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Matt snorted as he walked by on his way into the kitchen, while Mom and Arielle, who were sitting on the couch and watching TV, began laughing.
“I see she’s already got you whipped,” Matt said, walking back into the room carrying a container filled with Christmas cookies.
After Lex rested Amy’s feet on the floor, she walked over to Matt, whacking him lightly on the arm with her purse.
Lex grinned. He’d really missed hanging out with family. Waiting for Amy to hang her coat over the back of the chair, he took a seat beside her on the last available couch.
“Here’s our schedule for tomorrow, you two,” Mom said, sliding over a notebook.
Picking it up, he saw that the morning was booked. “So, after breakfast, we’ll spend most of the time digging out the Christmas decorations. You’ve moved them to the garage?”
“After we began remodeling, we shifted things around and brought the rest of the furniture inside from the apartment,” Dad said. “The furniture we haven’t used is upstairs in the attic instead. We used the storage room in the garage for the Christmas stuff, since it makes it a lot easier to unpack and go through everything when the weather starts getting bad.”
“Plus, now we don’t have to tackle all the stairs,” Matt observed.
“Midday, we’ll have lunch to take care of at the winery. It will probably be busy, but we’ve hired a lot of extra help,” Mom observed.
“Would you mind if we started on some of the outdoor decorating while you’re working?” Lex asked. Dad wasn’t supposed to tell Mom that Lex had ordered extra displays because he wanted her to be surprised.
“No, not at all. Besides, you probably remember where everything goes,” Mom answered. “We might be running low on some of the basic outside lights.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of that if we need more. It’s the least I can do,” Lex reassured her.
Amy yawned. “You know what? I think I’m going to get ready for bed.”
“Yes, we’ll be heading upstairs ourselves soon,” Mom observed.
“I’d better get some extra sleep tonight too,” Lex said, looking over at Dad as he stood. “If you want to tell Mom what we talked about with Jake, I don’t have a problem with it, Dad.”
“Good. I’d rather she knew.” Dad stood, approaching Lex. “You know you can tell us anything, Lex. We love you no matter what. Always remember that.”
Lex hugged him. “I’m glad you’re not mad that I never told you what happened.”
“Why would I be mad?” Dad answered softly. “You were a confused kid, who’d seen nothing but the worst in men. I probably would have been hesitant too.”
Strangely, when Lex turned to look for Amy, she’d already disappeared, so he made his way into the hallway and up the staircase, making his way into his room.
He felt like taking another shower after the conversation they’d had with Jake, so he headed into the bathroom, and after showering and shaving, he pulled on some shorts, returning to the bedroom.
After he was tucked under the covers, his eyes suddenly filled with tears. Everything that had happened today had caused all the bad memories to come seeping back into his mind.
“Lex? Hey, are you okay?” Amy asked softly. “I didn’t think you’d be in bed already. I decided to go take a quick bath and take off all the extra makeup and put on something sexy.”
“I didn’t hear you come in. Did you sneak in through the passageway?” he asked from under the covers. He didn’t want her to see the tears.
“You didn’t think I was avoiding you?”
“The thought might have occurred to me,” he admitted, swiping the tears from his eyes as he gave her a side glance. “Judging by what you’re wearing, I guess I shouldn’t have been worried.”
Amy laughed softly.
She gave him balance, he decided. Just having her here to support him, after everything she’d heard about his past, was the most precious gift of his Christmas homecoming.
“Would you like to talk?”
“To heck with talking,” he answered gruffly. “Just seeing you here makes my heart happy. Get over here.”
“Oh, Lex. What a beautiful thing to say,” she said, climbing onto the bed and under the covers beside him. Reaching out, she gently wiped the tears from under each eye. “You’re doing the right thing by sharing with all of us. We’ve always known there’s been something tragically dark about your past.”
