For once, Ayla complied without dallying.
I cleaned up the mess in the kitchen and opened the door when Hudson knocked. "You're here early."
"We have a lot to do today," Hudson said with a smile.
One of his brothers carried a tree behind him, so I moved out of their way.
"Where do you want it?" Maverick asked gruffly.
"In front of the windows." I'd cleared a space for it last night.
"I brought a stand in case you didn't have one." Hudson followed him into the room, and they got to work setting it up. The room already smelled like pine. Now it felt like Christmas.
My tiny artificial tree didn't have the same ambiance. In fact, it looked a little sad next to the real one.
They'd just gotten the tree straight when I heard footsteps on the stairs. Ayla ran into the living room and skidded to a stop in front of the tree. "A real tree?"
"You wanted one, yes?" Hudson asked, and Ayla nodded.
"You want to help us decorate it? Clara gave us ornaments."
Ayla nodded eagerly. "Is this the surprise?"
"One of the surprises."
One? I raised a brow at Hudson, but he just winked at me. He was having fun surprising Ayla, and I didn't want to ruin the moment by asking what he was planning.
Morgan and Maverick carried boxes in. "This is everything, the lights and ornaments."
"Thanks," Hudson said.
"Thanks for bringing the tree," I said to them as they passed.
"It was all Hudson's doing," Morgan called over his shoulder.
Hudson rubbed his hands together. "Now let's get this tree decorated."
My heart squeezed. It was a nice gesture, but what did it mean?
CHAPTER 11
HUDSON
The plan was for me to help decorate the tree while the guys set up the lights on the porch. I was supposed to distract Angela and Ayla so they wouldn't see what was going on. That meant keeping them out of the kitchen so they couldn't see the activity out the window.
Ayla hit Play on a holiday music playlist on Angela's phone. Then she danced around the tree, holding an ornament. She stopped and admired the tree. "It finally feels like Christmas."
My heart felt full. "It sure does."
Angela seemed more cautious as if she couldn't figure out what I was doing here, and what my intentions were.
I couldn't get the image of her in that lingerie out of my head. But it was more than that. I enjoyed spending time with her and her daughter. I wanted them to have a good Christmas. No matter how many times I told myself it was a bad idea to get involved with them, I kept doing things that moved me closer.
It made no sense, and I was going to stop analyzing the situation. I was happy to be here with them, decorating their tree, and excited for their reaction to the outdoor lights. We were bringing them Christmas, and it felt so good.
Ayla had the music playing loudly, which should block out any noise outside. As long as my brothers didn't get into a fight and start rolling around on the porch, we'd be okay.
They could act like civilized human beings when they wanted to. I'd gotten some ribbing about coming here today. When I texted them last night, they only agreed to help so that they could get information about what was going on with Angela. I hadn't agreed to that condition.
