19. Nineteen
NINETEEN
The next morning, I woke up and quickly realized how every inch of me was wrapped around Alden. I grimaced, remembering when Reed would say I was cutting off his circulation and tried to pull away.
“Where do you think you’re going?” He pulled me in tighter.
“I’m suffocating you.”
“You’re absolutely not. Stay in my arms, Stella. It’s right where I want you.”
Cheeks heating, I did as I was told.
I didn’t want to move anyway. Alden was more comfortable than the most expensive pillow I owned. The fact that he wanted me as close as I wanted him sent butterflies into my stomach.
All I could do was nuzzle my face into his neck and let his beard tickle my cheek.
I was gone. So gone. Nothing would compare to this .
Alden’s hand traced lazy circles on my back, and I lost myself to the quiet peace of the moment. I don’t know how long we sat there simply enjoying each other’s company.
“I can’t believe Christmas is over,” I eventually said.
“I think it’s extended for this year, especially since we spent most of the day without the Christmas tree even on.”
I thought of the multicolored lights and the tacky decorations. They’d twinkled innocently in the corner of the living room, and Amma’s icicle lights outside glowed in the snow now that the power was back on.
“Still,” I said, sighing. “I spent the beginning of the season as someone else. I feel like I missed out on everything I loved. The tree, the music, the traditions.”
“We have time now,” he replied. “Come on.”
I slowly stood, my body finally feeling rested after spending the night on a mattress and not a pullout couch. I followed Alden as he went to Amma’s old record player, which was built into one of her tables. She had tons of classic Christmas vinyls, and in the rare times she hosted the holiday, they would be playing in the background.
The sound of an old record filled the space, mixed with crooning lyrics about the season.
“May I have this dance?” he asked.
I couldn’t help but blush. “I haven’t danced since high school.”
“Yes, but you once mentioned you thought dancing to Christmas music was one of the most romantic things you could imagine.”
I swallowed. We’d been young when I’d said that. I still believed it, but as I got older, the idea seemed more and more like a childlike dream.
“I said that a long time ago.”
“I always listened, Stella. Come on.”
He spun me to the music, and a smile broke out on my face. I didn’t know what it would feel like to finally get everything I wanted, but it was a warm glow, one that rivaled the tree.
I’d missed these records. I’d missed the fairy lights. I’d missed all of it over the two years I’d lost myself. And now I was whole again.
More than whole, because I had Alden with me.
And I didn’t ever want him to leave.
We danced through the whole vinyl. It was nothing more than swaying to the music, but I loved every second of it.
I was leaning against his shoulder when I saw brightness through the closed curtain.
With the clouds, everything outside had been a mix of gray and white, but this was reflective in a way I hadn’t seen in a while.
“Alden?” I asked. “What was the weather supposed to be like today?”
“No idea,” he said, not sparing the window a second glance.
“Maybe we should check. It looks so bright, like ... ”
He finally turned. “The sun.”
I nodded excitedly and opened the curtain. My eyes protested the assault of bright light, but it was clear that the sun was fully out, and the snow was receding, even if only slightly.
“Oh my God,” I said with a gasp. “It’s actually melting.”
Alden checked his phone. “The temperature is above freezing.”
“Do you know what this means?”
“Flooding.”
I rolled my eyes. “No. Well, yes. But maybe we can get out of here.”
“Huh. You might get to see your family on the day after Christmas after all.”
I threw on my jacket and pulled him outside. There were still thick piles of snow, but it was slushy now. Out in the distance, I heard a car go by.
“Yes! People are out and about.”
“We’ll need to clear the driveway and call to see if the city is having the same luck.”
“We can do all of those things.” He grabbed my arm to stop me. “But first, breakfast.”
I groaned. “Not another muffin.”
“Hey, at least I can make more hot chocolate to wash it down.”
Alden disappeared back into the house. I followed and grabbed another one of the cursed baked goods as Alden made more of my favorite drink .
“What’s your first plan for when we get out of here?” he asked.
“Seeing what Nick got back from Reed. I miss having my own stuff.”
The mention of Nick made Alden’s lips press together. He was worried about telling him, and while I knew my brother was clearly in the wrong, I also knew how terrifying it had to be for Alden to be threatened by his best friend.
Even I couldn’t imagine Nick and Alden not being friends—they’d always been a pair. I could only hope that Nick would see sense this time.
