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I hop over the gap and rush up behind them, pulling Tillie to me. “Same old tricks.”
Mendo tugs on his ball cap. “Can’t blame a guy for trying!”
We wander to the back of the boat, where everyone’s waiting for the parade to start. Morrie’s there, and Chuck, and all of Mendo’s family.
His mother, Kia, passes me a bowl of jerk chicken over rice. “Happy Christmas season, my love.” She kisses both of my cheeks, then turns to Tillie. “Happy Christmas.”
Food is also foisted upon Tillie. I set the bag on the floor, and we slide onto a bench.
“You missed the tree lighting,” says twelve-year-old Violetta, shaking her braids at me. She’s gone full Christmas in a red and green sundress.
“We saw it,” Tillie says. “We were almost here.”
Anya scoots Violetta over to sit next to us.
“I love your suit!” Tillie says.
“Isn’t it great?” She shakes the red top so that the jingle bells ring.
I’m relieved Anya and Tillie have hit it off so well. When Tillie first moved here, she stayed with me, but we quickly decided we should have some space while we were still in the early stages of dating.
She and Anya got an apartment together, and they’ve become fast friends. Tillie’s still trying to get her to see Morrie in a different light, but no luck so far.
“It’s the first boat,” Violetta cries. She stands up to point. “Look! Look!”
A small yacht completely covered in white lights arrives in the canal. After a few moments, all the lights turn red.
“Whoa!” Violetta says, and runs to the other side of the boat to her mother. “Did you see that?”
Mendo takes the opportunity to steal her spot. “Maybe I should ditch you all and decorate my boat next year.”
“Yes!” Violetta cries. “I can be the Christmas Queen!”
His mother fixes a strap on Violetta’s dress. “It takes a lot of power to light a boat. You’ll need a bigger generator.”
Mendo nods, his face shifting from red to green as the lights on the first boat change again. “Yeah. Gotta sell more tours first.”
I wrap an arm around Tillie’s waist. “It’s nice, right?”
“I love it,” she says. “It’s like the Disney electric light parade but on the water.”
“I’ve never been to Disney.”
She leans into me. “Me neither. But I’ve seen videos!”
“Do you want to go to Disney?”
“I can save it for when I have kids.”
I draw her close. “Kids, huh?”
“Don’t get any crazy ideas.” She elbows me in the ribs.
I lean in close to her ear. “You give me all the crazy ideas.”
Mendo smacks us both on the tops of our heads. “Don’t get any ideas on my boat. I know you two.”
“What does that mean?” Violetta asks. She’s sneaked up behind him.
