Foul Pole by Tina Gallagher
Chapter Twenty-Four
Leo
As I watchedAnjannette charm a customer, I couldn’t keep the sappy smile from spreading across my face. The woman gives me “all the feels” as she would say. And I’ve finally admitted to myself that I am totally and completely in love with her.
The feeling has been brewing for a while—if I’m being honest, it was an insta-love kind of thing when I first saw her hanging off that pole. But I’ve never been in love before, not real love anyway, so it took me a bit to assign that particular word to my feelings. Now that I have, I’m dying to tell her. I’m just waiting for the right time and place. Hopefully this week will provide both of those things.
She said my name and from her tone, it’s obvious it wasn’t the first time.
“Hmm?”
“Was that okay?” she asked.
“Oh yeah, you were perfect.”
“You were staring at me so I thought maybe I did something wrong.”
Since we were teenagers, one of the Christmas gifts my siblings and I give our parents is a week off from the store. Sometimes they come in anyway to “see how it’s going,” but this year, they’re not responsible for opening, closing, or anything in between from December 23rd through January 3rd. The store is closed for the holidays themselves, but we work it out between the six of us for the rest of the days.
I figured Anjannette would hang with my sisters or relax at the house while I put in my shifts, but she insisted on coming with me today. And once she got here, she jumped in with both feet.
“No, I’m just amazed that you’re here serving up moussaka and scooping olives like a pro.”
“It’s so sweet that you and your siblings do this for your parents.”
“It’s the only way they take time off. We keep hoping that if they see how nice it is they’ll at least partially retire and enjoy themselves more.”
“Will Nicky take over when they retire?”
“That’s the plan.” I grabbed a broom and dustpan from the corner and walked around the counter to sweep. “We’ll see if it ever happens.”
“I guess as long as they’re happy, it’s all good.”
“Yeah, I guess it is. I just hate to see them work so hard.”
I moved everything I’d collected into a pile then swept it into a dustpan and emptied it into the garbage. Anjannette’s arms wrapped around me from behind and I felt her kiss my back. Setting the broom and dustpan aside, I turned around to face her.
“You really are one of a kind, you know that?”
“So are you.” I leaned down and pressed my mouth against hers then rested my forehead
against hers. “You really did a great job here today. You’re a natural.”
She pulled back and scrunched her nose.
“I didn’t feel like I was much help most of the time, but I’ll take an A for effort.”
“Seriously, you did great. And I appreciate you being here at all. It’s definitely above and beyond.”
“Your family has been so welcoming, it’s the least I could do. Besides, I like spending time with you.”
“Yeah?” She nodded. “That’s a good thing because I like spending time with you too.”
Anjannette pulled away as the bell over the door jingled and she walked over to the counter to wait on the two women who came in. I didn’t recognize them so I went back to cleaning up instead of chatting like I’d do with the regulars.
One of the women told Anjannette she heard about the store on Facebook so I guess Nicky’s advertising is working. In fact, I didn’t personally know a good portion of the customers today, so the clientele is definitely expanding.
By the time the women were finished picking what they wanted, a stack of boxes and two bags sat on the counter. When Anjannette finished ringing them up, they took me up on my offer to help them carry everything out to the car. I grabbed the boxes then followed them out to their car and set them on the floor of the back seat. They tried to hand me a tip but I waved them off and wished them a Merry Christmas.
“They cleared out a lot of stuff, especially the cookies,” Anjannette said when I came back inside.
She picked up a broken sugar cookie and popped it into her mouth.
“That’s a good thing since we’re closed for the next two days.”
I grabbed the empty trays she’d stacked on the counter behind her and put them in the sink.
“What do you do with stuff that’s leftover?”
“It depends.” I squeezed detergent onto the pans then turned on the hot water. “My mom makes extra food to drop off at the local police stations and hospital for the staff working the holiday, so sometimes we just add it to that. If there’s only a small amount, one of us will just take it home or give it to a neighbor.”
“I love your parents even more now,” she said. “And after meeting your family, the way you are makes a lot of sense.”
I rinsed off a pan and placed it on the rack to dry.
“The way I am?”
“Nice, sweet, kind. When we first met, I thought you were too good to be true and kept waiting for you to drop the facade and show your true colors.” She shrugged. “But I’ve since learned that what you see is what you get and that’s really refreshing.”
After placing the last pan on the rack, I rinsed out the sink, turned off the water, and dried my hands, not sure what to say. Thankfully she changed the subject before I had to think of something.
“So what’s the plan for the week?”
“Trey and Nori are flying in tomorrow, I’m working here again on the 28th, and Crispin and Ben will be here on the 30th, later in the day. The movie marathon is New Year’s Day. There will be people hanging out at my parents’ house all week but we don’t have to be there all the time.”
We’ll be going into the city on the 29th, but she doesn’t know that yet.
“What about New Year’s Eve?”
“I don’t usually go out, but we can if you want to.”
“No, I’m good with staying in.” She wrinkled her nose. “I always find New Year’s Eve a little depressing. Add in a bunch of drunk obnoxious people and it’s even worse.”
“We can see what everyone else wants to do. And if there’s anything you want to do during the week, just let me know.”
