Chapter Six
Dillon
On Christmas Eve we left the kitten alone for the first time as Aster, Tane and I all needed to be at the store for the last minute rush.
A whole lot of out-of-towners left their holiday shopping for Christmas Eve, and we had to contend with all the forgotten items as well — no one remembered cranberry sauce until they were prepping the turkey.
All of that was running through my mind, along with the background hum of worry that my gift of New Zealand treats for Tane still hadn’t arrived.
But there wasn’t much I could do about that. Obviously the mail system would be flooded with people ordering stuff, and the website I’d used had posted it in time. The problem was that everyone else was also posting things.
I couldn’t control whether or not it turned up, and if it didn’t... well, maybe that meant tomorrow it was time to propose? The ring would make a beautiful Christmas gift.
But also, the thought of that made my stomach clench.
It would be fine, it would all be fine.
There was a short line of people waiting to come in as I unlocked the front door. Aster ran to the till, pulling on an apron, and Tane went to flick on the lights and put on some ambient music.
Christian came in a half a minute later. “It’s about to rain, or maybe snow,” he said.
I glanced past him to look up at the sky. “Probably just rain, but good heads up. I’ll get a bucket we can use for umbrellas.”
Between the four of us we kept on top of the rush of customers.
The hours ticked by, and on the surface, I was busy, upbeat and helpful to everyone who I dealt with. Inside my stomach became a hard, seething knot of worry that I couldn’t shake.
“Make sure you’re drinking,” Tane pressed a sports drink into my hand, already open.
“Thanks, babe.” I downed half of it.
A while later, Aster passed me a blueberry protein bar on his way to take a break. I was opening a new box of bags of potato chips. “Snacks are important. Breaks too, but I know I can’t convince you to take one of those.”
I chuckled and saluted him with the protein bar. “You know me too well.”
We kept it all going, and then, abruptly, at around two in the afternoon, the store went quiet.
Christian slumped onto a stool and took a deep drink from a water bottle. Aster disappeared into the back. Tane came to find me, a turkey sandwich in his hand.
“Sit and eat,” he said.
“Bossy.” I took the sandwich from him and sat down on the floor in front of the chilled drinks.
Tane chuckled. “Yeah, I guess there is fine.”
“Give it a half hour, if it’s still quiet, I’ll send you and Christian home.”
Tane nodded and left me to it.
I ate the sandwich, although my stomach was all tension and I didn’t feel hungry at all. Halfway through the sandwich I got up off the floor and went back to where Aster was sprawled over the most comfortable chair, eyes closed.
“You okay?”
Aster’s eyes opened and he sat up. “Yeah, bro, all good. Just tired, and not sure how I’m going to make it through the concert thing tonight.”
The food drive, and Tane’s planned live music... I’d all but forgotten about it. I knew it would be a good event, something wonderful, even, but at that moment it all felt too hard.
“The food drive, yeah, I think the fire station guys are coming to collect the donations around four. If you could help them out that’d be awesome, then you can head home and rest.”
Aster nodded. “Anything you need, I’m on it.”
I smiled. Christian had said much the same thing to me earlier, and although he hadn’t said it, Tane was acting the same way.
All these wonderful, sweet men were doing their best to take care of me. What had I done to deserve them? It was like I was blessed or something. Although my aching feet didn't feel particularly blessed…
Their generosity enough to make me want to cry. But I couldn’t cry, I had the rest of the shift to get through.
Half an hour later, the shop was still deserted so I sent Tane and Christian home.
“Go rest your voice.” I kissed Tane’s cheek. “You’re on MC duties this evening, after all.”
“Text if it gets busy again, okay?”
“I promise.”
With just Aster and me in the store, I started to relax. It was just family, and our family business. We sat on stools behind the checkout and watched the light rain coming down outside the window.
“You okay?” Aster said, after a while.
“Yeah,” I said, on automatic.
Aster turned to give me a look that said he knew I wasn’t being honest with him.
I sighed. “I’m worried, Tane’s present was meant to be here already, and it’s not.”
“Aah.” Aster took my hand and squeezed it. “He won’t mind if it’s late, he adores you.”
“And the other thing is.” I swallowed. “I uh, I bought a ring for him? But whenever I think about it this voice in my head tells me it’s too soon and I chicken out.”
“You chicken out of thinking about it?” Aster laughed softly. “Sounds like you.”
I stretched my legs out in front of me and rubbed my forehead.
“I just want it to be perfect, you know? He means so much to me, and he deserves the best. Whenever I think of how shitty his old manager treated him, or how stressed he looks when he talks about touring and stuff, I just want to wrap him in a soft blanket and protect him from the world.”
Aster hummed in agreement. “He knows you feel that way, I can tell.”
“Maybe.”
For a moment we sat in silence, me wrestling with trying to articulate again how important it was to me to get it right, Aster waiting patiently.
I was saved from my agony when a small truck pulled up outside the shop.
“Is that.... A delivery?” Aster said.
The truck did have a courier company logo on the side. I jumped up, heart in my mouth.
“Please, please...” A woman hopped out, tapped something on her phone and then went around the back of the truck.
I went to the door. “Hi there!”
“Hey, delivery for Dillon?” I couldn’t see her, she was half inside the truck, rummaging.
“Yes! That’s me, I’m Dillon.” I hurried over, practically vibrating with excitement. It’s here, it’s here!
“Awesome.” She pulled out a cardboard box, scanned it and held her phone out to me. “Sign here, initials are fine.”
I scribbled my initials and took the box. “Thank you, thank you. You’re a Christmas angel.”
The woman chuckled and closed the back of the truck. “You’re welcome. I only have a handful more to deliver, but it does feel good when people are this happy to see me.”
“Are you staying in the area? We’re having a big food and gift drive thing tonight, there’s live music. If you have time you should totally come.”
Her expression changed from amused to something more vulnerable. Her eyebrows knit together. “Really?”
“Yeah, I mean, I’m not trying to imply you’re needy or whatever but it’s going to be this big party, really.”
“I’d... well, I’ve love that Dillon. My kids are with my folks just out of town and well, it’s been a bit of a tough year.”
“I’ll keep a look out for you, what’s your name?”
“Sam.” She shook my hand.
“Come to the firehall around six, no fuss, no awkwardness, we’ve had a really generous amount of donations so... yes, please come.”
She nodded, thanked me again and drove off. I was walking on air as I carried the box back into the store. Aster handed me a roll of wrapping paper and some tape.
“Get wrapping, big guy. I’ve got front of house.”
I chuckled and went out the back to do just that. I turned up the Christmas mix Aster had lined up, so it played louder in the store as well.
My stomach unknotted and I felt relief wash through me, together with a true Christmas joy. My own miracle had happened, and it was one I could reciprocate hopefully, if Sam and her family came to the drive.