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I swallowed. “If you’re going to be alone, why don’t you spend it with us?”
His head snapped up. “Really? The queen of the grinches is asking me to spend Christmas with her family?”
“Stop it.” I moved a candlestick from the fireplace and set the garland on it, positioning it so it was exactly central on the mantle. “I have very complex feelings about Christmas, okay? But that doesn’t mean I think anyone should be alone on it.”
“Hey. I’m just messing with you.” He stood up and walked over to me. “I appreciate that. Thank you. Won’t your mom mind?”
I smiled up at him. “No. I’ve been roped into helping her cook this year. I have no idea what she wants to cook, but our Thanksgiving was kind of a bust because she was out of town and Verity and Jazzy were sick, so I think she might be thinking about a belated Thanksgiving dinner.”
“Sold.”
I laughed, dipping my head. “She won’t mind. She loves Christmas. Cooking for everyone is her favorite thing, so feeding one more mouth will just make her happy… Especially if you happen to arrive with a bottle of Pinot Grigio.”
A smile broke across his face, and his blue eyes twinkled. “Noted. If I bring two, will she let me sleep over?”
“No, sorry. No boys allowed.” I patted his arm and grabbed the bag with the lights. “Maybe if you muck out the chickens you can stay past nine. Or help her win at charades, because she sucks at that so bad. It’s literally my favorite thing about Christmas—watching her desperately try to pretend to ski or drive or a car.”
He laughed loudly. “There it is. Your favorite thing about Christmas.”
I pursed my lips, clasping the box of Christmas lights. “Oh, my God. Why are you so obsessed about what I do like about Christmas?”
“Because you seem to hate so much about it. You even hate half the kids who come in and ask for things.”
“I do not!” I opened the box and extracted the lights. “I hate the idea that Santa can bring things to children that are wildly expensive. What if a kid wants the Xbox for Christmas but all their parents can afford is an older model that’s secondhand and a bit beat up? Then the parents are upset, and the kids are upset, and when that kid goes to school and finds out Santa brought Johnny a brand-new Xbox, he wonders why Johnny got one but he didn’t. Wasn’t he good enough? Doesn’t Santa like him? It’s a whole thing that bugs me a lot, that’s all.”
“That’s a really good point. I suppose I’ve never thought about it like that.”
I shrugged. “It’s just one of those little niggles, that’s all. Like I said, I have a complex relationship with Christmas.”
“All right. So you hate the consumerism and expectations.”
“And mistletoe.”
“And mistletoe.” His tone was tinged with amusement. “But you love the waffles, Christmas lights, and watching your mom play charades.”
“I never said I liked the Christmas lights.”
“You didn’t have to. Your face lit up like the town square last night when they came on.”
“Hmph.”
“You’re so grumpy.”
“It’s not my fault. You’re ruining my mystique by figuring me out. It’s infuriating.” I looped the end of the lights around the very top of the tree. “I much preferred it when I was still mad at you.”
He grinned, watching me as I strung the lights. “No, you didn’t. Admit it. You love having me around.”
“Love is a very strong word,” I said dryly. “I’ve barely crossed into like.”
“You’re so stubborn.”
“I know, thank you. It serves me well. Ouch, you bitch!” I brought my finger to my mouth and sucked. I’d been pricked by one of the branches.
This was why I didn’t like real trees.
Or any trees.
Trees were for birds.
“Shall I add Christmas trees to the list of things you don’t like?”
“Yes, please do. Keep it up to date.”
“Done.” He smirked, leaning against the wall. “Thank you for coming to help me, Quinn. I really do appreciate it.”
I peered over at him, fiddling with the lights, and fought a smile.
Damn it.
I didn’t want to like Nicholas, yet here I was.
Smiling at him.
Liking him.
Maybe a little bit more than I really should.
And that… was not a good thing.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“So what do you think you’ll do with this place?”
Nicholas sighed and hung an ornament on a branch. “I don’t know. Grandma just left it to Mom, but I think she might want to fix it up some and sell it.”
“Sell it? Really?” My eyebrows shot up.
“Yeah. They don’t need it, my aunts and uncles aren’t interested, and my cousins are all older than me and own their own places. It just… kind of leaves me.”
I glanced at him. “But you don’t live in Snow Cove.”
“Mm.”
Mm? What did he mean by that?
“It’s not like the house costs a lot to run. Just a few taxes, but more than affordable. She left behind some money and some of it was to pay those taxes, so it’s not like it’ll even cost us anything while it’s empty,” he said, reaching up to put a homemade decoration high up on the tree. “I think Mom doesn’t want to leave it empty, but she doesn’t want to sell either, so she’s ignoring it.”
