“That sounds like a good idea. We can make a big assembly line and knock them both out.” My mom seemed pleased with the plan.
“I’ll help you too, darlin’.” Grey shoved a forkful of ham on his plate.
“Thanks.” My eyes locked on his. There it was again. That look I remembered from Marin’s wedding. The one that caught me off guard, but at the same time felt like home. In one short week, Grey had shown me that he was more a part of my life than ever before. We were building something together. I blinked back a tear that was fighting its way to the surface. Love was amazing. It could even make me cry.
After lunch, Grey left my dad with another angle to try for the bike, and he and I walked to the Turnwells. Most of the snow had melted to mush. We needed a nice arctic blast to roll through and snow us in for the night.
I knocked on the door.
“Eden. So good to see you. Merry Christmas.” Mr. Turnwell stood holding the door open.
“Merry Christmas to you too. Mr. Turnwell, this is my boyfriend, Grey.”
Grey extended his hand. “Nice to meet you, sir.”
“Likewise. Come on in, you two. Peg will be so glad to see you.”
We followed him through the foyer and into the great room. Peg was wrapped in a blanket on the couch near a roaring fire. She placed the book she was reading in her lap.
“Eden, so good to see you. I thought I heard your voice at the door.”
I crossed the room to give her a hug. “I’m sorry I haven’t been by sooner.” I sat in a chair next to her. “Miss Peg, this is my boyfriend, Grey.” He walked closer to us, smiled, and took the frail woman’s hand in his.
“I’ve heard a lot of great stories about you, ma’am. It’s nice to meet you.”
I thought I saw Miss Peg blush. I knew the feeling. Grey had that effect on women, especially if you made the mistake of looking directly into those piercing eyes.
“Sit, sit.” She motioned to him. “Tell me what’s going on in Texas. I haven’t talked to your mother in a while.”
Grey and I sat for an hour recounting our new life together in South Padre while Mr. Turnwell brought us cookies and drinks and Miss Peg asked a hundred questions. After the third time she yawned, I thought we should probably head home. I stood to leave.
“Before we go, we were wondering if we could help with your luminaries tonight.”
Mr. Turnwell looked at the floor. “Oh, I can do it, Eden. Don’t worry.”
“But we’d like to,” I urged. I didn’t want him to be embarrassed. They had a lot on their plate.
Grey stepped forward. “Sir, I asked Eden if I could help her this year, and it would be great if we had a few extra bags in the assembly line so I can really get indoctrinated into the neighborhood traditions.”
A smile spread across Mr. Turnwell’s face. “I see. I see. Well, sure. We’d be happy to have the help and break you into the neighborhood. I’ve got everything in the garage, just haven’t started putting them together.”
“Merry Christmas, Eden,” Miss Peg called. “Thanks for the visit.”
I leaned to kiss her soft cheek. “Merry Christmas.”
Grey and I walked back home, his arms loaded with bags of sand and mine with tealight candles and white paper bags.
After the last scoop of sand was poured into the bag and the candle placed inside, we placed the luminaries in my old red wagon and wheeled them down the driveway.
Grey started the row near the mailbox and eyeballed the measurements, making sure they were equal distance apart.
“Not bad for a newbie.” I laughed.
He was studying the alignment, his brow furrowed. “I need to move a few.” He squatted next to the curb and rearranged the bags.
“They’re fine. They’re more than fine. I think they are perfect.”
I could tell he wasn’t satisfied. I guess I was lucky he didn’t bring a tape measure from the garage and mark off the inches.
I turned toward the Turnwells. “Ok, now this side of the street.”
He wheeled the wagon over the asphalt and started a neat line of the paper bags. It looked like he was even more determined this time to make sure they were the right distance from each other.
When he finished, we stood back and surveyed the rows.
“Wait until we light them. You’re going to love it.” I looked up at him.
“Oh, I want to do that part.”
“I should have guessed. It’s the fire thing, right? Anything with fire?”
He chuckled. “You know me so well.”
Right then, I thought I knew everything about this man. His loves, his wants, his dreams. How he liked his coffee, his workout schedule, his favorite teams, which boot he pulled on first, how he liked me to kiss him, how he liked me under the sheets. Everything. I couldn’t imagine knowing another human being like I knew him.
I clasped his hand and we walked up the driveway.