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As she hopped out of her car, landing with a crunch on the frozen snow, she tightened her scarf before closing the door behind her. She patted her coat pocket, double-checking that her last minute gift was tucked securely inside.
It had been almost impossible to sneak away to get it. With the deadline for the sale quickly approaching, Franklin had gone from wary to worried that she was getting ready to leave Hamlet behind. He never came out and asked what she was planning to do, and she was almost positive that a small part of him expected her to leave as soon as she could, so it wasn’t that big of a surprise that he spent the week leading up to Christmas doing everything he could to engulf her in the holiday spirit.
It was such a one-eighty from last year and Gloria freaking loved it.
Almost—almost—as much as she loved Franklin.
Carefully navigating her way across the icy ground, one hand against the side of Franklin’s truck as she traveled around it, she was a little frustrated to see that he had beat her home. The trip out of Hamlet had taken her longer than she expected thanks to last night’s snowfall. Of course, when she finally arrived at the mall, it was super packed. Nothing like last minute shoppers, right? Even though she’d placed her special order right after Thanksgiving, it still took her close to half an hour to pick it up and make her way out of the crowded parking lot.
She didn’t like being so sneaky. To buy the time to slip out alone, she got Bailey to distract Franklin. Ever since she started dating Ethan Oliver, Franklin took every opportunity he had to play the part of the scary older brother. It had been all too easy to get him out of the house that morning.
Too bad she couldn’t keep him out long enough.
When she let herself into the house, she could see him in the corner of the kitchen as she headed into the front room. His profile was to her. He was scowling, a big plastic bowl in front of him, a potato masher clutched in his left hand. As soon as he heard Gloria enter, he paused, though he didn’t turn to face her.
Uh-oh.
“Hey, babe,” she called out to Franklin. “I wasn’t expecting you back so soon.”
> He shrugged, before busying himself with the masher again. “It didn’t take long to straighten out the Oliver boy’s engine. I swear, if he didn’t have his heart set on joining the HSD next year, I’d teach him a little mechanic work. Bailey deserves better.”
Gloria laughed as she shrugged off her coat. Since she would need what was in the pocket, she placed it on the couch before joining Franklin in the kitchen. “She’s your baby sister. You’re never gonna think anyone’s good enough for her.”
Franklin’s grunt was probably the best answer he could give.
She rolled her eyes, then glanced around the kitchen. “Wow. You’ve got a lot done so far.”
“Wanted to stay busy.”
“It’s Christmas Eve. Don’t you want to relax?”
Because he was the furthest thing from relaxed. His muscles were tensed, his jaw tight, and if he kept attacking the potatoes with the masher, they’d behaving potato soup with their meal instead.
She moved around him, going up on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss on the cheek before easing the masher out of his death grip. “I think they’re done, don’t you?”
“I guess,” he said, letting her take the tool. Leaning to the side, Franklin pushed the bowl of mashed potatoes back on the counter. “I didn’t know you were going out. When I got back and your car was gone, I thought I should do something to fill the time.”
Her back turned while she went to the kitchen sink and dropped the gloppy masher inside, Gloria winced. She was glad Franklin couldn’t see. So worried that she wouldn’t make it to the jeweler in time to pick up her gift, she didn’t even think about how he would react to discover her missing on Christmas Eve.
“I hope I didn’t keep you waiting long,” she said lightly, bringing a big smile to her face as she turned back around. “I had to run out and got one last thing taken care of for the holiday. No biggie.”
“Yeah. It was fine. I figured, if I got the meal started, we could maybe exchange presents earlier.”
Gloria’s head just about skipped a beat. Did he… did he know? “I thought we agreed that we’d bring all the gifts with us to your dad and Vanessa’s house this year? Then we could all open them together.”
“We did. Don’t worry, sweetheart. I remembered. I even bagged everything up that we’re bringing tomorrow so that it’ll take less time to pack the truck.” Franklin pointed toward the three massive black garbage bags perched near their tree. “See?”
It looked like a lot more when it was wrapped up like that but, well, no one ever said that Gloria knew when to stop. Now that she had really gotten to know everyone, she had to make sure she bought gifts for everyone that mattered: Geoffrey Carter, Vanessa, Bailey. Sadie Oliver and her son. Even a small token for Phil Granger, the de facto postman for Hamlet, the Jeffersons, and Dr. De Angelis.
And then there was Franklin. At least one of those bags were filled with Christmas gifts just for him. Except, of course, for the most important one.
But he said exchange. Which meant that, just like last year, each one of them had tucked one important present to the side to give to the other.
Gloria laughed again. She couldn’t help it. After more than a year of dating, she should’ve expected that.
“Okay. You got me. The last thing I had to take care of was for you. Should I get it? Or do you want to go first?”
Franklin gave her a searching look. “Do you mind if I do?”
