“Indeed, Sassy, it is. You’re not a fan, are you? Of presents.”
She shakes her head at me. “I mean, of course people can do what they want to do, but... and of course, I love presents. I mean, who doesn’t? Someone buys you something or makes you something because they want you to feel special... but sometimes...”
“Sometimes,” I say, “you have a hard time accepting that?”
She nods. “Yeah, exactly. Sometimes it just makes me uncomfortable. That’s weird, right?” She grimaces.
“No, Sassy. It’s not weird. You’re allowed to feel however you feel. Do you want me to tell all the guys to stop the secrecy? No more surprises?”
She closes her eyes and her mouth. “No, no. That’s... that’s no. I mean, I do like it. I will like it. I like it. It’s fine. It’s good, it’s good, it’s really... it’s good.”
“I think you doth complain too much. At least, I think that’s what Shakespeare says.” I laugh and turn back to my batter. “All right, well, no surprises from me.” From under the counter, I grab a banana-leaf-wrapped package. “Here, open it.”
“Oh, I can wait,” she says.
I incline my head at the tree. “Oh, it’s an ornament.”
“Okay, yeah, I’ll open it now. That’s great,” she says excitedly. “Dante!” Her eyes go wide. “It’s perfect.” She holds it up.
“I’m not as good of an artist as Zane is, but you know, it’s fun,” I say.
“Look at Pepper and Penny together.” She holds the threaded cord. “I love it.” She places it on the box with Zane’s ornaments.
“You’re not going to put it on the tree now?” I ask.
“No, can we do that later, together, all at once?”
“Ah, I do like a good tradition. Let’s keep it.”
“I really love it, Dante. Pepper and Penny on our beach looking at a sunrise.”
I smile at her. “I should have asked Zane about how he made those colors.”
“Oh, no, it’s perfect as is. I love it in black and white.”
“Thanks,” I say. “Now, are you decorating the table, or are you doing something else?”
“Right,” she says, coming out of a daze.
“Whoa, this place looks absolutely beautiful, Firefly.” Easton wraps his arms around Haley’s waist.
“Thank you! It does look festive, doesn’t it?”
“Zane, your tree turned out great. Oh, wait.” Easton hands Haley a small package wrapped in a piece of plastic.
“Thank you.” She carefully unwraps it and holds it up. It’s a round ball. Well, more ball-shaped. With shiny pebbles around it. “Wow. How did you get them to stick?”
“It’s a hollow core, from a scrap of plastic. I used some of the clay we found while making the oven. When a few of the larger ones fell out, I tried to use resin from tree sap to make them stick. But Zane took pity on me and I used a few drops of the caulk that he’d brought from the yacht.”
“It’s really pretty. Like a natural disco ball.” She gives it a delicate slow twirl, and we all ignore the tink as two stones fall to the table.
“I had fun making it, Haley, but I’ve never been good at arts and crafts.”
She hooks it on one of the branches.
“Here Haley, open mine next.” Sam hands her a parcel wrapped in one of Penny’s red bandanas.
She peels the fabric back and holds up a cluster of little shells, attached with a cord.
