Page 29 of You Make It Feel like Christmas

A DULTING SHOULD COME WITH awards. Or points!

Points would be epic. You could save them up and give yourself prizes.

Five points for everyday errands. Nothing too out there.

Just recognition of a job well done. Paid bills?

Five points. Ten points for grocery shopping because of the annoyance factor.

Ten points for not buying anything other than groceries while shopping because that was almost impossible.

Twenty points for attending an event you’d rather skip.

Fifty for giving a gracious smile when your mother gives you a gift you absolutely don’t want.

“I think you’ll really enjoy the evening, honey,” her mom said, staring at Maisie expectantly.

Maisie smoothed her fingers across the pale-yellow cardstock tickets.

She didn’t even know they still made physical tickets for anything.

But here she was, proof in hand; one each for her and a guest to attend a special evening including dinner and a lecture given by Dr. Cornelius Bassier, motivational speaker and life coach who happened to be stopping in Seattle.

“Cornelius and your father did their undergrad together. He’s published in several journals about the importance of seizing opportunities before your thirties. He’s much funnier than you’d expect,” her mom continued.

When Maisie glanced up, her lips still locked into a fake smile, she saw the tightness around her brother’s mouth, her sister’s pitying gaze, Kyle’s humor, and a flash of irritation in Colton’s eyes.

Her father was busy reading the instructions for the smartwatch she’d given him. An actually useful gift.

“I’m sure it’ll be great, Mom. Thank you,” Maisie said, realizing she still hadn’t said it.

Her mom smiled. “I think it’s nice to get an experience as a gift rather than something you’ll never use again.”

Jake handed Maisie a large, thin, prettily wrapped gift. “Here. Open ours.”

“It’s not my turn,” Maisie said. They were going around in a circle, each opening one at a time.

“Just open it,” Colton said, his wide grin clearing the clouds hovering over Maisie’s mood. She loved Christmas. Love, love, LOVED it. No one, least of all her mom and her lectures, was taking that from her.

She ripped off the paper, opened the box she found beneath it. She pulled a stunning, paisley flower–patterned Kate Spade tote bag. It was pale pink but each of the flowers was a slightly darker shade of pink. “Oh, my gosh. I love it.”

Colton beamed and her brother reached over, grabbed the wrapping scraps. “You’re always carrying your camera bag and then a dozen other things in your hands. Now you can just put everything in this, carry your camera bag on the other arm. No more juggling eight hundred things.”

Maisie got up, kissed both Colton and Jacob’s cheeks. “Love it.”

“You can store your ticket in there,” Colton whispered, making Maisie laugh.

The rest of the gift giving went smoothly.

She was able to enjoy the time with her family, soak up the memories, and skirt around her frustration with her mom.

When Nick, Ellie, and Asher joined them later in the afternoon, they had a wonderful dinner and watched the original Miracle on 34th Street .

It was, all in all, a lovely day. She’d wanted to curl into Nick while they watched the movie but that would have garnered too much attention.

She watched, longingly, as Nick helped Asher put out cookies for Santa and the three of them read “’Twas The Night Before Christmas.

” She didn’t know what would happen a few days from now.

Nick had mentioned he had a game on the thirty-first, so she knew he’d be in Seattle.

Watching him with his nephew after seeing how wonderful he’d been this week made her more certain than ever; she was falling hard for Nick King.

Just like she couldn’t control her mom’s responses, where she and Nick ended up didn’t feel like something she was in charge of.

Maisie slipped away and headed up to her room with her gifts.

Setting them in her suitcase, she pulled out the little gift she’d bought for Nick.

She’d found it on Amazon and had it delivered.

It was nothing much but it made her smile, and so did he.

She wasn’t sure when she should give it to him.

Hopefully, she’d get a chance tomorrow. Crawling between the sheets, she tried to read but ended up staring at the ceiling, wishing Nick would sneak into her room.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been lying there when her bedroom door opened and a silhouette moved toward her bed. Her heartrate skyrocketed.

“You awake?” Jacob asked before her eyes adjusted to the dark.

Maisie sat up in the bed. “What are you doing?”

“Midnight snowball fight,” he whispered.

Excitement thrummed. “It’s ten o’clock.”

“Stickler. Just get dressed. Meet us out back in five minutes and be quiet.”

She giggled in the darkness, under her breath of course, while pulling on leggings, then adding some joggers over top.

