Page 28 of A Little Christmas: Rivi
I was awakened by a whisper in my ear.
“Are you still asleep?”
Slowly, I opened my eyelids. Rivi's eyes peered at me from over the tops of his glasses which had slid down low on his nose.
“Nope.”
“Sorry if I woke you but I didn't think you would want to miss such a beautiful sunset right before all the trees get lit.”
“No, I don't want to miss that at all.”
Rivi grinned, then for the very first time put his hand on mine and lightly squeezed. Our only other touching had consisted of me brushing his shoulder with my hand. The skin-on-skin contact zinged through my body. I pushed myself up from the chair and turned my hand to grip him back.
He tugged and said, “Come over to this window here. It's the best view.”
“All right.” I let him steer me where he wanted me to go.
Already, the sky was a brilliant pink and orange mixture toward the mountains where the snow clouds had parted. The color was so brilliant and alive I doubted there was any way to name it and be accurate in the description.
The part of the house where this room was located was between the first and second floor. We were overlooking the rows of the pine forest from the perfect vantage to see all of the decorated trees when they lit up.
I glanced quickly from side to side but didn't see Trent. Rivi and I still held hands. I should not have felt nervous, but whatever unspoken issue Trent had with Rivi taking a liking to me, and me to him, still existed. I had to tread carefully. Trent was my good friend. This was his property. I'd had plenty of time today to take him aside alone and speak to him. But I lost my nerve every time I thought about it. When I was a kid, my father had called me the great procrastinator. Some things never changed.
Rivi swung his hand and mine went with it. His fingers interlocked with mine. It all felt so natural.
The room was noisy, glasses clinking with ice, littles laughing and talking excitedly, men chatting. More guests had joined us here since I'd fallen asleep. The air was electric.
Suddenly, the orange sun dipped below a cloud and revealed itself hovering over a mountain top. Slowly it sank behind the snowy peak. Just at that moment, all the lights came on down below and the trees sparkled to life.
The entire room filled with voices of awe and surprise and wonder. Christmas was truly here.
“Santa's on his way!” Rivi kept his voice slow for my ears only. It was so sweet.
“He'll see this place from way up high.”
“The Christmas lights on the trees will be like a beacon.”
“Exactly,” I replied.
I felt the tap on my shoulder. “Presents.”
I turned and saw Trent holding out a small box. To me. He stood partially between me and Rivi, and I had to let go of Rivi's hand to take the package. He had a stack of them andhanded another large one to Rivi who grabbed it gratefully, then breathed out a quick “Thank you.”
“I didn’t expect this. Seriously?” I asked Trent, turning the present over in my hands.
“Seriously.”
I looked Trent in the eye, trying to read him, but he glanced away too quickly for me to assess what he might be feeling knowing that he’d seen Rivi holding my hand.
Trent said nothing more and continued down the line handing everybody a present. I'd seen the packages stacked under the big tree, but I didn't know who they were for. Now I understood they were for all of us. Trent missed nothing. He forgot nothing. He was the most generous person I'd ever known without being ostentatious about it.
The sky turned even more brilliant, then slowly darkened. The rows of lit trees looked unearthly in the lightly falling snow.
The boys were murmuring. “Can we open them now?”
“Yes,” Trent said.
I held mine tightly in one hand. Rivi stared down at his. They were all beautifully wrapped with satin bows. Mine was gilt green. Rivi’s was red with little sleighs all over it.
