Текст книги "Katherine in Gold"

Автор книги: J. B. Hartnett

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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 15 страниц)

Katherine

I still hadn’t seen or heard from Holst, and though the hot surfers that had come and gone into the ocean were nice to look at, I needed only one in particular.

I didn’t want to go back to the apartment. Holst was there, in every way a person could be…except physically. Finally, my phone rang in my pocket.

Unfortunately, not the call I was hoping for.

“Mom,” I answered.

“Please don’t hang up on me,” she said quickly.

She couldn’t see it, but I shook my head, “No, I won’t hang up.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m sitting on a bench, looking over the train tracks in North San Clemente. Low tide. It’s gonna rain, I think.”

“Katherine…I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s done, Mom. I think…I don’t know…under the circumstances, you did the best you could?” She didn’t speak, so I did. “Has Dad been smacking you around all these years?”

“Let’s not talk about that.”

“Mom…”

“Only when I do something he thinks is stupid.”

“And do you do a lot of stupid things?”

There was a long pause before she said, “Yes, honey. Apparently I say a lot of stupid things. But…he won’t hear me say stupid things anymore.”

“You’re leaving him?”

“I left him. Eventually, honey, you and I need to sit down so we can discuss all of this, but I have to know…are you somewhere with Max?”

“Are you high? Of course not! I got the closure I needed.”

“I kept trying to get in touch with you…emails and messages.”

“I know,” I choked out, tears threatening again. “But Mom? You should’ve tried harder, and I don’t mean to warn me you were all coming here for Max’s engagement whatever.”

“Katherine—”

“Mom,” I choked out. “I’m gonna talk to someone…a professional…but I know now, I was young, Mom and he…he was…” I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. It sounded…wrong somehow. I wasn’t a child. So to put the word “molester” after it…

“I’m sorry—”

“Hang on…let me finish. This isn’t just about Max, Mom. Dad…he doesn’t like me. I always felt it, but what he’s done all these years…it’s way worse than what happened with Max.”

She’d started to cry. “I’m so sorry I didn’t stop it when I should have, honey. Where exactly are you? I rented a car. I’ll come and get you.”

“No,” I argued. “No, I need to think about what happened today and—”

“Katherine,” a stern voice barked not far from me, footsteps pounding on the pavement grew close.

“Mom, gotta go.” I disconnected immediately and stood up to see Holst only a few feet away.

When he reached me, I couldn’t read him. Then he whispered his next words, each one with a desperate emphasis, “Don’t you ever fucking walk away from me again. I’m sorry I can’t bend on this.”

“What?” I asked.

“I shouldn’t have let you walk out the door with him.”

“I asked you to!” I returned, a little attitude, hand on my hip.

“I know you don’t need a man to boss you around, and I know you don’t want it, either. And I’m standing here, looking at the woman I love, basically scolding her because I fucked up!”

I squinted my eyes in confusion. “What?”

“I told you I’d always be by your side in battle, Katherine. I let you go in alone because I…” He ran his hand through damp hair and exclaimed, “Fuck it!”

One hand grabbed the back of my neck through the thick jacket. His other arm went around my waist as he knocked me off my feet, over his knee, and slammed his mouth against mine.

I held onto him as hard as I could, gripping the skin of his back through his clothing.

He broke the kiss, but kept his lips against my face.

“Don’t let me go,” I begged.

“Never, baby.”

“I’m sorry…earlier…” I breathed through my tears. “God, I’m sorry. I know how it must’ve looked to you, but it wasn’t like that.”

“Katherine,” he said, pulling back just enough to look into my eyes. His voice thick as he said against my lips, “My Katherine.”

“Your Katherine,” I confirmed. “Always. There was never one, single moment today when I wasn’t your Katherine. Even when I couldn’t find you.”

The rain started to fall. It was overcast; it was the end of December, and somehow, there, in the moment with him, we could’ve been pelted with hail and probably not even noticed.

But Holst, being the practical man he was, righted me to my feet and said, “We should go to Victoria and Cameron’s holiday party.”

“Do you want to know what happened today?”

He brushed his thumb across my lips, the sensation causing me to close my eyes at the tenderness, the beauty of his touch. “Did he taste you here?” he asked.

“No.” I shook my head and tried to hide my disgust. “Everything that is me belongs to you, Holst.”

