“Are you okay?” Jasmine asked, her eyes pulling down at the corners with her frown. “Do you want me to have Theo drive you to the ER?”
“No, no,” he said, turning toward the studio and the bathroom alongside. “I’ll be right out. He’s calmed down. Everything’s going to be fine.”
But when Josh braced his hands on the counter, watching blood drip, drip, drip into the white sink, he was having serious doubts about Grace’s true feelings toward him, and whether or not they could really make this work.
“Jingle bells, jingle bells…” Tammy sang from the table in the kitchen where she sat decorating cookies with Harriet, “Jingle all the way…”
“Oh, what fun it is to have a fresh rumor on a sleigh—” Carolyn cut in as she rolled out sugar cookie dough on a floured board atop the kitchen counter.
Grace laughed and turned the dough. “Somehow, that’s not the way I remember the song going.”
She’d spent the last few months preparing herself for a failed attempt at their holiday tradition. But, not only had the morning been a grand success, Grace had to admit this might just be the very best Christmas day ever.
“Remember the rule,” Tammy said. “No talk of rumors today, Carolyn. Here, Harriet,” she set another sugar cookie in front of the older woman, “dress up this reindeer, and let’s try…” She started singing, “Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer…”
A ping sounded through the house, signaling the front door had opened.
Josh’s “Just me” mixed with Tammy’s, Harriet’s, and Carolyn’s “Had a very shine-y nose…”
Grace’s heart swelled with love and gratitude. She still didn’t know how they were going to make a relationship work with the two-hour drive between LA and San Diego, but she’d promised Josh to let go of the worry today.
Josh came around the corner into the kitchen, came up behind Grace, and set the premixed icing on the counter. “I got two.” He pressed his body into Grace’s from behind, kissed her neck, and whispered, “Just in case.”
“Josh,” Carolyn said. “I heard a new rumor…”
“Carolyn,” Tammy scolded.
Grace turned her head and kissed Josh. “Good thinking.” They’d obliterated an entire can the night before in wickedly decadent ways that made her sex tingle with the thought. “Is that what took you so long? Deciding on one can or two?”
“No.” He slipped one arm around her waist and set a small box on the counter with his other hand. “This is what took me so long.”
“Oooo,” Carolyn said. “That’s my rumor. Josh is bringing Grace a special present.”
Grace’s shoulders went soft, and she smiled at him. “We agreed, no presents.”
He shrugged. “I had two of the three before we made that deal.”
“Carolyn,” Tammy said, standing from the table and taking Grace’s mother’s arm, “let’s go into the living room and open one of your own.”
With Harriet on one arm and Carolyn on the other, Tammy exited the kitchen, and silence filled the space.
Grace slipped her arms around his waist. “This is the best Christmas I’ve had in decades.”
“For me too.” He combed his fingers through her hair, something that had become a familiar, soothing gesture. “Ready to open?”
She exhaled, feeling guilty she hadn’t gotten him anything. But she hadn’t had any time. Still, as she picked up the box, small and square, a giddy excitement bubbled in her chest.
She tugged one end of the red bow and slid the ribbon off, then darted a look at his face before she lifted the top. He was smiling but tense. A little edgy.
She lifted the top and found three keys lying on a bed of cotton. Two looked like standard house keys, and one was a decorative, old-fashioned key that looked like a true antique, with a heart at the top of the finger hold.
She smiled up at him. “Okay…” She drew out the word. “Am I supposed to guess?”
“That might take a while, and…yeah,” he said, his nervous excitement growing. “I can’t wait that long. Pick a key, and I’ll tell you what it’s for.”
She set the box down, deliberated on the different keys, and finally picked up the simple silver key on the right, holding it up to him.
“Good start,” he said. “So, remember when I told you I made a deal with Dean to remodel the back room at the club?”