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Clearly, that was a legitimate concern.
But then, they’d also probably think I was someone he had hired.
Good thing I’d watched as he’d typed the code in last time I was here and made sure to remember it.
It was 5:30, and my flight left again at 9:30, so this was going to have to be really fucking quick. I decorated the best I could, using all multicolored lights on his house, porch, and in his yard. I was able to get those lights that looked like a blanket to go over the shrubs. I twisted lights up the bottom half of trees and strung them through the branches and the lower part of his home. I’d wanted inflatables, but those were all gone, but I did get reindeer, candy canes, and a Santa Claus.
I put the Christmas tree on the porch, with extra strands of colored lights and bright bulbs without any pattern or professional-looking skill that his parents’ house had when I saw it last year. This whole thing was gaudy, over-the-top, and fucking perfect.
I even hung stockings by his door, one with aPand one with anM, then set up Santa’s mailbox decoration beside it.
I was really fucking sweet…
He was worthy of more.
Patrick,
You deserve colorful Christmas lights. Don’t let anyone take that away from you.
—M
I put the note in an envelope and stuck it in Santa’s mailbox, then stood on the street, looking at what I’d created while I waited for a car to pick me up.
As proud as I was, it didn’t feel like enough.
I reluctantly climbed into the car, wishing I could take Patrick with me back to Florida.
It was a long-ass day. At nearly six in the morning, I tried to sneak back into Mom’s house, hoping like hell everyone was still asleep, but there Mom was, sitting on the couch. She cocked a brow, holding a mug of coffee in her hand, and I knew I was fucked.
“Where were you?” she asked when I sat beside her.
“California.”
“Excuse me?” Mom spit out, but I mean, could I blame her? “You left yesterday, went to California, and came back home?”
“Couldn’t miss Christmas.”
She placed her hand on my thigh, her red-painted nails looking pretty against her dark brown skin. “Who is she?”
“He,” I admitted, and shit, I’d just come out to my mom, hadn’t I?
“Oh…thank you for telling me. Who is he?”
“The last damn person I should be falling for.”
She squeezed my leg. “That’s what people said about your stepdad, too. I had two kids. I wasn’t supposed to be looking to settle down with a man who didn’t have any, especially someone younger than me. I was told to focus on you and Kayla, but when I met him…I knew. Actually, that’s not true. I hated him at first.”
That made me grin. “Really?”
“Yeah. I thought he was an asshole. He used to struggle to let people in, but he didn’t with me. Not after a little while, at least.”
Jesus, what were the odds that we had such a similar situation? I laid my head on her shoulder. “I hated him, too.”
“And now you love him?”
Love? I wasn’t sure I’d go there, I didn’t think. But… “Now, it’s different. Now I like him a lot. He’s not what I thought he was, but like I said, it’s difficult.”
It meant the world to me that she didn’t ask specifics, that she didn’t ask names or try to get me to explain the situation. She knew I would tell her when I was ready. “Malik Tucker…you’ve never met a challenge you couldn’t handle. If anyone can make it work, it’s you.”
