“You will be.”
He grins and looks at the bag. “There’s one more thing in there.”
My forehead wrinkles as I look at the bottom of the bag to see …
The gorgeous wrought iron and ceramic angel ornament from Feeding Futures.
“Coop,” I breathe. I hug him and he wraps his arms around me tightly. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he says.
“That’s nice,” Dad says. I hang the ornament carefully on the tree and pause to look at it among all my mom’s favorites. It’s beautiful.
Then I grab a box from under the tree and turn back to Coop.
“I got you something, too.”
“You mean in addition to the sweatshirt, right?” he asks.
“No chance.” I hand him the box.
He opens it up and then grins. It’s a sweatshirt with Buddy the Elf on it … but with Coop’s face on it instead of Will Ferrell’s.
He laughs and hugs me again.
“Ugh, you two are disgusting. I hope you break up soon,” Lucas says.
Dad throws a pillow at his head at the same time that Coop says, “We’re not breaking up.” He holds me tighter when hesays this, and it feels final. Like he’s putting a stamp on this relationship.
Coop and Liesel.
Done.
I grin.
“Well, then, I guess we should show youourpresent, Coop,” Logan says with a sigh. He and Lucas swap mischievous glances.
“You guys got him a present?” I ask skeptically. “If it’s a flaming bag of dog poop?—”
“Dude! We’re grown men. We’re not pulling some dumb prank on the guy. Chill,” Lucas says.
“We’ll be right back,” Logan says.
The two run for the stairs, and based on the pounding, they’re taking them two at a time.
“I have a terrible feeling about this,” I say.
“Me too,” Coop says.
“Not me,” Dad says, leaning back on the armchair in a way that makes his guns look even more massive. He grins at Coop, and the feeling of foreboding intensifies.
My brothers run down the stairs like a herd of elephants, and a moment later, they appear with something behind their backs.
Or someone?—
“NO!” I scream, rushing them. “No way!”
Logan holds me back while Lucas pulls the life-size Coop cutout from behind his back. Every part of Coop opens up in gleeful delight. His eyes, his mouth, his arms. He looks at me and says, “YOU LOVE ME!” Then he bursts out laughing. And so do my brothers and Dad. They all laugh themselves to tears, while I stand there and punch my brothers’ shoulders as hard as I can.
