Peppermint Kiss

by Marian Snowe

  “None? You don’t have any decorations at all?” Meg asked, shocked far more than Tia thought was necessary. “Well, we’re going to fix that!”

  She strode off toward the first room of Christmas odds and ends. All of the small rooms lining the central wide aisle made Tia think they might be converted livestock stalls. She trailed after Meg and tried not to make a face at all of the smarmy decorations.

  Meg grabbed a basket from a stack on the floor and handed it over to Tia. “Hold this.” Then she took it back. “No, wait, we should get a cart.” Tia started to make an anxious whining sound, but Meg pointed a finger at her. “Nope, no complaining. I’m calling the shots, remember?”

  “Yeah, absolutely,” Tia replied, holding her hands up. “I’ll go get a cart.”

  When she came back, Meg already had an armful of tinselly garlands and a quilted Christmas tree skirt. She dumped them in the cart and Tia eyed one of the garlands skeptically. It had little foil-paper Santa hats sticking out from the bushy silver.

  “You know, I didn’t like Christmas for a while there either,” Meg said. “After we broke up at the dorm Christmas party. I hated that it soured the whole holiday for me.”

  “I’m sorry,” Tia said again, with the same sincerity as before. She’d apologize forever if she had to, even if it didn’t do much good.

  Meg shrugged. “It is what it is. I’m glad I got back to loving it.” She stopped the cart and leaned on the handlebar, looking over at Tia. “You should know, the reason I didn’t tell you right then and there that I wasn’t cheating was because I was so blindsided. Maybe you took that as an admission of guilt, or whatever, but at first I had no idea what you were even talking about. Then when I realized what you meant, I just couldn’t find the words. And then I looked behind you and saw Faith watching, and she looked so...intent. Like she couldn’t wait to see my reaction. You said it was Faith who told you, and I knew she’d lied. But you left before I could do anything.”

  “I should’ve waited,” Tia insisted, and Meg nodded.

  “Yeah, you should’ve. But I’m not trying to give you another guilt trip,” Meg said. “I’m just telling you. I was so hurt that both of you would turn on me that I couldn’t get the will up to find you during that last semester. And Faith avoided me for most of the time after that, so.”

  “Did you know about the TA getting in trouble?” Tia asked.

  Meg stood up straight and shook her head. Her eyes were wide with concern suddenly.

  “What happened? Did somebody else believe what Faith said?”

  “She came clean about it,” Tia replied. “There was an investigation when the rumor got around. Faith said the TA could’ve been pretty badly punished so she confessed to making everything up.”

  Meg stared at her, no longer concerned, just frustrated. “And Faith never thought it was important to tell either of us?”

  “She was ‘too ashamed,’” Tia replied. “But I can’t say I felt much sympathy for her.”

  “Yeah, me neither.” Meg sighed and started pushing the cart again. “Well, this isn’t going to ruin my Christmas again. I’m going to make this one count, and you’re going to help. Have you got a tree yet?”

  “Not inside the house, but I have a backyard full of them,” Tia replied with a chuckle.

  “Good. We’re going to decorate it, then.”

  Tia followed as Meg pushed the cart through the store. She hadn’t decorated a Christmas tree since she moved out of her parents’ house; they adored everything about the holiday (hence her name) and their house was always an explosion of red and green from November first until the end of January. She didn’t even know where to start, and it felt like it would be unbelievably tedious until she remembered Meg would be there.

  Meg’s eyes shone with enthusiasm as she picked up figurines and tree ornaments and cloth placemats decorated with felt holly leaves. Seeing Meg so happy was entirely worth the discomfort and irritation she felt with all of this holiday cheer.

  “How about this?” Meg turned back to her and held up a bunting strung with two-inch-long knitted mittens. Tia pursed her mouth to one side.

  “I guess it’s a pretty tasteful one.”

  Meg laughed. “‘Tasteful’ is not what we’re looking for at Christmas,” she corrected her. “But I’m glad you like this one.” She tossed it into the cart and picked an ornament off a white tree with sparkling multicolored lights. “Look, it’s Spruce!”

