Page 47 of Cakewalk

“Cold, sweetheart?” Holden asked as she shivered again.

“A little,” she replied sheepishly. She hated admitting to her failure, but she was really starting to not see any more options.

“Come here.” Coming up behind her and drawing her in close, he wrapped himself around her, letting his body heat engulf her. His hard chest felt so good against her that she let herself get lost in it for a moment, leaning her head back on his shoulder. Closing her eyes, she took in a deep breath.

When she opened them again, she was stunned at what she saw. The perfect tree was standing right in front of them.

“Holden, that’s it. It’s perfect!” she said, unable to take her eyes off it. The evergreen was shorter than most of the ones that surrounded it and almost pear shaped, with its wide base and narrow top. Gigi couldn’t exactly put her finger on the reason, but this was the tree.

“Yeah?” he asked. “Then it’s yours.” Holding up the bow saw he’d been carrying, a childlike smile crossed his face, and Gigi could have sworn she saw his eyes sparkle. Crouching underneath the tree, he sawed away at it, until the tree fell, hitting the ground with a loud thud.

“Alright, sweetheart, let’s get this bad boy loaded into the truck and home so we can get it decorated.”

* * *

Holden

Out of the corner of his eye, Holden could see the joy written all over Gigi’s face. She hadn’t stopped smiling, or bouncing up and down, since they’d gotten the tree loaded into the truck back at the tree farm. When he’d asked his parents if they minded if he did this with her, wanting to make this first Christmas without her husband a happy one, he’d known it would mean a lot to her. He just hadn’t realized that it would also mean so much to him.

Holding her this afternoon while she mourned had been an emotional moment for both of them. His marriage might have been a lot happier than hers, but their spouses were both just as gone, the both of them navigating the mess of moving on. Having her to walk through all of this with him had been exactly what he needed.

Taking a brief detour, he did a loop through Colebury green so she could get the full experience of seeing it all lit up. She ooohed and ahhhed, taking in the massive tree that stood directly in the middle of the square, covered in a myriad of colored and white twinkle lights. Large green, red, blue, and white ball-shaped ornaments were sporadically placed on the branches, adding to the flair, with a sparkly gold star at the very top which glittered under the flood lights cast on it. The front lawn of the town hall was aglow with a winter scene, complete with spiraled lights forming trees, and reindeer formed from twinkle lights. The Catholic Church next door had the requisite nativity scene out front, as well as a large wreath hanging on the side of the building.

When they pulled into the drive, Gigi bounded out of the truck, more energy flowing out of her than a small child with a new toy.

“How do we get it inside?” she asked, opening the tailgate.

“I’ll handle that part, if you’ll go make the hot chocolate,” he told her, kissing her softly. He was pretty sure he would never tire of her kisses, and he could only hope that she felt the same. She nodded gleefully and skipped into the house.

Holden couldn’t help but sing “Fat Bottomed Girls” by Queen as he maneuvered the evergreen that Gigi had picked out into the house. It took some doing, but he managed to make it through the front door and into the stand with no major damage to the tree’s shape and minimal pine needle loss. Taking a look at it again, he silently laughed to himself that this was the one she picked. He had no idea why she felt so taken with this one, but it wasn’t lost on him that she’d picked out a tree that had quite the set of hips, so to speak, and that her own hips were one of his favorite things about her. Not that he would ever admit to any of this out loud.

“Here you go,” Gigi said, coming up behind him and handing him a mug. “Careful—it’s hot.”

“Ready for this?” he asked.

“You have no idea,” she beamed.

“The St. Jameses and the Montgomerys are strictly white twinkle light people. None of that colored light nonsense,” he said, in mock sternness, holding up a string of lights. “But other than that, it’s free rein. I’ll do the lights, if you want to start picking out ornaments. The standard ball ornaments and such are in that box, and the family ones are in there. Have at it.”

Gigi went straight for the family ornament box, just as Holden would have guessed. Based on everything she’d told him, she’d had enough of generic decorations in this lifetime, and she wanted this tree to have heart. She pulled out a bunch, slowly unwrapping and admiring each one before laying them out on the coffee table. Once he was finished adorning the tree with the lights, she handed him a bright red ball and set to work on finding the perfect spot for everything she’d unwrapped.

“What’s this one from?” she asked, holding up a pine cone with red glitter all over it.

“That is from sometime in preschool. I’m not even sure how the thing still has glitter on it. But there is no way my mom would have ever thrown it out. I’m not sure she actually understands the concept of throwing things out.”

“That’s so sweet though.” She unwrapped a small, star-shaped frame ornament, covering her mouth to stifle a laugh as she looked at the picture inside. He didn’t even need her to hold it up to know what it was, but he let her continue anyway. “Is this you?”

“Seventh grade,” he said, owning up to the insanely embarrassing photo. “Braces, acne, and spiked hair. I mean, it’s every thirteen-year-old boy’s dream to look that cool!” Gigi laughed as he took the ornament from her and held it up to his face so she could see the comparison. “I’m sure that had Lexi Reynolds only known that this kid would turn into this stud, she never ever would have turned me down for the dance that year.”

Taking the ornament out of his hand, Gigi stood on her tiptoes, pressing her lips to his. She tasted like the hot chocolate they’d been sipping on, making him want to devour her.

“That stud is mine now, so Lexi Reynolds can just back off!” she joked, before finding an opening on the tree for it.

“I am sure she is just as unconcerned about me now as she was back then. What about you? Who was your first crush?”

“Archie Porter,” she said without hesitation. “He was soooo cool.”

“And did Archie know that you existed?”