Season's Meetings by Amy Dunne

Author:Amy Dunne [Dunne, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Gay, Contemporary, General, Romance, Fiction, Lesbian
ISBN: 9781626392274
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2014-12-15T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Catherine lounged on the sofa with her feet resting on the footstool. The heat from the crackling fire warmed her toes, and she took great pleasure in wriggling them. Her stomach was full from the sandwich and brownie she’d eaten. Kimmy sprawled across her lap despite there being plenty of space free on the actual sofa. The weight and warmth of her little body reassured. Her ears and paws twitched while she slept, and little whimpers kept escaping.

She could hear sounds of Holly humming, unravelling tape, and scissors cutting through paper, from the kitchen. Catherine was under strict instructions not to enter the kitchen on threats of pain, death, and the prospect of ruining the surprises of all of her Christmas presents.

It was immature and unlike her, but she was curious and excited. What could Holly have gotten her? How many gifts? Had she struggled in thinking of things to buy too? She doubted it. Anyway, she’d no intention of venturing into the kitchen until invited. She was comfortable and so was Kimmy. As the saying went, it was best to let sleeping dogs and pigged-out humans lie.

Catherine had wrapped all of Holly’s presents, written out the cards, and safely stowed the cake and decorations inside her suitcase. She’d written their names on the stockings in permanent marker and hung them on the fireplace mantel. Holly’s and Kimmy’s names had both fit perfectly across the white sleeve, but she’d had to shorten her name to Cath. It didn’t bother her.

From where she sat, she had a perfect view of them. They made the fireplace look festive, and when Holly returned from her own shopping expedition, she seemed genuinely touched by the gesture.

“Close your eyes!” Holly said from the kitchen.

“They’re closed.” Catherine tightly shut her eyes. She heard the pitter-patter of Holly’s feet scurrying across the floor, and a moment later, the bedroom door closed. Catherine couldn’t help but smile. They were acting like children and she blamed Holly. Her Christmas cheer and excitement were contagious.

A few minutes later, the bedroom door opened. “So, what do you want to do now? We can decorate the tree or make the gingerbread house?” Holly asked. She perched on the far sofa arm.

Truthfully, Catherine was more than happy to stay exactly where she was. As Scrooge-like as it sounded, she didn’t think decorating the tree or assembling the gingerbread house were her kinds of things. It was nice Holly had taken the decorations down so they could do it together, but did it really matter? Would their decorating the tree compared to Fiona’s decorating it make some kind of difference? Probably not.

“Catherine?”

“Let’s decorate the tree.” She wasn’t going to ruin Holly’s plans, especially when she looked so eager.

“Okay. I’ll be right back.” Holly disappeared into the kitchen. She returned with a cardboard box and placed it on the floor beside the tree.

“What goes on first? Baubles?” Catherine asked, holding a shiny red bauble in each hand.

“Normally the lights go on first.” Holly smiled and took the baubles from Catherine, put them in the box, and planted a light peck on her cheek.

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