through the sale. I’m thinking of retiring, to be honest. I’m getting older, and this might be the right time.”
“If you can stay through the sale and everything, there will be a nice bonus for you,” Ariel told her.
“Thank you, Ariel.” Trudy started bustling around the kitchen. “Waffles or eggs?”
“Waffles,” I said.
“Eggs,” Ariel said at the same time.
“Whatever she wants.”
“Whatever he wants.” We spoke in unison again and burst out laughing.
“Young love,” Trudy chortled, laughing with us. “How about both? Some scrambled eggs and bacon with a couple of servings of waffles?”
“If it’s not too much trouble.” Ariel smiled at her.
“Not at all.” Trudy turned back to the stove. “You two go on out to the patio, and I’ll bring out breakfast when it’s ready.”
“Thank you.”
“My parents have already texted me a few times,” I told her as we settled down at a table overlooking the pool. “What should I tell them?”
“Hopefully, Dad will be out of here by noon, and we can take them to lunch. Have they been to L.A. before? Do they want to sightsee or anything?”
“They’ve been here. I think they just want to spend time with us.”
“Then why don’t you take my car and go get them? Bring them back here, and we can spend the day together.”
“I’m not leaving you alone until your dad is gone and the locks are changed. I know Dane and Tex are here, but I already left you once. I’m not doing it again.”
“I’d almost forgotten how sweet you are.”
“I don’t plan to ever let you forget again.”
“Then after we eat, we’ll go get them together. Dane and Tex can handle things here for half an hour.”
“So, maybe this is a dumb question, but do you celebrate Christmas?”
She shook her head. “We’ve never been religious, and my dad is always a scrooge anyway, so we never celebrated any of the holidays unless we were invited to a Christmas party at someone’s house. Usually, I stayed home, but I went once in a while. And my birthday is Christmas Day, so it was weird. Not that Dad ever did anything for my birthday.”
“Well, that changes this year,” I told her. “But here’s the thing—I kind of like Christmas.”
She smiled. “That’s okay. I like Christmas, too.”
“It’s not about the religion. You know I’m an atheist, but I love the traditions, the decorations, the parties, and all that. Don’t get me wrong, when I’m home, I decorate for Hanukkah, too, and on the rare occasion I’m with my parents, I participate in all the traditional and religious parts. But at my house, I enjoy the traditions involved in it. Especially gift-giving to people I care about.”
“I think I would enjoy that, too.”
“What about when we have kids?”
“Since neither of us are religious, I think maybe we should expose them to the Jewish religion, especially in deference to your parents, but let them choose when they’re old enough. If we spend holidays with your family, we’ll go Jewish. When we’re at home, we’ll open gifts for Hanukkah but also have all the Christmas decorations and everything.”
“But I think, if it’s okay with you, I’d like Christmas Day to be your birthday. I know it is, but my birthday is April eighth…and that’s my day. Whether I’m on tour or at home, someone is bound to have a party, cake, etc. And I’d like to do that for you. Even though it’s Christmas.”
“I’m about to tell you how sweet you are,” she said, laughing.
“My parents might push for a Jewish wedding.”
She shrugged. “That’s okay. If it makes them happy, it’s not a huge deal. Just like we discussed the fun parts of the traditions of Christmas, there are wonderful traditions involved in religious weddings. And if it gets me bonus points with your parents, it’s a win.”
“I love you, Ariel.” I turned to stare into her beautiful face and reached out a hand.
She put hers in it, and I was just about to kiss her when Trudy came out holding a large package.
“Miss Ariel, this was just delivered for you.” She leaned it against the table.
Ariel frowned. “What on earth is it?”
“I don’t know. It came by private courier.”
“Oh.”
“I brought you scissors so you can open it.”
“Thank you.” Ariel took the scissors and sliced through the taped seams, pulling open the flaps. Then she froze, her eyes wide. “Oh.”
“What is it?” I asked curiously, leaning over.
“It, um, was supposed to be a holiday present for you,” she whispered. “I wasn’t sure if it would