“If she wants a crap ring, then what can you do?” Clayton asked and smacked his back.
“When are you going to ask her?” Joey asked.
“Not for a while,” Will assured everyone. “She’s not ready. She’ll run for the hills if she knows I bought a ring, so you better keep your big traps shut at Christmas.”
“Lucky for you, Nick and I won’t be there to spill the beans,” Clayton joked.
They weren’t his concern. He eyed his twin, knowing quite well he would be the problem.
CHAPTER23
“Let’s just go with this,”Andy said, pointing to a blender. “He’ll use it, and it’s much better than the old one he has.”
Once she crossed this last stressor off her list, she could start worrying about going away with the Evanses for Christmas. Although not everyone was heading to Grant’s farm, the crowd would still be overwhelming.
The show had wrapped yesterday, and the cast had officially started the holiday break. Aly’s house was staged, and it would go on the market after the new year. The realtor Garry had connected her with said the house would move fast. The mortgage and the maintenance costs would be off her plate soon, and she would just have to finish the last half of the season withMi Casa es Su Casa. From there, she could figure out what she wanted to do next.
“Yes on the blender?” Andy asked again.
“You can get that.” But Aly wanted to find something more personal. Will was thoughtful and caring, and in turn, she wanted to choose a gift that showed him how much she appreciated him. Not just a kitchen appliance.
“Then we still have to find something from you?” Andy frowned. “We’ve been here for hours, and I’m hungry.”
She shouldn’t have brought him along. Aly had assumed Andy would want to pick something out for Will, so she’d suggested they go today after school while Will was at his CPR recertification. But if she’d known he would complain the entire time, she would have come alone.
Add that to the list of what she didn’t know about preteen boys before now.
“You said we’d go out to eat. It’s almost six thirty.” The whining continued.
“We’ll eat as soon as we get this stuff done.” Aly grabbed the blender and headed for the checkout counter.
“Just two more stores.” The Paperstore caught Aly’s eye after they’d exited Macy’s and were wandering the mall again. “Let’s go there.”
Andy groaned. “Can I get something from there really quick?” He pointed to a small coffee kiosk with a display showcasing muffins and sandwiches.
“Fine.” She pulled out a twenty. “Come straight to me after you grab something, okay?”
Once Andy had scurried over to the kiosk, Aly headed into the Paperstore. Every year, her mom had given them each a Hallmark ornament that made noise and lit up, and she wanted to continue the tradition. She immediately found one for Andy. It was a question mark, and when the button was pressed, it would tell him whether he’d been naughty or nice. If naughty was the answer, the ornament announcedwell, you get points for trying. She laughed. Now to find one for Will.
“Did you find something?” she asked when Andy came up behind her.
His reply was almost unintelligible.
“Chew and swallow before you talk.” She continued her search while Andy hovered behind her.
A snowman in a flowered hammock sang “Mele Kalikimaka.” A popcorn maker that looked like it spouted snow played “Walking in a Winter Wonderland.” Another one was Thor fromAvengers. None of them screamedWill.
“Aly.” Her brother’s voice still sounded weird.
“I said swallow first. You’re going to choke.” She continued to move down the row. An ornament of a man in a suit with his arms crossed caught her eye.
“Aaay.”
Finally, she turned to her brother.
“Shit!” Her heart pounded at the sight of Andy’s puffy purple lips. “Did you check for peanuts?” she demanded, ripping the sandwich out of his hand.
Wide-eyed, he shook his head. He rubbed the top of his mouth with his tongue frantically, pulling in gasps of air.