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She stomped off and he raised his eyes to the sky. “Buddy, I don’t know what you were trying to do with this advent calendar lark, but if it depends on me saying the right things around your sister, it’s doomed to failure.”
Because he still couldn’t believe Colin was gone, because he needed an excuse not to join Anna, he waited for a reply.
When he inevitably didn’t get one, he trudged over to where she was settling the board back down on the ground, ready to go again.
Your sister’s got balls, he muttered to his absent friend.
When she heard him approach, she glanced over. “I know you’re going to claim I fell off first because I hit the ground, but both your feet left the board before mine did, so you’re still making dinner.”
He tried not to notice her hair had escaped most of the helmet in the fall and nodded soberly. “Fair.”
“Good.”
She looked down at her feet. One was firmly planted on the board, one on the ground. Both were encased in sneakers covered in images of Christmas baubles that actually lit up when she walked.
Silence pulsed between them. Two people trying to get along for the sake of the man who connected them, but who wouldn’t ordinarily have chosen to spend any time together.
“Did you ever see Colin on a skateboard?” She asked finally. “He kept telling me he’d take me, but somehow we always ended up shopping or eating cake and drinking coffee.” She lifted her shoulders. “I guess he had me figured.”
“Yes.” He gave himself an inward shake. She deserved more than a desultory one-word answer. “I saw him skate a few times, he was very good.” He pointed over to the man twisting in the air. “He could do that. And after he’d landed, he didn’t fall off. However you want to define it.”
It felt like a win when she smiled.
“How come you didn’t try it?”
“He tried to persuade me. I always promised. Next time.” Emotion ploughed through him, and he felt a sting at the back of his eyes. Abruptly he turned and stared out towards the trees, his vision blurred.
A moment later he felt her hand circle his arm and squeeze. “Well you’re here now,” she said softly. “So you kept your promise.”
She meant well but he felt too on edge to be consoled. He wanted to walk away, go somewhere quiet and collect himself. Shove all this pain back into its box.
Yet when he dared to look down at her and saw tears well in her eyes, he knew he couldn’t leave.
“How long do you think we have to stay here before we can say we ticked this off?” His voice sounded rough to his ears.
She gave him a lopsided smile. “Maybe another five minutes?”
“Deal.”
“Photo first.” She angled the camera and snapped a photo of two people trying to look like they were having fun.
He was about to get back on the damn board when he felt the brush of her body against his, the tickle of her hair on his face as she reached up on tiptoes to whisper in his ear. “After this we can go shopping for the ingredients you need to make dinner.”
She pushed away from him without giving him the chance to reply. He was left with the lingering smell of apples, and the mesmerizing sight of her legging-covered buttocks.
December 4th
It was Luke’s turn to open the advent window, but the man was out on another of his runs. It was no doubt the reason he had the type of body jean manufacturers had in mind when they designed denim to stretch across a backside, to hug hips, cling to thighs.
It was why she rarely wore them.
They’d had a moment, yesterday. Not their usual bickering, but a fleeting moment when he’d lowered his guard and almost let her see his grief. It had been the first time she’d wondered if he’d loved Colin nearly as much as she had.
“You can open it.” Luke appeared in the doorway, sweat glistening off his face. He wore an athletic top and shorts. Beneath them were a pair of distracting legs, heavily muscled and covered in a fine layer of dark hair. Would it feel soft to the touch? “Anna?”
“Shorts,” she blurted. “Why are you wearing shorts when it’s freezing out there?”
He looked down at them as if he’d not been aware what he was wearing. “Be bold, start off cold.”