“You’re not in this alone, remember?” I leaned over to touch his hand. “I’ll tell him with you.”
“He’s my friend. I should tell him.”
“He’s my brother, and I reserve the right to tell him he’s being an ass.”
“It might not be pretty.”
“If we really wanted it to get ugly, I could tell Winnie.”
That finally got a smile out of Alden. “You think she would be on our side?”
“She’s the one who told me to go after you at that party.”
“Really? She didn’t say anything about the age gap?”
“It’s four years, not four decades. And we were on the same level intellectually at that point.”
“Are you calling me dumb?”
“I’m calling me smart,” I replied and squeezed his hand. “It’s not gonna be a huge deal. ”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Enough about my dumbass brother. What are you going to do?”
“I need to be sure Ryan is okay at my house. I bet he had a frustrating week of people getting their asses injured.”
“And I need to see the park,” I said. “I can’t believe I’ve never been.”
“You’d like it. It’s quiet, just like here.”
“I need that,” I said. “Will you show me around?”
“Of course I will.”
I couldn’t resist the smile on my face. This wasn’t going to end just because we were free. The door was open for me to know every part of this man, and I wasn’t going to deny myself that. I polished off my muffin in a few bites and stood. “All right. I’ve eaten. Let’s go shovel.”
“Are you excited to leave?”
“Yes,” I nearly groaned. “I loved having time to ourselves, but I’d like to at least see some of my family for Christmas, or whatever we’re calling the day after.”
We walked into the cold and got the driveway shoveled. It was hard work since her driveway was so long, but the slush wasn’t as stuck as it would have been if it were still below zero.
Once that was done, we walked to his truck, where we both tried to get all the snow off it. It took a long time to shove it out of every crevice, but eventually, it was cleared and we could get in.
I glanced at the back seat with a grin .
“What are you thinking about?” Alden asked.
“Oh, memories. Think we could still fit back there?”
“We could try,” he said with a smile. “But first, let’s see if I can get this thing out of this ditch.”
We slid more than I had anticipated, but eventually, the truck pulled onto the road. Despite there being tire tracks, the few turns we took to get to Amma’s were accompanied with terrifying slides, and I hoped we had an easy time getting out of here and into the city.
“We can’t stay after it gets dark,” he said. “All of this will be frozen over by then.”
“Let’s clean up a little and then find Amma. We should be able to make the walk to Hank’s house.”
We didn’t waste time. He helped me clean up the mess we’d made. We folded blankets and took out the trash. When we were done, it was already the afternoon.
“Okay,” I said, grabbing a jacket, “time to go find?—”
I was interrupted by the front door opening. Amma’s short form walked through. She was in a jacket too big for her, with snow-covered shoes.
Leave it to her to read my mind.
“Kids!” she called, eyes on her boots as she knocked the snow off on the entrance rug. “Are you decent?”
“Yes,” I said, running to pull her into a tight hug. “God, it’s so good to see you.”
“You two as well. I’m so glad it finally warmed up. I missed my own house—not that Hank isn’t great company.”
“ Great company? ”
“Oh, don’t you start. Your mom already asked me about my intentions with him.” She rolled her eyes. “What did I do to make you guys ask so many questions?”
“You ask more questions than we ever could. It’s payback, Amma.”
“I’ll let it slide, but only because you finally seem like yourself again. What has you in such a good mood?”
Alden and I hadn’t talked about when we would tell others, but considering Nick’s past issues with us, I could make an educated guess and say he should be the first to know. My family loved to talk, and if he found out from anyone but us, then it would make it worse.
“I needed to be here for a bit,” I settled on. “I didn’t realize how much I would enjoy being away from the city. Maybe I need more vacations.”
“With electricity this time?” Alden added.
“What, are you tired from having to keep me alive?”
“More like tired of you feeling bad about letting me.”
“Oh, shut up. You taught me how to keep the fire going in the end.”
“Did he now? I wasn’t aware you two were even talking again. Or were you doing more than talking?”
“W-we did a puzzle too.”
Amma raised an eyebrow, not appeased by that answer.
“Was it safe for you to walk back?” Alden asked. “It’s still pretty slick out there.”
“Oh, I have shoes made for this.” Amma gestured to her boots .
“Then couldn’t you have come back before?” I asked.
“Oh, no. Slush is much easier than ice.” She waved her hand, but I frowned, wondering if she was telling the whole truth. “But I also didn’t mind spending time with a handsome man.”
