“Yes, she is.”
“So are you.”
“Aw, thank you, Addie. You are too.”
“I made a wish that my dad would get married so he could live happily ever after.”
“That’s sweet of you.”
“I asked if he could marry you, but he said it takes a long time for people to decide who to marry.”
“It’s a big decision,” I blustered, trying not to show any reaction even as I reeled inside.
Luke and I had been together for less than a month. We were a long way from getting married, but this was one of those damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t topics. If I told her I wasn’t thinking about marrying her dad, she might take that the wrong way. If I told her I might marry him someday, just to appease her, she might take it to heart and start planning our wedding.
Instead of answering either way, I made my reply about her. “I hope you get your wish someday.”
I didn’t allow myself to think about whether I wanted it to be with me. Marriage? I wanted it someday, but my focus right now was learning to stand on my own two feet, personally and in my business.
Luke
On Thanksgiving night, we were open from six to nine every year. We did enough business to make it well worth opening up on a holiday evening, and tonight was no exception.
At quarter till six, I’d been about to run over to the barn to get Addie when two of our regular families had pulled up. Since my skeleton holiday crew was out taking care of last-minute tasks, I’d texted Magnolia to bring Addie over whenever she was ready to go home.
She’d walked into the sales shelter holding my daughter’s hand, and that vision had rocked me to my core and had me thinking about families.
That was premature, but something about seeing the two of them together made it easy to imagine a future with her. She might not believe she had any kind of knack with kids, but my daughter willingly holding her hand was proof otherwise. If Addie was drawn to her, that told me volumes.
Yeah, dude. Rushing it.
My premature fantasy had been helped along when Magnolia had asked if she could stay and help for a while. I got the impression she wasn’t looking forward to heading home to her empty apartment, but I would’ve said yes no matter what. I loved that she showed interest in my family’s business.
We ended up being short-handed due to the busiest Thanksgiving we’d had in recent years, so Magnolia’s help collecting payment was appreciated. My dad showed up right at six, determined to defy his doctor’s orders of no hard labor. Same story, different year. Having Magnolia there asking him questions as she learned served to deter him from helping me wrap trees and load them on vehicles.
Another reason it was good having her there was because he was still pissy about the cooking thing and snapped at me every time we were in close proximity.
At nine, we had two parties still out searching for their trees, so I’d asked my dad to take Addie in so she could get her pajamas on. That he’d agreed quickly told me he was indeed tired and had likely overdone it.
As Addie hugged Magnolia goodbye, my dad whispered to me, “Are we still putting the tree up when you’re done?”
I nodded to make sure Addie hadn’t heard since it was a surprise I’d engineered in the last two days. I’d marked the tree I wanted, and Scotty had cut it yesterday and put it in a stand in one of the outbuildings so it was ready for us to bring into the house and decorate.
My dad told Magnolia goodbye for show. I could easily tell he liked her because he was sugar sweet to her, in total contrast with his attitude toward me. That man could hold a heck of a grudge.
As soon as my dad and daughter were out of sight, I moved in on Magnolia and kissed her like I’d been dying to for the past three hours. Within seconds I had her pressed against the inside wall of the sales shelter as we waited for the last two stragglers to bring their trees up.
“Hello, sexy boyfriend,” she said when we came up for air.
“I needed that,” I said. “So I’ve got a question for you. Are you sick of my family, or would you like to stay and help us decorate our tree tonight?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Magnolia
The difference between my family and Luke’s was once again front and center as Luke and I made our way to the house, with him carrying a large Christmas tree and me opening doors for him.
In my family, we’d hired people to decorate our assortment of artificial trees so they’d be showpieces for my parents’ holiday parties.
