Page 46 of Tommy

He went to help her out in the drive, shoveling snow for her to drive closer to the house. All I could do was look at the tree and inhale the earthy pine smell, which was oddly familiar to how the inside of some cars smelled.

June came in to see me standing still in front of the tree. “You’re still alive,” she said. “I’m glad Hard-ass over there brought you into the main house. I bet the pipes back at the cabin have all but frozen up now.”

“Hard-ass,” I laughed.

“Oh, gosh, yes,” she joined me in laughter.

“What brings you back?” I asked as Hardin walked through the door with a large box in his arms and both the dogs jumping at him.

“I got a call in the early hours,” she said. “Mind you, I was already awake doing my sudoku. And Hardin asked me a bunch of supplies, which isn’t unusual, but I’m starting to think they’re not all for him. In fact, I know they’re not.”

Hardin winked at me in secret behind her. “The kid needs stuff,” he said.

“What’s in the box?”

“Come take a look,” he said, planting the box on the sofa.

“Oh goodness, I’ve only just noticed the tree,” she said. “What’s happened?” She snorted. “Have you replaced him?”

“I’m just grateful to be busy,” Hardin said. I wondered if it was a lie because when I’d first arrived, he was adamant about his rest and relaxation. “Chopped it down earlier. Tommy’s gonna dress it.”

I dipped to my knees in front of the box on the sofa. “Dress it?” I asked. “You mean decorate it.”

“In all fairness, there should be a tree skirt somewhere,” June said. “Not a dress though.”

Hardin snapped his fingers. “Right. We’re gonna have to find that for the pine needles to fall on something.”

Inside the box, I uncovered packets of candy canes, lots of chocolate, in many different forms, a new supply of marshmallows, and beneath it all, a teddy bear. I pulled it out and gasped, staring at it. “Oh my god,” I whispered.

“That was supposed to be wrapped,” Hardin said.

“You said go to the toy store, buy a teddy, and nothing about wrapping,” June said. “Unless you did, which is my mistake.”

“I definitely did,” he said. “It was gonna be a surprise. I’d agreed on the tree, and I thought it was bad luck to have a tree without any gifts under it. And Tommy has been talking about his comics, which you should read by the way, and I figured a teddy would help with the inspiration.”

“I would love to read them. But I doubt our bookstore has a selection of them.” June hummed. “And I have heard of the tree thing before. Pretend you didn’t see and put it back in the box so Hardin can wrap it.”

“I’ll find something else that can go under the tree,” he said.

I watched the back and forth as I squished the new teddy to my chest. It had that new teddy smell, but I was also very wary of new teddies because they could’ve already been under the Teddy King’s control, and that wasn’t going to be much fun.

“You can take the first book with you,” I told her. “Hardin’s already read it, and I wrote it. You can keep it too. A thank you for all the stuff.” The book was in all the things I’d taken out of the blanket fort and now residing in the bedroom.

She flicked through the first couple of pages. “Oh, it’s certainly a different type of book for me.”

“You won’t regret it,” Hardin said. “And the art is great too.”

I wanted to squeal and rush him with a hug, but I would have to save that for later.

“Ok, well, I wish I could stay, but I’ve got a visitor arriving tonight,” she said. “That’s right. My daughter’s decided to pay me a visit.”June gave me a hug before leaving, and as she stood on the porch, she let out a small scream. “Oh by the lord.”

“What?” We both raced to her. My feetie onesie in the snow from the porch.

“The snowman,” she laughed. “It appeared out of nowhere. Oh well, I’ll see you soon, and thank you for the book.”

Once June was driving away, Hardin picked me up, my feet drenched in the melted snow. He carried me inside and as we passed the mistletoe together, he gave me a large kiss on the lips, and then one on each cheek. “It looks like you’ve got a tree todress,” he said.

“We.”

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