Page 89 of Mr. Frosty Pants
At the local Starbucks, one of the few places open on Christmas Day, he dropped into his seat with a maple pecan latte in the signature red cup and waited, checking out the weary-looking travelers who shared the space and were apparently on their way to grandma’s house for Christmas dinner. But it wasn’t long before Courtney breezed in wearing a red coat, carrying his laptop case and the shopping bag from his bedroom.
“Hey,” she said after she kissed his cheek. “I’ve got about ten minutes. I told your mother I was taking a post-Christmas breakfast drive to Starbucks.”
Casey’s gut churned. “I’m sorry I missed breakfast.”
She sighed. “Me too. But I get it.” She gave his hand a squeeze. “Anyway, your mom was distracted enough trying to figure out how to defrost Christmas dinner not to question me. She’s talking irrationally about halving the defrosted servings since you won’t be there and crying into her many mimosas. Oh, Casey. Your mother is so upset with you.”
“Just with me?”
“And your father. Let’s put it this way: there’s enough upset to go around. No one’s spared. Not even me, since I knew about Joel before she did.”
Casey kept his mouth shut, mainly because so many thoughts tumbled through his head at once that he didn’t know where to start. Old childhood hurts shoved up next to the most recent ones, and he sat there with them, solid balls of pain in his belly.
“It was a good idea to stay away, though,” she said soothingly. “It’ll give all of you time to cool off.”
“Even though I’ve ruined Christmas?”
“You didn’t ruin Christmas.” She snorted. “Your father did that.”
“I won’t argue there,” he muttered.
“Although you didn’t have to spring Joel on them the way you did. It wasn’t fair to Joel, and it wasn’t fair to them.”
Casey sighed. He’d already figured that much out for himself. He’d thought the surprise of it would force them to treat Joel nicely. In a way it had, but he hadn’t counted on his father getting him alone and Joel overhearing it all. He’d also thought it would give them the opportunity to see how good he and Joel were together—how Joel could fit in if they just gave him a chance. But they hadn’t given him a chance, had they?
“So, what are you going to do now?” Courtney asked.
“Spend Christmas with Joel. He was going to be alone for it, so now he has me.” His heart fluttered, and he smiled a little.
“I’m glad you’re happy with him. He’s a sweetheart. I talked with him just a little last night and even I could see how desperately he adores you. Stand your ground and keep your man.” She glanced at her phone. “Time to place my order here and head back. Before I go, I want you to know your mother loves you and so does your father. They’re trying to wrap their minds around your defiance, as they see it, but I have faith they’ll get it together. They’re not actually bad people, Casey.”
He knew that was true, but it didn’t take away the sting from the night before.
She waited in line for her drink and swung back around to kiss his cheek one more time before leaving. Her whispered parting rang in his ears, cliché though it was, even as she and her red coat disappeared out the door, “In the end, love is all that matters.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Casey paced thetrailer from living room to Joel’s bedroom again and again, with Bruno watching him patiently from his dog bed. It was almost two o’clock now, and Joel still wasn’t home from visiting his father, nor was he answering his texts. Had something happened with his dad? Had his car broken down or worse? What if he was getting cold feet again and was avoiding Casey?
He’d headed out earlier to one of the few places open on Christmas to grab a takeout dinner for them both. Shoney’s wasn’t high class at all, and that was part of the reason he’d chosen it. Cheap, greasy comfort food—turkey, gravy, green beans, and pecan and pumpkin pie—seemed like the right way to show Joel he was ready and willing to take his lifestyle down a notch. Besides, it’d smelled amazing when he’d grabbed the takeout bag from the girl working the register.
Now when he opened the Styrofoam containers to check on the cold food, he grimaced to see the congealed grease collecting at the edges of everything. Zapping it in the microwave would undo the damage, most likely, but he couldn’t do that until Joel got back, and just where was he anyway? Casey was hungry and worried, and ready to get back to the feeling of being wrapped up in each other again. Surely Joel was too?
He checked the time again.
What if there was an accident? He looked out the kitchen window to see that it is starting to snow. Folks were so bad at driving, even in just flurries, in Tennessee; what if Joel had gotten caught in some sort of Christmas traffic-related, snow-panic accident? He texted Joel again.
I’m worried. Where are you?
He stared at the phone, willing the three little dots to appear that indicated Joel was replying. Nothing. He groaned and shoved the phone in his pocket, and the put the Styrofoam containers of food back in the fridge, resuming his pacing of the hallway.
Suddenly Bruno hauled himself up, an excited wriggle in his hindquarters, as he jolted out the dog door. Casey followed, his heart in his throat, and a sweaty excitement grabbing him hard.
Joel squatted in the flurrying snow patting Bruno and passing him a new red Kong chew toy. He rose up to his feet and gave a strange smile to Casey, a kind of simpering grin that made Casey’s insides flip over.
“Sorry I’m late,” Joel said, approaching slowly like Casey might pounce. “I should have texted. I didn’t mean to make you worry. I just needed to clear my head, so I drove around for a while and then stopped by the pet store. There’s one still open on Chapman Highway.”
“That’s a long way from here.”