  The ornament was a black and white kitten made of blown glass. It had both paws raised and appeared to be playing with a Christmas ball ornament on an invisible branch.

  “We have to get it,” Meg said, locking eyes with Tia in a warning sort of way.

  “Looks just like him,” Tia replied, smiling. “That’s actually one I won’t mind having on the tree.”

  “Success!” Meg said, jumping into the air. “I’m determined to find more of those, then. You’ve got one veto and that’s all I’m giving you.”

  They threaded their way through the store, picking up an ornament here and a figurine there. Some of the things made Tia cringe, but she dutifully kept that to herself.

  She also tried to save her veto for when she really needed it. At one point, Meg came skipping back over to where Tia was standing with the cart, brandishing a selection of headbands. Tia opened her mouth, appalled.

  “Oh, don’t give me that look!” Meg scolded. “I’m not saying you need to wear them in public. But it’s festive! And you owe me.” She narrowed her eyes and Tia shrank back apologetically. Meg held up the headbands. “I’ll even let you choose.”

  There was one with a small Santa hat, one with plush antlers, one with deely-boppers that had jingle bells on the ends of the antennae, and one with furry snowballs where a bear’s ears would be. Tia looked them all over skeptically before choosing the snowball one.

  Meg bounced on her toes. “Yes! That one will be so cute on you!” Suddenly her eyes widened and she dropped her gaze.

  Tia flushed, her entire body warming. Was this an uncomfortable feeling or not? She couldn’t tell. She also couldn’t deny the sudden rush of joy inside her, even if her brain told her it was ridiculous and unearned. All it took was one kind word from Meg to set her heart thumping.

  Meg laughed sheepishly and dropped the headband Tia chose into the cart. “I’ll have the jingle bells,” she said quickly. Her face was red too, and as she turned away to look at more ornaments, Tia thought she saw her wince.

  Yeah, there was no way Meg would compliment her on purpose. That slip probably surprised her just as much as it surprised Tia. Tia was almost ashamed of the yearning that it kindled, though. Nobody since Meg had made her body react this quickly. She focused on a big display in the next section instead of imagining what Meg’s lips would feel like now.

  The display was a model village complete with a mountain and a tiny train circling the edge. The lights in the houses flickered yellow and white. In the little town square, inch-tall dancing and ice-skating figurines whirled like music-box ballerinas. Tia couldn’t help smiling.

  “They’ve always had this here, haven’t they?” Meg asked her, standing by her side. “Well, you probably wouldn’t know, even though your family lived here longer than mine. I bet you only came here if your parents hog-tied you.” Tia chuckled in rueful agreement, but when she looked over at Meg, she saw an almost tender look in her eyes as she watched the display. “It’s nice to know something like this holds up over time,” Meg said softly.

  Tia caught her breath. There were so many things she could say in response to that. Did Meg mean “As opposed to us,” or “So maybe we can too”? Probably neither, Tia decided morosely. Meg agreed to let Tia treat her right for a little while, but that didn’t mean anything except that she was accepting what she deserved.

  “Yeah,” Tia agreed softly. “It is nice.”

  “I’m sure it’s been repaired a few hundred times,” Meg added, and she shot a look at Tia that was way too inno
cent.

  Tia’s cheeks grew red again. Okay, maybe I was wrong, she thought. Or maybe that was a dig about how I never tried to repair things with her. Or maybe it means nothing and I’m being a complete lunatic!

  “Probably,” Tia replied weakly. She felt like one of the little dancing figures in the miniature village, whirling around with no idea how to stop. Her thoughts were impossibly tangled.

  They continued around the store as Meg picked out some final decorations. Tia was examining one of the ornaments she chose—a little pine tree with glittery snow and a Santa hat jauntily set on the top branch—when Meg appeared beside her with a huge grin on her face that could only be categorized as “evil.”