“Katherine…”

“Are you listening? Because I think, today, it’s my turn to remind you about the fine print.”

I opened his shirt and yanked it to the side as the cotton tore with my force. I ran my fingers through the dark tendrils of hair and stopped above his heart. I pressed my lips there, soft, gentle in a single kiss, then replaced it with my hand and pushed the emerald cut diamond with its claw setting into his skin as hard as I could.

I looked at the perfect indentation of the engagement ring and said, “The next tattoo you get should be this, the mark this ring has left. Then, when you’re in doubt, you can look at your chest and remember this moment, this day, when I tried to break through your skin to get inside your heart so you would never forget.” I hiccupped. “Never, ever forget, Holst.”

He placed his hand over my own and pushed harder, his dark eyes searing me with a heated intensity I’d never seen before. “No, baby,” he said, his voice gruff, but strong. “I won’t forget.”

“I want to go home, Holst.”

“Then let’s go home, Katherine.”

While the heavens above seemed to open with a deluge of welcomed rain, I observed people running to get out of the sudden flash flood. But not us. We were there together, side by side, in the moment. Things might happen around us, or even to us, but together we could weather anything, and a little rain was nothing more than that—weather.

***

After we went home and took a hot shower—together—we drove to Tori and Cam’s. Tori pulled me upstairs into “the nursery,” and there, I gave her every single detail of what had happened.

“I love a happy ending,” she said, grinning from ear to ear.

But I wasn’t really thinking about myself. I looked around the room and saw it was all ready for their little girl, Lana.

“I can’t wait to meet her, Tor. I can’t wait to sit in this room, decorated like sunshine, and rock-a-bye your little bean.”

“Kath.” Her warm smile and bright eyes said all she needed to say. No words, just the love that two best friends embarking on the next stage of their lives would share together. Tori’s mom had stepped up to the parental plate only recently, and I supposed mine would, too, in time. But for so long, it was just the two of us girls, trying to figure out how to become women, wives, mothers, and friends…the roles often guided by your own mother. But we’d come through.

“You know,” I told her, feeling the heat hit the back of my eyes. “Fucking tears. Dude, I don’t think I have ever cried this much in my entire life. Anyway…” I chuckled. “I was sitting on that bench, waiting for Holst and thinking about how much time I wasted on the idea Max would come back to me. But…even if there hadn’t been Holst, I hope I would’ve been strong enough to see Max for what he is.”

She took my hand, gripped in hers, and asked, “And what is he?”

“When I was talking to my mom earlier…I wanted to think what I had with him was different, but that’s what a child molester wants you to think. It wasn’t like I was a little girl, I was older…so at first, I didn’t think I fell into that…category. Like I should’ve known better since I was older. But Max was a thief. I was…” I looked down at the ring, then out the window of the nursery. “I was like a property he didn’t want anyone else to get their hands on. As beautiful as he made my first time, and every time we were together after that, when he left, he took the pieces of me that would allow anyone else to get in. He took the handles to all the doors, locked all the windows, and after that, I didn’t let anyone in, because I couldn’t get the ghost of him out.”

“I like that analogy, honey.” She hesitated, but only for a moment. “But it’s only been a day.”

“No. It’s been thirteen years,” I told her, sitting straighter as my face morphed into a smile. “But…I had to heal, and I needed closure or whatever, and today, I got it. I would’ve married Holst without that, Tor. I’m in love with him. And like I said before, it’s bigger than the obsessive crush-love of an inexperienced girl. I’m a woman, in love with a man who let me have his heart. I need to take care of that.” I smiled. “But first,” I said. “I couldn’t help but notice Frodo isn’t at your holiday shin-dig. Was he invited?”

“Yeah,” she answered. “But…with Dee…he’s keeping his distance, I think.”

“Damn.” I so hated that. I hated that I couldn’t share that he’d hit her with our friend, and I equally hated that he wasn’t ready to fight for her yet. It was too raw, too fresh…but I suspected he would be.

Eventually.

“Yeah.”

“I’m gonna go down to the tattoo shop and check on him. You good?”

“Yeah…” She looked around the room. “I’m absolutely good.”

We walked arm in arm back downstairs, and I nodded to Holst. He and Cam were talking in front of the Christmas tree.