“I have questions,” I said.
“So do I. Who wants to answer first?”
“Actually,” Alden said, “I think we should figure out if we can get out of here and have a late Christmas party.”
Amma pursed her lips but nodded. I let out a sigh of relief. “Well, we did miss the day of. I’ll call up Nick and see what he’s up to. I hear the city is far clearer.”
I nodded, glad it would be her talking to Nick and not me.
“Thank you for cleaning up,” Amma said. “It looks better than I left it.”
“We were hoping to get out of here today,” I replied.
She smiled at us before picking up the phone.
I grabbed Alden and pulled him into the hallway.
“What’s the plan for the rest of this?” I asked. “If I see Nick, I might go ahead and kill him.”
“That’s not usually a good first greeting,” he replied. I gave him a flat look. “Stella.” He set his hands on my shoulders. “We’ve been stuck in a house for the last few days and you missed Christmas with your family. Talking to Nick can wait.”
“I don’t know if I can wait. I’m mad just thinking about him.”
“And what if it goes south? What if he’s angry and the whole night is ruined? We’ll talk to him today, but can we give it until after the party? You were heartbroken after missing Christmas, and you deserve to have fun, even if you’re glaring at Nick all night.”
I bit my lip. “Okay, I see your point. I do want to enjoy it.”
“We’ll play it cool.”
“Can we even do that?”
“I did it for years. The better question is, can you do it?”
I glared. “Keep teasing me and it’ll make it very easy.”
“Good news,” Amma said, walking in. “The city was in better condition than here, and Nick is very ready for a party.”
“Great,” Alden replied, taking a step away from me. “I’ll drive.”
“Yes,” I said. “Please.”
I didn’t mean for my eyes to linger on him, but they did.
Amma caught it. Her smug grin made me wonder just how much she’d already deduced.
To be safe, I walked to the car very far from Alden and sat in the back seat for good measure.
Alden backed out of the driveway, but we slid as he was changing gears.
I tried not to let it show, but I was terrified of getting on the road, and he didn’t seem too thrilled either. We veered at every turn, and I couldn’t help but glance at him on the way back. His brow was creased with concentration, though he was far calmer than I felt.
If it were me driving, I would have been panicking.
Thankfully, it got easier once we were on the main roads. Snowplows had come through to all the major areas, and Nick lived right off of one.
We pulled into his apartment parking lot half an hour later. The nerves hit as we got out.
I needed to play it cool until we talked to my brother, but I wasn’t sure how to. I tried to remember how Alden and I were before, but all that took over my mind was what we had now. We needed to play this well to get through the party and avoid a possible fight while everyone was there.
I, of course, didn’t want to fight with Nick—I never did. Sure, we had squabbles like any brother and sister, but there was never a massive, earth-shattering argument.
This could be the day that changed that.
My heart raced as we walked in. But I barely got a glance at my brother before he pulled me into one of the tightest hugs of my life.
My anger dissipated momentarily. He had to be terrified not being able to reach either of us while we were stuck. With Alden there, I’d never been in danger.
“It’s so good to see you two.” Nick moved away from me and pulled Alden into the same tight hug.
“We’re fine, Nick.” Alden’s voice was soft, but I could hear it shake with nerves .
“Still. All of the reports coming out from people stuck were awful.” He shuddered.
“No worry for me?” Amma asked.
“You could keep yourself alive with a match and one pack of food,” he said. “And you had a phone.”
“Technically, we did too,” I reminded him. “We just had to save power.”
“I had to distract myself with decorating.” He gestured around. “Do you like it? I went all out.”
And all out he did, but not in the way I thought he would. Nick had a modern style, and he tried to find that with Christmas decorations. A large, skinny tree was adorned with blue and silver ornaments. After days in Amma’s cozy cabin, it felt cold.
“Nick.” Amma crossed her arms. “We need to talk about your décor choices.”
“What?” he asked. “I think it looks nice.”
Amma shook her head. Whatever she was going to say next was blocked out by my parents bursting through the door, both of them pulling Alden and me into tight hugs.
“Oh, thank God,” Mom said. “I was so worried.”
“We talked on the phone last night,” I reminded them.
“It’s not the same as seeing you in person.”
“I was safe the moment Alden came back for me.”
Every head in the room turned. My words hit me right after.
“What do you mean he came back for you?” Nick asked. “I thought he was always there. ”
I glanced at Alden, who looked like a deer in headlights.
