Page 35 of Deck the Hauls

Emily took the pills, clenching her jaw as she bent across to place the mug on the coffee table.

She met my gaze then managed a small smile. “Apart from the whole head injury, tonight was fun.”

“I enjoyed it too.”

If I leaned in a few inches, I could kiss her right now.

Don’t be ridiculous.

“Why don’t I sleep on the couch?” I blurted, then flushed. “So you’re not alone, I mean.”

Emily held my gaze, unblinking, then shook her head. “No, that’s too much. You’d be so uncomfortable. I’ll be okay. I’m already feeling a bit better.”

But what if you lose consciousness and can’t call for help? Or fall over and injure yourself in a dizzy spell and can’t reach the phone?

“I’m totally fine sleeping on the couch. I go camping all the time in summer, so I’m used to sleeping anywhere. And Blake did say someone should stay with you.”

And I won’t sleep at all at home, worrying about you.

“Are you sure? You’ve already done so much.”

I nodded. “Of course.”

Emily stared at me for a moment and then smiled. “Thank you. Well, I’ll sleep on the couch so you can have the bed.”

“Definitely not,” I said sternly. “You have a head injury. You are sleeping on a proper bed with a proper pillow.”

Emily held up her hands. “Okay, fine!” She lowered her arms. “But thank you. I really appreciate all your help this week.”

We gazed at each other, my heart picking up pace.

“It’s no problem at all.”

Emily cleared her throat. “I’ll find you some clothes and bed linens.”

As she disappeared into the hallway, I pulled out my phone and set an alarm to check on her through the night.

CHAPTER TWELVE

EMILY

I draped tinsel around the freshly cut Christmas tree in the living room set, humming “Deck the Halls”, a smile plastered on my face.

Dana had done so much for me this last week. She’d let me shadow her and pepper her with questions, saved me from the fir tree, de-foamed me, helped me with my lines, taken me ice skating and looked after me when I’d hit my head. What could I do for her that would show how much I appreciated all her help?

The thought had followed me around all day as we filmed on set in the old barn and I still hadn’t come up with a good idea. The low-level headache I’d had since waking this morning probably hadn’t helped matters. Although, at least the sharp pains I’d experienced last night had subsided.

I took a step up the ladder and wrapped tinsel around the top of the tree. Charles wanted shots of me decorating the fir for a montage scene. Thankfully, I was no longer feeling dizzy and it didn’t require much brain power so I could do it while thinking about Dana.

When I’d snuck past her on my couch early this morning, she’d been deeply asleep, dark circles under her eyes. Not wanting to wake her, I’d left a thank you note and then walked down Main Street, picked up my car and driven to the farm. But I wanted to do more than that.

I mulled over the issue as I finished the last scene of the day and packed up to leave. At a loss, I called Lucia as I walked out of the barn and into the cool afternoon air. We were due to talk anyway.

“Hi,” she said. “How are you? How’s filming?”

“Good. The schedule is intense—early starts and long days—but it’s going well. And I learned how to ice skate yesterday which is a relief.” I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the natural light, and started down the dirt road toward my car.

“Oh, thank god! I’ve been worrying about that. Was it hard?”