Noah and Angel were childhood sweethearts and teenage lovers. With youth comes unrealistic ideas sometimes, and also bad choices. But just about the time they reach manhood, Noah’s demons pull them apart.<br><br>Seven years later, he gets a second chance when Angel returns to town. Hoping everything can be different, Noah sets out to remind him how wonderful their past was by secretly sending him thirteen gifts commemorating their happiest times, one on each day beginning December 11.<br><br>By Christmas Eve, Noah hasn’t heard a word back, and wonders if Angel even recognized the meaning of the offerings. When Angel does get in touch, he only remembers the bad things that drove them apart. Can Noah remind him how good they had it, too?

The Presents and the Past

“Wait until you see it lit up.” My smile didn’t come easy. “Feel like decorating the tree?” I stepped back inside where it was warm. Both cats were right there, Pocket and Leo, the one I’d gotten the summer of the stick. He was eighteen now.


“I was waiting for you,” my mother said.


We did it together. Mom hummed along to Bing Crosby and Burl Ives as we strung lights and hung mostly unbreakable ornaments. When “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” came on, she sang full out. Thanks to my grandparents, most likely, the Christmas music in our home was always old-school.


“And now for the finishing touch.” I reached up to put on the topper.


“What ever happened to that boy you always liked so much? Angel…right?” My mother’s words sent me back in time again.


Chapter 20