Whoops, I shouldn’t have mentioned that.
“I kind of kicked him out before I realized how bad it was. He was nice enough to come back. That’s all.”
“Is that why your truck was gone the whole time?” Amma asked.
“Oh, yeah. It went off the road a mile out. I took it as a sign and ran?—”
“Walked,” I corrected. “In a very casual, friendly way.”
Silence settled over the room.
“Interesting,” Amma said. “Isn’t that so, Nick?”
“Sure,” he said, eyes narrowed.
This was teetering on a conversation that we weren’t ready to have. “You said you were going to get some stuff from Reed, right?”
That seemed to distract him. “I did. He’s an ass, by the way.”
“What did he say this time?”
“He says he still expects the photos you took by next week. The ones you were working on when he proposed.”
My eyes narrowed. “Are you serious?”
“Hang on,” Alden interjected, “he had you working the day he proposed?”
“There were layers to how shitty that day was,” I answered and then turned to Nick. “What did you say?”
“I told him you charged a fee for clients who are idiots and he has to pay you double. ”
“Did he agree?”
“He did. Congrats. Glad you dumped him, though.”
“Me too,” Alden said darkly. Nick glanced at him with a raised brow, and I knew I needed to get us back on track.
“Can I see the stuff you got?” I asked.
“Yeah. Follow me.”
The guest room was filled with boxes, all of which had my name on them. “Oh my God, you got so much.”
“He was ready to cut ties.”
“I was too. No more bad boyfriends for me.”
“Right.” His hand tapped on the wall. “Speaking of boyfriends?—”
“Actually, Nick,” I said all too loudly. “I need to find something in all of these boxes. Mind if I have a minute?”
He blew out a breath. “Fine, but we’ll talk later.”
“Sure. Of course.”
I busied myself with taking stock of everything he had retrieved, trying not to think of all the ways this party could go wrong. Alden and I were not playing it cool at all.
After a few minutes, I finally returned to the living room.
“Hey, kiddo.” Dad found me with a smile. “How did Amma’s house hold up?”
Dad was usually smothered by the loudness of Amma and Mom. He preferred the quiet, and I hadn’t realized how much I valued it like he did until now .
“It did well, even if it sounded haunted with the wind.”
“I’m glad Alden came back for you. He’s always been a good kid.”
“I know. He just needs to figure it out.”
“He will eventually,” Dad said. “Now, get to the kitchen.”
“Why?”
“Because I heard you only ate muffins and canned food, and there are fresh vegetables in the kitchen.”
My mouth watered. “Oh, hell yes. I’ll talk to you later.”
I nearly ran to the snacks, desperately needing something other than the prepackaged food I’d had for the last few days. There was a large selection of different fresh things, like grapes, celery, and apples, but I went for the nearest option.
Alden found me shoving carrots into my mouth. “Happy?”
“God, so happy. I was serious when I said I’m never eating a muffin or soup again.”
“You’re still making my favorite, right?”
“And what do I get out of it?”
His eyes flashed, and I knew the answer.
“Fine,” I said. “If you’re really good, I’ll make chicken and dumplings. I use crescent dough.”
“Jesus Christ,” he said. “If this weren’t a Christmas party, I’d be dragging you off now.”
“To have your way with me or for soup? ”
“Both. In any order.”
I let out a laugh. It was so tempting to reach out and pull him to me, but then I heard footsteps.
“So, now that I have you both, are we gonna talk about this?” We both whirled to see Nick was waiting in the doorframe.
“There’s nothing to talk about right now,” I said. “Let’s enjoy the party.”
“You two are getting along really well.” He crossed his arms.
“Do you think I can fight with someone who saved my life?” I patted Alden on the shoulder in what I hoped was a friendly way. “I owe him one.”
“You could have said thank you and not become ...” He gestured to us.
My hand slipped back to my side. What did he want to hear from us? That we were together? That we liked each other now?
And would saying that ruin the sliver of Christmas we had left?
“We’ll tell you the full story later,” Alden said. “Right now, we should focus on Stella’s favorite holiday.”
Nick raised an eyebrow. “I think we’re all a little curious how you went from hating each other to whatever this is.”
“And I’m wondering how you stay so annoying,” another voice said. “Yet here you are.”
I turned to see my best friend leaning against the doorway to the kitchen .
“Winnie?” I asked. “What are you doing here?”
