Caught In The Shadow [Jenlisa]

Epilogue 8

- ww -

"Do you have plans for Christmas?" I asked Jennie. She handed me a cup of coffee and took a sip of her own. The temperature had been dropping steadily, but the streets were still crowded with would-be shoppers. Jennie and I seemed a bit at odds with our surroundings due to our lack of shopping bags.

She smiled at me brightly.

"Yes. I plan to spend the better part of the day super glued to your body." She ran one of her mitten-clad hands down the front of my coat. I laughed.

"Well then, I'm looking forward to it already. I'll be sure to giftwrap." I tugged her close and kissed her more passionately than was appropriate in public.

Her lips were cold but the inside of her mouth was warm and tasted faintly of coffee and sugar. "But I meant with other people. Are there people you have to see?"

A strange expression marred her features.

"No. It's just us. Kreisha and Rubio are each spending time with their families. They're only going to see each other for part of the day because Rubio's family lives in Madrid. Kreisha invited us to go over to her mom's house, but I didn't figure you'd want to go. Honestly, I don't feel like going either. We might all get together on Christmas Eve, though. Why do you ask?"

I took her hand and led her into the flow of bodies, making our way toward the next block of shopping. It had been her idea to go shopping, but Jennie had yet to purchase a single thing.

"I've never celebrated Christmas. I haven't celebrated a lot of holidays, actually. I thought since I liked your Thanksgiving, I might... branch out."

"Oh yeah?" Jennie said excitedly. "That's great, Sexy! Now I feel bad for not getting you a gift yet. We'll have to do it up right if it's your first Christmas. I figured you didn't celebrate it, so I didn't want to push the subject. If you weren't into it, no reason for me to celebrate."

I noticed the undercurrent of sadness in Jennie's voice and suspected it had something to do with her lack of family. I was oddly tempted to ask about them. I didn't much care for her mother, but I knew she had siblings and I didn't know if she spoke to them or not. Then again, her having a relationship with her family didn't necessarily bode well for me.

"You've already given me more than I've ever had. You wouldn't want to spoil me, would you?" I flashed my most suggestive grin. Jennie looked at me sidelong.

"I wouldn't dream of spoiling you. You're a big enough pain as it is."

"I'm sorry, I thought I was gentle." I braced for the punch I knew I was coming. She can be such a violent little thing.

"Don't be gross!" she admonished. It was difficult to take her seriously while she was laughing.

"I wonder if there's still time to get a tree. Usually people put them up after Thanksgiving, but there has to be a lot somewhere that sells them. I'll ask Kreisha. She usually knows where to go for stuff. I mean, I've learned a bunch since I've been here, but like, I'm not from here so I need help sometimes. Ha! This one time I got lost..." Jennie seemed completely engrossed in the art of one-sided conversation.

I admit it, I tuned out a little. I thought I had learned the various sides to Jennie while in Mexico, but I was beginning to feel as though I'd only scratched the surface. I rather liked the idea of new discoveries—even when the discovery was that Jennie could be as much of a rambler as Kreisha.

"I was thinking of something else entirely," I broke in. Jennie halted, much to the chagrin of the pedestrians behind us trying to get upstream with the other salmon.