“I smile.”
She lifted an eyebrow in challenge.
He frowned.
She lifted both eyebrows in an I-told-you-so look.
He chuckled.
“You need to get out and play more,” she bumped him with her hip.
He considered her admonition. “You might be right.”
She turned, her hair over her shoulder, and her blue eyes sparkling. “Of course I’m right.”
He chuckled–again. It didn’t escape his notice that he’d done that twice in a matter of five minutes with her. “Being a single parent comes with a lot of responsibility.”
Charlotte nodded for him to go on.
“When Lizzie’s mom asked me to take her when she passed–I felt this blanket of responsibility wrap around me.”
“Wait–she’s not your daughter?” Charlotte pointed to where Lizzie and Jenny were about ten feet ahead.
“Not my biological daughter. But I promised to raise her as my own.”
“Wow,” Charlotte whispered. “You’re quite a man, Micah.”
“The truth is…” he trailed off, unsure if he should trust her with his deepest confession.
She stopped and turned, inviting him to share and focusing on just him. Somehow, he knew she wouldn’t judge him for what he was about to say.
“I have no idea what I’m doing,” he confessed. “And this is supposed to be the easy part. What happens when she hits puberty?”
Charlotte pulled her lips tight and put her hand over her mouth as if stifling a laugh.
A little hurt, Micah started walking again.
“Wait!” She grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks.
“No. It’s fine. Go ahead and laugh at me.”
She shook her head quickly, making her dark hair bounce. “I was laughing because I remember my dad covering his ears anytime we started girl talk. He’d run from the room faster than a reindeer flies.”
He stared at the snow and then kicked it.
She stepped closer, drawing his eyes to hers. “The thing is–he had no idea what he was doing, but we didn’t care. We loved him like crazy, and Lizzie will love you like that, too. My mom told me not long ago that they learned as they went. That we raised them as much as they raised us.”
His gaze drifted to Lizzie, and he thought about all the things he’d learned from her–seeing the world through her eyes was an education in and of itself.
“What I’m saying is that you’re normal.” Charlotte grabbed his coat pocket and tugged. “And sledding is good for your soul, so let’s do this!” Pulling him along, she charged up the hill.
Micah’s feet moved as if they knew his place was with her, and he didn’t argue one bit. Her words, the wisdom she shared, made him feel all that much more capable.
They also made her all that much more alluring. How could a woman be more attractive when dishing out parenting advice? If he weren’t careful, he’d fall for her in a big way. It wouldn’t be hard–just a little slip of the heart, and he’d be hers.
And try as he might, he couldn’t come up with a reason he shouldn’t.
ChapterNine
