“But he still left me,” Noelle said sadly, and my heart hurt for her. “Grace at school said I didn’t have a dad because I was bad.”
Kids could be cruel. “That’s not true. Sweetheart, your dad loved you so much, and he was coming home to you, but he had an accident. That’s why he’s gone,” I offered.
“An accident? Did he fall over?”
“Kind of. He was in a car, and it had an accident.”
“Oh.”
I watched as my words sank in and hurt her. I wished today, of all days, this hadn’t come up, but I wasn’t surprised it had. Other than my father, a man who would rather pay someone to play in the snow with Noelle than actually do it himself, Noelle had grown up with no male role models in her life. I’d never dated. Not once since Nick. I’d never wanted to. Never even really considered it as an option, and maybe that was my mistake.
I adjusted Noelle in my arms so she was facing me. Cuppingher cheeks in my hands I needed her to hear what I was saying. Even if she was only six years old, I needed her to know, to understand.
“Sweetheart, your dad loved you so much. If he could’ve been here with you playing in the snow, he would’ve. He would’ve helped you wrap the presents. He would’ve carried the tree. He would’ve even snuck you chocolates and candy before dinner just to see you smile.”
“Like Chris did?” Noelle replied, and I froze.
I couldn’t tell her she was wrong. She was absolutely right. Chris was a stranger who rescued us from the side of the road, but he was so much more than that. To my little girl, my angel who’d had her own father stolen from her too early, Chris had given her everything she never knew she wanted. A dad for Christmas.
fourteen
CHRIS
I hadn’t meantto eavesdrop.
I’d ducked out the back and chopped some more firewood and was hauling some in when I overheard their conversation.
The sadness in Holly’s voice had me freezing on the spot and waiting for them to have their moment. It felt like I was intruding but I couldn’t move. My feet were cemented to the floor.
“Sweetheart, your dad loved you so much. If he could’ve been here with you playing in the snow, he would’ve. He would’ve helped you wrap the presents. He would’ve carried the tree. He would’ve even snuck you chocolates and candy before dinner just to see you smile.” Holly’s voice broke as she said it. I hadn’t known the story of Noelle’s father, and even though I was intrigued I didn’t want to pry. But this told me more than I needed to know. Noelle’s father hadn’t just left, he’d died. Holly wasn’t just a single mom, she was a widow. Suddenly, my own pain and bullshit didn't seem like it mattered.
“Like Chris did?” Noelle replied,and I froze
When Noelle replied, I dropped a log on my foot. “Oof,” I grunted.
Having outed myself, I picked up the offending hunk of timber and pushed open the door. Holly looked up at me with red-rimmed eyes, and I knew it wasn’t the cold that had knocked her around.
“I didn’t want to run out,” I offered pathetically as a way of explanation before I started unloading the wood in my arms into the stack by the fireplace.
“Good idea,” Holly replied, sitting up a little straighter and wiping her eyes.
I wanted to hug her. I wanted to tell her how sorry I was for her loss. I wanted to assure her that no matter what, she was an incredible mom, and Noelle was a credit to her. I wanted to promise her that she’d never be alone.
That thought had me mentally slapping myself.
I’d already come to terms with the fact that Holly was hot, but I wasn’t going there. That’s not what this was. Not what we were. Holly and Noelle were passing through. They weren’t forever. As soon as the storm cleared and I managed to get her car back on the road, they’d be on their way. I needed to remember that.
Holly stood up and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders like it was a cape. “How much longer do you think the storm will last?” she asked, walking over to the window and pushing back the curtains.
“Not much longer. The weather channel says it should ease by morning,” I told her.
“I can’t see anything out there and it’s not even four in the afternoon,” Holly continued.
Noelle bounced to her feet and stood beside her mother. There was no doubt they were related. The apple definitely didn’t fall far from the tree with them. Noelle was thespitting image of her mother, and was sure to be a heartbreaker in her teens.
“Can you see our snowman?” Noelle asked, pushing up on her toes and trying to stare out the window.
Leaving them to it, I ducked back out the door and collected the last of the wood, stacking it by the fire. After adding a log, I watched as flames licked the timber and the crackling sound echoed around the room.
