“Does this mean...?”
He nodded. “Officially retired. Not from the ATF, but from my other job.”
I threw myself into his arms. When he wrapped himself around me, I melted into a puddle of Christmas joy. Jake took that as his cue to leave. He gave me a double thumbs up and a huge grin, then headed for the elevator.
I reluctantly pulled away from Nick. “You’d better get in here before we get arrested for public indecency or something.”
“Planning to do something indecent to me?” He winked. “I can’t wait.” He hadn’t moved out of the doorway. “But first, I come bearing gifts.”
I clapped my hands together. “As in Christmas gifts? Is Nick the Grinch a newly converted Christmas lover?”
“I don’t know about that, but yes, I have Christmas gifts. You’ll need to close your eyes.”
I wasn’t sure I should trust him, but worst-case scenario, I’d open them to find him naked. Come to think of it, that would be best case-scenario. I closed my eyes and waited.
“Okay, now open them.”
I did, and found him holding a backpack with a plastic bubble. “Is that a?—”
“Cat carrier. For your new addition to the family.”
I took it gently from his hands. It was very light. I peered into it. “There’s no kitten.”
“About that. Kat and her husband have a theory about animals picking their people, so the rest of this gift will be me taking you to the animal shelter of your choice so you can be selected by just the right kitten.”
I put down the carrier and hugged him again. “Thank you. I love it.”
“But wait, there’s more!” he whispered.
“What?”
He closed the room door behind him, then pulled a folded-up paper from his pocket and handed it to me.
I wondered if it was a copy of his resignation letter as I unfolded it. “A two-night booking at the Clause Towne Inn!”
“Jake told me what you want to do withMother Tree. I called Buddy and Sue on the way here. They’re thrilled to have you bring the piece and install it, but they do expect to pay you for it.”
“I can’t let them do that.”
“I told them you’d say that,” Nick said. “They were pretty insistent. I decided I’d let the three of you fight it out when we get there.”
I blinked back tears. They and the other locals in Klosston had loved my art in a way my parents would never be able to do. The realization didn’t bother me as much as I’d thought it would. Maybe my parents would never understand my work, but I no longer needed that from them. Other people were touched by my art and more were finding it every day.
“We’ll drive a rental car there, then pick up your car to drive back to California,” Nick finished.
“Another road trip? That’s like a third gift. And I didn’t get you anything.”
“There is one gift you could give me.”
I bit my lip and waggled my eyebrows at him.
“Okay, two. The second gift is that I want to go with you to your parents’ house tomorrow. Jake says they’re ready to apologize to you. And I think if you skip your family Christmas, you’ll regret it.”
“I don’t know,” I answered. I was worried about regrets, too, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to forgive them.
“Think of it this way,” he said. “It will give me a chance to get in their good graces. Apparently, they’re under the impression I’m some kind of fuck boi?”
“Ah, Jake told you about the Riley fiasco.” At least that saved me from having to repeat it.
