Chapter 19 Haven #2
Some of the stores have lines snaking out, and after we pop into The Beanery to see Claudia and fetch a cinnamon spice latte, we continue until we find the one place I wanted to visit above all else.
The Christmas Tree stand.
It’s quiet, though from the sight of the girl standing at the cash register sipping coffee, she looks like this is her first break all day. I know exactly how that feels.
The tree stand is impressive, almost like a little Santa’s grotto hut, surrounded by a green forest organized in height order. Tall ones at the back, smaller ones leaning against the slatted boards of the hut.
“Hello, can I help you?” the girl asks, taking a long sip of her coffee.
She’s wearing fingerless gloves, nails painted red. Thick dark curls, peeking out from underneath a pink bobble hat, are caught up in the black and white striped scarf wrapped around and around her neck. It’s cold out, but not that cold.
Maybe she’s sick. Either way, I can tell she needs her break, and as I’m not planning on buying a tree, I just smile and tell her I’m good for the moment.
I walk through the lines of trees, checking out the prices, comparing them to the ones I sell, and wonder if Alex could be persuaded to get a tree for the house. And every minute or so when I catch the girl’s eye, we both smile and look away.
“You’re visiting from the States?”
I nod, peering around a particularly fluffy Norwegian Fir. “Yeah. Kinda . . . um boy . . . my . . . daughter’s father is English.”
She doesn’t notice that I stutter over my words or have a minor mental breakdown about what Alex’s and my relationship status is. In hindsight, we should have been a little clearer during the “yours and mine” conversation.
“Cool. I love America. I just came back from Australia, where it’s the height of summer. It’s freezing here.”
I chuckle. “I haven’t been, but I heard it’s lovely.”
“It is. Bloody boiling too.”
I’m about to ask her if she needs any help on the stand when I hear a familiar voice. Except it can’t be, because this voice isn’t laughing or friendly like it usually is, asking how I’m doing, how Everly is doing, or joking around with Alex, or Max.
It’s snarly.
“So it is true. You’re back.”
When I peer through the branches of the tree I’m holding, I spot Hendricks. Shoulders rigid, mouth pursed, hands rammed hard into his jeans pockets. The slash of dark brows under his black baseball cap only makes him look angrier. I’m guessing this is the girl Clemmie was talking about yesterday.
She’s facing me, so she can’t see him, but she knows who it is. I watch her eyes close like she needs to gather strength and take a slow, deep breath before turning around.
“Hen—”
“Oh, you do remember me. Funny, I don’t recall getting a heads-up you were coming home, but then again, I didn’t get a heads-up you were leaving either,” he spits, and his head drops with a disappointed shake. “Not even a fucking hello, Stor?”
“Hen—”
“Six years, Stor. Six fucking years—”
“What do you want from me?” Story’s calm goes from zero to a hundred, her arms thrown in the air.
“Absolutely fucking nothing,” he snaps. “Which is exactly what I’ve been getting.”
From the way she stands there and stares at him, I get the sense she was expecting this visit. Therefore, she had prepped herself on how to deal with an incensed Hendricks, who was clenching his teeth so tightly I’d be surprised if he didn’t break a molar.
I try to look away, pretend I’m doing anything else but snooping, but my eyes keep drifting back over. I also don’t realize I’m holding my breath waiting for one of them to break until I’m gasping for oxygen, but they’re still standing there glaring.
And weirdly, while I shouldn’t be witnessing this and feel like whatever’s going on between them, I should take Hendricks’s side out of loyalty to Alex, I’m rooting for Story.
There’s something about her squared shoulders and determined pursed mouth that makes me think Hendricks fucked up. Especially when he finally storms off.
I want to check on her because it’s obvious she’s upset, but I don’t want to interrupt or make an awkward situation more awkward, so I wait until she’s done rubbing her fingers along her brow.
“Sorry you had to see that,” she says wearily, her voice heavy with emotion before it brightens. “But it has nothing to do with the trees, in case you’re wondering. The trees are excellent. No drop needles, super piney scent. The best trees.”