Nick tensed and turned to her. “I didn’t know you’d be here so soon.”
“You told me to get here at four, dumbass.” She tapped the designer watch on her wrist. “Now go somewhere else. I need to catch up with my best friend.”
“Remind me why I invited you again?”
“Because you like your sister more than you dislike me.”
“Is this what we sounded like?” Alden asked.
“No,” I answered. “They have way more years of this than us.”
Winnie waved off a grumbling Nick and then turned to me once he’d left. Her lips set into a smile. “So, I hear you two caused quite the commotion.”
Alden sighed. “I don’t think I can do this again. I’m one wrong move away from fucking up Christmas.”
“I’ll fill her in. You go explain the ins and outs of fire making to my dad. He’d love to hear that.”
“Thank you,” Alden muttered as he made his escape. His hand brushed the small of my back as he walked off.
I turned to Winnie, tempted to hug her like I did with everyone else. But she wasn’t a hugger. In fact, I hadn’t seen her touch the people she dated, much less her friends.
“So, what happened between the two of you? Last I checked, you were supposed to survive—not come back with the life back in your eyes.”
“Are you complaining? ”
“Fuck no, but I need the story.”
I took her to the guest room and shut and locked the door. With how hard Nick was asking questions, I didn’t need him barging in while I was explaining.
“It’s a lot.”
“Let’s start with the biggest item on my list. So, are you and Alden a thing or ...”
“We’re a thing,” I answered. “But we’re not telling my family until after the party.”
“I have many questions. First of all, how the hell did you forgive him for that message?”
“Not everyone holds onto grudges like you do. You still hate Nick for telling you not to curse back in middle school.”
“To be fair, he’s done more things to make me dislike him.”
They always got on each other’s nerves, mostly because they were two firecrackers fighting for dominance whenever they were in the same room.
“Well, I think I’ll give you another one.” I sighed. “Because we finally talked about why Alden turned me down.”
“I fail to see what this has to do with Nick.”
“My idiotic brother went off on him for sleeping with me.”
Winnie’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Excuse me?”
“Yeah, he told him he wouldn’t be friends with Alden if he continued, and Alden didn’t want to lose his only friend. Get this, he thought it was normal to have to do something so drastic for friends.”
“That tracks, considering what his dad did. Did you set him straight?”
“Immediately.”
“Good. Now on to the real problem—Nick. Why would he be so protective?”
“Probably the bullying in middle school.”
“So? He doesn’t own you.”
“I’m not his biggest fan right now, which I feel bad about, considering he got nearly all of my stuff from Reed.”
“Please tell me you’re going to talk to him.”
“Of course we will.”
“Good. He better learn his lesson when you and Alden tell him to fuck off.”
“I hope so. We’ll be doing it later.”
“And I’ll listen in on it.”
“I don’t see you being able to do that without busting into the conversation.”
“Hey, I have great self-control. You saw how little I annoyed Nick.”
“Oh yeah. And one of these days, you’ll be friends with him.”
“When pigs fly, Stella.” She rolled her eyes. “And by the way, it’s good to have you back.”
“It’s good to be back.”
“It seems like Alden is good for you.”
“I thought you hated him too. ”
She tilted her head as she considered it. “I thought I did, but when he makes my best friend smile again, I let go of my grudge. Have you heard from the ex that did this?”
“Nick says he wants his photos by next week.”
“Come on. If I catch Reed out in public, he’s a dead man. He might be the only person I hate more than Nick.”
“Sorry to interrupt your catch-up,” Mom said through the guest door, “but can I come in?”
I opened it up for her. “What’s up?”
“We’re redecorating the tree and I wanted to see if you’d like to help.”
“Why?” Winnie asked. “It looks like a Christmas tree to me.”
“Amma says it’s the most millennial tree she’s ever seen, so we need to redo it with the décor she gave him last year.”
“She’s very picky,” I explained to Winnie, whose eyebrows raised. She worked long hours, and with the exception of our normal Christmas Eve dinner, she didn’t celebrate the holiday. “I’ll go help. Want to join?”
“Do I get to see Nick get lectured about it?” Winnie asked.
Mom nodded. “She’s on a rant right now.”
“Yes!” Winnie said before darting out of the room. Mom watched her go before turning to me.
“How long do you think we have until they start dating? ”
“Who?” I asked.
“Nick and Winnie.”
“Mom, no. Never. That won’t happen. Nick’s seeing someone.”
