Olivia watched as Nash squatted down while blinking back tears.He didn’t try to hide his emotions from any of them.“Hello there, Ella.Are you saying Nash?”
“Na.”And then she reached out to pat his scruffy jaw.
Nash laughed and hugged the little girl.“Good job, Ella.Thank you for making my day.”
“Na.”Then she squiggled down and grabbed Charlie’s hand again.
Charlie took it with a smile.“Great job, Ella.Now you can say all our names.You can call us whenever you want.”
Olivia groaned dramatically.“And so it begins.The princess will have us all at her beck and call.”
Nash grinned and stood to brush his hand down Olivia’s arm.“As it should be.Why don’t you guys stay here, and I’ll run in and see if the order is ready?Then we can go home.”
He jogged up the steps and rang a bell at the back door of the building.Olivia watched him because the view was terrific.
When she looked back down, Charlie was holding Ella’s hand and watching Olivia speculatively.Her heart bounced.
“Do you like my dad?”
Olivia’s skin flushed as she nodded.“I do.”
Charlie studied her.“Good.He likes you, too.”
She managed to smile.“That’s good to know.”
The boy grinned at her.“And I mean helikes you, likes you.”
That made her laugh.“That’s also good to know.”
He grinned.“He’s never had a girlfriend.”Then his smile dimmed.“Not since my mom, anyway.”
Olivia wasn’t sure how to respond, so she went with her gut.“He’s told me a bit about your mom.He said she loved you both very much.She sounds like a wonderful person.”
Charlie nodded.“I know.I wish she hadn’t died.”
Olivia pulled him in for a hug.The boy was almost her height, and she figured it wouldn’t be long before he soared past her.“I’m sorry.I know that’s got to be hard.It’s good to know she was a good person who loved you.”
He nodded and didn’t squirm out of her hug.“Yeah.But it would be okay with me if you and Dad dated.I think Mom would be okay with it, too.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks.“Thank you, Charlie.That means so much to me.You’re a pretty great person you know.”
He laughed, but the sound was watery, so she squeezed him harder.
“That’s what Dad tells me.”
She grinned.“He’s right.”
Ella tugged on Charlie’s hand.“Lee.Lee.”The rest of the sounds didn’t make sense, but Olivia figured it wouldn’t be long before the girl was speaking in phrases and then sentences.Now that she was connecting words to people, she’d likely expand her vocabulary quickly.
As Charlie walked Ella up and down alongside the truck, Olivia worked to control her emotions.She and Nash had Charlie’s approval as a couple.Other than being trusted with Ella, she wasn’t sure if anything else had ever caused this burst of pride in her heart.
The store’s door opened, and Nash held it as two men walked down the steps with a large box covered in a tarp.
Her snowshoes or whatever Nash had ordered?
She was grinning when one of the men stumbled on the stairs and drew her eye.
Big man, bruiser type with lots of muscles.Same coloring and hair as Adam, but he wasn’t facing her.
