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“Now I have to.”
“We’ve got a couple somewhere around the farm if you really want to lose your appetite.”
“So they sold honey and armadillo purses?”
“And flowers. Half the town deserted, heading into the cities to find work. Farms were abandoned all over the county, but we were able to hang on. The Blums all stayed put. Family tradition, and all that.”
“And they made it through the oil boom without selling out.”
She shrugged. “We survived the hardest part. So long as the Blum offspring stays on the farm, we can survive just about anything. We’re resourceful that way.”
“As the purses prove.” I shook my head. “Armadillos. How did they survive without getting leprosy?”
“It’s one of the world’s great mysteries, like how eels reproduce or the purpose of Stonehenge.”
I chuckled. “I can’t imagine having roots that run that deep. To live in the same house my predecessors lived in.”
“I can’t imagine having no roots at all. Seems like there’s a lot of freedom in that.”
“And a lot of loneliness,” I admitted.
Her face softened. “I can only imagine.”
I spun her around for a second so I didn’t have to speak. “I bet you’re never alone.”
“It’s a rare and blessed occasion,” she joked, but her eyes were still all big and warm. “What do you do for the holidays?”
“Leave the country.”
She laughed, then realized I was being serious. “For all of them? Really?”
“Why not? I’d rather be on a beach in Brazil than in Georgetown alone on Christmas.”
“You’re not alone in Brazil?”
“Not usually.” I didn’t elaborate, taking the shift in song to a ballad as an opportunity to pull her closer.
“When was the last Christmas you had with your family?”
“I’ve never had one.”
Her feet came to a stop. “Never?”
I urged her on until she moved with me again. “There’s that pity again.” When she tried to wipe her expression clean, I chuckled and turned us around. “Like I said—hard to miss something you never had.”
“That makes me want to adopt you for the holidays.”
“Why, so you can ruin them forever? Pass,” I joked.
“So you can know how it feels. Everyone should know how that feels.”
“Tell me,” I said softly, willing at least for this small torture.
She thought for a moment, her face as open as her heart. “It’s the comfort of being in a place where people love you. Where you laugh and eat and celebrate your affection and appreciation for each other. Where you fight a little and bother each other, and somehow, it only makes you love the others more. Days spent in the kitchen with the lingering scent of cinnamon and apples from the pie or the buttery onions and celery sautéing before they go in the stuffing. The joy of not only finding gifts that mean something to those you love but to watch their joy when they open them. It’s … I don’t know. It’s magic. Everybody deserves a little magic.”
“I’ve had more magic here in Lindenbach than I’ve had in a long, long time.”
She gave me a suspicious look.
“You don’t believe me.”
“Can you blame me?”
“Guess not. Still hurts a little.”
Now she assessed me. “Tell me,” she said with more skepticism than I had.
I considered for a moment, holding her close as we moved around the dance floor. “It’s rare that I’m outside of my comfort zone, and you’ve made sure that’s the only place I’m allowed. And it’s been … fun.”
“Dammit, I was going for torment.”
“It’s been some of that too,” I said on a laugh. “I appreciate a challenge.”
“And I’m happy to oblige.”
“I appreciate that too.” For a moment, we were quiet. “You’ve given me a glimpse into another life, the kind of thing you see on television or in movies that’s too fantastic to ever be real. And you have it here in your town, in your family, in your farm. So thank you. Thanks for showing me a little of it.”
Again her cheeks were smudged pink, but she wore a smart smile. “You’re really putting a damper on my plans to run you out of town.”
“You’re doing a terrible job. Because I keep getting the feeling I’d rather stay.”
Her smile faded, lush lips parting in surprise. A long peal of thunder rolled, the sound heavy enough to rumble the floor. Faces turned up to the ceiling.
“You don’t want to stay,” she said quietly, half to herself.
“I can’t. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to.”
A laugh as she pushed the thought away. “Quit messing with me, Stone. I’m not buying what you’re selling.”
“Who says I’m selling something?”
“Aren’t you always? Don’t you always have an angle? Wasn’t the whole point of this to be some kind of an in?”
“At first. Not anymore.”
“Wouldn’t you say that either way?”
I took a breath and shook my head. “I wake up every morning wondering if I’ll see you, when I’ll see you. My time is spent thinking about what you’ll put me through next, not just because I want to beat you at your own game. Not because I want anything. But because when I’m around you, that magic is there too. I’ve been starved for that magic my whole life, and you take it with you everywhere you go.”