Mom shook her head. “I don’t see that working out. She’s like Reed was to you—not a good fit.”
I would give her that. Nick’s girlfriend Cassandra was the polar opposite of him, and not in a good way. She was so quiet that she barely spoke to us when we met her, and she faded into Nick’s side like a chameleon. “Even if you’re right about that, Winnie wouldn’t let it happen.”
“What a shame. I think they’d be good for each other. If not good , then entertaining. He needs someone to keep him in line.”
“Okay, then tell her that.”
“Even I’m not that brave.” She shook her head and then gestured for me to follow her. “Come on, Stella. Let’s go show your older brother how to decorate a tree.”
I followed her into the living room, trying to picture Winnie and Nick together. It wasn’t impossible. Winnie had dated both men and women, but always from a distance. Nick was always very close with the people he dated. He seemed to love trying to get Cassandra to open up, choosing to talk to her in corners for hours on end.
“I don’t care what trends say,” Amma was saying to Nick. “Blue and white are not Christmas colors.”
“It was all Walmart had! ”
“You went to Walmart when I gave you legacy Christmas ornaments?”
“I wanted a cohesive theme.”
“Nick Summers, Christmas is not cohesive. It’s fun!”
“You tell him, Amma!” Winnie cheered.
“Tell me you at least decorated a tree, Winnie.”
“Not at my place, but I brought one in for the employees. Everyone brought something from home to have.”
“See, this is how you do it.”
Nick glared. “Kiss-up.”
“Try-hard,” she replied.
“Okay,” I interjected. “Where are the good ones? We can fix this thing.”
“In the cardboard box in the closet.”
“You put those beautiful ornaments in a cardboard box?” Amma gasped.
“They were out of ornament boxes!”
“I found them,” Dad said, pulling them out. He opened the box. “Man, I remember some of these.”
“Which is why it’s a crime that he didn’t use them.” Amma shook her head. “Now, where’s the step stool? I want to get these ones from the top off.”
“It’s back here,” Nick said.
“Don’t you dare hand that to Amma,” I interrupted. “I’ll climb.”
“Aren’t you sore, dear?” Amma asked. “I saw you take quite a few spills in the snow.”
“No, actually—” I paused. “Wait, did you watch us? ”
“Sometimes. Alden, I hope your hip is okay.”
The tips of his ears went red. “It’s fine.”
“Why were you two out in the snow?” Nick asked.
“We had to find something to do, and Amma had sleds.” I set down the ladder, eager to change the subject. “Now, which ornaments are going?”
“All the blue ones. Then throw them away.”
“Hey, I paid good money for those!”
“They’re the cheapest plastic you can find. There is no way you paid good money for them.”
“Inflation exists, Amma.”
“All the more reason to use the ones I gave you.”
I laughed at their exchange and plucked a few from the top branches. Winnie worked on the ones at the bottom as she went along with Amma’s antics.
I was focused on not falling. But then there was one a few feet away that I leaned for, only for the ladder to lean too.
A pair of hands steadied me.
“Careful,” Alden said. He had to have been watching very closely to see me nearly fall.
“Good catch,” Amma replied. Our eyes had been locked, but I looked at her, only to see a grin on her face. “What do you think, Nick? Was it a good catch?”
“Yeah,” he grumbled. “It was.”
I could detect his annoyance from across the room.
“Stella, you okay?” Winnie asked.
“Yep, I’m good. I just forgot how to use a ladder temporarily.” I got down and moved it to the right. Alden lingered nearby.
“I’ll be sure you don’t fall again.”
“You do know it’s too late for that, right?” My cheeks heated as I said it.
“I have an idea. It’s the same for me, you know.”
“This is super cute,” Winnie said in a low voice. I didn’t even notice she’d walked over to us. “But you two are being so obvious right now.”
“I told you I was about to ruin Christmas,” Alden muttered.
“ Nick is,” Winnie corrected. “And I doubt it’s the first holiday he’s ruined.”
“Are you talking about me over there?” Nick called.
“Of course,” Winnie said, rolling her eyes. “They were just telling me about one of your childhood Fourth of Julys.”
“You told her about the smoke bomb incident?” His eyes were on us.
Winnie laughed. “Nope. You just did. I just picked the easiest holiday to mess up and went with it. Now, let me focus on this ugly tree.”
“It’s not ugly!” Nick defended.
“It definitely is,” Amma responded. “Now get back to work.”