AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ah, this isn’t what you’re thinking. Despite the endearments, you’ll be pleased to know Carl here is very much my ex and both of us are very single.” He bats his lashes at me.
Ex. His ex? I blink at the two of them in confusion. They seem awfully chummy for exes. But then again, not everyone has an explosive scorched-earth-style breakup like I did with my college boyfriend. He burned my stuff on his front lawn. I’ve learned to avoid drama since Teddy.
“Nice to meet you, Carl and Saint.” I shake their hands.
There’s something about Carl’s smile—and all the stories Mom has told me about how kind he is—that makes me linger over his hand. His calloused fingers are warm in my grasp. When our eyes meet, I could get lost in those gorgeous brown depths.
Plenty of people get along just fine with their exes. Not me. Most of my exes leave acrimoniously after one too many missed dates and canceled plans. My track record is bleak when it comes to staying in touch while we’re together, let alone after it ends. I work long hours and that takes a toll on any relationship. I’ve always chalked it up to the cost of success.
My most recent breakup with Timothy happened last month. I told him I was taking a leave of absence to go home and help my mom and that I wouldn’t be back until after the holidays. He kept hinting about coming with me. I didn’t take the bait.
“I’ve heard so much about you both from Mom,” I say. That’s the truth. Mom has talked my ear off about ‘the nice young man’ who runs the drop-in center for the elderly where she works part time these days. The nice, young—emphasis on the single—gay man. It hits me like a bolt of understanding that she talks so much about Carl for a reason. Has she been trying to play matchmaker? Impossible.
Timothy only just broke things off with me. He kept hinting about taking care of my place for me while I was gone, maybe making some updates to the decor. Turns out I didn’t realize he was angling to move things to the next level by moving in together and meeting the family. The longer it took me to figure out what was behind his sudden interest in my mom’s health, the more snippy and passive aggressive he got with me.
When I finally confronted him about it, he spelled it all out. He was so exasperated with me and I never got the memo that he wanted more than I had to offer him with my busy work schedule. Toward the end, he expected me to pick up the tab for everything and every date ended in sex, no matter how tired I was from work.
“All good, I’m sure.” Saint pats Carl on the back, then he winks at me. It takes me a second to parse that he means the things Mom’s been saying. “This guy is a catch.”
Huh. That’s weird right? Trying to set your ex up on a date? It’s oddly endearing, even though I’m in no position to be thinking about dating again.
It’s possible I’m not dating material. I certainly wasn’t ready to ‘move things to the next level’ with Timothy when I wasn’t even happy at our existing level. I can’t blame him. Not when I didn’t feel the same things for him that he clearly felt for me. His dumping me was for the best. I don’t have room in my life for a sex-obsessed boyfriend who seems more interested in spending my money than spending time together. I have even less room to be best buds with an ex.
But Carl and Saint seem to be close, even just perusing Mom’s booth as I reach under the display table for the box of extra ornaments. They make each other smile despite whatever differences broke them up, and I can’t deny a part of me longs for that sort of teasing friendship with someone. Not that I’m going to find it here, of all places.
I clear my throat and hold up the plastic tote full of ornaments for Saint’s perusal. He grins and reaches immediately for a large gnome with a fluffy white beard and a jaunty rainbow striped hat. The ornament has a little Christmas tree slung over his shoulder.
“Look! It’s perfect.”
“So meta, the tree ornament holding a tree.” Carl touches the ornament’s beard fluff with one finger. “That’s the one, right?”
Saint nods firmly. “This is what a winning ornament looks like, handcrafted by a local artisan, kitschy-cool without being too much, you know? Plus, his little hat is fab. How much?” That last is directed at me, and from the way Carl is smiling at me, I’m half tempted to tell Saint there’s no charge. But I’m running my mom’s business, so I quote him the actual price.
Saint pays without haggling. A surprising number of Mom’s customers here seem to be bargain hunters. She told me she builds wiggle room into her price sheet for those sorts of negotiations when I complained. It’s not what I’m used to, but I’ve been finding I enjoy the market. There’s something special about seeing people fall in love with Mom’s hard work.
The way Saint cradles the little rainbow ornament in his hands like a treasure warms my heart. I wave the duo away from my stall and turn to answer a question from a browser who is looking over some of Mom’s bigger pieces. Business is booming. I push the cute former couple to the back of my mind and get back to hawking Mom’s wares.
Chapter 3
Carl—December 18th
“Hewascute.”Saintnudges me with an elbow as we leave Tina’s booth—and her son—behind us.
“What?” I glance around, as though Nick might overhear us. “You mean the guy you acted like a belligerent child in front of? Why do the holidays make you act a decade younger?”
Saint snorts. “Darling, we’re in our thirties; I’m acting at least two decades younger. If you can’t let out your inner child for Christmas, then when can you?”
“Sure. Right. Makes perfect sense,” I say dryly, but Saint is only half paying attention. He grabs my arm, squeezing just a bit too hard as he points toward a stall a few yards away.
“Cocoa! Come on, Carl, we have to get some.”
“We really don’t,” I protest. But he’s already dragging me to join the disproportionately long line to the booth run by a local dairy farmer. Saint happily narrates the entire menu to me.
“I think I’m going to get the white chocolate peppermint. You know they make it with real chocolate, right?”
“Yes.”
“Stop looking so dour. It’s Christmas, babe.”
