Chapter 10

“Want some cocoa?” Jim asked as he hung a series of hand-painted Christmas balls decorated with holly leaves and reindeer.

“Maybe later. I’m still buzzed on wine.” Edward held a box of glass ornaments meant to appear like icicles.

Butters watched them from his perch by the fireplace but he didn’t offer any help.

“I didn’t get too many ornaments,” Jim admitted. “When I was a kid, Mom sort of got a new set of ornaments every year, to add to the collection, you know, and I kind of thought of doing that with my own tree.”

Edward smiled. “That’s a really nice thought. I don’t remember you talking much about your childhood. Was it a good one?”

Jim nodded. “I grew up in an LA suburb called West Hills. My dad was a cop.”

“Yeah?”

“A good one. Mom worked in insurance. I had three brothers and two sisters.”

“Big family.”

Jim shrugged. “It seemed so when I was a kid, but not so much now. One of my brothers was killed in a car accident when he was in high school.”