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“Your room or mine?”
“Mine – you’re between Juno and Brooklyn. I’m on the end of the hallway.”
She nods.
Elizabeth calls from the porch. “Maggie, you coming? We’re about to start decorating cookies.”
“Be right there.” She turns and starts walking toward the cabin and then looks back over her shoulder. “Looking forward to it, Dex.”
I watch her all the way into the cabin. With a deep sigh, I start carrying the logs toward the big pile. Eli walks over to me and says, “What are you doing, Declan?”
I wave at the stack of logs. “Organizing the firewood. What areyoudoing?”
“No, idiot. What are you doing with Maggie?”
I don’t look up at him and just continue to move logs around. “With Maggie?”
“Don’t fuck with me. If James sees you, he’ll murder you.”
“I’m just flirting. I flirt with everyone.”
He snorts. “I’m not going to argue with that, but you better not do anything more than flirt.”
“I’m not stupid.” I throw a small log onto the top of the pile.
“You are when it comes to women.”
He’s not wrong.
“Thanks.”
“Just speaking the truth, bro.”
I move to pick up two more logs. “You have nothing to worry about.”
“I’m not worried about anything. You’re the one who should be worried.”
I grunt and then say, “Grab those other axes. They need to go back in the shed.”
He wanders to pick up the other two, and I sincerely hope he gets the hint that this conversation is over.
––––––––
“What are you doing?” Maggie walks over to me, Keene, and Eli. I hold my hand over my lips and pull her into the dining room.
I lean my head out to call to Eli. “Did you get it?”
He walks over and gives a thumbs up. He and Keene step into the dining room with us.
“What?” She’s looking back and forth between the three of us.
Keene and Eli hold out their hands – they are each holding a hat.
She scrunches up her face. “I don’t get it.”
“Every Christmas, we prank James by switching out his hat to different sizes,” I say.
Keene puts one on his head. It’s tiny. He can hardly fit it on his head. “See this one is small.”