  She held up two hideously awful sweaters. They were both very fluffy and knitted of glittery red, green, and white yarn. One had little Christmas tree lights (that were actually blinking) covering the beard of a goofy-looking Santa face, and the other was a mass of pom-poms in the shape of a tree. There was a line of foil-wrapped presents sewn on at approximately belly-button-level.

  Tia raised her eyes to Meg’s. Meg’s sparkled like she was daring Tia to say something.

  “Veto,” Tia blurted, and Meg started to giggle.

  “I knew it! That means I can pick something even more ridiculous and you won’t be able to say no.” Meg’s mischievous little smirk made Tia’s knees wobble, but she stood her ground.

  “I challenge you to find anything in this store more ridiculous than those sweaters,” Tia replied.

  Meg laughed again. “You’ll be sorry! Actually, I’m pretty sure these are the things you’d hate the most, but I had to give it a try.”

  Tia eyed the sweaters with a wrinkled nose. For a moment, she considered whether accepting one would be the ultimate gesture of apology...but Meg didn’t seem like she had her heart set on them. Thank goodness.

  With Meg finally satisfied with their cart, they turned back toward the registers at the front of the store. There ended up being a good six bags of their spoils—all of which Tia insisted on paying for—and Tia gathered them all up to carry them out to the car.

  As she approached the door, though, she bumped right into Meg’s back. Meg had stopped in the doorway, and before Tia could ask what the matter was, she noticed Meg was looking above them.

  Hanging over the door was a sprig of mistletoe. Tia’s mouth went dry and her heart, which had finally calmed down a bit, jumped into high gear again. She dropped her eyes from the plant down to Meg’s face.

  There was no smile on Meg’s lips, but she didn’t look angry or upset. Her eyes were wide and almost questioning in a way that made Tia feel weak. Meg’s mouth opened just slightly and the tip of her tongue moistened her lips. Her cheeks were rosy now.

  Tia felt like she was falling. The world seemed to shift into place. There was nowhere else on earth she should be but right here, and her hands should be on Meg’s waist with their mouths pressed together.

  Every kiss she’d had with another woman since they broke up had been compared to Meg and fallen far short. She tried to deny it, to move on, to say she was better off...but it wasn’t true, and it was time to face that.

  She’d been so, so wrong about what happened back then. Tia didn’t want to be wrong anymore.

  But her hands were full, three bags of Christmas goodies hanging from each. She’d have to drop them all on the floor in the middle of the store’s only doorway in order to do what she wanted to right now. And if she did all that, the most likely outcome would be that Meg would push her away.

  And she’d deserve it.

  The look in Meg’s eyes, though, said otherwise. Her pupils were large with desire and her chest rose in a way that made Tia’s skin tingle when she saw it, even underneath all of the layers Meg was wearing. It felt like they broke up only a few days ago and she was still in the throes of that world-rocking emotion.

  In that moment, she really was on the verge of dropping those bags on the ground and sweeping Meg into the deepest, most romantic kiss. But then somebody cleared their throat behind Meg and Tia’s daydream went poof.

  There was a woman in a down jacket with a big furry hood standing outside the door, an impatient scowl on her face. “Excuse me,” she huffed in a tone that showed she wasn’t using the phrase politely by any means.

  Meg stepped aside, startled, and Tia moved out of the way so the woman could pass. Meg’s cheeks were still pink and she didn’t look Tia in the eye, but there was a little smile playing over her lips. To tell the truth, she looked more pleased than flustered or offended, and Tia sighed with shaky relief.

  “Let’s get these decorations up, huh?” Meg said, angling her head toward the car. “We should stop and check on Spruce and put up the things we got for my parents’ house, and then move onto making your lovely farmhouse look like something other than Scrooge’s mansion.” She tossed Tia a teasing look, and Tia shook her head with a half-smile.

  “When you get done with it, it’ll look like Santa’s Village, I’m sure.”

  “Part of the whole ‘treating me right’ you’re doing means enjoying all of the Christmassy things I’m putting you through,” Meg reminded her, amused.

  “I’m warming up,” Tia replied.

  And she certainly did feel warm right now, deep down to her bones.

