when he comes home.”

Aiden’s eyes go wide. “Please, invite me over. This is something I have to see.”

“Deal.”

Aiden gets up to stir the fire, and I use the chance to readjust Holly, so I’m a little more comfortable. He takes the spot next to me, sitting so close our bodies are touching. He smells like wood, fire, and Christmas, all wrapped up. I’m tempted to inhale deeply, but don’t want to come off as a weirdo. Instead, on the inside, I’m giddy as a schoolgirl sitting next to her crush.

“What’s your one regret?” I ask him.

He takes a deep breath in and exhales slowly. “I don’t know if I have any. I think that once you have a child, anything you wish you had done differently goes out the window because of the love you feel for them. What about you?”

“I would’ve told Dom to leave us alone.”

“Laney…”

“No, just listen, Fish. For a long time, I always wondered if I missed my opportunity at my happily ever after. Hollywood is rough on life, love, and happiness, but I always thought I’d keep the small town girl with me even out there, and find my one and only. But it wasn’t until you pulled me over that day and I looked into your eyes that I finally felt like I was home again. I know neither of us is in any place to be more than friends, but I do wonder if I had made different choices, how life would’ve been.”

Aiden doesn’t respond with words but does with the most fantastic gesture possible. He clasps his hand with mine and leans into me.

Twenty

Aiden

“What the…” My heart begins to beat rapidly as I look around. Every light is on and someone is going on about Santa bringing them a gift for Christmas. It takes me a minute to recognize the voice is coming from the radio. I’m also sweating and feel like I’m being trapped by something. That something is Delaney. She’s resting against my side with her arm draped over my stomach, sleeping soundly despite the lights and noise. I suppose, in her line of work, you learn to sleep through anything.

Rubbing my hand over my face, I tap Delaney on her shoulder, trying to rouse her. I don’t know what time we fell asleep or how she ended up next to me, but she is. Her lips purse into a little pout and her eyes flutter. I wonder if she’s dreaming about being home in California or if Ramona Falls is invading her subconscious. Laney hasn’t been home long but she’s already had an impact on everyone around her. When she leaves to go back, people here will be torn. Holly will be devastated. After all, she’s already attached to Delaney.

Holly isn’t the only one.

Speaking of my daughter, she’s at the end of the couch, with her legs resting on Delaney’s. By the look of us, you’d wonder how any of us slept at all. I reach out and touch Holly’s toes, but she doesn’t budge either. We’re a heaping pile of arms, legs and torsos on a couch meant for sitting, At a push, one person could sleep here, but it wouldn’t be comfortable. I should know since my back is screaming in pain and my neck has a kink in it. I’m afraid to move out of fear I might pull a muscle.

Delaney mumbles incoherently but doesn’t stir. It would be so easy to close my eyes and fall asleep with her but there’s no way I can, not with the power back on. Carefully, I slide out from under her. The burning embers left over from the fire are still red and glowing. Using the poker, I spread them out, hoping to extinguish them before it’s time to leave for church. Although, missing today might be a good idea. It’s only going to take a matter of minutes for word to spread that Delaney spent the night. I wish her being here wasn’t such a big deal to people, but small town lives need gossip to survive.

The plow truck thunders by, causing the front window to rattle. “Some day,” I mutter, knowing the day will come when I can fix up this place.

“Some day, what?” Delaney asks from behind me. I look at her from over my shoulder. Her hair is a mess, matted to her face, and she has raccoon eyes.