“I can see that.” I smile, stepping forward. “Are you okay?”
She nods. “Yeah, fine. Just . . . you know . . . boys. Idiots, am I right?”
I smirk. “Yup. They sure are.”
“And I don’t mean to be rude, but I need to close up for the day.”
I wave her off. “Say no more, totally get it. I’ll come by during the week.”
She doesn’t look at me again, and as it’s starting to get dark, Everly and I make our way home, walking slower this time so we can appreciate the twinkly lights.
Alex isn’t there when we return, so I take Everly upstairs to hang out in the nursery.
We read books, do a little tummy time, and eventually, I feed her, and then we get ready for bed.
I mull over checking on Alex, but instead, we run a bubble bath that we get in together, which is how Alex finds us.
“What’s happening here then? Hello, my favorite girls.” He kneels on the bath rug, scoops a handful of bubbles, and blows them into the air, before greeting me with a kiss.
Everly kicks her feet out, splashing us both.
Alex laughs and wipes the droplets from his face. He switches on Everly’s favorite toy, a little duck that swims around, and I watch him watch her with a smile growing on his face.
“Hey there.”
He leans in for another kiss. “How was the village?”
Alex only needs to take one look at my face to know exactly how I felt walking down the Valentine High Street with Everly.
“That good, huh?”
My voice comes out all dreamy. “It’s so perfect, Alex.”
“It’s pretty special.” He smiles. “And what did Everly think?”
“Oh, she was definitely excited.”
“Then she’s definitely her mother’s daughter.” Alex drops a kiss on my nose, as his phone beeps with a message. “Hold that thought, Miles is downstairs, I’ll be back. Wait for me before you do bedtime.”
I stare at Everly when he sprints out. The warmth of the water has given her cheeks a pink hue, and she looks so sweet. I can’t stand it. “Huh. Where’s Daddy gone?”
We’re so content playing in the water that I’m only wrapping a towel around us by the time Alex returns.
“How’s Miles?” I ask, as he takes Everly so I can run and get dressed, quickly throwing on the too big sweatpants and a hoodie of Alex’s.
“Oh, you know, same as he always is,” he replies when I return, laying her down on her changing table so he can get her ready for bed. “But tell me about your afternoon. What was your favorite bit?”
“Alex! Don’t ask me that. There’s the whole street to choose from. The lights, the wreaths, the stores are all decorated so beautifully. I don’t know if I can pick one, it was all too cute.”
He takes the diaper I’m holding out for him. “Huh, I thought you were going to say the tree stand.”
“I didn’t spend a ton of time there. It’s a cute stand, though . . . oh, there was one thing that happened while I was there. Hendricks came by—”
“To the tree stand?”
I nod. “Yeah, he didn’t see me, but he yelled at the girl running the place.”
I expect Alex to be shocked, but he barely looks surprised. “Story?”
“Yeah. Hendricks didn’t look happy when he heard about her yesterday. Who is she?”
“They were best friends.”
“What happened?”
“Hendricks has never talked about it.” He shrugs.
“No one knows, except Miles probably. But . . . I have a theory they hooked up and it went wrong. Right around when Max arrived. He was distraught, and most people put it down to the shock of him finding out he was going to be a father, but I think it was more than that.”
“Oh.”
“Never underestimate the power of a hookup.” He winks, picking up our now fully dressed daughter and planting a kiss on her cheek before handing her to me so we can put her in the crib together and say good night.
Wrapping his arm around my shoulder, he pulls me in, and we stand there staring at her, the same as every single night, in contented silence before he switches on her mobile.
And afterward, he holds his hand out and says, “C’mon, I have something for you downstairs.”
I’m not sure what I’m expecting, but when I reach the den, I realize what Miles came for. I’m standing in front of a naked Christmas tree and three stockings hanging above the fireplace, embroidered with DADDY, MUMMY, and EVERLY.
I’m speechless.
Alex watches for my reaction. “Do you like it?”
