Page 74 of The Christmas Dash

I ease myself out from under the Christmas tree, keeping one hand on the trunk so that it doesn’t sway out of position.

“I think that’s perfect.” My mom nods definitively from the couch. “Go ahead and tighten ’er up.”

“A Christmas miracle.” I bend and wedge myself back under the tree to tighten the bolts of the stand into the trunk.

“Don’t sass me, young man.” My mom’s voice is teasing. “You picked a good one,” she adds more seriously.

I ease my way out from under it—again—to see my mom scrutinizing the tree from where she’s sitting on the couch, legs out straight and bad ankle propped up.

“Beth picked it, actually.”

My mom starts, looking like she’s about ready to leap off the couch.

“Easy,” I instruct.

She settles back, but her eyes have taken on a hungry gleam. “I’m just surprised, that’s all. I’ll have to text her and tell her thanks.”

I don’t respond beyond a nod, even though all I’ve been doing since Beth dropped me off earlier today is thinking about Beth.

I’ve been daydreaming about all the places I want to take her to. All the things I want to do with her. I don’t know why she agreed to give me this chance—or how long her willingness to hear me out will last—but I’m going to take it and hang on for dear life.

I start bringing the bins of Mom’s ornaments up from downstairs.

“Where’d you get it?” my mom asks when I walk back into the living room.

“Huh? These were in the basement.”

“Not the ornaments.” My mom points to the side wall, where she wants the bin. “The tree.”

“Oh, we went out to Felipe’s. We’re going to send people to the farm as one leg of the Dash.” I turn to get another container, only to find my mom gaping at me. “What? Are you okay? Does something hurt? I can grab your meds.”

She blinks. “I’m fine. This is completely bearable.” She motions to her leg and then jabs her finger at me. “But you! You’re holding out on me. I can’t believe you brought Beth to Felipe’s.”

I shift my weight under my mom’s watchful eye. Since it was just the two of us growing up, she knows all my tells. Her eyes are narrowed before she arches her brows, using silence to get me to tell her what she wants to know. I’ve never been able to keep anything from her.

“It’s no big deal,” I say, even though my mind is currently making up a million and one song lyrics about just how amazing my time with Beth today was.

She snorts. “Gaber, you don’t bring anyone to Felipe’s. It’s like your sanctuary.”

She’s not wrong. Felipe’s farm has always been a safe space for me. I have no problem with other people enjoying the reindeer and the trails and the gorgeous views, too, which is why I suggested it as part of the Dash. But I’ve only ever gone out there by myself—to blow off steam. To get my head on straight. My mom knows this.

Introducing Beth to Felipe personally—taking her there with me—isn’t insignificant.

“It was mostly for the Dash,” I hedge.

My mom hums. “What aren’t you telling me, Gaber?”

“Nothing.” I look up and into my mom’s eyes, brown, just like mine. We stare at each other in silence for several moments, neither one of us blinking. Eventually, my mom cocks her head, and I sigh, sinking down onto the edge of the couch. I’m careful not to jostle her leg.

“Fine. Not nothing. It’s just—I don’t know what it is.”

“You and Beth?” My mom voices the question quietly, but I know her as well as she knows me, and I can tell by her inflection that she knows there’s something going on between the two of us. “How long?” she follows up.

I blow out a breath and scrub my hands over my face. “Just today. But we started developing feelings our senior year of college, and then I got picked up by Hidden Gems.”

My mom presses her mouth into a firm line with tips into a frown. “And what? She didn’t want you to do it?”

“Pretty much.” I don’t tell my mom that I told Beth I wouldn’t do it. I don’t want her to know that. She’d feel awful.