But Remy dived in hanging strings of lights from all of the exposed beams and wrapping garland around the bar. There was a light snow falling outside too which Remy said officially meant it was decorating time. She even turned on some Christmas music which helped to get me in the mood. A little. I wasn’t big for holidays especially Christmas time.
I always felt a little left out at the James house even though they included me in everything even playing Santa on Christmas morning. When Caleb came along I guess I kinda had to get into the mood. I always tried to make it as special as possible for him. This year Chases mom who I talked with on the phone at least twice a week had already invited me to their house for Christmas. We were planning on getting there two days before the holidays and she wanted to wait till then so we could all decorate the tree together and bake cookies. The girls were all excited for Caleb to come and help out. Chase had been acting like a little boy lately whenever it came to talking about our upcoming time we had planned together. Holidays were big in his house and he was excited that I was coming with him so we could share the time together.
“You think Leah?” Remy asks interrupting my thoughts which again had drifted to Chase like always. I smiled at the thought of his green eyes and realized how much I really missed him. We hadn’t told each other we loved each other yet but I knew we both felt the same way. I couldn’t imagine my life without him even after only being with him officially for such a short time.
“Yes Remy you’re all he talks about especially when you’re not around. He’s lucky to have you though so he better be good to you or I’ll have to use some of my self -defense moves on him.”
“Yeah those scared off Gage from bothering you again, huh?
I hadn’t seen or heard from Gage since Halloween night when I had put him in his place. Ally had told me after I had left obviously shaken up, Chase had a few words with Gage too and had him held up against the wall by his collar with one hand and the other was around his throat. Chase had never mentioned anything about the incident to me and I never brought it up but I figured whatever he had said combined with the damage I did to him left Gage running with his tail tucked between his legs.
Remy and I both hustled to our tables that were waiting to put in orders and to hand out bills. By the time the last customer left it was close to midnight and both of us collapsed at a nearby table to cash out for the night. I wiped down a few more tables and then tossed my apron into a pile for the dirty ones. After a quick call to Ally to check on Caleb, who of course was conked out, I was set to go.
“’Kay Rem I’m gonna head out. You almost finished up?” I ask as I slide on my plaid pea coat and put my matching black hat and gloves on. I press my nose up to the fogging door and see a coating of snow on the roads and the few cars left in the parking lot.
“Yeah I’ll be right behind you Leah. I just have a few things left to fill up. I’ll see you tomorrow at class, yeah?”
“Bright and early, I can’t wait till finals week is over. I’m seriously ready for winter break.” I say as I open the door and instantly feel the chill that the snow blows in.
“Me too, be careful out there Leah.”
“Always. See ya Rem.” I wave to her over my shoulder and head out to Chases jeep. He had ridden down with Teddy and Mark to their performance they had scheduled and left me the jeep. I insisted I would be fine with my car or walking but Chase wouldn’t agree with me on this one. He was ready to take that piece of shit to the junkyard which I wouldn’t mind but it was nice having my own car in case I ever needed it.
There was probably a few inches of snow layered on the streets and sidewalks that had been untouched since there wasn’t much traffic out around this time of night. This area of town didn’t have a lot of bars, those were a few blocks over from Ginos. My shoes crunched as I made a path through the unmarked snow and I buried my face further into my coat to avoid the heavy snow that was still coming down.
I heard the familiar ringtone that meant Chase was calling just as I reached in for the keys. He had added one of his guitar solos on as my ringtone for him and my heart skipped a beat every time I heard it.
“Hello,” I answer with a smile on my face.
“Hey baby, how was work?” Chases gruff voice comes through the speaker and I swear my heart melts on the spot just by the sound of it. “Oh ya know typical night, my feet are killing me.” I unlock the car and root around the back seat. “Hey do you have a snow brush somewhere in this mess?”
“Snowbrush, is it really snowing there?”