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“I need you to come decorate my apartment,” he said. The sound of footfalls behind him indicated she was getting closer. “I just have a miniature Christmas tree that sits on the table.”
“You don’t have a full Christmas tree?”
He shook his head. “It’s artificial.”
That was pretty obvious. There wasn’t a Christmas tree farm with tiny trees growing, was there?
Stepping back to stand next to her, he kept his eyes on the tree and said, “I’m not home much. They have me working pretty long hours, especially this time of year.”
He shouldn’t imply anyone made him work long hours. He chose to be married to his work. Besides, it wasn’t like he sat in an office all day, staring at a computer screen. Yes, there was some of that, but most of the time, he was out on the property or running to meetings with the family who owned the farm.
“So you live in an apartment?” she asked.
There was no judgment in her tone and nothing wrong at all with living in an apartment. The self-consciousness he felt about it was one hundred percent on him.
Yes, he should be a homeowner by now, but he and his ex had never put down roots in Lexington. They’d planned to buy, and then things had fallen apart. He had the money for a down payment, and he certainly could find a home with a mortgage cheaper than what he was paying in rent, but he still felt like he was in transition.
“Yeah,” he said. “I signed a year lease on this place.”
His ex kept the other apartment they lived in, which was nicer and less expensive. But he didn’t need to get into those details.
“I’m sorry,” she said in a quiet voice. “I didn’t realize it was so recent.”
“It wasn’t, really. We separated last Christmas and she finally filed in March. It’s been final since summer.”
She didn’t need to know all this. Why was he talking about Em? Discussing past relationships was never a good idea, even if he wasn’t planning to date the woman standing next to him. He needed to change the subject.
Luckily, Charity changed it for him. “Do you plan to buy a house when your lease is up?”
He finally looked over at her. She was still staring at the tree, just as he’d been doing. It definitely seemed easier to talk when they weren’t facing each other.
“That’s the plan,” he said. “Even if I don’t stay in Lexington, it’s an investment. I might even look for a house I can rent when I move somewhere else.”
Charity didn’t say anything immediately, so he shifted his attention back to the tree. But finally, he looked over at her. Was she judging him because he rented instead of owned? If she lived in Misty Lakes, he assumed she owned her house.
No, that wasn’t it. She wouldn’t care about something like that. So, what was up with the silence?
“You took the mistletoe down.”
Her words interrupted his train of thought. They were spoken as she turned to look at him, her eyes filled with something he couldn’t quite identify. He welcomed the change in topic, though.
“You said everybody was making a big deal out of it.” He shrugged. “I grabbed that and the coffee cup. I kept it.”
The look of surprise on her face made him realize he hadn’t been completely clear. She probably thought he meant the coffee cup.
“I kept the sprig of mistletoe,” he rushed to explain. “Or is it a bushel? I don’t know what it’s called. Anyway, I kept it in case you want it back, but it wasn’t looking very healthy this morning. My mom jacks the heat up so high, the poor thing probably thought it’d landed in a tropical climate.”
Charity was smiling. He considered that a win.
“It’s not mine,” she said.
“What’s not yours?”
She gestured in the direction of the statue. “The mistletoe. Noelle did all that. I helped her, but it was her idea. She bought it and hung it all over town. Basically, I drove the getaway car.”
“You said she bought it. Why did she need a getaway driver?”
“She hung them all over town.” Charity crossed her arms over her chest and looked around. “I don’t think the police really approve of it. At least that’s what I heard last night. But Noelle’s goal is to bring the joy of Christmas back to Misty Mountain.”
