Chapter 52

fifty-two

PAUL

I stepped onto my brother's veranda. Amy ran ahead and pushed the doorbell.

The last two days had been a crazy mix of last-minute Christmas shopping and baking more cookies for Jonathon's store. In between all of that, I'd bought a second-hand truck and started to pack our bags.

Amy peeked through the window. "I can't see Uncle Alex, but I can hear music."

"It sounds like your favorite song."

"It's ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,'" Amy said excitedly. "Do you think Uncle Alex left carrots for Rudolph?"

"I don't know. You'll have to ask him."

The front door opened, and Alex grinned at us. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas," Amy and I said at the same time.

"I hope we're not too early." I handed Alex the box in my arms. "If you take this one, I'll get the next box."

Alex sniffed. "If I'm not mistaken, this must be your famous ginger and walnut Christmas loaf. "

Amy's eyes opened wide. "You can smell Uncle Paul's loaf?"

"I love anything that's baked with ginger. The smell makes my taste buds water."

"What's a taste bud?"

"Come inside and I'll tell you." Alex held out his hand.

While Amy asked him about the other things he liked eating, I walked back to the truck. As well as the ginger and walnut loaf, I'd baked a Christmas fruitcake, some shortbread, and a triple mixture of chocolate chip cookies. If that wasn't enough to impress my brother, I'd brought him a special Christmas present, too.

"Do you need any help?"

I turned around. Dylan must have walked out of the house while I was daydreaming.

"That would be great." I handed Dylan the shortbread and cookies. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you, as well. How are you feeling?"

"A little strange. Before we knew anything about Alex, Amy and I were going to spend Christmas with my Aunt Carol and her family. Now, look at us."

"Discovering you had a brother must have been a shock."

"It was, but I'm okay now."

Dylan frowned. "Alex said you asked your aunt if she knew you were adopted."

I stacked the cake box on top of Alex's present. "Aunt Carol wasn't living in Milwaukee when I was adopted. She assumed I was Mom and Dad's biological son." With the truck locked, I walked toward Alex's house. "Are you still going to Boulder this afternoon?"

Dylan opened the front door. "Not until four-thirty. That way, Alex gets to spend most of the day with you and Amy before being hijacked by my family."

Amy rushed toward me. "He did it! Uncle Alex left carrots for Rudolph and some cookies and milk for Santa. You should see all the presents under the tree."

I smiled. "Alex must have been extra nice to get so many gifts."

"He's always nice," Dylan said.

"Who's always nice?" Alex took the container of cookies out of Dylan's hand.

"You," Dylan said with a grin. "Don't worry. I won't tell your brother all your deep, dark secrets. Not yet, anyway."

"Talking about secrets," Alex said to me. "There's something Dylan and I want to tell you."

I looked at Dylan's flushed cheeks, then back at my brother. "You're getting married, aren't you?"

Dylan sighed. "How did you know?"

"It wasn't hard," I said. "From the first conversation I had with Alex, he mentioned your name in every second sentence. You mean a great deal to him."

Amy held onto the edge of my jacket. "Can we go to Uncle Alex's wedding?"

"If we're invited, we can."

Alex carried the cookies into the living room. "You're definitely invited. We haven't chosen a date, but it won't be too long away."

I opened the container of cookies and handed them to Alex. "If you need someone to make a wedding cake, I'm happy to help."

Instantly, Dylan smiled. "That would be great, thank you."

"Just let me know when you have a date in mind and we'll go from there. "

Alex bit into a chocolate chip cookie. "These are yummy. I'll have to put them away in case I eat too many."

Dylan patted Alex's stomach. "Don't worry. I'll make sure you don't overindulge."

As I listened to the easy banter between them, I thought about Liam. I missed spending time with him, the way his eyes lit up whenever he saw Amy. But more than that, I missed his sense of humor, the way he appreciated everything we did, and the way he made my heart beat out of control with one glance.

But thinking about how much I missed him wouldn't achieve anything. Getting too close to him too soon reminded me of other relationships that had failed.

I needed to focus on my career, build a new life for myself and Amy, and have fun—something that had been missing from my life for too long.