I turn to him. This guy. This guy, who’s done nothing but show up for me since I arrived, has made us feel special and welcome, and wanted. And now he’s got me a Christmas tree and stockings because he knows how much I love Christmas.
I already know it’s pointless to stop the tears, so I wipe them away as quickly as I can.
“Alex . . . yes. Yes, I like it. I love it.” I run my fingers over the pine needles. “You got a tree for us to decorate?”
“I did. But we can decorate with Everly. Just us three.” He points over at the table where I see a couple of ornaments laid out that I remember him buying in the store last year.
The last few weeks, my heart has filled so much that it’s overflowing, and it’s all down to Alex.
“Thank you.” I rise on my tiptoes and kiss him, and allow him to drag me over to the armchair by the fireplace to pull me onto his lap.
His fingers twine around the ends of my hair, breathing in the scent of lavender from the bath. “Thank you. You have no idea, truly.”
We stay there in quiet contemplation, watching the flames crackle and spit. My mind always goes back to how much has changed in the last twelve months and how different everything could have been. Then they land on Alex’s words from earlier. The power of a hookup.
“Can I ask you something?”
He runs his nose along my jaw. “You can ask me anything.”
“After you left, after you came back here . . . did you . . . was there anyone . . .?”
I don’t know why I’m asking. I don’t want to know the answer. Because if it’s yes and there was someone else . . . of course it’s going to be yes.
“No one.”
I scour his face, trying to find any hint he’s lying because I don’t believe it. How could Alex have stayed single this entire year? Has he seen himself?
“Oh, come on.” I laugh. “You’re telling me that you haven’t dated at all this year?”
I don’t know why I’m trying to make a joke about it.
But his admission comes with a weight that feels like it could crush me.
Once again, I’m reminded of my own stubbornness. That I spent nine months alone and pregnant when we could have done it together, because of assumptions I made.
He shrugs one shoulder. It’s casual, but it comes with that same confidence that oozes out of him, whether he knows it or not, and it hits me right in the chest.
“I told you the other night. Since I left Aspen, you’re all I’ve thought about. You were the last person I had sex with. There’s been no one else.”
I stare at the stockings he hung for us, at the tree he bought for me, and wait for the same question to be asked. When it doesn’t come, I know I’m not going to ruin the moment by offering up my own experience, so I try to find the words to tell him how I feel.
But I can’t.
Instead, I twist away from his hold and shimmy myself out of the sweatpants.
Alex is already hard by the time I unbuckle his jeans and pull him free. Straddling his lap, he lets out a deep groan as I grip his cock, squeezing enough that his head falls back with a hissed “fuck” before his eyes are with me again, holding mine.
Swiping the end of his cock through my slick center, I rise and guide him inside me. Alex’s teeth grit, but for me, the delicious sensation of him stretching me out as I slowly lower myself has my chest stuttering and my thighs shaking.
Leaning forward, he finds the crook of my neck with his lips as warm hands push under my hoodie, sliding up my spine and around until they cup my breasts. I can’t see what he’s doing, and it only works to heighten the rest of my senses when his thumb brushes over my peaked nipples.
“Ahhh, God. Alex.”
“So perfect, so fucking perfect,” he groans as I lower myself again, finding his mouth as my ass hits his lap.
Heat pools in the base of my spine. Tongues tangle together. He swallows my moans and grips me tight. Fingers dig into my hips as he rocks me, controlling our movement. I know it’s to prolong this, but I’m already too far gone.
“More,” I mutter against his lips, and I feel his cock thicken before he drives into me. Hard. “Fuck, Alex. I’m so close.”
Wrapping his fist in my hair, he pulls my head back. Blue eyes bore into mine. “Come for me, Hayve. I want to watch you come.”
He thrusts into me, and I’m done for. And the second my pussy clenches, Alex cries out, and I feel him shooting inside me. My name on his lips like it never left.
I collapse onto him, my face buried in his neck while we catch our breath, and one thought goes around my head.
This is what happiness feels like.