Tic-Tac-Mistletoe - N.R. Walker Page 0,49
to get up that mountain before it gets dark.”
I didn’t miss Hamish’s frown, and apparently neither did Liv.
“Then that settles it,” she said, giving Hamish’s arm a squeeze. “We can have our Christmas dinner tonight with leftovers for lunch tomorrow before Ren needs to leave. I better get those rolled roasts out of the fridge. Josh, can you help me?”
They disappeared into the kitchen and Hamish studied his coffee for a second before he looked over at me. “Tomorrow, huh?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I did say that I’d have to leave.”
He frowned. “I know. I know, I just . . . didn’t expect it to come around so fast.”
I wasn’t exactly thrilled at leaving him either, but I had my store, and he had his sister. “I’m not that far away. It’s just up the road, really.”
“Yeah, I know. I just wish we had longer.”
“But having Christmas early is always fun. We have twenty-four hours.”
He finally smiled. “True. And the one bed. Honestly, I didn’t know about that. I didn’t even think to ask. But I can take the couch. It’s the least I can do after all you’ve done for me.”
I chewed my bottom lip for a long moment, wondering how to best say this. “Or we could both take the bed?”
He raised one eyebrow. “We could . . . though I’ll be completely honest with you,” he leaned in and whispered, “I don’t know if I’ll make Santa’s Good Boy list if we do.”
I chuckled at that, warmth curling in my belly. “I won’t tell him if you don’t.”
“Ooh, a Christmas conspiracy,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “I like it. Not very Hallmark though.”
“More of a Showtime Channel thing.”
“Or an SBS thing,” he said.
“I don’t know what that is.”
“Oh.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what the American equivalent is. We could just go with some random TV channel that shows R rated movies.”
I snorted, and that warmth in my belly spread hot and delicious throughout my whole body. I hid my smile behind my coffee cup. “To possibilities.”
Liv appeared, wiping her hands on a tea towel. “I have ham and a leg of lamb. A bit American, a bit Australian. Is that okay?”
Hamish and I answered in unison. “Perfect.”
Liv got all teary again. “You two are just too cute.”
Hamish stood up. “Can I help with anything?”
She shook her head. “No, you sit here.” She took his hand, led him to the couch I was sitting on, and made him sit. “I have it all sorted. And I’m not questioning your ability to cook, Haims; I just have it all done already. All the veggies are peeled and cut, just waiting for the oven. Gravy’s done. Oh, and Haims?”
“Yeah?”
She grinned. “I made pavlova for dessert.”
Hamish’s eyes went wide. “You did?”
She nodded and Josh appeared at her side. “Liv made that the first time she ever went to dinner with my parents. Now my parents ask her to make it every time. It’s so good.”
“I’m definitely getting diabetes for Christmas,” Hamish said. “And fat.”
I was a little lost. “What’s pav . . . lo . . . I don’t know what you called it, sorry.”
“Pavlova,” Hamish explained. “It’s a soft meringue the size of a cake, topped with cream and all kinds of fruit. It’s an Australian thing. Well, that’s not true. I think it’s actually a New Zealand thing that we claimed as our own. Like Lorde and lamingtons.”
I chuckled, because honestly not much of that made sense to me, but Liv laughed, and Josh looked at me. “You’ll get used to it,” he said. “Most things are random and abbreviated.”
Liv laughed. “Tell them what you said the other night. Tell them!”
Josh was confused for a second; then it dawned. “Oh, I said ‘servo.’”
Liv snorted. “He said he was gonna duck down to the servo for some milk.” She fist-pumped the air. “I got him, Haims. The conversion has begun. It only took four years.”
Hamish laughed, and while I had no idea what the hell a servo was, I was still stuck on the comment that I’d get used to it. Which implied they just assumed I’d be around long enough to get used to it.
And I rather liked that.
Hamish put his hand on my knee. “A servo is short for a service station.”
“Right,” I said, not giving one rats ass about the gas station . . . because Hamish had his hand on my knee. I noticed Liv and Josh had gone back into