Page 51 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
He punched it into the register and looked at Asher, who stretched to the tip of his toes and very clearly said, “One small chocolate please. In a waffle cone. With rainbow sprinkles. Thank you.”
Cal patted his son’s head in appreciation of his good manners before asking for the same thing. Plain chocolate.
Cal paid for our ice cream, and we shuffled down the display case to be handed our orders shortly after. Their ordinary chocolate paled in comparison to my swirling rainbow of white, green, and red ice cream. It was topped with crumbled pieces of candy cane and dark chocolate.
I took a spoonful and nodded approvingly.
“Is it good?” Cal asked as he pulled out a chair for me at a table by the window. Asher took the seat next to me, and Cal sat down across from me.
I nodded. “Delicious. Thank you. Did you want to try some?”
Cal’s nose scrunched up as he stared at the contents of my bowl. “No thanks.”
“Asher?” I asked, pushing the bowl toward him.
Asher nodded so I handed him my spoon. He took a generous amount, rolled it around in his mouth, and then shook his head. “It’s not better than chocolate.”
“Silly boys,” I said, clicking my tongue.
“Does any of this feel familiar?” Cal asked. “Or the Christmas trees?”
I sighed and shook my head. “No.”
He gave me a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. I’m not trying to rush you. I’m just curious. It will come back.”
I crossed my ankles under my chair and continued eating my ice cream. When I was nearing the halfway point, I took a break. “Tell me a story about when we were younger,” I said.
Cal blinked at me. “A story?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Whatever comes to mind.”
Cal rested his chin on his knuckles and looked out the window. The clouds above were thick and light gray. It looked and smelled like it would snow soon. A little smirk appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he lowered his eyes to the table as he started talking.
“At the end of third semester of senior year, I talked you into skipping gym so that we could come here. I had my first car then. A really old, really beat up coupe with a broken passenger door handle and a broken gas gauge. We snuck off school property—pretend you didn’t hear that, Ash—and spent the last two hours of the school day sitting at that table in the corner.” Cal pointed to a booth against the far wall. It was in the back corner away from the windows. “You wanted to sit at the window, Lina. You always wanted a view. But my dad was off work that day, and I didn’t want him to drive by and see us. He’d have my head if he caught me skipping.”
“And did we get caught?” I asked.
Cal shook his head. He was still smiling. “No. We had our ice cream and then, afterward, walked down the street to the old cinema that used to be on the corner. They had afternoon movies for two dollars.”
“It sounds like it would have been a nice afternoon.”
“It was,” he said.
“I wish I could remember.”
“You will.”
I wanted to ask Cal if he and I used to date, but I decided that was a question better left for a time when Asher wasn’t there. His mother had yet to be brought up. I’d seen a couple pictures of her in the house—like the one by the front door and the couple on the fridge. I didn’t feel like it was my place to ask those sorts of questions yet. I had to find where I fit first.
When we were all done with our ice cream, I cleared the table and put everything in the garbage by the door. We waved goodbye to the employees by the counter, and Asher called “Thank you” over his shoulder as we walked out onto the sidewalk to the black BMW. We all piled in, and Cal drove us back to his house.
As the car pulled into the driveway, little snow flurries began to fall from the sky. Nick’s car was already there, so he was likely inside waiting for us. We hurried from the car to the house to avoid being out in the cold for as long as possible, and then Asher pulled me into the living room while Cal and his father went and brought the tree in off the roof of the car.
While the men set up the tree and set it up in its planter, I worked in the kitchen to fix a tray of various meats, cheeses, and crackers. I found some jalapeno jelly in the fridge and put that out as well. I carried it out into the living room and set it down on the coffee table. Then I stood back with my hands on my hips to admire the tree. “It looks beautiful. What a good find, Asher.”
He smiled proudly at me. “It’s perfect! Grandpa likes it too.”
“What’s not to like?” Nick chuckled. Then he peered down at the cheese spread. “This looks good.”
