Chapter 25 #2
Smiling, he shakes his head. “Well, no. There’s probably only four or five here tonight, assuming you only count Daniels by birth.
” He screws up his face. “Well, that wouldn’t count Mara, would it?
And that hardly seems fair.” Sighing, he shakes his head, holding up a hand as he ticks off names.
“Jake and Mara are here, of course. Plus Sarah, and I saw you talking with Shane. Nora’s probably around here somewhere, though I haven’t seen her yet.
There’s a whole pile of cookies from Give and Cake, though, and her boyfriend would be the one bringing those, so she’s gotta be here too.
I think the brothers and their girlfriends won’t be here until next week, though.
Sometimes they make the effort to come early for this, but it doesn’t always work out. They don’t live in town anymore.”
“So the boys left and the girls stayed?”
He snorts, shaking his head. “Funny how things work out sometimes, isn’t it?
” Shrugging, he picks up a plate and adds food to it from the spread on the table in front of us.
That jars me out of feeling like I shouldn’t do the same, so I grab my own red plate and survey the options.
“It’s not like the boys were kicked out and the girls were forced to stay,” he continues, answering my question.
“Sarah always wanted to take over The Christmas Emporium, and her older brother Ty had no interest. Nora … I’m not sure what her original plans were, but she’s the assistant manager at The Christmas Emporium now and seems happy with it.
I think their other brother, the one between the two girls, is an architect now. He lives near Seattle.”
“That’s nice they come back frequently, though.”
“Daddy!” screams a voice, and a child careens into Aaron’s legs.
Aaron lets out a soft, “Oof,” and reaches down with one hand to pat Colin’s back. “Hey, little dude. You hungry?”
He shakes his head, looking up at his dad. “Sophie’s playing a movie in one of the bedrooms. Can I watch?”
“What movie is it?”
He shrugs. “Dunno. One with a snowman.”
“Is it real life? Or a cartoon?”
He screws up his face. “Cartoon, I think.”
Watching Aaron interact with his son is more adorable than I expected.
I mean, I’ve seen them around town before, but that was when I thought Aaron hated me.
Which I don’t think he actually hated me at any point, but he certainly wasn’t a fan of mine before this month.
His kid is super cute, though, and even if I didn’t know how much he cared about his son from our conversations, his affection for Colin is clear just from watching them interact.
“Why don’t you go ask Sophie what the name of the movie is and then come back and tell me.”
“‘Kay. But she said to tell you it’s a kid’s movie.”
Aaron rolls his eyes in exasperation. “Why didn’t you tell me that to start with?”
Colin shrugs, and Aaron glances at me. I smile at him, not entirely sure what he’s expecting from me.
Looking at his son, he nods in my direction. “Colin, I’d like you to meet Jenna. She and I have been hanging out a lot lately.”
Colin turns and faces me, giving me a wave. “Hi!” he chirps.
“Hey. Nice to meet you. Are you having fun tonight?”
He shrugs, wrinkling his nose. “There aren’t that many kids here.”
I nod. “Yeah. I remember my parents dragging me to things with a bunch of adults when I was a kid. I always had my sister with me, though, so it wasn’t so bad.”
He looks up at his dad. “Can I get a sister?”
Aaron freezes for a second, mid-chew. Then he tries to swallow, coughs a few times, then shakes his head, tossing me a baleful glare.
I give him a sunny smile in return. “That’s, uh …
right now why don’t you just hang out with Sophie.
I know she’s not your age, but at least she lets you watch movies with her, right? ”
“I guess,” he grumbles, turning to take off.
“Colin!” his dad barks, and he freezes, looking over his shoulder. “Find out the name of the movie, then come tell me. Even if it’s a kids’ movie, I still want to know what it is.”
Colin nods and takes off, weaving between the people with an impressive combination of skill and obliviousness, totally unaware that at least three people have to stop short so he doesn’t crash into them, one man almost spilling his drink on Colin’s head.
Aaron shakes his head, but there’s no denying the smile on his face. “That kid, I swear.”
“He’s a cute kid,” I offer. “I bet you guys have a lot of fun together.”
His smile turns soft. “We do. At least I try to. It’s tricky sometimes, since I have to be the bad guy that enforces routine and bedtimes and all that. His mom lets him stay up pretty late when he’s at her place, but since it’s not that often, I don’t fuss about it.”
I raise my eyebrows, not totally believing that.
“Okay, fine. I don’t fuss at his mom about it. I gripe to my mom. Or, well, now you.”
Chuckling, I reach over and rub his back. “I’m happy to listen to you anytime you need to gripe.”
“Aww, thanks,” he says, leaning over to kiss me.
“It’s Frosty the Snowman!” Colin shouts just as our lips touch.
Aaron pulls back as though I’m electric, his head swiveling toward his son. “Oh, uh, that’s great,” he croaks.