“Hey,” I interrupted.

“Excuse us a sec,” he said to Cam. He pulled me to the foyer and asked, “Everything okay?”

“Yeah. But…I kinda want to check on Frodo. You okay with that?”

“Yeah, baby. I’m definitely okay with that. See you soon,” he said as he kissed my cheek.

“Love you, H.”

“H.” He grinned.

“You like it,” I confirmed and moved to the front door.

“Yeah, baby. I like it.”

***

All the lights were off in Coastal Ink. I’d heard that Teensy went into early labor, and Zack left that afternoon. This meant Frodo was alone on Christmas Eve. I heard music through the door, so I knocked. I waited for a minute, but no one answered, so I knocked again, and that was when he peeked through the blinds on the door then unlocked it.

I walked inside and was hit with the smell of a distillery.

“Frodo…” I said quietly, looking around the room, and on the floor were at least a dozen empty bottles.

“I emptied them into the sink, not my person.” He grinned and locked the door behind me once I was inside. “All is well?” he asked.

“Why did you pull me away today?”

“Because you hold the power in your relationship, Katherine.”

“And…? I need a little more explanation than that. You pretty much manhandled me.”

“I like Holst. He and I had an enlightening conversation after my incident and subsequent destruction of my relationship with the fair dove, Dee.”

“Speak fucking English, dude,” I asked, my impatience at his riddle-speak growing by the millisecond.

“Have you ever heard the phrase ‘she could drive a man to drink’?”

“Yep.”

“Katherine…the idea for an AA meeting at your coffee shop was not mine. Inspired by my actions, yes. But the idea had been stewing in your partner’s mind for some time. And I asked today what your intentions were because Holst and I have a great deal in common. He left his old life behind and endeavoured to create a new one: new job, new friends, new life. He’s my friend, and if I can save him the pain I’ve caused others and myself…that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

I flopped down on the green couch in the little waiting area of the tattoo shop and looked around. “You know, I’ve never asked Holst what those tattoos on the backs of his legs mean.”

“Would you like me to tell you?” he asked.

“Nope. You know why?” I turned my attention to him as he leaned against the far wall from me.

“Please,” he prompted.

“Because I have plenty of time to find out. We’ll have a long engagement, not because it’s the smart thing to do, because, I think you know by now, I’m a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kinda girl. No, the long engagement is for everyone else, because I’m gonna have a big fuckin’ wedding.” I grinned. “I want to get married in the Congregational Church over on St. Ann’s, and I want a golden wedding, with pale pink roses and creamy, froofy pom-poms hanging everywhere, and candles…I want to see a glow of candlelight, and that shit needs to be organized and done right. If I’m going the way of the girl, I’m going all girl.”

“Sounds expensive.” He smiled.

“Somehow, I’m making my dad pay for it,” I replied. “And however long it takes us to plan it, I’ll eventually ask what those tattoos mean and what his favorite color is and all that inconsequential crap. Because the important things are already covered.”

“Like what?” he asked.

“Well, he thinks Valentine’s Day is a bullshit holiday, so do I. He watched the movie Ghostbusters with me and enjoyed it, big plus for me. And Frodo? He’s a good man, with a good heart that said he’d go into battle with me. And he meant every word.”

He stood there for a moment then walked to me and offered his hands to lift me from the couch. “Katherine…” he said and kissed me on the lips. It wasn’t romantic, it was familiar. “Merry Christmas."

I walked to the door and, with my back to him, asked, “You really don’t remember hitting her?”

“No, Katherine. I really don’t.”

“I think you should know; I’ve seen your movies, Frodo.”

“You’ve seen Freddie’s movies,” he corrected.

“How come you quit?” I asked.

“Several reasons. I was lonely is probably the biggest. Next to that, and I think you’ll understand me when I say, sometimes it’s easier to fuck away the pain.”

“Yeah. I did that for a good, long while.”

I waited to see if he would share anything else. Then he finally said, “It would be good for Deirdre…lead her to another man, one who is good and kind, no surprises, no darkness in his soul…a good man.”

“When the time is right, I’ll lead her back to you, Freddie.”

Holst

Katherine was sound asleep, her naked shoulder and blond hair all I could see as I left the darkened bedroom and went into the kitchen. Katherine was a hell of a cook, but she loved to bake, and though she walked most places, no matter if the weather was poor, it was still a miracle to me she kept her figure.

