Chapter 15

FIFTEEN

WILLOW

“H oly shit.” I bolted from my bed and ran down the hall. “Cookie. Holly. Are you okay?”

My mom used to get upset at me because she said I could sleep through anything. What she meant was that I never heard her when she repeatedly yelled my name to wake up. If I didn’t respond immediately, she made it seem like I was an inconvenience and disrupting her time.

The truth: I was a hard sleeper. I had vivid dreams and didn’t get up much through the night to go to the bathroom. When my head hit the pillow, I was out.

That had changed, though.

Cookie and Holly were very busy at all hours of the day. I talked with them about when it’s dark out, it’s time to sleep. I think they heard that when it’s dark, they should have fun running around and making a lot of noise.

“Oh.” I stood in the middle of the living room and burst out laughing. “Well, Molly, Anika, and Andy called this one.”

The Christmas tree Andy and I had spent so much time decorating was now on its side on the floor. There were broken bulbs and strands of lights that had fallen off the tree and were lying in a pile under the tree.

Cookie was lying flat on the floor with her head on her front paws. Her eyes looked so sad.

Holly had lights tangled around her body and was stuck in the very center of the tree.

I plopped down on the floor in front of Cookie. “Well, do you feel better now?” Cookie whimpered and inched closer to me. “Do you think we should rescue Holly?” At the mention of her name, Holly meowed at a volume I had never heard before. “Okay, okay, hold on. I got you.” I carefully unwound the lights from her body and pulled her onto my lap. “You two. I tell ya.” Cookie climbed up onto my lap next to Holly. “Do you want to help me put the tree back up?” Cookie’s tail started to wag, and Holly rubbed her head against my leg. “Okay, let’s do it.”

It took a few hours to get the tree back up and redecorated. Once the tree was stable, they curled into a ball under the branches and fell asleep. I continued to decorate while they slept. At least someone would get a good night’s sleep.

At around 1:30 am, I finally went back to bed. Hopefully, the tree would still be up in the morning.

They were lucky they were cute.

Plus, it was just stuff. The tree and everything on it was replaceable.

I didn’t have to get up early, so I let myself sleep in for a couple of extra hours.

Lately, my alarm clock was two fur babies on my chest, anxious for me to wake up. Today, I woke up alone.

“Okay–” I was ready to find the tree on the floor again when I stepped into the living room– “wow, it’s still standing.” Cookie and Holly lifted their heads and stretched before greeting me. “So, now you like the tree, huh?”

Cookie hopped up and down while circling my legs. Holly sat down in front of me and meowed nonstop.

I sat down and crossed my legs in front of me. “Hey, come here.” I patted my legs, and they both hopped up. “Do you know what day it is?” Cookie licked my hand, and Holly stared at me. “Yup, exactly, it’s Saturday, which means the ugly Christmas sweater party is tonight.” I scratched behind their ears. “I’ve made it through most of the list, but just two more items need to be crossed off. Can you guess what they are?” Cookie nudged her nose against my hand. “If that means wearing the ugly sweater and making a gingerbread house, then yes.” I bent and kissed them both on the top of their head. My phone pinged with a new text message. “Okay, I need to grab that. Time to get up.” I set them both on the floor, hopped up, and ran to grab my phone.

Andy: So, status?

For the last two days, Andy had sent me a text message to check on the status of the tree. Was it down or up?

Me: Well, right now it’s up.

Andy: Right now. What does that mean?

Me: Last night, I woke up to a crash.

Andy: *Laughing Emoji*

Me: Laugh it up. It was crazy, and I’m exhausted, so I won’t be able to go to the party tonight.

Andy: Wait, calling you.

A second later, my phone rang.

“Really? You’re not going?” He sounded surprised. “Why would a tree falling over prevent you from attending a Christmas party?”

It was hard to hold in my laugh. He sounded so confused.

“I think you cheated by calling me.” I giggled.

“What? Cheated? I’m lost.” He let out a heavy sigh.

“I was messing with you.” I sat on the floor and let the babies hop back on my lap. “Actually, Cookie, Holly, and I were just talking about how I have two items left on the list.”

“Man, that’s good because I didn’t want to be the one to tell Molly you weren’t coming.” He let out a breath.

“Good point.” I envisioned Molly getting in her car and driving to my house. She wouldn’t care about excuses. “Don’t worry.” I smiled and booped Cookie’s nose. “It was a mess last night, and several bulbs were lost, but I’ll be there ready to celebrate when the list is complete.”

“Just two items, eh? Tell me something.”

“What’s that?”

“Did the list do its job?”

By job, I knew he meant. Did it bring back the Christmas spirit I had lost so long ago? “Does this answer your question—When I woke up this morning, I was excited to make eggnog pancakes and peppermint hot chocolate.”

“You may have tipped the scale by adding peppermint to your hot chocolate.”

“Should I dial it back a bit?”

“Nah, have fun.” He laughed. “Plus, peppermint hot chocolate is delicious.”

We chatted for a few more minutes. Before we hung up, he offered to bring some extra bulbs for my tree to replace the broken ones. Damn, I loved this small town.