“I just want to hang out with you and get to know your family better.”
“Sounds perfect.”
Anjannette
I thoughtthere were a lot of people at Leo’s parents’ house Thanksgiving weekend, but that was nothing compared to Christmas. Earlier there were people everywhere, including in the three-season room and on the deck where Leo and his brothers had set up propane heaters earlier.
I’m much more comfortable than I was at Thanksgiving and Leo must have sensed that because he didn’t seem to feel the need to stick next to me the way he did the last time. In fact, he and Trey went out to the driveway with Nicky and Chris to play basketball a couple hours ago and it turned into a whole tournament-type thing with his cousins joining in. They’re still out there playing with the spotlight on. Nori and I watched for a little bit, but came inside when the sun started to set and we got too cold. We settled into the family room with some of his aunts and cousins, but people had come and gone over the past hour and now it’s just the two of us and Leo’s sisters
It’s so much fun being around this family dynamic. All the smack talk and teasing is balanced with the love and affection that’s obvious between them. And spending this holiday here gives me all the feels, like those Christmas movies I binge watch every year.
“I can’t even imagine how magical Christmas must have been growing up in this house,” I said, looking around the family room.
When I was younger, I remember my mom fussing for the holiday, but once I stopped believing in Santa Claus, that pretty much stopped. But even though Leo and his siblings are grown, his mom still goes all out. Case in point, the tree in this room that we’d decorated last night before heading to midnight mass is what Annita refers to as “the family tree.” It’s covered with all the ornaments Leo and his siblings made through the years and silly or personal ones they’d gifted each other. The tree in the formal living room sits in front of the big bay window for the neighborhood to see and looks like something in a showroom.
“Yeah, it was,” Marina said. “Hell, it still is. You see this place.”
Every corner of the house is decorated and she even filled their stockings with little gifts.
“I never really thought about how much time and energy goes into doing all this,” Eleni said. “But I put up a tiny tree in my apartment and hang a wreath on the door, and that’s pretty much all I have energy for after working all week. Mom worked at the store a million hours a week, had the six of us, and still did all this.”
“And I still don’t know where she used to hide our presents. Once we got to a certain age, we snooped all over the house, including up in the attic and never found anything,” Marina said.
Angie’s head snapped in my direction.
“Speaking of presents. What did you think of your gift from Leo?”
“I totally freaked out. I’m so excited, I can’t even tell you. I’ve wanted to see that forever,” I said, drawing out that last word. “Nori’s ears are probably still ringing from my screech. Unfortunately for her, she was sitting next to me when I opened it.”
Leo and I had exchanged gifts with each other earlier at his house and I’m still in shock. The man bought me tickets to Hamilton. Freaking Hamilton! And not just any seats—orchestra center, row J. Seriously. I can’t even.
As if the tickets weren’t enough, we’re taking a limo into the city and having dinner before the show. How is this my life?
“My gifts to him paled in comparison, but seriously, how could anything I give him be as good as tickets to Hamilton?”
“You can’t compare what we mere mortals give to Leo with what he bestows on us.” Angie looked at her sisters for confirmation. Once they nodded, she continued. “But seriously, Leo appreciates personal or well-thought out gifts more than something that costs a lot of money.”
“That’s a true statement,” Marina said.
It had taken me forever to think of something to give Leo. He has contracts for clothing, underwear, shoe, and sunglass brands so he’s flush with those things. I’ve seen three of his houses and they’re all well-decorated and well-stocked.
After agonizing over it, I decided on a few little things I thought he’d like. Keera had suggested a Peaches & Pole shirt, shorts, sweatpants, and sweatshirt and I’m glad I listened to her, because he seemed to love them. A little gift shop near the studio had two coffee mugs I couldn’t resist. One says I Hate Being Sexy, but I’m a Baseball Player So I Can’t Help It and the other one Dibs on the Baseball Player, the latter being more for me than him, but I figured he’d get a kick out of it, and he did. But what he spent the most time oohing and aahing over was the afghan and crocheted peach I made for him.
I don’t have very many real skills, but I do know how to crochet. My mom taught me and as much as I hated sitting still when I was younger to learn how to do it, I’m so glad I did. More so now after seeing Leo’s reaction to my handmade gift.
Loud voices sounded outside the room which I assume meant the guys were done with their games. Leo walked into the family room a second later. Sweaty with his button-down shirt pulled out of now-dirty khakis and messy hair, he should have looked vile, but that just isn’t the case. He looks as hot as ever and my lady parts clenched in response. As if he sensed that, he flashed a sexy smile, which made it happen again.
Trey appeared beside him looking just as rumpled, but much less sexy. In my opinion anyway. Based on the change in Nori’s breathing, I’d say she feels differently.
“We’re gonna head back to the house to shower. If you want to stay here, we can come back for you,” Leo said.
I looked over at Nori and we shared a smile.
“No, we’ll just go with you now.”
I stood and heard Angie chuckle then whisper to her sisters, “Maybe I should sleep here tonight.”
She’s probably not wrong. Because I don’t plan on letting her brother up for air tonight, and I’m pretty sure Nori has the same plans for Trey. Thank God the room they’re staying in is all the way on the other side of the hall.