Page 69 of Holly versus Mr. Ivy
“January twenty-ninth.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “I’m barely five months older than you. My birthday is in August.”
“I’ve always wanted a summer birthday,” he said wistfully.
I wrinkled my nose. “Yeah, I bet a January birthday is hard.”
“Better than December, but yeah, it’s not the best.” Rhett bent down, picking up an ornament out of the tote and brushing my side as he did so. Tingles skipped along my skin, just like they had when we’d made sandwiches in the kitchen. And when he’d hugged me in the bathroom. Seriously, how had I not been electrocuted by this point?
He held a miniature Christmas tree I’d glued together with painted green popsicle sticks. Without needing to look at the ornament, I remembered the words written on it in red Sharpie: Tilly, the beach, fireworks, swimming pool, American Girl doll, and ice skating. Our fifth-grade teacher had us write our favorite things from that year on our tree. The words brought back each memory.
“Do you remember what this means?” Rhett asked, holding the ornament in front of me.
“I do.” I sat on the floor, my legs crossed with the backs of my hands resting on my knees, my back against the couch. Rhett took a seat next to me. “Tilly was my best friend who lived next door. We were inseparable until she moved away in seventh grade.” I still sometimes wondered what had happened to her. When I joined social media, I tried finding her, but none of the profiles with her name had matched her face.
“The beach referred to the vacation we took that year to South Carolina. I never wanted to leave. I loved searching for seashells and chasing the waves.” If I closed my eyes, I could almost remember the smell of salt and fish.
“The fireworks happened on the night of the Fourth of July while we were in South Carolina. I’d never seen such a beautiful display of art in the sky. Someone on the beach next to us had music playing. It really hit me for the first time how truly blessed I was to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
Rhett didn’t interrupt once, just kept his attention on me as I recounted each item on my popsicle stick Christmas tree.
“The swimming pool was for Tilly’s grandparents’ house. She’d invited me over for a sleepover in the summer, and they had a pool in their backyard. We swam the entire time, only coming out to eat and sleep. I remember being the best kind of tired when bedtime rolled around that night.
“For my eleventh birthday, my parents gifted me my first All-American Girl doll. Her long black hair and blue eyes matched my own. She wore a denim skirt and a pink shirt. My parents also gifted me the same outfit so we’d match. I still have her.” I kept her tucked in a box on the top shelf of my bedroom closet. One day, I’d give her to my own daughter.
“The ice skating happened only the weekend before I made the ornament. I’d never been before. Mom said I was too young to try it in previous winters. I fell in love with the sound of the blades cutting through the ice, the cold wind in my hair, and the feeling of speed.”
Looking back, I wished I’d kept a similar ornament for every year of my life.
“Sounds like you had a wonderful childhood.”
Mom snorted. “She was spoiled.”
I didn’t know any different, but I guessed Trevor and I were. From what Rhett had said about his childhood, we were paupers. But I couldn’t complain about my youth. I’d never lacked for anything. “If you made an ornament like this today, what would your favorites from this year be?” I asked Rhett.
He scrubbed a hand along his jaw. “That’s tough. For sure The Boardwalk.”
I lifted a brow, surprised work had made the list.
“Santorini. My health.” His eyes darted to Trevor and Mom, who ignored us as they kept hanging decorations. “You,” he said softly.
What? For a moment I was jealous he’d been to Greece, but that last item took priority. My pulse raced as if I’d started to climb Mount Chogori. Did he mean me as hisfriend,or something else? I studied his warm brown eyes. Desire radiated from his soft gaze fixed on me.
Breathing became difficult. I wanted more with Rhett. But I was also freaked out. I hadn’t had a relationship in a long time and never with someone like Rhett. And there was still the matter of our jobs. Despite the obstacles, I was feeling bold after the tender way he’d cared for me earlier. “You’d make my list, too.”
Rhett’s lips pulled up into the biggest smile.
“Will you two stop the disgusting sappiness already?” Trevor complained. “There are other people present.”
Yikes. We really had to watch how we interacted around other people. No matter what Rhett and I wanted, we couldn’t allow others to see us as anything more than friends.
“I didn’t realize talking was sappy, Trevor. But we’ll stop.” Rhett shot me a look that saidfor now. He stood, placing my memory ornament on the Christmas tree. Rhett snatched another ornament and placed it on a high branch. With Mom and Trevor present, we kept further conversation light. I got lost in the lyrics of the Christmas music playing in the background, the shared memories with each new bulb unpacked from a tote, and the feeling of contentment wrapping my heart like a warm blanket.
When the Christmas tree was finished, Trevor and Rhett moved the boxes and totes back to the basement. Mom excused herself for bed. She’d worn herself out today between cooking and decorating. I hoped we hadn’t pushed her too hard.
Using my elbows instead of my hands, I slid under the bottom of the tree, flipping onto my back, and stared up through the branches, admiring the way the lights reflected off the ornaments and remembering doing this exact thing with Dad every Christmas. Stars, I missed him.
Rhett’s head appeared next to mine. “What are you doing down here?”
