Page 59 of Bright Lights, Big Christmas
“Ahhhh.”
Kerry tiptoed into the bathroom in her stocking feet, shedding the heavy jacket along the way. Somehow, in the space that was smallerthan a phone booth, she managed to extricate herself from her jeans. Next came the sweater, then the flannel shirt, then the thermal underwear top. Hopping on first one foot and then the other, she pulled off the thermal bottoms. Finally, shivering and dressed only in panties and her wool socks, she leaned into the mirror to check her appearance, and wished she hadn’t. Her hair was lank and she had dark circles under both eyes, and she hadn’t actually had a real shower that day. In desperation, she squeezed some toothpaste into her mouth and swished it around, then spritzed herself with the only thing at hand, which happened to be a can of Murphy’s Axe spray deodorant. She fluffed her hair, then dashed, in the cold, back to the bunk.
Patrick was still propped up on the pillows, with the blanket pulled up over his bare chest. And he was dead asleep.
She sat down on the bunk and tentatively touched his face. He didn’t move. She put her hand on his chest. It was a nice chest, muscled, not overly hairy. She lifted the blanket and peeked. He’d stripped down to his boxers. They were red, with a festive pattern of prancing reindeers.
“Patrick?” She put her lips to his ear and whispered, “Patrick?”
His eyelids fluttered.
Kerry went back to the bathroom to fetch the clothes she’d just struggled out of.
He was snoring softly when she joined him on the bunk. She shook his shoulder. “Patrick. Hey, wake up.”
“Huh?” His voice was hoarse with sleep, and he seemed confused to find her half dressed.
“You fell asleep,” she said.
He sat halfway up, and groaned as he sank back down onto the bed.
“It’s the damned antihistamines.” He grabbed her hand. “But I’m awake now.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “Don’t worry about it. It’s late and I’m beattoo. And there’s no telling how soon Murphy will come rolling in here.”
The mention of her brother brought Patrick fully awake. He raked his fingers through his hair, sighed, and reached for the clothes he’d discarded on the floor.
“Probably not a great idea all around, huh?”
She leaned in and kissed him hard, on the mouth. “Sometimes even the best ideas don’t work out. Ya know?”
He kissed her back and touched her cheek. “Can I get a rain check? Can we have a real date—just the two of us?”
“I’d like that.”
She helped him bundle Austin in the sleeping bag, and tucked the flashlight and binoculars into the child’s backpack before walking Patrick back outside with his son slung over his shoulder.
“One more thing,” she called, as he started back across the street.
“What’s that?”
“Promise me, when we have our date, you’ll wear those cute red reindeer undies?”
He blushed, then winked. “It’s a deal.”
After Patrick and Austin were gone, Kerry walked all the way around the Christmas tree lot one last time. It was nearly midnight. She saw the lights blinking off at Lombardi’s, saw the last of the help straggling out the door and locking it behind them. Traffic was light, and the snow was still softly falling on the damp pavement of Hudson Street.
She took out her phone and called her brother.
“Yo,” Murphy said. He sounded as tired as she felt.
“Everything going okay?” she asked.
“Just super. Mom had to practically hogtie Dad to keep him from riding back with me. How’s it going there?”
“Pretty good. We’re down to less than half a dozen trees now. How far away are you?”
“Another couple hours at least. I’m gonna pull over in a truck stop pretty soon and get a couple hours’ sleep. I should be there by no later than five.”
