Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 67398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
“Do you know the name of every kid at the school?” I asked Merry, mulling over the benefits of smaller places.
“Hmm. Good question.” Merry tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. “The ones in my classes, absolutely, and a good chunk of the others. Not on day one, but by the end of the year, I’ll know almost every face.”
“That’s kind of cool.” I continued to watch the sea of people on the sidewalks as we passed several other full parking garages. “I grew up with city anonymity. Some folks in my parents’ building have lived there forty years without knowing each other’s names or families. And as a substitute, I was never in one school long enough to memorize names.”
“Glad we could be a learning experience.” Merry’s voice was drier than sand, missing my point entirely.
“You’re not—”
“Ah. A spot!” He zipped into an open street parking spot, and the moment for my deeper reflection vanished in favor of figuring out the parking meters.
On our walk to the electronics store, we stopped for the bubble tea Merry had promised, braving a slow-moving line, but we still had fifteen minutes to spare. However, as we arrived at the store, a young female clerk with dark hair streaked with blonde tips dragged the sidewalk sign into the store while another clerk ran a vacuum inside the store.
“Oh no, they’re closing,” I moaned to Merry.
“Hey, wait, we’re here to pick up an item,” Merry called out to the closest clerk as she attempted to close the heavy glass doors. Merry, though, was faster and managed to get a foot in the door.
“Sorry.” The clerk had a bored rather than apologetic tone. “We already shut down the register.”
“And swept,” the other clerk came up beside the first, glaring at us. “It’s Christmas Eve.”
“I know. And I just need—”
“Sorry.” The clerk again tried to close the door.
“Do you know who this is?” Merry took on an entitled tone I’d never heard from him before. “This is the Nolan Bell, famous Broadway star and social-media influencer. Rich millennials love him. He’s practically New York royalty. Do you really want to risk a bad review from him?”
“Well…” At last, the clerk waffled, glancing at her fellow worker.
“The item should have already been set aside.” I seized the opening, talking fast. “And paid for.”
“It’s just a pickup.” Merry’s tone was encouraging but firm. “And we’d so appreciate it.”
“Okay, but we better get five stars for this.” The clerk finally let us into the store, and in short order, we had the bag with Athena’s microphone. I made sure to offer profuse thanks to the clerks.
“That was so brilliant.” I bounced a little as we exited the store, glowing at Merry. He’d defended me, swooping in for the rescue like some sort of white knight surfer dude. “I almost believed you about me being rich and famous.”
“Hey, you’re a star and a prince to me.” He shrugged like he hadn’t pulled off a Christmas miracle.
“And you’re sweeter than you look. And fiercer.” I bumped shoulders with him as we walked back to the car. “Never knew you had a speak-to-the-manager voice.”
He gave a snort. “I was with Alyssa enough years that I developed one by proxy.”
“Do you still love her?” I blurted out the question before I could think better of it.
“Love? No.” Merry narrowed his eyes at me, shaking his head a little like he was trying to figure out my angle. Which was understandable because I was as well. “I’m working on the bitter part, but I’m always going to have strong feelings that she didn’t want to parent. However, she gave me two amazing kids.”
“Truth. They are pretty awesome. But she certainly soured you on relationships.” I continued to press for reasons I didn’t fully understand.
“I wasn’t exactly all-in on relationships before her either. My parents have a great one, but it’s hard to find that sort of lightning in a bottle. But you make me—”
Merry cut himself off as he thrust an arm out to keep me from walking into traffic. Damn it, I’d been so wrapped up in talking that I’d missed the walk light changing.
“Whoa.” I took a deep breath to reset. “Thanks. And I make you… What?”
“Crazy. You make me crazy.” Merry harrumphed, with clearly no intention of resuming the previous topic. “You could have been hit.”
“I’m fine.” And I was, but I also wanted to be the thing that made him believe in relationships again. I wanted to hear that those chains around his heart were loosening, but he was already striding toward the car. I hurried to catch up. “And the present’s fine.”
“Let’s get you both home in one piece.” Merry unlocked the car. The present was indeed in one piece, but I wasn’t sure I could say the same for my heart.