I’d called my mother and asked if she and Al wouldn’t mind coming to us. Considering the drama filled Christmas Eve we’d had, I wanted Katherine to be comfortable, in our home…together.

While Katherine was down speaking to Frodo, I called my mother. I gave her the rundown of the day’s events, to which she replied with complete understanding, but also a warning: I needed to be honest with my future wife about how Chelle and I parted. The very real fear that I would become like my father was always somewhere, buried below the surface, and Chelle was like a shovel, determined to expose that man.

She was terrible for me.

Katherine was not.

Time and again, I’d had the opportunity, but there was never a right time, because there never would be. I hated to lie to her, and that omission of truth was never far from my thoughts. I didn’t want to believe the omission of truth was a lie, not if it didn’t hurt or affect anyone else. But if so, it bothered me. I couldn’t live with it. And now, as Katherine’s ghost was finally eliminated, it was time for me to come clean. And for that, as much as I may have sounded like an absolute pussy, I wanted the only family I had left to be there with me when I did.

Three in the morning, I went into Tori’s old room and began to wrap presents. I’d planned to do it the previous day, but other events had changed those plans. I’d ordered items from Sur Le Table and William Sonoma, not to mention my mother would be indulging Katherine in all kinds of culinary delights, including dried figs, dates, cherries, and pecans. I was absolutely sure she would love everything.

I also hoped they’d go into some kind of dessert.

But it was the very last items I wrapped that were the most important, more precious than any wedding ring, but something I would only give the woman who had my heart forever, and I believed Katherine to be that woman.

But only after I shared all there was to know about me.

Katherine

There was a single kiss on the back of my neck and long fingers trailing over my naked back. “Merry Christmas, Katherine.” Holst whispered the words, and they were the single best holiday greeting I’d ever heard.

“You know,” I said into my pillow, “I knew I should’ve bought those mistletoe panties I saw on the Internet. Seriously, they were perfect.”

“Really?” he asked, his lips moving to my shoulder.

“Yeah. There’d be less talking and more eating of my pussy.” I grinned.

“Katherine?” he asked as his head moved slowly down my spine.

“Yes?” I replied, praying that my Christmas would start very merry indeed.

“We aren’t going to Temecula today.”

“Why not?” I asked, now concerned.

“Because Temecula is coming to us.”

I stayed completely still, and Holst was frozen, right at the small of my back until…

“Jesus!” I screeched and jumped out of bed.

“They say he’s the reason for the season, actually.”

“You! Silence!” I pointed and looked for something to wear. I went with sweats and a long-sleeve tee, fuck the bra and panties. I didn’t have time for the bra and panties.

“Katherine.” He chuckled, observing my freak-out from the comfort of our bed.

“What the fuck am I gonna wear?”

“What were you planning on wearing today?”  He flipped to his back and pulled the sheet up to his chest.

“Well, I was planning on wearing these black suede boots and this kind of long sweater thing with these red…Is your dick hard?”

“No,” he innocently denied the obvious erection with a smirk.

“Yes it is,” I accused.

“Nope.” He smiled. “It’s not.”

“Then what do you call that exactly?”

“A branch of mistletoe?”

“Unbelievable,” I murmured and stopped to take in everything that was happening at that moment. “Okay. So, when are they gonna be here?”

“Noon…ish,” he said.

I covered my face. “I’m meeting the parents, and it’s on my turf. That’s a good thing, right?”

“Katherine?”

“Yeah.” I exhaled in defeat and dropped my arms to my sides. Really, I was freaking out for no reason at all.

“Get back in bed.”

“Why? I have shit to do now.”

“You know why.” He grinned.

I looked at the outline of his nude body, then his relaxed, smiling face. “Okay.” I grinned and got back into bed.

When I was settled and just enjoying the fact we were in bed together after six in the morning, the mood shifted, and not in the sexual way I was hoping for.

“I really don’t want you to have any more surprises today. But I need to tell you something, and it’s important. I don’t think it can wait.”

“Holst?” He kissed my cheek with his eyes closed then opened them, staring right into mine as I told him. “I think it can.”

“Katherine…”

“Really,” I implored. “Do you honestly think it’s something that can’t wait a day?”

