“I ditched them,” Grant shrugged. “Your dad and my dad started throwing punches out in front of American Eagle, and I bolted.”
“Grant,” Joanna snickered. “Certain situations are awkward enough without any assistance, don’t you think?”
“Joey, just the girl I was looking for; I found something I need you to buy me!” Grant exclaimed.
“I called Santa,” Joanna quipped. “You didn’t make the good list again this year…imagine that!”
“That has got to be a mistake,” Grant shook his head.
“Grant, you and Hailey go stand in front of the Christmas tree and let me take your picture,” Nora wagged her finger in the air, gesturing toward the tree.
“Photoshoot!” Jessica exclaimed.
Grant and Hailey stood in front of the tree. He put his arm around her, and Hailey placed her hand lovingly against his chest. They both smiled broadly.
“Could they be any cuter?” Melissa nudged Joanna.
“Grant, put her on your back for a picture!” Jessica instructed.
Grant stooped down, so Hailey could reach his shoulders, and she hoisted herself onto his back. Grant bounced her around playfully. “Be still, so your mom can take the picture,” Hailey giggled as she slapped him. She wrapped her arms around Grant’s neck, placing her face right up against his as Nora snapped the picture.
Rachel turned to Emily and Jessica. “So do y’all think he’ll marry her?” she asked.
“I think they talk about it,” Jessica nodded gleefully.
“Do you see him?” Emily pointed. “That’s Grant! Smiling, happy…genuinely enjoying the presence of another person! Enough said, right?”
“I’ve never seen him this happy,” Melissa agreed.
Hailey slid off of Grant’s back. “I should make you carry me around the whole mall like that!” she joked.
“Do a kissing one!” Nora called.
Hailey laughed, embarrassed and shaking her head as she buried her face in Grant’s chest. “Take that one…take that one, Mom,” Rachel laughed, as Grant looked down at Hailey, grinning.
“We’re in the middle of a mall, Mom!” Grant exclaimed. “I’m not mackin’ on my girlfriend as part of some live window display!”
“He’s not what?” Nora asked.
The girls giggled.
“Just kiss her once,” Nora persisted.
Hailey stood on her tiptoes and puckered her lips. Grant pecked her lips much too quickly for the camera to capture. Then, knowing his mother would have them stage the kiss again, he decided it would be fun to play along. “Lift one leg off the ground like the girls in the movies do to indicate it’s true love,” he instructed Hailey. “I’m gonna do it to.”
Grant’s sisters, as well as passing onlookers, laughed with delight as Nora snapped the picture.
“Come here, Princess Leah,” Grant knelt down and opened his arms. “Come take a picture with me and Aunt Hailey!”
“Well, there’s your answer I guess!” Jessica nudged Rachel.
“Look how sweet,” Melissa gasped as Leah ran into Grant’s arms. He turned her around to face the camera as Hailey knelt down and put her arms around both of them. “Oh my goodness, I want that in a frame,” Melissa cried.
Joanna put her arm around her sister-in-law. “You okay, Mom?” she smiled.
“Yes,” Melissa laughed as she wiped away her tears. “That was just so sweet! Leah loves her Uncle Grant! She was grinning like a little cheese ball!”
“Did everyone finish their shopping, so we can get out of here?” Randy bellowed above the crowd.
Nora laughed. “No, but we bought fudge! Can I interest you in any?”
Randy gestured above Nora’s head. “Are you aware you are standing beneath the mistletoe, Mrs. Cohen?”
Nora looked up and smiled despite herself. “And not a soul has walked by and tried to kiss me,” she declared with mock agitation.
“Kiss, I’ll take your picture,” Grant smiled devilishly.
Randy puckered his lips, and Nora turned away purposefully. “Let’s finish our shopping and get back to Hope Hull,” she declared, clapping her hands encouragingly. “I know everyone must be tired from the flight.”
“We’re going to the toy store,” Grant called as he held Leah in one arm and took Hailey’s hand with the other.
“And Old Navy,” Hailey grinned over her shoulder as he drug her away.
Despite splitting up, it was difficult for everyone not to keep running into each other in the mall. When Nora caught Jessica trying on an armload of clothes and modeling them one-by-one like a runway model in front of the dressing room mirror in the walkway between the stalls, she told her to pick her three favorite outfits and act surprised on Christmas morning. Jessica flung both arms around Nora’s neck, and it took her no time to pick three complete outfits for herself. Still, they spent half an hour in the dressing room with Jessica holding up tops saying, “wouldn’t this one look good on Hailey? I think this color would be perfect with Emily’s hair! I think I’ll get this one for Hailey because it would look so good with that blue shirt Grant has.”
David, Melissa and Leah, whom Grant had returned to them inside the Hallmark store where everyone seemed to have converged to pick up a gift for Granny Miller, ran into Grant again in the Nike store, or, better yet, followed him there and stalked him around the store until David finally quipped, “funny running into you here…see anything you like? What size shoe are you wearing these days?”
Grant reached for a box of tennis shoes. “I happen to know these fit perfectly and look rather nice.”
