Page 64 of Welcome Home for Christmas
“Oh, yeah?”
He nodded, leaning closer to her. “Yeah. And I’m just the guy for the job. I am very concerned with your needs.” He leaned closer still, and she held her breath. Kissing him would never grow old. He lightly touched her chin and led her mouth to his in a kiss that threatened to steam up all the windows of his truck.
Darla snorted again. “I said hands off,” she slurred loudly. “That includes my niece.”
Allison giggled to herself and pulled the door handle to get out. “Let me help you inside, Aunt Darla.” The quicker she got Darla inside and in her own bed, the quicker she could return to kissing Troy.
A few hours later, after another magical kiss and returning to her parents’ home for cleanup, Allison stepped into her mother’s kitchen carrying a final load of dirty dishes.
“Thanks for helping,” her mother said, glancing over her shoulder.
“Of course, Mom. Tonight went well, don’t you think?”
Her mother nodded, drying her hands on a dishcloth at the sink. “You really seem to like this guy of yours,” she said.
A little niggle of anxiety tightened Allison’s chest. There was nothing her mother could say about Troy that would change the way she looked at him, she promised herself. He hadn’t said or done anything tonight to give her mother pause about him. “I do like him, Mom,” Allison said, as a smile pulled the corners of her mouth up reflexively. She liked Troy a lot, more and more with every second she spent with him. Even though her aunt had been downright rude, he’d treated her like he would anyone else. He’d been a perfect gentleman.
Wanting desperately to change the subject before her mother had a chance to comment, Allison brought up Henry. “The Seaside burglar is somebody I know,” she said.
Her mother leaned against the kitchen counter and folded her arms in front of her. “Really?”
Allison nodded. “He goes to the Veterans’ Center sometimes. He’s such a nice man. I had lunch with him the other day and there was something about him that worried me. He looked sad and maybe even a little lost. I know he doesn’t have any family around and I don’t think he socializes enough to have friends.”
“But you’re his friend?” her mother asked.
“I am,” Allison said. “And I don’t know what to do. He’s in the Seaside jail, and rightfully so. He broke into a lot of people’s houses. He tried to break into mine. I wanted to ask you what I should do.”
Her mother lifted a brow. “I thought you were done taking my advice.”
Allison tilted her head. “You give the best advice of anybody I know.”
“Well”—her mother looked off beyond Allison, seeming to retreat into her vast area of expertise—“he’s probably depressed. Sometimes people do things that are out of character when their mental health is poor. What was his reason for stealing people’s Christmas presents?”
Allison frowned. “I wish I knew. I was thinking I’d go see him next week and find out.”
Her mother smiled. “You always were one to take care of people in need.”
“That’s my fatal flaw, right, Mom?” Allison asked.
“No, I wouldn’t say flaw. I’d say that’s one of your strengths. You care for people. It is the reason you always find yourself in company with the wrong man.”
Uh-oh.Allison’s gut did a flip-flop. Here it came. Her mother was about to demolish Troy in her eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re always trying to help people. You think that you can save them from themselves.”
Troy didn’t need saving, though, so her mother couldn’t possibly be talking about him.
“Your new friend,” her mother said, sucking in a breath, “he’s very exciting.”
Not a bad thing in Allison’s opinion. She nodded. “Yes.”
“He likes adventure. He likes to have fun.”
Still not a bad thing. Allison nodded again. “Yes.”
“Those things are usually coupled with restlessness,” her mother said. “He’s always searching for something new and exciting and fun.”
Allison stilled as her mother continued to talk.
