Page 93 of Christmas Crisis
Miranda huffed. “Also, stupid. Everyone knows kids get all their gifts from Santa.”
Kasen’s jaw ticked. “That’s what she told him. But when it started veering off into a longer discussion about how he also wouldn’t be able to produce his support payment—again—I grabbed Rosie and Brax to give her some privacy.”
“Good call,” Miranda said.
“Literally the least I can do,” Kasen said gruffly. Under his breath, he added, “Tough to get her to let me help with anything.”
I exchanged glances with Miranda, clearly on the same page that we’d ventured well past the line of what was and was not our business. I pivoted to a topic I hoped was more neutral, complimenting Kasen on the new signage he’d produced for the event. Our conversation turned benign—the Seahawks win streak, the weather, the number of times he’d had to readFrog and Toadto Rosie—and Kasen relaxed. Ten minutes later, Katy joined us, waving over to Travis and Vivienne.
“Everything okay?” Kasen asked.
She patted his forearm. “It’ll be fine. Nothing to ruin our night over.” None of us missed the stress in her voice, but I admired her fortitude. “The kids have been asking to ride the merry-go-round and get hot chocolate.”
Kasen nodded. “Great. I’d love some cider.”
Katy looked at Miranda and me. “Want to join?”
“Thanks,” I said. “But we were headed to the park to listen to the carolers.”
Katy smiled, shaking her head. “Brax won’t go near them. Especially the ones dressed in Victorian garb. He says their big hats are scary.”
I chuckled as she and Kasen drifted away.
Miranda and I walked toward the park, which had small groups of carolers stationed about every fifty yards. “I didn’t realize we had a plan to listen to the singing.” She quirked an eyebrow.
“I had to think fast.” I defended myself. “Not to be rude, but I really want to be alone with you.”
“Me too.”
I kissed her on the nose. “Panda, I have to tell you something, and it might seem like it’s coming out of left field.”
My tone was light, so she knew nothing was truly wrong.
She smiled. “Good thing I'm in the mood for a curveball. What’s up?”
“When we were talking to Kasen, a thought popped into my head. It’s not fully formulated, obviously, but I guess I realized that I consider him a friend now. We got along really well this past week while setting things up. And I don’t think James would mind that I’m friends with Marley’s ex.”
Miranda tilted her chin up. “He won't mind. Marley and Kasen are on great terms now, and I know she wants the best for him.”
“That sounds like Marley.”
“Is that what you wanted to say?”
“Not exactly. More like, I thought about how I consider Kasen a friend now, and I care about Katy and other people I’ve met here. I'm even crossing my fingers for Daniel and Nan. It's like the Coleman Creek vibe has taken a serious hold of me.”
“O-kay?” she drawled slowly. “It's great that you're making connections, but I’m not following where you’re going with this.”
“Like I said,” I spoke quickly. “It’s not fully formed yet, but I think maybe I could be happy in Coleman Creek. James and Marley are here, and they’ll have kids eventually, plus the only thing grounding me to Tacoma is my job and a few friends.”
“What about your parents?”
I released a long sigh. “Honestly, years ago, before I concluded—very, very wrongly—that I’d never be in love with anyone, I hadn’t envisioned staying near Seattle. But once I started thinking that my life would be spent solo, and I was struggling to make meaningful friendships because I didn’t want anyone to figure out about me—”
“I hate that you ever felt like you needed to be ashamed or embarrassed.” Miranda frowned.
“It’s okay. Truly. The point is that I thought it might be a good idea to stay by my parents to maintain that sense of family. Plus,James was still in Seattle at that time. Now, I feel like I wouldn’t mind starting over. My parents would understand. In fact, I bet they’d encourage it.”
“So you want to move to Coleman Creek?”
