Page 14 of Big Mistletoe

I grab a plate off the table before he can. “You cooked. I should clean up.”

He stands towering over me, shaking his head. “Joy.”

I smile up at him. “Nick.”

He shakes his head but lets me carry the empty glasses and a plate to the kitchen.

After we clean up, I point toward the living room. “Ready?”

He looks confused. “For what?”

I smile widely. “The tree.”

He shakes his head, but he follows me into the room.

The tree is already standing in front of the big windows. We put it there two nights ago, but I refused to decorate it without him. I turn on Christmas music from my phone, and Nick groans.

I laugh. “You knew this was coming.”

He nods. “You’d think I’d be used to it by now. Do you know even when you’re not playing Christmas music, you’re humming it?”

I laugh as I start pulling ornaments from the boxes on the floor. “Occupational hazard.”

At first, Nick just stands there watching me until I hand him a candy cane.

He looks at it and then at me. “What do I do with this?”

I blink at him. “You hang it on the tree.”

He looks at the tree and then back at me. “I know that.”

“Then why are you asking?”

He waves his hand up and down, gesturing to the tree. “Where do you want it?”

“Anywhere.”

When he doesn’t budge, I stand up and go right next to him. “Nick, there’s no wrong way to decorate a tree. You can put it wherever you want it to go.”

His forehead creases, and he takes a deep breath. I’m stunned. I know he said he doesn’t celebrate Christmas, but this is blowing my mind. He leans forward and hangs the candy cane on a branch and then stands back, tilts his head, and studies it.

I smile. “Perfect.”

He looks back at me. “That’s it?”

I clap my hands together. “That’s it.”

I pick up an ornament and hang it a few inches from the one that Nick just hung. Then he hangs another. Eventually, he starts to loosen up, and we hang ornaments while Christmas music plays through the house.

Every so often, I catch him looking at me, and each time, my stomach does a little flip.

When we’re finished, I ask him, “Okay, are you ready?”

He looks between me and the tree. “Ready for what?”

I swear the man looks a little scared of what I’m going to ask him to do next. I turn to plug in the tree. “Ready for the lights.”

I rise and stand next to him while the tree glows in front of us. “What do you think?”