She schooled herself. Pax was the shy brother. The one who locked himself away day after day, according to Drake.
Her eyes dropped closed as the pain Drake’s rejection caused blossomed freshly inside of her. Would that ever stop, or was she destined to live it over and over again?
“Uh. Mom said not to wake you up.” Pax’s ears turned dark red. “But she wanted you to come down as soon as you were out. That’s why I’m standing here. She thought I would have the patience to wait for you.”
She smiled. “You mean you have more patience than your brothers?”
He jerked his head once.
“I need to get my things from the laundry room.” She looked down at what she was wearing.
“Yeah. You probably should.” He motioned toward the stairs. “You can go first.”
“Thanks.” Pax had this aura about him that was so different from any of the rest of the Nicholas ’ clan. Where Caleb and Jack took charge and would muscle their way through a problem, Pax seemed like the type to ponder over it for a while. Where Forest charged out into the world, Pax hung back. And where Drake–blossoms, ouch!--was smooth and charming, Pax was thoughtful and kind.
“How did you survive in this family?” she said without thinking as she tromped down the stairs.
Pax chuckled. “I sometimes wonder the same thing.” They reached the bottom, and she turned. “Wait,” he said. She stopped. “To be honest, my family gave me room to be me. I shouldn’t have joked about surviving them.”
She wanted to roll her eyes at his sweetness, but something he said stopped her. “What did you mean, they gave you room to be you?”
He shuffled his feet. “I’m different, but it’s okay. They like that I can weld and build and take care of things. They don’t make me talk, but if I do, they’ll listen. I can be me.”
She gulped. “You’re a very lucky man to have a family like that.”
He smiled slyly. “You know . . . Drake is a part of the family, too. He’s not so bad—once you get to know him,” he added quickly.
Clove laughed. “I’m sure. Trust me, Drake isn’t—he didn’t—I mean, I’d love to—.” She lifted her arms and let them flop back to her sides. “Can we stop talking now?”
He slumped with relief. “Sure.”
She giggled. What a sweet guy. One day, a woman would come in like a hurricane and throw him for a loop. Either that, or a quiet girl would slowly work her way into his heart without him even knowing. She hoped, either way, he was happy. He’d be a great husband—seeing needs and meeting them without needing or even wanting her to make a big deal out of it.
They reached the living room and Anna burst from her rocker by the fireplace, throwing her knitting off to the side. “You’re up. And you’re starving.”
Her stomach agreed. Clove curved in on herself in an effort to make it stop.
“Come into the kitchen. We’ll feed you and then talk about what’s happened.” Anna bustled ahead as if she hadn’t dangled a cliffhanger in front of Clove’s nose.
Pax followed them and then continued on to the mudroom. “I'll be in the shop if you need me.”
“Have a wonderful day! Don’t be too late. There are Christmas Eve things to do.” Anna smiled fondly at her son.
“I won’t.” He shoved his felt hat down on his head and was out the door.
“Something happened?” Clove asked as Anna set a plate full of warm cinnamon rolls in front of her. They had enough icing to make a gingerbread house—just the way Clove liked them.
Anna opened her mouth to answer, but Abner burst in, bringing in a cold draft. “Did you tell her yet?”
“I was about to,” Anna winked. She took Clove’s free hand between hers and asked, “How do you feel about dating criminals?”
Clove’s hand stopped halfway to her mouth. “Excuse me?”
Abner gave Anna’s shoulder a light squeeze. “That was my joke.” He focused on Clove. “We were joking about how to tell you and I came up with that line.”
Anna swatted at him playfully. “It was a good one. I couldn’t let the opportunity slip by.”
He chuckled as he sat down. “Her idea was to see how you felt about another jailbreak.”
