Page 67 of Twice Shy

“He only wants one shoe on?”

“We had sartorial differences this morning,” Ollie explained, pulling the other shoe out of his coat pocket.

“Ah,” Joel said, smiling.

Ollie smiled back helplessly. “He’s cranky this morning. It was a long night—teething.”

He was aware of someone clearing their throat and looked over to find Alyssa watching them with raised eyebrows and an ‘ah-hah!’ expression on her face. “Baby Tylenol for the teething, Ollie. Knocks them out like a double bourbon.” She smiled widely. “I’ve unloaded all the boxes of decorations, so you just need to arrange them on the table. They’re labeled by class. I’ll be back to help when the singing’s over.”

“Thanks,” Ollie said, feeling his cheeks heat at the sparkling look in her eye. Maybe Alyssa was the source of the rumor?

But the truth was, anyone with a working pair of eyes would be able to see the connection between him and Joel. Somehow Ollie’s feelings kind of overflowed when they were together, not that he’d ever found keeping his feelings to himself easy. And being with Joel just felt so right.

No, it felt more than simply right. It felt inevitable.

He glanced back at Joel, busy unpacking glitter-covered pine cones, wobbly clay stars, and lopsided pompom snowmen.Hand made by First Grade. It would be quite something, Ollie thought, to have Joel Morgan in his life for real. But who knew whether Joel would ever be ready for that? Even the rumor of a relationship had him freaked out.

Pushing the question aside—he’d get no answer today—he said, “Come on, Rory, let’s help Mr. Morgan while we wait for Santa to arrive.”

“But whenishe going to arrive?” Rory sighed dramatically, and it warmed Ollie to see him so bothered about something so normal for a six year old.

Joel said, “He’s going to lead the parade first. Then, after the singing’s over, you can go see him in his grotto.” He nodded toward the church hall behind them. “It’s in there.”

“Gwotto,” Luis announced from the stroller. The cool air had calmed his red cheeks, but he was still chewing manically on his teether toy, drooling into his coat like a puppy. Digging around under the stroller, Ollie pulled out a relatively clean burp cloth and tried to dry off his face and the front of his coat. He should have put a bib on him before they left home, he realized. Damn.

“You look tired,” Joel said quietly.

“Thanks.” Why did people always think it was a good idea to point that out? He knew he looked tired; hewastired.

Joel grimaced as if he could hear Ollie’s grumpy thoughts. “Here,” he said, and snagged Luis’s shoe from Ollie’s coat pocket. He slipped it on Luis’s waving foot while Ollie was still drying off his face. Luis didn’t bat an eye, too busy struggling against Ollie and the burb cloth to notice.

Ollie smiled at Joel as he gave Luis back his teether, pushing back to his feet with a groan that made him sound like an old man. “Thanks.”

“Can I get you a coffee or something? Donut?”

“I’m already wired on caffeine and sugar. I’ll be fine. I’m used to getting by on a couple hours sleep.”

For a moment he thought Joel might reach out and offer a comforting hug. That’s what hereallywanted. His body ached to be held, just for a moment. Joel’s hand twitched in his direction but then fell back to his side. Too many people around.

Disappointed, Ollie got down to work. He figured most of the gifts would be bought by the parents of the child who’d made them, and so took great care to set them out next to the right class label. They made for an adorable display. “Hey, which one’s yours?” he asked Rory, looking over the table to where the kindergarten decorations were displayed.

Rory went to investigate, and then pointed. “That one. My snowman has a stripy hat, look.”

Rainbow stripes, Ollie noted with a smile. “He looks fantastic. I’m buying him right now before anyone else snaps him up. How much is he, Rory?”

Rory looked at Joel who said, “One dollar.”

“One dollar,” Rory repeated.

Pulling out his wallet, Ollie handed his dollar to Rory. Joel held out the cash box so Rory could deposit the money, and then Rory handed Ollie his snowman. “You know what?” Ollie said, examining Rory’s creation. He had a crooked smile, wonky eyes, and a short triangular nose. “This guy is going on top of our tree this year.”

“But you have to put an angel on the top,” Rory said. “Or a star. Mrs. Benton said so.”

Ollie raised his eyebrows. “Rory, sweetheart, if we want a snowman on top of our tree we can have a snowman. We don’t always have to be the same as other people.”

Rory grinned. “Alright.”

“Alright.” Ollie tucked the decoration away in Luis’s bag under the stroller to keep it safe and was just standing up when he caught sight of Luca Moretti. While they’d been talking, people had started arriving and Luca was standing with Theo Wishart in line for coffee at Dee’s stall. They didn’t hold hands but stood close enough that their shoulders bumped as they talked. They looked happy, relaxed in each other’s company.

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