“Whatever.” She pulled her arm back and launched the snowball. It hit Dad in the leg.
Dad looked over.
Natalie pointed at me.
He bent down and scooped up some snow. “Prepare to eat a snow-burger, Goldilocks!”
“No! Not my new coat.” I screeched and dodged a snowball.
Addy squealed in delight and squished together a snowball, whipping it at her grandfather.
Ten minutes later, I tromped back inside the house, shaking the snow out of my hair. The table was set, and Susan was nowhere to be seen. She was probably back downstairs trying to sex up Cooper.
Slipping off my coat, I headed toward my bedroom. If I found out the Jolly Jezebel had laid one finger on Doc, I’d cram the kids’ Christmas stockings down her throat, my vow not to ruin the day be damned.
I had company in my room. My favorite kind—tall, dark, and happy to see me.
Doc looked up from digging through his bag, his eyes dipping to my waist. “You still sporting that mistletoe, Vixen?”
“Why?” I hung my new coat in the closet. “You feel like doing some kissin’, big boy?”
He grinned. “Something like that.”
“What are you looking for?” I pointed at his bag.
“My phone charger.” He pulled out a cord, coming over to me. He plucked something from my hair. “Looks like you ran over the river and through the woods on the way to Grandmother’s house.”
“Natalie started a snowball fight with Dad and Reid. They bombarded us with snow bombs.” I chuckled at the memory. “They make a good team.”
“Your aunt won’t be thrilled to hear that.”
I walked over to the door and closed it. “While you’re in here, I have something for you.”
He rubbed his hands together. “Bring on that mistletoe.”
“I left it outside.”
“I’ll improvise.”
“My mother would like your positive attitude.” I opened my dresser drawer and pulled out the present I had hidden under the linens my mom stored there. Now that the time had come to give him his last present, my heart was pounding hard. It had seemed like a good idea when the kids and I came up with it, but …
Before I could wimp out, I handed Doc the ten-by-ten inch box.
“What’s this?”
I clasped my damp palms together. “One last present. This one is from the kids and me together.”
His brow lifted. “Should I open it without them here?”
I nodded. If he didn’t like the gift, I’d rather they not be here to see his face.
“Okay.” He tore the paper off and pulled off the box lid, staring down at the gift for one second less than an eternity. When he looked up, his expression was hard to decipher.
My gut flip-flopped. “I hope you don’t mind,” I said hurriedly as he set it down on the bed, my voice sounding fluttery. “The kids and I thought you might like it for your desk at work, but if it makes you uncomfortable, I can tell them—”
He grabbed me by the shoulders and kissed me with an intensity that consumed every single thought rattling around in my head. When he pulled back, I had to blink a couple of times in order to touch back down on Earth.
“Does that mean you like it?” I whispered.
He picked the gift up again, smiling at the picture frame Addy and Layne had decorated together. “I love it.”
Doc’s name was scrawled across the top of the frame in Addy’s best writing. She’d added a puffy chicken sticker after his name. Layne had drawn an orange dragon along the bottom.
Inside the frame was a picture of the kids and me that Aunt Zoe had taken last summer in her backyard. It wasn’t one of my better shots. My hair was spiraling half out of my ponytail and my makeup was sparse, but the three of us were giggling about something, so the photo showed the real deal. The kids had insisted it was one of our best pictures, so I’d consented.
“They both made you homemade cards, too.” I pointed at the envelope that had been under the frame. It held both cards.
He pulled out Addy’s first. On the front was a drawing of a blond stick girl and a stick chicken wearing a sweater. Inside, she’d written how much she loved Doc’s French toast and how happy she was that he liked her mother.
Chuckling, he lowered the card. “Wooed by food. Like mother like daughter.”
“We’re easy that way.”
He set Addy’s card aside and opened Layne’s.
My son had drawn a sword that looked like one of the weapons from his medieval books. Inside, he’d written something that he’d refused to let me see at the time.
“What’s it say?” I asked, leaning closer. “Layne wouldn’t let me read it.”
Doc handed me the card. “Your kids are tough on a lonely bachelor’s heart.”
I looked down at the card, reading Layne’s scrawls:
My mom told me that you don’t have a mom anymore, so when you’re sick or scared or lonely you have nobody to hug you and make you feel better. Since you need a mom and I have a good-smelling one who likes to hug, I will share her with you.
P.S.—Watch out when you have sleepovers with my mom. She has very cold feet and kicks a lot.
P.S.S.—Addy kicks a lot, too.
I looked up at Doc, swiping the tears from my eyes. “Good thing for you I don’t stink, huh?”
He pulled me into his arms, wrapping me in a tight hug. “Thank you, Violet.”
“That gift was partly the kids’ idea.”
He tipped my chin up. “I mean thank you for giving me a wonderful Christmas with your family.”
My heart swelled at the love in his dark eyes. “Don’t jinx us, Candy Cane. The day isn’t over yet.”
“Violet! Doc!” Aunt Zoe called. “It’s time to eat.”
Doc followed me out into the dining room. Everyone else was in the process of sitting down at the table while licking their chops and complimenting the cooks. Doc whispered something in Addy’s ear and then Layne’s, leaving each
