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“Oops.” Brandon’s cheeks went pink. “I thought we’d save you the airport trip and surprise you when we scored an earlier flight. Elaine loves trains, so I figured we’d catch it instead.”
“That’s fine.” Paul didn’t seem nearly as uncomfortable as I would have expected, smiling even. “I wanted you to meet Gideon anyway.”
Say what now? Paul wanted what? I blinked. Then blinked again.
Brandon’s jaw dropped as if he were preparing for a tonsil exam. “You have a boyfriend?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Christmas Eve Miracle Needed! My trusty food processor bowl cracked! Anyone have a spare one I could borrow until my replacement bowl gets here in two days? ~ Molly Reed posted to the What’s Up Neighbor app
Paul
“You have a boyfriend?” My brother looked exactly as he had working on his first science fair project, a thing involving polymers that had been beyond me even back then, but I’d never forgotten Brandon’s wide-eyed wonder and joy at the discovery. Apparently, the idea that I might date was equally as astonishing, even to the genius.
“Something like that,” I hedged because this was not exactly how I’d pictured introductions going. Even if the dating part shocked him, Brandon had known perfectly well that I was gay, so it was more Gideon’s reaction that was giving me pause. His expression was a mirror of Brandon’s, only with a touch more horror, like this boyfriend business was a surprise to him as well. Exactly what did he think we were doing here? But I couldn’t exactly ask him that with him halfway across the house. “Gideon is…”
“The neighbor,” he supplied helpfully as he left the kitchen to come into the living room.
“I was going to say new.” Neighbor. As if. The guy had been legit happy when he thought I’d elevated him to friend. I wasn’t so scary and grumpy that he’d assumed I’d try to pass him off as a mere acquaintance, was I? I knew Gideon by now. He was only saying neighbor to try to spare himself the pain of me saying it first, but hurting him was the absolute last thing I wanted to do.
“Oh.” Gideon shut his mouth in a hurry, but the corners twitched like he might be pleased and was trying to hide it.
Brandon had no such issue hiding his feelings because he was grinning like we were the best entertainment he’d had in months. “So your new boyfriend is the old neighbor. Wait. The one who’s always blocking the drive? I thought—”
“Look at that tree!” Elaine said too brightly, striding into the living room. She was a lot smaller than Brandon, but she knew how to command a room. Or at least my brother, as he dropped their bags in the foyer and followed her into the living room, much better at heeling than Jim even.
“I should have known you were seeing someone.” Brandon wasn’t done laughing as his gaze swept over the living room. The tree twinkled in the corner, the new couch commanded center stage with its Christmas pillows, and the mantle looked like a magazine shoot. Even the TV we’d dragged up from the basement had a bow. “No way could you pull off all this decorating yourself. I wasn’t aware you even knew what fake snow was.”
“Flocking,” I corrected.
“Pardon?” Brandon narrowed his eyes, and even Elaine blinked.
The back of my neck heated. “Fake snow. That’s what it’s called.”
“Is it now?” Brandon wasn’t even trying to disguise how much fun he was having at this point, but proving I hadn’t raised him completely in a barn, he stuck out a hand. “Hi, Gideon.”
Further introductions were made with handshakes all around, and then the four of us stood there, more than a little awkward, no one speaking or moving to sit.
“Do I smell cookies?” Elaine asked at last.
“Yeah, we were almost to the decorating part. But even naked, they’re tasty.” Um. What had just come out of my mouth? Maybe I needed to give up on speaking altogether. “Um. Plain. I mean plain.”
“I knew what you meant.” Elaine had a gentle laugh. “And I want to help. My parents never let me help the housekeeper. They said I got in the way, especially at holidays.”
“Well, here you can absolutely help.” Gideon gave her a dazzling smile, recovering much of his usual charm as he led her to the kitchen.
“You haven’t seen the unspeakable things she’s done to refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough,” Brandon warned as we followed. “There’s a reason every takeout service driver in our zip code knows our names.”
“You’re not any better.” Elaine rolled her eyes at Brandon as she took a seat at one of the stools on the side of the island. “You’re the one who’s forgotten that hardboiled eggs require water. More than once.”
“Guilty.” Not looking particularly repentant, Brandon swiped a snowflake from the rack and broke it in half to share with Elaine.
“Luckily, the icing recipe involves neither the stove nor any eggs, so I think we’re safe.” Gideon flipped the cookbook open to the part that showed how to decorate the cookies.
“Hey. This cookbook looks familiar.” Squinting, Brandon peered around Gideon to examine the red binder more closely.
“You remember?” I asked softly, something sharp pinching deep in my chest.
