AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I was halfway through “Silent Night” when I heard footsteps behind me. I looked around to see Miguel standing there. “Hey,” I said. “How are you doing?”
He tilted his head curiously. “I’m fine,” he replied, drawing out the word. “Aren’t you supposed to be grappling with tall, dark, and broody today?”
I chuckled. “I was, but he’s away for security business.”
“Well, that sucks.”
Before he could say anything more, we heard a squeal and the sound of little feet heading our way. A little boy with a mop of dark curly hair and bright-blue eyes came racing into the dining room from the bar area. He looked to be about three years old. His eyes lit up with delight when he saw the Christmas tree. But to my surprise, he made a beeline for the piano.
He squealed with excitement, said, “No!” and started pounding on the keys.
Miguel’s eyes widened in alarm, and he gently picked up the little guy. “Hey, little one, you need to be nice to the piano.”
The boy leaned down from Miguel’s arms, trying to reach the keys. “I want no!”
There was the sound of running footsteps and a man’s voice called out, “Cody!”
We turned to see Zach, one of the hotel’s part-time bartenders, hurrying across the dining room toward us. “Sorry about that,” he said. “He got away from me while I was on the phone with Caitlin.”
I was startled by the little boy’s resemblance to Zach. Miguel and I stared at each other. Neither of us had known Zach had a son. Cody stopped his quest to reach the piano. He snuggled more deeply into Miguel’s arms and said, “Unca Zach.” Then he pointed at the piano. “No!”
Zach held out his hands. “Yeah, little man, I know it’s a piano.”
“Oooh,” Miguel and I said together.
“We thought he was just saying no,” Miguel said.
Zach smiled and shook his head. “Yeah, he can’t quite get the rest of the word yet. I have a keyboard in my apartment, and he loves to play it.”
“So he’s your nephew?” Miguel asked. “Because he looks a lot like you.”
“I get that a lot,” Zach said ruefully. “He’s my sister’s son. I watched him for her overnight last night, and she was supposed to pick him up this morning.” He huffed a frustrated breath. “She didn’t show up this morning, and she’s not answering her phone.” His jaw clenched. “I told her I had to work the lunch shift today.” He pulled his cell out of his pocket to check the time. “Caitlin said she could watch him because she’s awesome like that. She said it will give Maya something to think about besides when Santa is coming.” He pocketed his phone and reached for his nephew. “Come on, Cody. We’re going to see Maya.”
To our surprise, Cody snuggled into Miguel. He reached up and patted my friend’s face and said, “Pretty.” And it was true. Miguel was pretty. He wore just enough eyeliner and mascara to make his large dark eyes stand out. I thought I also saw a touch of lip gloss.
Miguel’s cheeks went pink. “Aww, thank you, little man. That’s sweet.”
I glanced over at Zach, wondering how he was taking this, and saw a slight blush on his cheeks as well. Interesting.
Miguel shifted so he was closer to Zach. “All right, Cody, Uncle Zach has to go to work. You can come back and visit me again. Okay?”
Cody’s bottom lip popped out in a trembling pout. “No!”
“Oh, don’t do that,” Miguel pleaded. “I’m a sucker for a pouty lip.”
Zach chuckled and gently took his nephew from Miguel’s arms. “That pout is a deadly weapon.” He smiled at us. “Thanks for corralling him for me.”
“No problem,” I said. Zach cast one more look at us before he turned to leave, and I swore his gaze lingered on Miguel for a moment longer.
After he was gone, I said to Miguel, “I’m not so sure he’s as straight as you think he is.”
Miguel scoffed and sighed. “I should be so lucky.” He patted my shoulder. “I have to get back to work. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Sure,” I said as I sat on the piano bench again. My phone vibrated with a call before I could resume playing. To my surprise, I saw it was my brother’s boyfriend, Jeremy, calling.
“Hey, Jeremy, what’s up?”
“Where are you?” he asked without preamble.
