AllFreeNovel
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“Babe, we missed one.” She sat up, getting out from beneath the blanket. “There’s another box of ornaments.”
“There aren’t any ornaments in there.”
Katie watched Brendan carry the box over to the sofa. “What’s in there then?”
He carefully opened the flaps of the worn cardboard box and sifting through packing paper, he lifted out a frame wrapped in tissue and handed it to her. She flicked her eyes up to his and he nodded for her to open it.
Three faces smiled at her. One obviously Brendan. Younger. A teenager, and already devastatingly gorgeous with his dark-auburn hair and striking blue eyes. No ink yet, though. A man and a woman posed with him, leaning against his silver Corvette. The woman was beautiful with dark hair and the same blue eyes as Brendan. The man, a handsome ginger.
His parents.
Katie glanced over at him. His eyes were glassy and she looked away to the framed photo on her lap.
“That was taken on my sixteenth birthday. They got me the car.” He smiled at the memory of it. “My dad said if I made honor roll I could have any car I wanted.” He chuckled. “I never brought home anything but As on my report card, so that was a given. I almost flunked out of my first semester of college when they died. Would have, too, if it weren’t for Uncle Charley keeping my ass in line. But I packed away all the pictures, that way I didn’t have to be reminded they were gone.”
Katie squeezed his hand and gave the photo back to him. “And now?”
“I want to remember they were here.” Brendan got up, and dusting off the frame he stood it on the shelf. “Sometimes it feels like they still are.” He paused and turned around. “All of them. Uncle Charley. Aunt Peggy. Uncle Tommy.”
Katie glanced at the photo on the shelf. Their tree beside the fire. The man she loved with every fiber of her being. And she smiled. Miracle on 34th Street played in the background, a young Natalie Wood on the screen.
I believe, I believe, I believe.
It’s funny how everything looked so different now, brighter, yet was still the same.
Brendan glanced at the painted black walls with crisp white molding, the tree twinkling in the corner, the photos on the shelves. He and his cousins at the lake house the summer before last, a fangirling Chloe and Linnea posing with Taylor at Charley’s, his mom and dad. Thanks to Jesse, a new photo of he and Katelyn at the Christmas tree lot stood next to it.
Old and new. Past, present, and future together. Side by side, just as they should be. Exactly the way he wanted it.
The front door creaked open. Brendan felt the cold rush of December air come in with Dillon from outside. His cousin strolled into the room, coat hanging open, Hugo Boss beneath it.
Ready to fuck.
Course, he was.
Dillon plopped his ass down on the arm of the sofa. “Anything you need to fill me in on before I go?”
“Don’t think so.” Brendan smirked. “Just keep your dick out of the help. You already cost us one bartender.”
“Fuck off, man.”
“Kidding.” He clapped Dillon’s shoulder. “Thanks for covering tonight, man.”
“Sure.” He smirked. “I’d be hangin’ out there anyway. Go have fun with your girl.”
Katelyn was going to spend a few days with her parents for Christmas, so Brendan was taking her to the zoo to see the lights. They’d have a holiday celebration of their own. He was going to meet her family and bring her back home in time to ring in the new year.
Brendan grabbed his gear. “C’mon, I was just going to leave to pick her up. I can drop you off at the club on the way.”
Katelyn came bustling out of Beanie’s, bag in hand, wearing a wool knit cap and dressed in warm layers, just like he’d told her to. It was cold and there was a good chance they’d be getting more snow. He didn’t want her to get sick, besides he was looking forward to peeling off each and every layer when they got home later.
Yeah, he had plans.
He jumped out of the car and took her bag. Kissed her there at the curb and waved to Kelly who was watching them through the window, then he tucked her into the passenger seat and buckled her in.
“She likes to watch us, huh?”
Katelyn giggled. “Who?”
