“Don’t worry. It was the abridged version, but he knows the truth now and why I wasn’t there before. Why you looked so sad. His words, not mine.” I swept my thumb down her jaw and over her chin. When he’d told me, the guilt had returned. Every reminder of how I’d hurt her brought it hammering back.
“I’m not sad anymore,” she told me, giving me one of her smiles that made everything okay. “I’m proud of you. That was hard to do.”
“But necessary.”
“Necessary.”
This time I initiated the kiss, stopping it only when it threatened to have me lifting her onto the counter and doing inappropriate things to her. Things I would do once Reid was in bed.
“What did your mom want you to ask?” It took her a moment to catch her breath as lust danced in her irises. I leaned in and whispered, “I’ll finish that later.”
Her shiver was intoxicating.
“She wants Liv to join us.”
I snorted before I caught myself. “Liv doesn’t do family events or holidays.”
“That’s what I told her, but she pointed out that you didn’t either and maybe it was time to give Liv a chance to have a nice Christmas.”
I tried not to roll my eyes. Liv’s idea of celebrating a holiday was getting her nails done and drinking. Then again, mine had been a bottle of scotch and sitting in the dark with my ghosts, so maybe Tori’s mother was right. A little of the Hent family might be good for her.
“I’ll ask her, but don’t get offended if she says no.”
She shrugged. “Eh, I’ll wear her down.”
“You have two days, and I have no doubt you’ll try your best.” Giving her a peck, I freed her from my grasp. “I was thinking of making gnocchi for dinner. Sound good?”
“That sounds delicious. Oh, by the way,” she motioned me to her bedroom and pointed to the bed, “that came for Reid today.”
I looked over at the box on the bed, nervous stings pelting my skin. I didn’t have to get closer to know it was from my father. Tori had texted him my agreement to the gift, but I wasn’t sure I was ready for it.
Her hand caressed my back, and I glanced over at her.
“Second chances, right?” she said, reaching up and kissing my cheek.
“Right.”
I wasn’t so sure that was the right term for what I was giving my father, but it was up to him to prove he deserved my time. This was a start. He’d said he would send something, and he had. He had met the first test; the future would show me if he would meet any more.
Snow was falling, making for a white Christmas Eve that would turn into a white Christmas. Reid and his cousin were in the kitchen making cookies for Santa with their grandmother, while Tori was in the basement with Cash, Brandi, Cindy, and her boyfriend Noah. And Liv, who after some coaxing from Tori, had agreed to join us. Although the plethora of complaints she’d spouted on the way there had left me tempted to send her home.
Logs snapped in the fireplace, the only sound as I sat in the living room with Tori’s father, waiting for him to speak. I stared out the window, watching the snow accumulate on the deck.
“So, the last time I gave you my approval, you broke my daughter’s heart,” he finally said, and I could hear the hesitation. I’d expected resistance given my track record.
“And I can’t take that back. All I can do is make up for it.” I turned to him. “Which I’ve been doing and will continue to do. I promised you I wouldn’t hurt her again, and I won’t. She and Reid are my life now, and nothing will make me give them up this time.”
His blue eyes evaluated me, and I felt the weight of them. “It’s been far too long since I’ve seen her this happy. Don’t make me regret this.”
“I won’t.”
“Good. Now go ask my daughter to marry you so we can celebrate for the rest of your visit.”
I shook his hand before putting down my beer and making my way to the basement. Cash was telling Liv a story about Tori and Cindy when they were young and getting in trouble for something involving makeup and Barbie dolls. To my surprise, my sister actually laughed. Not her fake ‘I’m annoyed and want to leave’ laugh. This was a genuine laugh that had me smiling. She looked relaxed for the first time in years, and I thought perhaps Tori’s mother had been right after all. Liv just needed a little of Tori’s family to remind her of what Christmas could be.
Walking over to Tori, I gave her a kiss on the head and motioned for her to join me. “Take a walk with me,” I told her, holding my hand out to her.
Liv raised her finely manicured brow, and I suspected she knew what I was up to.
