DEREK: Okay, I can’t take it.
DEREK: It’s fucking DEAN MADDOX AND WESLEY BLACK!
I take a breath and set the phone down. I may have only been screaming via text, but it still feels good to have it out there in the open. I catch Hattie’s eyes, and she smirks at me, mouthing,I know what you’re doing.
I feign innocence, grabbing a roll and passing it down the line. There are two things on my plate right now, and I am going to starve if I don’t stop texting.
However, I feel the buzz against my leg. Over and over again I feel it.
“Derek, your phone is popular,” Rora says, pressing against it where it sits in my pocket.
Birdie smiles and asks, “Who’s texting you so much?”
Wow. If that question had come from my last girlfriend, it would have been with a sneer and a snide tone. But Birdie’s question is just genuine, filled with trust for me.
“The guys.”
She leans over Rora’s head and smiles. “Did you tell them who’s here?”
I give a sheepish shrug. “Possibly.”
She laughs at me, and I smile back. “Are they freaking out?”
“Yup,” I say simply, and because she’s close enough and I’m right here, I place a very chaste kiss against her lips, reaching my hand around her shoulders and rubbing her back gently. We turn back to the table, and I catch a glance from Valerie, who’s got the biggest smile on her face, watching our interactions.
I think it’s safe to say this family likes me.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“You don’t find Santa sexy, you find him sexy in a Santa suit. There’s a big difference.” - Hattie
ELIZABETH
The snow is barely coming down this morning, but I am fully counting it as the first snow of the season. The wind that comes off the mountain makes it feel cold enough for a blizzard, but this is my favorite thing about winter. The snow.
It isn’t enough to keep me away from the store this weekend, and I have plans for today.
Rora helps me carry things from the car, trucking our way up the sidewalk to the front of the store, where the window has been decorated with a Christmas theme—Derek really lets me do whatever I want—and a sign that announces our gingerbread-making class today.
Thankfully, or not, it’s wooden gingerbread houses that I found at wholesale that I got for today.
I’m really excited about all the items I’ve been coming up with, and I hope that I don’t overwhelm Derek too bad.
The bell above the door chimes as we walk in, me holding the bags tightly while Rora walks through, her arms as full as they can be.
“Ho, ho, ho, who goes there?”
I turn, and my jaw drops in surprise. Derek is fully decked out in a Santa suit, from the boots to the sash to the hat on his head. There is also a big, white, fluffy beard on his face.
“Derek! You’re Santa!” Rora drops the items she’s holding and rushes to him, the same way she does when she always sees him, which makes my heart leap happily in my chest.
“I am. What do you think? Think the kids will like it?”
“Yes! Look what Mommy brought!” Rora ceremoniously dumps out the bag she was holding. I give myself a nice pat on the back for being aware of my four-year-old, keeping the bags of smaller tools and things in my hands.
She grabs one of the garments and holds it up. “See!”
Derek reads the front of the child-sized apron and then looks over at me in shock. “You had these made?”
