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“More than yours?”
“Honestly, my apartment is more like a storage unit. I spend all my time at your place unless I’m showering or working.”
“Showering. We should try showering together. I bet we could do it,” I suggested, wiggling my brows.
“I like the way you think, Mr. Wallace,” she agreed. “Look at you being all adventurous now.”
“It’s easy to be open when you feel safe,” I answered with a shrug. “I know I’m safe with you. I hope you feel the same way about me.”
“I do,” she promised, moving the ladder to the next spot, so I wheeled forward too. I held the garland for her as she strung it above the serving window. “Speaking of safe, I ran into Gabe at the store earlier this morning.”
“Safe because he’s a cop or?” I asked confused
“No. Gabe told me how hesitant he was to talk to Heather about the baby, but you helped him sort out his feelings about it so he could. His exact words were that you opened up a safe space for him to speak without worrying about looking like a jerk.”
I shrugged as I rolled the chair forward so she could pin the next bunch of garland to the wall. “Any friend would have done the same.”
“Nice try,” she said, laughing. “No one else in this town shares the same perspective you do, Irving. You were the person he needed then, and you showed up. You didn’t do it because you’re a social worker. You did it because you’re his friend. A friend who was also an orphan and paralyzed. Different reasons, but same result.”
“If I contributed in even the slightest way to their decision to bring this baby into their home, then I’m happy to have been part of it. She’s in good hands.”
“I can’t wait to meet her. She’s such a nugget. How sweet is it that Becca’s little girl won’t be much younger? They’ll have built-in family playdates.”
“Seems the good old Christmas magic has filled Bells Pass this year.”
“It sure does,” she said with a smile, climbing down the ladder to kiss my lips. “I love you, Irving Wallace.”
“I love you too, but I thought mum’s the word,” I hissed. “We shouldn’t be kissing at work.”
Hazel tipped my chin back to face her. “When people are here, I’ll keep my lips off yours, but we’re alone. Dawson is upstairs sleeping, and Star isn’t going to tell anyone. Besides, don’t you think it would be easier if we came out as the Christmas couple? It would make things less complicated for the next three weeks.”
“I thought you wanted to wait until after Indigo’s wedding reception?”
“True.” She worried her lip between her teeth. “I mean, half the girl gang already knows, so maybe I should just ask her if she cares.”
“I know she won’t care,” I said, laughing at the expression on her face. “You’re the one that cares, because you’re a good friend. Talk to her, and in the meantime, we’ll just act cool.”
“I’ll call her after we hang the garland,” she said before she plastered her lips back on mine.
“You have no chill, Hazel Cane,” I mumbled around her lips.
“Fine, I’ll stop for now,” she said, going in for one last peck. “We’ll pick this up at lunch at the diner.”
“We’ll do no such thing!” I exclaimed to her raucous laughter. “Oh, my lord, imagine Ivy Lund walking in to see us making—”
“Well, well,” a voice said from behind us, and Hazel froze. “If it isn’t the two Christmas love birds.” Hazel’s eyes widened, and she took a step back, walking into the ladder and nearly falling before she steadied herself.
“Wha—what are you doing here?” Hazel stuttered. Her eyes told me more than her words when I saw terror reflected there.
I turned my chair slowly and came face-to-face with a woman holding a gun pointing right at me. “Whoa,” I said, holding up my hands. “I don’t know what’s wrong, but we can figure this out without violence. Who are you, and how did you get in here?”
“I’ll let Hazel introduce us,” the woman said, motioning at the woman who now stood behind me.
“This is Marissa, Dr. Felding’s assistant from Sarasota,” Hazel answered, and I could hear her swallow back fear.
“Why is she standing in front of us with a gun?”
“For that answer, you’ll have to ask her,” Hazel answered. “How did she even get in here?”
