Santa, I have a wish!

Chapter 8. Troy

“Thank you for letting us stay. We haven’t really talked much. I can tell you a little bit about us? I’m Troy, 35 years old, from Texas, but I moved to a small town two hours away three years ago”."

I could see he wasn’t entirely comfortable talking about himself. He looked a little shy.

“That’s where you come from when I found you?”

He looked at me with sad eyes. Something was bothering him, but I just didn’t know what.

“If you want, you can help me put the stuff in the cabinet? I’m not very tall or huge, but I’m curious… how does it feel to be as SHORT as you? Do you identify as a shorts king?"

I laughed out loud. It was a bad joke—I wasn’t even close to his height. Troy was tall, muscular, and looked much bigger than most people. I’d guess 190 cm.

“A short king? That’s new. Be careful, or I might lift you up and put you on the fridge. Then you’d be stuck there!”

I could see he thought he was funny.

I didn’t mean to joke on his behalf—I just get weird in certain situations.

It’s like a mini panic attack that makes me say things I normally wouldn’t. I was just glad he didn’t get angry or upset, I have hurt people before because of this unexpected jokes that literally fall out of my mouth every time I get stressed.

“How tall are you, actually?”

“I’m 192.”

Ahhh, that was close! I guessed 190

“Yeah, that’s tall enough to reach the highest cabinet. It doesn’t matter how or where you place it, as long as something doesn’t knock me out when I open the door, then I’m fine.”

He laughed when I showed him how I would be knocked out, I have always talked a lot with body language.

He moved a big box onto the counter—stuff I didn’t even know what to do with. I had a home delivery with a lot of things. I think Lisa had someone deliver it quickly—it was outside the door yesterday, just like the bed.

~

“How do you use this?”

Troy pulled something out from the box. I’d never seen it before. It was made of steel, with a wheel that could move and spin it around.

“I really don’t know… maybe my mom knows,” I admitted. I couldn’t stand the thought of him pushing me to try it out when I didn’t even know what it was.

Troy pulled out item after item. Sometimes I recognized them, which made me feel proud—but honestly, most of it was unfamiliar.

“Why did you bring all this when you moved if you don’t even know how to use it?”

Troy laughed. I could tell he enjoyed seeing the confusion on my face with every new item he pulled out.

“I DON’T KNOW, OKAY?!”

He just looked at me, i could see that he was holding a big laugh inside

“Do you want pancakes or not?” I said with playful eyes, so he wouldn’t think I was angry.

Annabelle was in the living room, playing with some old toys I found in one of the boxes—a teddy, a doll, and a car. Not much! I remembered having some toys in the old house after a friend brought her kids over when I still lived with Mark. Mark hated that because they weren’t his kids.

i never knew if he was sad that it wasn’t his kids playing or that he wanted them out of the house

Annabelle is so sweet. I need to go get more toys and clothes once the snowstorm slows down. It’s still as bad as yesterday—I can’t even see the neighbors.

I really hope the electricity and lights don’t go out. I’ve been scared of the dark since I was a kid. Grandpa always stayed with me when the power went out. I have plenty of candles, just in case.

“Can you tell me something about yourself?” I could tell he didn’t want to pry too much but was curious.

Troy moved some bowls to the lowest cabinet so I could reach them. I’m not sure if it was intentional, but everything I didn’t know how to use ended up on the highest shelf. I’d need a chair or climb on the counter to reach it. Probably no problem—I’d never used most of these things anyway.

“Okay, is there something specific you want to know?”

I started flipping the pancakes. The smell was amazing—I couldn’t lie.

“I can see you moved recently. Why did you move?”

I hadn’t talked to anyone about what happened with Mark, except Lisa. I felt so stupid.

I probably thought about it too much.

A lot of people probably knew about the affair, but no one said anything. They likely thought I was stupid for not figuring it out sooner.

Every day, Mark came home, kissed my forehead, asked about my day. That went on for years. He looked at me with love, gave massages, compliments, bought flowers every week—always different colors. He knew I loved flowers on the dining table. Now the house is full of boxes, and the vases are empty. Then he changed.

“My name is Alice James, 33 years old. I bought this beautiful house, want to renovate it, mixing old and new. I got a job the first day I came to town. Everyone has been so nice and welcoming. I now work in a toy store with Karl, the owner. He’s really old and needs help with things. His granddaughter Molly wants to take over, but she’s only four, so that will probably take a few years,” I said, laughing.

“So you’re going to work there too, until Molly takes over?”

I could see he was thinking a lot. I hadn’t explained why I moved—he was probably wondering why I skipped that part. I just jumped over everything.

“I don’t know. I like Karl. He built the store himself—it’s like a big library, but instead of books, it’s filled with children’s toys. Karl has a really weird sense of what belongs together. I spend a lot of time trying to understand it.”

“Like what?”

“Princesses are on the same shelf as footballs.”

I looked at Troy—his face said he couldn’t see the similarity either.

“He also has cars standing with colors and drawing materials, like books and paintings. I asked why. If there was a good explanation, I could understand, but he just said it fits perfectly together.”

I started laughing. I really don’t understand Karl sometimes.

Troy just looked confused about everything, I hade the same face when Karl showed me around