Page 44 of Noel I Won’t
I snorted. “Yes, sir.”
Ed guffawed behind me. “Noel knows how to handle the likes of you.”
My eyes met and held Noel’s, thinking of all the ways he’d been handling me these past few days. “I guess he does.”
The lights were a tangled mess, as usual. I dug them out of the box and unwound them while Noel and Maggie pulled out ornaments one by one, sharing stories of Christmases past.
Their faces were glowing, and I hadn’t even plugged in the dang lights yet.
My chest tightened as I thought of my mother, of the holidays I was missing with her, but there was a sweetness alongside the bloom of a pain. A warmth that the Grisolds had poured into the void she left.
I wound the lights around the tree and plugged them in.
Noel clapped when the retro colored lights came on, blinking red, blue, and green.
Maggie pushed herself to her feet. “We need some Christmas music!”
“Heaven help us all,” Ed grumbled, but he smiled behind the rim of his cup of hot chocolate.
Maggie placed a record on an ancient player, and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” poured from the speakers.
“Frank Sinatra could sing,” Ed pronounced. “Young people these days should take notes.”
Noel laughed. “Sinatra was before your time, too, Dad.”
“Still,” he said. “There’s no appreciation for real talent anymore.”
“Says the man who played a Christmas album performed by some football players a hundred times last year,” Maggie shot back.
Noel laughed. “Seriously?”
“What? It was for a good cause!”
“They don’t get paid every time you play the record,” Maggie said.
“Just admit you’ve got a big ole man crush on Jason Kelce,” I added.
The Philadelphia Eagles had released a Christmas special that was popular, but it was fun to tease him.
“Oh, I do not! The Eagles were entertaining, that’s all.”
Noel busted out laughing at his dad’s expression. “Come on, Dad, it’s okay to admit it in this household. I’ve got a crush on a guy, too.”
He winked and didnotlook at me, but elation bubbled through my veins. I was his crush. Me. How did that happen?
Ed grumbled something about living with a bunch of assholes, and Noel hopped up to hang the first ornament.
Maggie sat on the sofa, pulling items from the box, while Noel hung them on tree branches.
“Get in here, Hopper,” Noel said. “I’m not doing this alone.”
I stepped forward and accepted a clear ornament filled with marshmallows that had to be at least fifteen years old. A shaky hand had paintedHappy Noelon the side.
I showed it to Noel. “Apparently, you were happy once.”
He slapped my arm. “It would make me happy to kick your ass.”
I smirked. “I’d like to see you try.”