  Chapter Eight

  Meg

  The next morning, Meg drove over to Tia’s farm. She’d left Tia the night before with strict instructions to finish decorating the house with the things they’d bought, and promised (or maybe threatened) to come back and make sure that Tia had brought in a Christmas tree and properly trimmed it with ornaments.

  The farmhouse looked like a greeting card in the new six inches of snow that had fallen overnight. Candles in the windows were already alight.

  When Tia opened the door, she looked nervous, and Meg narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She peered around: the house did look nice, with a felt pennant of red and white snowflakes hanging over the fireplace and figurines of deer and fir trees on the mantle. But there was no Christmas tree.

  “I give you a C+,” Meg said and came inside. “But only because you’re wearing the headband.”

  Tia touched the fluffy white snowballs on her head and winced. “I don’t have a tree yet, I know,” she said. “But I got a call from a pair of ladies who live up the mountain, and they need a tree, but the snow last night is going to keep my truck from getting all the way up to their house. I just finished cutting their tree down, and I’m going to have to haul it up on a sled with the snowmobile.”

  “Hmm,” Meg murmured, deliberating. “I guess that’s a good excuse. But the minute you get back—” She stopped, because Tia was looking at her with a hesitant expression, biting her lip and looking like she was about to say something.

  “Um...” Tia began. “Tell me if this is stupid and you don’t want to, but...I thought maybe you’d like to come with me? To deliver the tree? It seems like the traditionally Christmassy sort of thing you’d enjoy.”

  Meg blinked at her. She’d been sure their outing to get decorations yesterday was all Tia would be willing to give. That she offered to do these festive things with Meg at all had surprised her. Now she was actually inviting Meg along on something she could’ve easily done alone?

  “Okay,” Meg replied, a little dazed.

  Tia rubbed the back of her neck and looked away, her cheeks a little bit pink. “I could use the help,” she added. “Are you okay to leave Spruce for a couple hours?”

  “He started eating entirely solid food last night,” Meg replied, brightening up. “He’s a strong little guy. I’m very proud.”

  “I’ll bet,” Tia chuckled. “Okay, it’s going to be kind of a cold ride, so I have an extra scarf and hat if you need it.”

  “Oh, good,” Meg said, and sudden butterflies flitted through her stomach when Tia approached with the woolens. The scarf was white and very fluffy, and the fuzz of the cashmere yarn gave it an almost glowing appearance.
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br />   Tia wrapped it gently around Meg’s neck and arranged it on her shoulders. She was careful to keep her fingers away from Meg’s skin, but Meg was struck with a sharp sense of longing instead of being pleased about Tia’s respect.

  How she missed that touch.

  Meg breathed in, and the scent of the scarf nearly made her stagger. It wasn’t in the least overpowering, but it smelled just like Tia always did: almost spicy, invigorating, and delicious, like chili-infused chocolate.

  Tia handed her a red knit hat that Meg put on over the one she was already wearing for extra warmth. She wished, though, that Tia would put the hat on her as well. Then maybe Tia’s fingers would brush against her cheeks for the first time in twenty years.

  Meg came so close to getting that wish several times that day, but it never quite happened. She rode the snowmobile tucked against Tia’s back, arms wrapped securely around her waist. It was so cold that both of them were bundled up with no skin but their faces showing. Meg watched over her shoulder as the sled bumped behind them. A fat, perfect spruce tree was tied tightly down on it and a heavy chain tethered the sled to the snowmobile.

  It really did make her feel like she was in a picture book, even though in her usual holiday imaginings, there was a horse pulling the sleigh and not a snowmobile. Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother’s house we go, Meg began to hum, even though she couldn’t hear herself over the roar of the motor.

  The road they drove up really would’ve been impassable by truck right now. It was so narrow to begin with that the trees, heavy with snow, occasionally dropped big lumps of it that spattered against Meg’s back.

  The house was as picturesque as Meg could’ve asked for. It was a little log cabin with smoke curling out of a brick chimney and warm light in the windows. Tia stopped the snowmobile and Meg helped her carry the tree up to the door.