Page 82 of Unmoored
“Oh, that’s so sweet.” She hangs it on the tree.
“Sweet?” I say.
“Yes, sweet. There are five white shells and one pink shell.” She holds it up.
“And?” Easton adds.
“Yeah, and?” There’s something I’m clearly not getting.
“Six shells. Five of you, one of?—”
“Oh, that is kind of nice,” Calvin rumbles. “I didn’t wrap mine. Close your eyes.”
Haley does and puts out her hands.
“You can open them,” he says.
Haley glances at her empty hands and then looks at what Calvin’s holding. A strand of stars carved from shells.
“I thought you would need a garland.”
“It’s lovely!” She moves to hug Calvin but stops to keep from crushing the garland, which is over five feet long.
“Seriously dude, you need to sleep more,” Easton says.
“You need to sleep less.” Calvin holds the garland up. “Do you want to put it on now? It tangles easily.”
“Wait one minute.” Haley adds my ornament, and the three thousand that Zane made. “Ready.”
When he’s done, we stand back and gaze at it. “It looks good, but it’s missing one more thing.” Sam scurries off and digs through the tubs under the treehouse. “I found these a month ago but thought we should keep them until the others died.” He holds up a set of solar-powered lights. He and Haley weave thelights around the tree, minding the ornaments. “They’ll come on tomorrow.”
Haley hooks her arm around Sam’s bicep, a huge grin on her face. “Just in time for Christmas morning.”
Chapter 32
Holiday Leave Denied
Haley
“Happy Christmas, Haley.” Zane runs his fingers down my arm. “Everyone’s awake and waiting for you, Little Bird.”
I sit upright with a start. “Merry Christmas, Zane.” I yawn. “Oh... oh. I never sleep in.” I never sleep in on Christmas morning. I was always the one to run downstairs first. Last year I was the first one up, but then I was on charter and I was up before the chef. I never sleep in.
Zane is smirking at me. Because yeah, that’s not true anymore.
“I’ll be right down. Give me a minute to get ready.”
“Take your time. We thought you’d like a biscuit, while they’re warm.”
I glance around the empty space. I really did sleep in. “That’s what that smell on the wind is.” Dante made one yesterday as a test to see if it would work out. That one bite had me dreaming all last night.
I find the one red tank top I own and my not so white shorts, then head down to the kitchen. The tree’s so lovely I almost burst into tears.
There’s only one present under the tree. Which seems odd considering all the secrecy. I turn away, and there’s a snicker from behind me.
“Merry Christmas,” I say and give Easton a kiss.
“Now it is. You look Christmassy this morning, Firefly.”
