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Minty stared at the space for a long moment, his hand clutching mine, and then he nodded once. “It looks good, Mama.”
“It does?” She stood behind us, wringing her hands and chewing her lower lip.
“Yeah. It’s good. It’s better this way.”
She clutched him in yet another hug, and he let her, though he still held my hand. When she broke away, she wiped tears from her eyes. “So, you forgive me?” she whispered.
“Mama, I forgave you ages ago.”
I grimaced. It was a good thing she’d asked him that question and not me; I’d have offered up a very different answer.
But it was Christmas. So, I gave them both the gift of keeping my mouth shut.
***
Minty
The drive toJohnson City could have been super awkward.
I knew Luke hadn’t forgiven my mother for what he saw as her failure to protect me, and likely he never would, but luckily Mama was oblivious to that. She and I spent the ride up happily gossiping about people from her church and trying to remember the lyrics to “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” and then Olivia Newton-John’s song “Physical.”
Luke, for his part, was quiet, but occasionally he’d reach out to squeeze my thigh. His way of telling me he was with me and that he loved me. It made my heart melt a little more each time.
At Luke’s mom’s house, Mama got out carrying her green bean casserole, and Luke popped the trunk so I could retrieve the four pies I’d made to contribute to the spread, and he could grab the presents. We went in through the back kitchen door.
Inside, it felt as crowded as Tilt-a-Whirl on a Saturday night. Rodney’s parents were there with not only Rodney, but his two sisters and their husbands. I forgot their names as soon as they were out of their mouths, but it was good to see that Rodney’s family was so close and supportive.
Luke and Betsy’s grandmother was there too, Mrs. Montgomery’s mother. We’d met the prior week, and Mamaw gave me a twinkling smile and wave as we made eye contact across the kitchen. My heart warmed even more.
Betsy was smiling from ear to ear, clutching Rodney’s hand and showing off her shiny new ring to anyone who walked by. It wasn’t much, just a chip of a diamond really, but Betsy was thrilled all the same. And I was thrilled for her.
Next to me, Mrs. Montgomery greeted my mother warmly. “Your Minty is the sweetest boy. We love him.”
“Your Luke is so kind too,” Mama said.
With their mutual kiss-up over, Mrs. Montgomery took the pies from me and led Mama and the green bean casserole over to the table where she’d laid out the spread. Everyone was gathered around eating the appetizers and talking, and one of Rodney’s sisters had Mamaw engrossed in a story about a scandalous romance in her workplace.
Luke juggled the presents, and I took a few, helping him carry them down the hall and into the empty living room. It was decorated to the hilt with garlands and mistletoe and red bows. Next to the fireplace stood an enormous fake Christmas tree with simulated snow flocking and blinking lights, and on the mantle hung stockings for everyone in the family—including me.
Placing the presents I was carrying under the tree, I wandered over to look at it. It was just a red and white commercial stocking, likely picked up at Walmart, but someone—Betsy, maybe—had written my name in gold glitter across the top.
“Come here,” Luke said, tugging me closer to him. “I want to show you something.”
“What?”
“You’ll see.” He laughed. I loved how his blue eyes twinkled. When I first met him, I never saw them twinkle with anything but sadistic lust. Now they twinkled with so much more: affection, joy, humor.
He circled me around to the back of the tree. Hanging on the hidden branches were all the homemade ornaments his mother had collected through his and Betsy’s childhood. Mixed in with them were a bunch of small, framed photos. He took one off a flocked limb and passed it to me.
I gazed down at an image of little Luke, probably age six or so, wearing Christmas pajamas and a cocky grin. He was surrounded by discarded wrapping paper and wielding…was that? Itwas.
I gasped. “A crop? You got acropfor Christmas? No wonderyou turned out like this.”
Luke laughed. “No, a horse.”
“What?”
“They gave me and Betsy a horse. Her name was Speedy, and she was anything but. She was a therapy horse for Betsy really. The crop was symbolic. I never used it on Speedy.” His grin grew wicked. “But I used it on Joshua Jamison my freshman year of college. He appreciated it way more than that sweet old horse would have.”
