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Gideon nodded and waited for me to lock up. He was weirdly quiet on the short walk across the driveway, eyes all shifty and steps slower than usual. He seemed reluctant to step aside at his kitchen door before finally ushering me in. “Apologies for the clutter.”
“I’m sure it’s fine.” I’d never actually been inside Gideon’s house, so I took time to look around as he led me to the front hall. I knew his place had been remodeled some before he’d bought it, so the kitchen was updated like mine, but the similarities ended there.
Each space was a different color, a coordinated muted palette, and each area had been staged like something out of a magazine. Maybe one of those ones dedicated to collectors because there was a lot of stuff, true, but it all worked. Vintage plates rimming the wall above the cabinets. Mural landscape wallpaper above the chair rail in the dining room, which featured two packed china cabinets. Catalogs littered the dining table, but no other mess. The living room was decked out for the holiday, the tabletop tree he’d bought downtown with me on display in the front window. Little buildings for one of those holiday village type things lining full bookcases.
“This isn’t clutter.” I touched his shoulder as we entered the foyer because he seemed all twitchy. “Addiction to fake snow, maybe, but it’s pretty.”
“It’s a lot more stuff than your place.”
“So you’re more ready for entertaining than me.” I shrugged. It was more than I’d ever own on my own, but I could appreciate the care that had gone into his rooms. Everything was very welcoming like he was ready for a gathering at a moment’s notice. “It’s fine. I like the decorating. It’s very you.”
“Oh, good.” Gideon exhaled hard before giving me a tentative smile. “I’ve been wanting to have you over, but I didn’t want to scare you off with how much I own.”
“I’m not scared off.” I gave him a fast kiss. Well, I intended fast. The actual kiss turned slow and sultry and had me glancing at the stairs behind us as we broke apart. “Show me the broken thing before we forget all about mattress shopping.”
“Right here.” He indicated a wooden coat rack, which was laying on the floor, blue drill next to it, one of the arms askew.
“Hmm.” I knelt to examine the problem. The arm had pulled away from the central pole, and it was a bigger issue than simply tightening some loose screws but still highly doable. This time I didn’t hold back the grin as I looked up at him. “I can fix this. Screws are stripped, but I’ve got some that will work better. Main thing is to shore up the loose screw holes and repair the crack before it spreads.”
Gideon snorted. “I do hate a loose hole. And spreading crack.”
“Glad to see you amused.” I was. I liked him back to normal and with me being the reason why. He was rescuing my whole damn month. Least I could do was fix some furniture.
“You really think it’s worth saving?” Kneeling next to me, he ran a hand down the polished wood. “They don’t make them this sturdy anymore. It reminded me of a piece my grandparents had.”
“Yeah.” My voice turned husky because that was exactly what Brandon had said when he’d first seen my house. Think it’s worth saving? Clearly, I had, even if I’d grumbled a lot during the doing. And with Gideon, so much was worth saving, every item linked to a memory, something that mattered. “You’ll want to turn this arm to the back, maybe use it more for hats and light stuff, but there’s a lot of use left in this piece. Good bones.”
“Thank you.” His gaze was soft, and he was damn lucky there wasn’t a bed nearby and that I appreciated his need to follow his schedule.
“Let’s cart it to my garage. I’ve got the right tools and glue and clamps there.”
“Kinky.” His voice was teasing, but his eyes were still hot enough to melt the crusty snow covering the lawn out front. Bitterly cold day, and I wanted nothing more than to get warm with Gideon.
“Wood clamps. And if you keep looking at me like that, I’m not going to require a mattress.”
“You need a mattress.” Rolling his eyes at me, he straightened back up and dusted off his pants. I filed away my need to push him against the nearest flat surface for later, and we were on our way to the big shopping center in a nearby township in short order.
I wasn’t entirely clear on why Gideon needed to tag along for me to pick out a bed. Strictly speaking, this wasn’t part of the holiday plans where I needed his input or assistance, like with the decorating or furniture moving.
“I hope I’m not stealing you away from any other parts of your to-do list,” I said carefully as I drove. I didn’t want to sound unappreciative, but I also hated the idea that I was monopolizing his time.
“You’re not.” His voice came out surprisingly somber, then he forced a laugh, but even his lighter tone had a blue edge. “I always think I’ll be busier in December than I am. I pre-plan so much ahead that I wind up at loose ends.”
“That sucks.” I didn’t know what else to say because it did suck. I might not share Gideon’s love of the season, but I did know lonely. I coped by refinishing floors to ballroom-worthy levels while maybe he coped by taking on decorating projects and social obligations. My insides turned sour. My own solo life was practically an old friend at this point, broken-in boots I was reluctant to replace, but his loneliness cut me to the bone
“Maybe next year I’ll take up baking like Cheryl. Anything to keep busy.” He sounded so resigned that I gave his leg a squeeze while we were stopped at a light. “I even volunteered to take an extra shift collecting donations from cars driving through to see the lights tonight.”
“You’re going to freeze your ass off.” We weren’t expecting more snow yet, but a cold front hung over the region, bringing low temperatures and a biting wind.
“Yes, but we got an excellent writeup on an entertainment blog that focuses on local attractions. We should get good traffic tonight. Someone needs to be there to do the donations, so I put myself on the schedule.”
Ah. The schedule. Stubborn man. I groaned. “I’ll make you a thermos of tea. It’ll be too late for coffee, and I don’t have any decaf. Do you have long underwear?”
“You’re going to help me?” His eyes were wide. Outside, the line of cars crawled along toward the retail center, shoppers undeterred by the cold weather. Finding parking was going to be a chore.
“Well, yeah. I was going to put your evening to better use, but if volunteering is what you need to do, you’re not getting hypothermia on my watch. I’ve got insulated coveralls from work you can borrow too.”
Shifting in his seat, Gideon released a dreamy sigh. “Paul Frost, this may be the nicest thing someone has done for me.”
