I met her gaze, and when she looked at me, I swore I saw somethingknowingflicker in her eyes, like she was putting pieces of a puzzle together.
She offered me a curious smile, looking between me and Maverick once more. “Dinner will be ready in five.”
I nodded, trying to play it off. “Okay.”
Morgan cast one more suspiciously amused glance in my direction before turning and walking back inside.
Shit.
Chapter 25
The holidays were harderthan they used to be.
With Thanksgiving past and Christmas approaching, I kept thinking about Noah—and in turn, Melanie and the twins. If the holidays felt hard for me, I could only imagine how they felt forthem.
I’d kept in touch with Melanie since I’d gone to see her that day. I tried to, at least, send a message once a week to check in on her, and she’d reached out to me, too.
It was my day off, so I took advantage of it to go out and get some holiday shopping out of the way, so I wouldn’t be waiting until the last minute. I wanted to get something for Melanie’s kids for Christmas, but I had no idea what to get. I’d never bought for kids before, and wasn’t exactly sure what to buy for two-year-old twins.
I lingered in front of the toy store window downtown, my face close to the glass as I studied the displays inside, hoping something would catch my eye.
“Seeing you stare longingly into atoy shopwasn’t on my bingo card, but here we are.”
I turned at the sound of the familiar voice, smiling when I spotted Haley walking toward me. My eyes dropped down to the bags in her hands. “Either you’re Christmas shopping or you did some serious retail therapy.”
“Both,” she quipped. She stepped up beside me, looking into the window. “Why are you staring into a toy shop?”
“I’m trying to figure out a gift.”
“Who do you know that has kids?”
Her innocent question sent a sharp pang through me, constricting my chest. “A friend of mine,” I managed, the words tight, too thick with things I didn’t want to explain.
“Want some help?”
I glanced at her, feeling that familiar calm that her presence always brought me whenever she was around. “If you’re up for it.”
Haley smiled and nodded, gesturing to the toy shop door. “Tell me about the kids.”
When we walked inside, we were immediately met with the sounds of toys beeping, chirping, and honking, along with kids giggling and screaming. “They’re twins. Two years old. A boy and a girl.”
“Aw,” she cooed with a smile. “Alright, well, toddlers are pretty easy to please. Anything that lights up and makes sound oughta do the trick.”
I spent the next hour in the store with Haley, picking out gifts for the twins. Then we walked the cobblestone streets downtown and stopped for lunch. Afterward, we stopped at her place so she could drop off her bags, then headed to my house.
I clung to Nate’s ‘a little at a time’ advice, sometimes out ofhope, sometimes sheer necessity. Sure, part of me still held back, but I couldn't help letting her in, bit by bit, almost without even noticing. Being with her and letting down walls was becoming easier—she filled the empty, aching spaces in my thoughts and quieted them until all I wanted was the calm she brought me.
Haley was the only thing that made me feel remotely like my old self, like the unbroken, unmarred version of the man I once was. Wanting her felt natural, but now I realized I was starting toneedher, a truth that was both petrifying and the single most comforting thing I’d felt in as long as I could remember.
I spent Christmas Day at my parents’ house with Gabe, and Maverick was with me—my mom wrapped a bag of treats and a couple of toys for him.
While my mom was finishing our early dinner, I sat quietly in the living room. My heart swelled as I watched a video Melanie had sent me of Parker and Paisley opening the gifts I had bought them, and I couldn’t help but smile.
Midway through watching the video for a second time, my phone buzzed with a new message.
Haley
Merry Christmas
