I drop into my chair again, placing my hand on his forearm to ease the blow of what I’m about to say. “This is my favorite time of year.”
“I know. You’ve told me that before.”
“No, I don’t think you doknow.” I scratch the back of my head, causing my wave of hair to slowly fall back into its parted place, piece by piece. “I’ve been sheltering you from the truth since we met.” I suck in a deep breath for this next part. “I’m Summer Stanworth, and I’m addicted to Christmas.”
Justin’s lips quirk. “Yeah, I know. You always talk about Christmas, and you’ve been wearing festive earrings since September first.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I always wait until after Labor Day to wear my holiday earrings.” A self-conscious hand lightly touches the dangling peppermint hanging from my ear. “But you don’treallyget it. I’ve shown you a watered-down version of my love. I’ve been holding back so you don’t think I’m crazy. But now the truth has to come out.” The faster I talk, the more hand gestures I use. “I've been obsessed with Christmastime since I was a little girl. I think about it all year long. I begin calendaring holiday events in July. I buy presents for my family in August. Start wearing earrings in September. Decorate in October.” I pause briefly to see if Justin has figured out that the overload of Christmas decorations is why we haven’t gone to my apartment in the last month and a half. He seems unfazed by that piece of information, so I keep going. “And I start listening to Christmas music in November. But the celebration really begins the Saturday before Thanksgiving at Bob Irvine’s ranch. From that moment until December twenty-sixth, I’m like a sponge, soaking in all the Christmas spirit I can. That means I go to every family party and town event that Telluride has to offer, and if I’m double-booked or miss something, I have debilitating FOMO and feel like my Christmas season is ruined. So there it is.” I puff out a breath. “I’m a yulephile.”
He squints as if he’s processing my confession. “A yulephile?”
“Yes, a lover of Christmas.”
The corner of his mouth lifts. “It’s definitely better than a pedophile.”
“This isn’t funny.” I slump back in my chair. “It’s more than just an obsession with a holiday. This time of year holds the happiest moments of my life. Christmas is when you’re with the ones you love. I literally take that to heart. The family togetherness is what I live for. The memories of this season keep me sane for the rest of the year. I love my family and being with them, and I’m looking for someone who loves all of that as much as I do and will bewithme the entire time.”
He grabs my hand, running his thumb over my knuckles. “I’m that guy.”
“You are?” Why does my voice sound so surprised by that?
“Yeah, of course.”
“Right. Of course you’re that guy.” Tension releases with my breath. “I guess I’ve just been stressed about telling you all this, because I know how busy you are. And my love for Christmas and family togetherness can be a lot for some people.”
Justin laughs, drawing my eyes to his cute smile. “As long as you’re not sleeping with an inflatable Frosty the Snowman instead of me, I think I can handle a little Christmas spirit. I don’t know why you were so worried to tell me. I’m not the Grinch. I love the holidays too, and my family has traditions.”
“I don’t know why I was stressed either.”
Maybe it's because, lately, I’ve been going stag to all my family parties before this.
I mute those thoughts, refusing to dwell on our past problems. “So we’re on for all the Thanksgiving festivities next week?”
“Oh, no, I didn’t say that.” He nods at his computer. “This week is crazy. I have to prep for our Black Friday sale. I’m expecting thousands of orders the day after Thanksgiving. You know how perfect the blankets are for Christmas presents.”
“I thought maybe you could take a break this week, find some time forus.Especially now that I explained how important being with my family is this time of year.”
“Sum Sum, I just don’t see how I can.” I hate it when Justin calls meSum Sum, but I hate it even more when he pairs it with disappointing me. “I’m sure I can duck out for a few hours to eat Thanksgiving dinner, but otherwise, I’ll be swamped all week.”
“But you missed my family Halloween party.”
“Because we’d just aired the QVC infomercial.”
“I know, but you promised to come to my next family party.”
He squeezes my hand. “From the sound of things, there will be a family party every day leading up to Christmas. I’ll go to something later in the month when things calm down.”
“But what if they don’t calm down? Later, you’ll be busy filling orders from the Black Friday sale. And after that, it will be the rush to get blankets in the mail so they can arrive before Christmas.”
“Then I’ll come to a family event in January.” He shrugs as if it’s all so simple, and maybe it issimpleto someone else—someone who doesn’t love my family and Christmas like I do.
“But my sister, Erin, will be in town this week with my nieces, Cora and Berkley. I wanted you to meet them.”
My family is not complete without Erin and Tommy and their girls. I mean, Erin is my steady sister. She just does life right. I’ve looked up to her since I was a little girl, and ever since she moved, I only get to see her a few times a year. We have to make the most of her visits.
“She’s the one that lives in Denver, right?”
“Justin, we’ve been dating for nine months, and you barely know my family.”
