Christmas Carl: An MM small town Christmas romance (Merry Exmas Book 1) by Alex Silver

Author:Alex Silver [Silver, Alex]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2023-11-16T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Carl—December 22nd

I pick Nick up from the market with our carefully packaged cookies already loaded into the back seat. With only a few days remaining before it closes, the market is a bustling hive of activity, even as most of the vendors are closing up for the night.

As we leave, folks have already started to line up along the parade route, staking out the best spots, and Main Street is blocked to traffic. We have to take a circuitous route along residential streets to avoid the parade’s path.

We park a few blocks away and have to dash across Main to get to Tina’s place at the end of a cul-de-sac. If both our hands weren’t full carrying our dozens of cookies, I’d twine my fingers with Nick’s. We make our break for it to cross the snowy pavement, laughing and smiling in the crisp cold of the evening. Volunteers with the parade wave us urgently off the road. We have to weave through a wall of folding chairs and dodge parents pulling little kids in sleds on the sidewalk.

We take the turn into Tina’s quiet tree-lined neighborhood, where all the houses are lit and each garish outdoor display vies to outdo its neighbors. Nick must have been the one to drag the two lit-up mesh reindeer onto his mother’s front lawn. They’re understated compared to the dozens of inflatable decorations her neighbors have running. A giant Frosty the snowman waves next to a snow globe with cartoon characters in holiday garb inside.

The neighborhood sports several Santas in various postures, including cartoon characters dressed as him or his elves. One house boasts blinking blue and white lights and a glowing menorah next to a giant inflatable polar bear holding a dreidel. Across the street, a family of inflatable gnomes stands next to a house with a snowman wearing a red, black, and green scarf. Whoever lives there covered the windows behind the snowman in Kwanzaa themed window clings.

Everywhere I look, there are decorations and signs of holiday cheer. It’s a chaotic celebration of the season that has me grinning from ear to ear next to Nick as we take in all the bright lights.

When we reach Tina’s door, the party is already in full swing. Beatrice, one of Tina’s closest friends who sometimes volunteers at Days of Grace, greets us at the door. She welcomes us in with kisses on the cheeks and exclamations about how good our cookies look. We follow Beatrice through the living room, where Tina sits ensconced in her favorite armchair, chatting with several of her guests.

“Carl, Nick! You’re the last ones to arrive, so we can get started!” Tina exclaims. She levers herself up with her walker and pulls me into a hug made awkward by my armful of cookies.

She hugs her son next, then shoos us all into the kitchen, not letting her surgery slow her down in the least. Even if she does have to lean heavily on the walker as she shepherds us all along to the main event of the evening.

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