Page 108 of How My Neighbour Stole Christmas
He chuckles.
Actually chuckles. Then he pulls away just enough to look at me better. “You good?”
“Yeah.” I nod. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” And when I think he’s going to move back to his side of the truck, he stays where he is, his hand moving into mine. When our eyes connect, he says, “You sure you don’t want to go back home? I don’t mind driving you.”
“No, I need to take that lesson. Can’t have you beating me.”
“Yeah, can’t have that,” he says absentmindedly. There he is. There’s the nice boy I once knew. No malice. No snark. Just personable and good-natured.
He studies me for a few more moments before he finally retreats to his side of the truck.
“When we get into Clayton, I’ll let Max know about your car and have him arrange to have someone take care of it.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I can, uh, call…someone.”
“Yeah, and who would that be?” he asks as he takes off his jacket.
“Uh…someone.”
“Nice try,” he says and then offers me his jacket. “I know you get cold, so would you like this for your legs?”
I roll my teeth over the corner of my lip. “You don’t need it?”
“Nah, I’m good.”
“Okay, sure, I’ll take it.” He hands it to me, and I drape it over my chilled legs, grateful for the extra layer. I glance over at him. “You’re being nice to me.”
“I’m not really a dick, you know.”
“Then why do you act like one?”
He puts his truck into drive. “Defense mechanism.”
“From what?” I ask.
He glances in my direction and then focuses back on the road. “Nothing.”
“Why don’t I believe you?” I say.
“Because you can probably see right through me, and that scares me, hence why I said nothing.”
Wow, okay, so he’s being really open and honest. This is such a stark contrast from the man I saw the other day at the Fruitcake Festivus. So what’s changed?
“That’s a heavy statement,” I say.
He just shrugs. Clearly, if I push him too far, he might shut down, so I decide to leave it at that.
I like this side of him. This open, warm side, and I don’t want to lose that.
So I change the subject. “This snow is pretty heavy,” I say. “You’re okay driving in it?”
“I grew up here, Storee. What do you think?”
“I would take that as a yes,” I say. “But don’t you ever get scared?”
“If you allow fear to take over your actions, then you’re never going to accomplish anything.”