Holst’s phone buzzed with a text on the nightstand.

“Here…” I reached over and handed it to him.

He read the message and smiled at me. “You know I love you, right?”

“The way you’re starting off…not sure I’m gonna when you’re done.”

“They’re twenty minutes away.” He smiled, and I swear, I could’ve just punched that fucking beautiful smile right off his perfect face.

I once again jumped out of bed and went on turbo-autopilot-mode, finding a simple outfit of nice turquoise sweater that complimented my tan and blond hair, dark denim jeans and my black boots. Into the bathroom, I found my hair wasn’t too far gone from the styling of yesterday…surprising since yesterday was so fucked up. I salvaged it, threw on make-up, and gold earrings that matched the engagement ring nicely.

I came back into the bedroom, and there was Holst, dressed, bed made, with one little present laying on top.

“We’re almost out of time, and this is important.”

“Holst…” I approached the bed and picked up the little box.

“You’ve never asked what my tattoos mean,” he said.

He had on jeans, casual, but neat, with a navy blue sweater and dark brown leather shoes. His hair was still mussed from sleep, but it looked like he meant it to be that way. Those caramel eyes looked down at me, soulful, but tired.

“I always mean to…and…” Frodo mentioned this to me just the night before. I stood there thinking for a moment and concluded, “You never have more than one drink…”

“Yeah.”

“You made sure I wasn’t an alcoholic.”

“Yeah,” he confirmed.

“Because you are one, or you don’t want to become one like your dad?” I asked.

Then the doorbell rang.

“They’ll wait, Katherine.”

He looked almost scared standing there, revealing whatever it was he wanted to tell me.

“Hey,” I said, putting my hands on his face. “I told you. Remember that day when you covered me with a blanket and I agreed to open Bear Claw with you? I told you, once I give my word, that’s it for me. I’m loyal, no matter what. I’m wearing your ring without knowing all your secrets. You know why that is?” I didn’t give him a chance to reply. “Because I kept a secret for years. Never knowing why until yesterday: I was ashamed, H. Whether I should’ve been or not, I was. Whatever this secret is…Frodo knows. Doesn’t he?”

“Yes,” he confirmed.

“And he has a deep respect for you; I can see that. So this can wait.”

“Katherine…”

“My future mother-in-law is at my front door, Holst. I don’t think I’m making a very good first impression, do you?”

His face set in a smirk. “Are you gonna say ‘fuck’ a lot today?”

“I can dial the ‘fucks’ down a notch in mixed company, H.” I giggled, and put the little box back on the bed.

Then I squeezed his hand, let go, and walked into the hall. I kept a smile on my face, because, really, I had no choice, and also, I was really looking forward to meeting his mom.

But when I opened the door, it wasn’t just Becky and Al, my mom was there, too.

I started laughing. The kind of laugh that people look at you and stare because it’s awkward and they don’t know why you’re laughing.

But I opened the door wide and said, “This is gonna be interesting. Dad isn’t gonna show up and ruin my day…again?” I asked to the glances of Al and Becky to me, to her, and then to Holst, who appeared next to me.

“No.” She smiled. “He will not be joining us today. I was still in town, and I didn’t know what your plans were today…so I took a chance,” she said. “Oh, and I brought food,” She held up two bags from the hotel where she was staying. “Holiday meals, the works…I didn’t know…I wasn’t sure…um…I just got a little bit of everything.”

Mom and I had a stare-off…hers pleading for my forgiveness and mine letting her know she was welcome, but not off the hook quite yet.

“Well,” Al said to Holst with a huge, hungry grin. “I’m eating like a king today! Let me in.”

We quickly settled into our new familial roles. Everyone found their place and claimed it.

Al took the end of the couch and quickly figured out the remote. “Grab me a beer if they have ‘em, honey,” he called to Becky.

“Sure thing, Al,” she said with a smile, then mumbled to us girls, “He’s really saying ‘I love you; you’re my entire world.’ It just comes out as honey, get me a beer.”

We women all pitched in and laughed about the men doing men things as my kitchen table was filled with food for a buffet service. Holst had the task of “be a good son and get everything out of the trunk for me” and was on his last haul of booty which I was really, really looking forward to checking out. Our house was full, the little tree Holst and I put up finally looked like a real Christmas tree with the multitude of gifts beneath, and the place smelled fantastic. But the thing that really got to me was the laughter.