She didn’t have snow gear, so that would have to do.

She pulled on her B Y THE C UP hoodie—a present her friend, Hailey, who owned a salad shop, had given her in the summer.

It was one of her favorites because of how warm it was.

Ironic, since Hailey lived in California.

Leaving her room, her hair pulled into a tight, low ponytail, she felt like a spy or a thief.

They used to do this when they were little; sneak out at actual midnight to play games in the yard, build snowmen, or have snowball fights.

Maisie loved Seattle but sometimes she wished Jake and Colt lived closer.

Maisie paused outside Nick’s door. She wanted to invite him but wasn’t sure if he was sleeping, if he’d think it was weird. Maybe she’d wake him when she got back.

Sneaking out the back door, impressed with not only how stealthy but how quick she’d been, she was bummed to see she was last. Of six. Someone else had woken Nick.

The moonlight made the snow look like a glittery, glowing dance floor. Nick’s dark ensemble, from his hat to his boots, made him seem bigger. Edgier.

His gaze caught hers and locked, making her heart rattle against her ribs. She walked to his side, “I was going to wake you.”

He took her hand, not seeming to care if anyone else noticed. “You’re too slow, Smart. I’m already here.”

Looking over at Nat, she glanced at her belly, then up to her face. “Should you be doing this?” Not one to step on her sister’s freedom to do whatever the hell she wanted, Maisie didn’t want anything bad to happen.

“We’re building a snowman,” Kyle said, pulling Natalie into the curve of his arm.

“Probably for the best,” Maisie said, bringing her gloved hands together and turning to face the others.

“You’re only saying that because you know I’d take you down,” Natalie said.

Maisie laughed but didn’t reply.

Kyle shook his head. “Why are you three always so competitive?”

“Competition is good for the soul,” Nick said, clapping Kyle on the back. “So, what are we doing? Teams? Solo? Who am I hitting with a snowball first?”

“Nothing is ever that simple with this crew, Nicky,” Colton said from where he stood with his arms wrapped around Jake.

“Simple is boring.” Jake pulled something out of his pocket.

Everyone moved in close to see what he had.

“We’re decorating trees?” Nick asked.

Jake grinned, the moonlight making it a little creepy.

“You look like you’re in The Shining ,” Maisie said.

“Okay,” Jake said, his tone serious. “Two teams. Each team gets two ornaments. You have ten minutes exactly to hide them in the trees between the entrance gate to the first area and where people pay for their trees. Doesn’t seem like much but it’s about a thousand square feet and dark.

You have to hang them visibly around eye level.

Once that time is up, it’s game on. The first team to get both of the other team’s ornaments back here to Kyle and Nat wins.

If you get hit with a snowball by the other team, you have to sit for ten seconds.

No cheating.” He coughed into his hand, making it sound like a muffled “Maisie.” “You can be hit with a snowball at any time right up until you reach the porch. That’s the safe zone. ”

The U-Pick part of the tree farm wasn’t far from the house, but running with ornaments in the wide-open space without getting pelted with a snowball would be a challenge.

“One more thing,” Jake said. “If someone is just about to grab your ornament and you hit them with a snowball, you can then use the ten seconds they have to sit out to run and hide it somewhere else.”

“Sounds easy,” Maisie said, hoping her pitching days came back to her like riding a bike.

“Good. You’re with King; Colt and I are together.”

Jacob and Colton grinned at her like two lovesick cupid do-gooders.

“Sounds good. Let’s kick their lawyerly asses,” Nick said, putting an arm around her shoulders.

Natalie told them when to go and then they were off with their two ornaments: a very round, upside-down elf who looked like he was doing weird things with a candy cane and a reindeer whose bright-red nose was so oversized, it seemed to be compensating for something.

Maisie pressed the button she felt on the reindeer’s belly. The red light started blinking.

Laughing, trying to turn it off so they wouldn’t be spotted as they took a left in the tree farm, Nick grabbed it from her hands.

“Remind me never to rob a bank with you. You’d probably call the police first.”

The light went out and they snuck down the first row of trees. When Nick grabbed her hand, pulled her close, and held her still, her body instantly filled with so much warmth, she worried she’d melt the snow.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

He tilted his head down, bringing their noses close. “Listening for Jake and Colt. I saw them go down farther. Make some snowballs. We’re going to ambush them.”