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We get back to our delicious work, snacking on spare cookies and comparing favorite holiday memories as we go, until I’m giddy from the sugar and spending time with Carl. The trays of completed cookies soon outnumber the ones still left to do.
“Did you ever go to the tree decorating party in Nathan Phillips Square?” Carl asks as he adds bright red spots to a T-Rex cookie. “The Cavalcade of Lights was one of my favorite parts of the season when we lived in Toronto.”
“Can’t say that I have. I’m sure it’s a great event, but I never seem to find time for things like that back home, unless it’s to woo a client.”
“Well, it’s awesome. You should make the time next year. They light up the big tree, there’s a DJ, live music, skating, dancing, and circus performers. And they top off the night with fireworks. It’s the perfect kickoff to the holiday season. And there’s all the little holiday markets all over.”
“I’m sure Toronto has nothing on the Elk’s Pass Holiday market.” There’s a kernel of truth to my gentle teasing. The night I met Carl there will forever live in my memories as one of the most romantic dates of my life, fake or otherwise.
“Sure. We have a lovely tree lighting party here too. And the skating rink has been popular since they added it a few years back. I’m guessing you haven’t been to the light parade either, then?”
“Not since I was a kid. Isn’t that this week?” I have vague memories of floats with people in winter-themed costumes throwing tiny candy canes into the crowd and a jolly Santa Claus waving at the end.
“Tomorrow.” Carl nods.
“We should go!” I say.
Carl bites his lip. “It’s at the same time as your mom’s cookie swap.”
“Oh. Well, can we figure out a way to do both? Drop off the cookies, go to the parade and then back to the swap? I’ll ask Mom what she thinks. If it weren’t for her surgery making scheduling complicated, you know she’d never double-book something like that.”
“Sure.” Carl grins at me. “I’m just glad she’s recovering so quickly, your mom is one tough cookie.”
“You are not allowed to pun about my mom,” I scold him to hide my chuckle.
“Fine, I won’t mention that having to choose one event is just how the cookie crumbles.” Carl winks at me, eyes bright with the same mirth I feel in his presence. “Oh, right, speaking of parties, do you have a Christmas sweater for Eliza’s party on Saturday? It’s sort of a thing. We vote on the best and worst sweaters.”
“No, but I’m sure I can find something at the market tomorrow on one of my breaks.”
“Nice. I can help you look during my lunch break?”
“Yeah, I’d love that.” I can’t seem to stop smiling around Carl.
The more time I spend with him, the less I want this to end and to have to return to the real world and all my responsibilities. But Mom is getting back on her feet and there’s only so much time I can justify taking off now that she’s getting around better on her own. We’ve got things set up so she won’t have to do any heavy lifting once I get the holiday crafts put away after the market closes on Christmas Eve.
This perfect bubble of happiness is doomed to end soon, but until it does, I’m going to enjoy every moment with Carl. I reach for the blue icing to put snowflakes on the white background that I already frosted on several star cookies. At the same time, Carl goes to give his latest dinosaur blue splotches. My fingers tingle where our hands brush.
I revel in the way the tension between us coils low in my gut. Thousands of fantasies of twining our fingers, then sweeping aside the cookies to make passionate love to him unspool in my head. I ignore them all.
I withdraw my hand to let Carl have the blue icing. These cookies can have some red holly berries instead. Carl stares intently at his dinosaur, cheeks flushed, and I know he felt that same spark. I want him more than I’ve wanted anyone in ages, but I’m going to follow his lead. Better to bank the flames of my longing than to let them consume what time we have left of our deal. I won’t ask for something Carl isn’t ready to share with me.
This time spent with him is more than enough. His laughter and smiles as he playfully arranges his completed dinosaurs under my array of painted stars is better than any orgasm. Each story and joke he shares with me is better than a wordless moan, or my name on another lover’s lips. His fingers brushing mine as we exchange colorful bags of icing are better than the most intimate touches from my exes. In short, he’s everything I want and more, and I wouldn’t trade one second together for anything.
Chapter 10
Carl—December 22nd
IpickNickupfrom the market with our carefully packaged cookies already loaded into the back seat. With only a few days remaining before it closes, the market is a bustling hive of activity, even as most of the vendors are closing up for the night.
As we leave, folks have already started to line up along the parade route, staking out the best spots, and Main Street is blocked to traffic. We have to take a circuitous route along residential streets to avoid the parade’s path.
We park a few blocks away and have to dash across Main to get to Tina’s place at the end of a cul-de-sac. If both our hands weren’t full carrying our dozens of cookies, I’d twine my fingers with Nick’s. We make our break for it to cross the snowy pavement, laughing and smiling in the crisp cold of the evening. Volunteers with the parade wave us urgently off the road. We have to weave through a wall of folding chairs and dodge parents pulling little kids in sleds on the sidewalk.
We take the turn into Tina’s quiet tree-lined neighborhood, where all the houses are lit and each garish outdoor display vies to outdo its neighbors. Nick must have been the one to drag the two lit-up mesh reindeer onto his mother’s front lawn. They’re understated compared to the dozens of inflatable decorations her neighbors have running. A giant Frosty the snowman waves next to a snow globe with cartoon characters in holiday garb inside.
The neighborhood sports several Santas in various postures, including cartoon characters dressed as him or his elves. One house boasts blinking blue and white lights and a glowing menorah next to a giant inflatable polar bear holding a dreidel. Across the street, a family of inflatable gnomes stands next to a house with a snowman wearing a red, black, and green scarf. Whoever lives there covered the windows behind the snowman in Kwanzaa themed window clings.
Everywhere I look, there are decorations and signs of holiday cheer. It’s a chaotic celebration of the season that has me grinning from ear to ear next to Nick as we take in all the bright lights.