Standing with my head in the pantry, not looking for anything other than a quiet moment to get a hold of myself, Holst came up behind me.

“Talk to me, baby,” he said quietly.

“This is our family, H.”

His arms around me grew tighter.

“It’s awesome.”

“Are you happy, Katherine?”

I turned in his arms and said in an effort to divert attention from our sudden heavy convo in the kitchen, “I have a jar of pear chutney that might be nice with ham. I’ve been meaning to make something just to use it.” I chuckled, then whispered, “Marriage and babies. A husband I love, who loves me back. A business I never had the balls to do on my own. You did this, H.”

“No, baby. You did this. We still need to talk,” he reminded.

“And we will. But right now, let’s be in this moment, okay?”

He nodded, but didn’t seem real happy I was putting off this conversation he wanted to have.

“I need to make a few phone calls,” I told him. “Seeing as how I didn’t leave town after all. And Leo. I forgot about Leo watching the shop tomorrow.”

“It’s all taken care of, Katherine.”

When we closed the pantry door, Becky and my mom were standing there, staring at us with their hands together.

“Well,” I said. “I see the two of you are gonna get along just fine.” It was so weird, considering I really didn’t have a relationship with my mother to speak of until yesterday.

“Katherine,” my mom said. “If we could get a couple of minutes together…”

I’m sure my mother wanted to have a conversation with me, too. Probably not with an audience, but I figured, what the hell.

“Becky,” I said to her new, kitchen soul-sister. “Up until yesterday, Mom and I didn’t really talk much. So, this is all new territory. I’m just gonna air our dirty laundry and say yesterday sucked. My dad is a giant asshole, and by that, I mean gaping—”

“Katherine.” My mother chuckled uncomfortably and shook her head.

Becky was trying not to laugh. “Holst said you don’t beat around the bush.”

“I only promised I’d try to control my use of the F-bomb.” I grinned.

After that little icebreaker, our day was so fantastic, we were up to the pie, coffee, and present portion of the afternoon, and I’d nearly forgotten to call Tori, Dee, and Ruby to wish them a Merry Christmas.

I excused myself into the bedroom and called Tori first. She’d invited Ruby and her dad to spend the holiday at their place, so I’d be able to kill two birds with one stone.

“Hey,” I greeted.

“Hey, yourself. Everything still good?” I could hear the smile in her voice.

“Dude, you know it is, you whore.”

“Whore with child.” She laughed. “And, um, by the way, thanks for buying out Baby Gap for me.”

I had. Baby Lana was going to be Baby Gap from her cute little head to her teeny, tiny toes.

“That’s what aunties are for.”

“Hey,” she whispered into the phone. “Cam’s brother, you know, the-almost-as-hot-as-my-husband, brother?”

“Yeah.” I laughed. “I know Drew.” She was right though; the guy was hot.

“He has not taken his eyes off Ruby. Seriously, has not stopped looking at her. He brings her a drink, or smiles at her, and she smiles back. It’s so cute. She’s all…shy. So weird.”

“Why is that weird? She’s always quiet.”

“I don’t know. I guess you and me are different.”

“Yeah, I would’ve fucked him by now.”

“At someone else’s house on Christmas with your dad and his dad there?”

I let my silence speak for itself.

“That was a stupid question. I would, too.” She giggled.

“I won’t bug her then. Where’s Dee?”

“Oh,” she said sadly. “She went home when Frodo showed up. Well, by show-up, I mean, Cam saw him walking by and invited him up. And he, uh, wasn’t alone.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, he brought a woman with him. One that’s not Dee.”

I sighed, because what else could you say about that? “I guess it had to happen sooner or later. But, you know…”

“What…what do I know?”

“Frodo…he’s…I bet you anything he’s doing it for her. He’s in love with her, Tor. But I think he knows she can’t be with him for whatever reasons, and that’s why. He’s probably making it hurt so she’ll be forced to let go.”

“I hate a sad ending,” she told me.

“Me, too,” I agreed.

“Dee’s at home?”

“Yeah. Cam went up to check on her.”

As I was listening, Becky came into the bedroom and shut the door behind her.

“Okay, well, I love you. Merry, merry, Tor.”

“Merry, merry, honey.”