Christmas on 4th Street (Fool's Gold #12.5)

“You’re comparing me to the dog?” Gabriel asked, wondering where on earth this ridiculous conversation was going. Anger built up inside of him. His father wanted something—as he always did.

“In a way. I treated you and Gideon the same, but you’re not the same. Gideon’s like me. He’d rather fight or leave than talk. When he was a kid, he solved problems with his fists. The army was the right place for him and he excelled. But you, you’re different.”

“You mean wrong.”

His father shook his head. “Your mother told me that’s what you thought. I guess because I’ve been telling you that you were wrong for as long as I can remember. I figured if I kept after you enough, you’d change.”

Gabriel hung on to his anger, because when he was pissed, it was easy to disconnect. He didn’t have to care about his father. He’d learned that lesson long ago. But it had been in the face of a vocal man who’d gone out of his way to make it clear his son was a disappointment. Norman Boylan didn’t apologize.

“You save people,” his father continued. “You save lives every day. You’re respected and honorable. Hell, a soldier like me can be found on every street corner, but not many people can do what you do. I never appreciated that before. I guess I couldn’t get past my expectations so I couldn’t see how proud I am of you, Gabriel.”

The anger faded and with it, his defenses. “Dad,” he began, only to stumble into unfamiliar territory. If his father wasn’t yelling at him about his piss-poor choices, what else was there?

His father straightened. “I’m not saying we’re going to always get on. We’re too different. But I want you to know that I have always loved you and I always will. I tell everyone about my son, the doctor.” He smiled slightly. “Then my friends all ask who your mom was sleeping with that night, because there’s no way some smart, successful doctor is my kid.”

Norm cleared his throat. “I won’t keep you. I know you’re still busy. I just wanted to stop by and say I’ve been watching Gideon with Carter. I raised you boys how I was raised, and how your grandfather was raised. Gideon’s doing it differently and I’m thinking maybe his way has some merit.”

With that his father rose and headed out the door. Gabriel sat in the chair, too stunned to absorb what had just happened. He told himself it didn’t mean anything, it didn’t change anything, but he had a feeling he was wrong.

Chapter 14

Noelle sat in Dellina’s living room. They were surrounded by three bowls of personalized wrapped chocolates and a stack of little cloth bags. Each bag got two of each of the chocolates as a wedding favor. Not an especially daunting task until Noelle thought about how many people were probably coming to the wedding. It would be a large portion of the town. Which meant lots and lots of bag filling.

Dellina had pulled her long hair back into a ponytail that sat on the top of her head. She had on jeans and a bright green holiday sweater.

“Thanks for helping me with this,” she said. “I know you’re busy at the store. It’s less than a week before Christmas.”

“No problem. We’re still closing at six.”

Gabriel had promised to spend some quality time with the cats before heading out to have dinner with his parents. He hadn’t said much but she’d noticed in the past couple of days he’d seemed more relaxed about them. She wondered if his work at the avalanche had made a difference. Something had, which was good.

She picked up two chocolates from each of the bowls, then dropped them into one bag and pulled the drawstring closed. After tying a little bow, she put the finished favor into a large white box and reached for more chocolates.

“How are the wedding plans coming?” she asked.

“We’re mostly there.” Dellina nodded toward the stack of papers on her kitchen table. “I’m at the going-crazy stage. A wedding is a lot to pull together, but this is all that times three, and it’s a secret. Plus, Mrs. Robson is threatening to retire.”

Noelle frowned, trying to place the name. “She owns Plants for the Planet?”

“Right. Our other florist moved to Hawaii, so now we’re down to one. I have no idea how old she is. I want to say 106, but I know that can’t be right. Still, one day she’ll mean it and then what will happen? I love her work. It’s fresh and beautiful and reasonably priced.”

Dellina drew in a breath. “Sorry. I get tense when I think about it. The town needs another florist.”

“We should put an ad in a national paper.”

“Don’t think I haven’t talked to Mayor Marsha about it.”

“Is everything else going okay?” Noelle asked.

Dellina sighed. “Yes. The menu is finalized. Ana Raquel and Greg were torturing me with all kinds of food from the Fool’s Gold cookbook they were writing. I’ve gained five pounds in the past month. They’ve suggested everything from baked wild mushroom risotto to white-and-dark chocolate chunk cookie pie.”