“You’re damn right it is.” He captures my mouth, kissing me hard and deep and when his tongue sweeps over mine, I moan, and he takes that too, swallowing it down as we lose ourselves in the moment.
When we finally come up for air, Brady cuts down the tree with a saw and then we drag it to the truck and load it up.
Molly and Gran are waiting when we get back to the farm and they rush outside to get a first look.
Brady hauls the tree down from the truck and stands it upright in the grass. For a long moment, no one speaks and my anxiety kicks into overdrive.
They hate it. I’ll never be invited back for Christmas.
Or if I am, I won’t be allowed to choose the tree.
“I like it,” Gran finally announces. “It has character.”
“And it will fit perfectly in the corner of the living room,” Molly adds, clapping her hands together. “Brady, you get the tree set up in the stand and we’ll get the ornaments.”
He salutes and I trail Molly indoors, grabbing a chocolate chip cookie as I pass through the kitchen.
Brady makes quick work of the tree stand and when we return to the living room, it smells like Christmas. Molly puts on a holiday record and I help her unpack the ornaments. Most of them are homemade, and she tells me the story behind each one.
“Brady made this one in first grade,” she says, holding up a snowman that looks to be standing on a milk crate.
“I remember that one,” Gran chimes in, laughing. “He was worried Frosty would melt, so he gave him an ice tray to catch all the water for refreezing.”
Brady’s cheeks flush, but he just picks another ornament and puts it on the tree.
I sidle up behind him and wrap my arms around his waist. “I think it’s safe to say your protective streak started early.”
He huffs a laugh. “Was there ever any doubt?”
“Not even a little.”
It may be frustrating at times, but it’s also one of his best qualities. When Brady loves, he loves hard and there’s nothing wrong with wanting to keep the people you care about safe from harm, even if they’re fictitious.
“Oh, you have to see this one, Piper.” Molly offers me a green foam wreath with a picture of Brady in the middle. He’s probably only three or four, but he’s giving big cheese, showing all his teeth. It’s the cutest freaking thing I’ve ever seen.
Emotion clogs my throat as I hand the ornament back.
“Thank you so much for having me, Ms. Va—Molly. I’ve had a wonderful time, and it means so much to me to be included in your holiday traditions.”
More than she could possibly know since my family never really had any of its own, unless you count spending Christmas at the bar, which I don’t.
“Of course. We’re so happy to have you here and you’re welcome back any time.”
I’m not sure how to respond, though I hope I can take her up on that offer someday, so I grab another ornament and as I’m placing it on the tree, my phone vibrates in my back pocket.
I pull it out to check the message and when I see Nora’s name on the screen, I shut the phone off without reading it.
Nothing is going to ruin my perfect Christmas.
34
PIPER
I savemy lesson plan and check the clock in the lower right corner of my screen. It’s 4:58 p.m. A whole ten minutes have passed since I last checked the time.
Go me.
It’s Sunday afternoon and I’m supposed to be working on lesson plans because I start student teaching next week, but my brain is refusing to focus, so instead, I’m sitting on my couch obsessively checking the clock. The CFP championship game is tomorrow and even though I told Brady I didn’t want to go, that I couldn’t afford it, I can’t stop thinking about his invitation.
