After my father and Grey stacked two rows of firewood in the garage, my father set him on the task of moving boxes over the garage door. It hadn’t occurred to me that maybe Dad was having more trouble doing things now than when I was younger. He was in good shape. He and Mom walked a few nights a week, and he wasn’t a heavy man, but he was almost sixty. Maybe climbing to the top of the ladder with a load of boxes wasn’t the piece of cake it used to be.
I had pulled out all of my snow cold-weather gear from the back of my closet. I had snow pants, boots, and insulated gloves for our hike. Mom had gathered a few of Dads extras out of the utility room for Grey to borrow. Other than a deep collection of flannel shirts and a coat, he didn’t have clothes for snow weather.
“Where are you going on your walk?” Mom asked while she stirred potato soup on the stove.
“I thought we could head out on the trail at the end of the cul-de-sac. The one that leads to the park.” I hadn’t planned a full route. I just wanted to get out of the house and show Grey where I grew up.
“Leave a trail of breadcrumbs so I can find you.” Mom giggled.
“Funny, Mom.”
“Grey is very helpful. Your father never would have been able to get all of that stuffed moved.”
“Yeah, he’s pretty incredible.” I knew I sounded like a girl head over heels in love, but I was done trying to hide my feelings. My parents knew I had moved for love.
“I’m glad he decided to fly up. It’s nice having him here.” She added another shake of salt to the pot. “Wait until your grandparents meet him.”
“Oh, God, I hadn’t thought about that.” Parents were one thing. Adding family members was something else. What if they freaked him out? What if my grandmothers peppered him with questions? What if my grandfathers lectured us on the immorality of living together before marriage? He only had Pops growing up. He wasn’t used to big family gatherings.
Mom smiled. “I think he’ll be fine. I was only commenting on how much they will enjoy meeting the man who stole your heart.”
“Right, of course.” I took a heavy breath. Having Grey here was the most amazing gift I could have wished for, but I didn’t realize all of the other parts to that would come with his visit: parents, grandparents, neighbors, and Taylor and Mason. I still needed to call her.
“Mom, I’m going to call Taylor and find out what her plans are this week. I’ll be right back if Grey asks.”
“All right, honey.”
I walked out of the kitchen, and left her crumbling bacon into the soup. Lunch was going to be delicious.
I pulled up Taylor’s number on my phone.
“Hey, Eden. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas. How’s it going at your dad’s house?” Taylor was with her dad for a few days then switching over to her mom’s house for the second half of the holidays.
“Fine. My stepmother has made me watch every Lifetime Christmas movie ever made, but other than that, everyone’s getting along.”
“What about Mason?”
“He’s going to be at my mom’s on Thursday. I can’t wait to see him.”
“I kind of have a surprise.”
“Really? What is it?”
“Grey showed up on my doorstep last night.”
“What?” Taylor squealed into the phone. “Are you kidding? That is the single most romantic thing I have ever heard of. Oh my God, he couldn’t stand being away from you.”
“Something like that.” I giggled. “I don’t know how he pulled it off without telling me. My mom was in on the whole thing too.”
“That’s too cute. So what are you two doing all week?”
“We’re getting ready to go out for a walk and tonight is the pageant at church. I don’t have a lot planned since I didn’t know he was going to be here. I guess we’re just hanging with my parents.”
“Oh, wait. Are you staying together in your room?”
“No. My mom put us in the guesthouse.”
“Oh, thank God. You would have freaked your parents out with all the Christmas sex.” She laughed.
“Taylor!” Although, I wasn’t sure why I was admonishing her. Christmas sex was all I could think about. It had started in spectacular fashion with that new move Grey and I tried.
“I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to have any alone time with Mason. My mom is putting him in the guestroom. I guess I’ll be sneaking down the hall in the middle of the night.”
“That’s one way to do it.” I was grateful my parents didn’t keep Grey and me separated. That would have been more torturous than him being in Texas. Taylor only met Mason two months ago. It was a different scenario in my mind.
“So, you want to try to get together like we planned before, or are you worried now that Grey is here?”
“I think we should do something. Grey and Mason see each other regularly now and no one has been punched. I think we’re ok over the holidays. Should we plan dinner?”
“Oh, what about that farm with all of the Christmas lights and the hayrides?”
“Wonderland Lights?” It was a local farmer who turned his working farm into a side business during the holidays.
“Yes. And I heard this year they have bands playing.”
“Cool. Ok, that sounds like fun. We can always grab dinner after if we go.”
“I’ll tell Mason, and I’ll text you later about the time.”
“Bye, girl. Tell your dad I said Merry Christmas.”