Page 70 of Hiding for the Holidays
“Steak and kidney pie.”
“Hmm…” I look back at the menu. “Those all sound good.”
“Are there any you haven’t had before?” Grant asks.
“I’ve never tried Yorkshire puddings.”
“You should try that then. And if you don’t like it, we can just order you something else.” He makes it sound so easy. Whenever I ate out with Scott he would order for me, and it was always the same thing, a salad. It just reminds me that there were a lot of problems with that relationship before the physical abuse ever started.
Dinner goes by far too quickly, and as we walk across the parking lot towards Leo’s truck, Grant grabs my hand and grins down at me from his towering six foot four-inch height.
“Hopefully you’re not too tired because we have something else planned.”
“Really?” I ask hopefully. I was just thinking how I wished the night wouldn’t end yet.
Grant opens the door, then grips my hips and lifts me into the truck like I weigh next to nothing. “Yep.” He buckles me in and I smile, loving how he likes to take care of me.
“Where are we going?” I ask as I lean over to look out the front windshield.
“You’ll see,” Leo says with a chuckle. Asher grabs my hand from beside me, and when I look up at him, he winks.
Leo turns on a station playing Christmas music, and I hum along happily as we make our way through town. When he finally pulls off the road and into a large parking lot, I can’thelp but squeal with excitement. “We’re getting a Christmas tree?”
“Yep!” Leo says as he parks the truck and Grant helps me out.
Asher and Leo speak to the attendant, and they come back with a purple ribbon. “Okay we’ve paid for a seven footer, which are over there,” Leo says, pointing to the rows of trees to my right. “When we find one we like, we tie this ribbon to it, then come back and let them know and they will go and cut it down for us.”
I feel my lower lip push out, and Leo laughs when he sees it. “Why are you pouting? Did you want to swing the ax yourself?”
I shrug. “I was kinda looking forward to watching you guys get all lumberjacked.”
He throws an arm around my shoulder, leading me towards the trees. “I’m not sure I want you to see that, it might be embarrassing since we’ve never done it before. Besides, the guys here will cut it straight and bind it for us properly.”
We take our time strolling the rows, each tree better than the last. “Is this something you did with your family, growing up?” I ask Leo.
“Yeah, every year. How about you?”
I shake my head. “We had an artificial tree.”
“Really? That must have sucked.”
I laugh and shake my head. “Not really, it’s all I knew. Besides, there’s no mess and it was pre-lit, so it went up quickly.”
“But that’s half the fun!”
I shrug as Grant points to a tree beside us. “How about this one?”
I walk around the tree, taking in its full body. “It’s perfect!”
“Do you want to do the honors?” Leo asks, holding out the purple ribbon to me.
I tie it around a branch and note it has Asher’s last name on it,Anderson.
“Hey, Asher. I just realized you have a superhero name like me!” I tell him with an amused smile.
“What do you mean?” he asks, reaching for my hand and pulling me to his side as we head back to the parking lot.
“Superheroes always have first and last names that start with the same letter. Like Peter Parker or Bruce Banner.”
