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He plugged in the vacuum. “You don’t mind that I talked to him, do you?”
I let out a breath. “I guess not.”
“I’ll vacuum. Why don’t you see if you like any of the decorations in there.” He nodded toward the box.
I opened the lid, pulling out lights, then ornaments. I set each one on the bed.
When the vacuum turned off, Aiden moved to stand next to me. “These are old ornaments. The ones my grandma put on her tree.”
“Are you sure you want me to use them? Shouldn’t they be in your apartment?”
“I don’t put up a tree.”
I raised a brow. “Yet you thought I needed one?”
“You can help me put one in my apartment too if it bothers you,” Aiden said lightly.
I bumped shoulders with him. “I think that’s a great idea. If I have to have holiday cheer, then so do you.”
Aiden moved, and I thought for one brief second that he was going to kiss me, but he merely snagged the lights. “These need to go on first.”
How was I going to be around Aiden when every time he came near, I thought he was going to kiss me? I needed to stuff those feelings down deep, because Aiden didn’t feel the same way about me. He’d been abundantly clear about that when we were nineteen.
CHAPTER 5
AIDEN
When I went for my run this morning on the Monroe property, I had the nudge to give Daphne a tree. She was so down last night. I wanted to do something for her, to lift her mood, to remind her why the holidays can be magical.
I can’t say I’d felt that way in a long time. Not when I was living with my parents or later when I was enlisted in the military. But I saw how the guests reacted to the inn’s ambiance. It made people feel better, and I wanted to lift Fiona’s spirits.
Fiona was so hard on herself, feeling responsible for how her siblings felt after their mother’s death. But she was just a teenager herself.
Now I was alone with her in her room, and there was nowhere else I wanted to be. It was a nice respite from the day-to-day of the inn.
“Do you need to be at the front desk? If so, I can handle this.”
I grinned. “Marley’s down there for now, and I wouldn’t give you a tree and leave you to decorate it yourself.”
“Always a man of responsibility,” Fiona said, and I wasn’t sure if it was meant as a compliment.
“I suppose that’s true.” I had a strong sense of right and wrong. My parents were impossible to please. But the military was cut and dry. I knew exactly what was expected. While others struggled in that environment, I thrived. For the first time, I belonged. I learned skills and contributed to something bigger than myself.
The downside was that I wasn’t around for Marley and Gram. And I’d let Fiona go, but I was here now. I had a lot to make up for. I wanted to ease the guilt, but I also wanted Fiona to be happy.
I arranged the lights on the tree, then plugged them in. “How does it look?”
Fiona adjusted one row of lights, then stepped back. “That’s better.”
This entire scene was domestic. If I’d said yes to Fiona’s proposal, would we have stayed together? Would we be decorating our own house for the holidays? Would we have kids? Or would Fiona have regretted her decision? I cleared my throat. “Are we ready for ornaments?”
Fiona smiled softly. “I think so.”
We worked together for several minutes. I hung the ornaments on the higher branches, and she covered the lower ones.
“We should play some holiday music to get us in the mood.” Fiona grabbed her phone from the nightstand and hit Play. “Is this okay?”
“It’s more than okay.” I hadn’t anticipated that decorating a tree together would spark so many hopes and desires. So many what-ifs. There was no way to know what the future might have been. We made our decisions—right or wrong—and we had to live with them.
