Page 34 of This Christmas

Chapter Nine

It was the most natural thing, having Joe move into the guest room on the main floor.

Aiden had called Joe and informed him that Ted had left Pride shortly after breakfast and was heading toward Portland. That was a huge relief, but they still hadn’t heard anything about Peterson. The man hadn’t been seen in town since he’d confronted her at the pizzeria, which she was thankful for. Maybe Ted had fired him and he’d returned to the city?

Joe had retrieved his things from the hotel after breakfast that first morning. He’d come back with two sets of new door locks and spent almost an hour replacing both the front and back door locks with Nate’s help.

Nate took a set of keys for him and for Faye. She removed the old house key and replaced it on her ring along with the keys to the basement and her car.

Joe had settled in the downstairs guest room with just a small duffel bag of his things. That made her wonder what sort of place he had back in the city. Was it a house or an apartment?

His heavy jacket hung on the hook by the back, door along with hers and Charlotte’s, like it had always belonged there.

The next morning when she came downstairs, still half-asleep and wearing one of her oversized holiday sweaters and Christmas leggings, the smell of coffee and sizzling bacon greeted her before she hit the bottom step.

She stopped just outside the kitchen doorway and took in the scene for a moment before either of them noticed her.

Charlotte was already sitting at the table, legs swinging, hair sticking out in every direction, as she spooned whipped cream and sprinkles into a mountain on her hot chocolate.

Charlotte was very chipper and chatting about who knows what. It was unusual for her to be this chatty so early in the morning. And the fact that Joe was listening and responding like it was important warmed her heart.

Joe was standing at the stove, flipping pancakes like he’d done it a hundred times before, occasionally answering a silly question Charlotte threw at him.

He glanced over his shoulder and spotted her and gave her a half grin. “Good morning. I hope you don’t mind, but your kid insisted we needed the ‘fun pancakes ’ again. And bacon.”

“The ones shaped like hearts,” Charlotte said proudly, “taste better.”

Ally laughed softly. “Of course they do.”

She moved to pour herself a cup of coffee, and her heart did strange, unfamiliar things as she watched Joe easily move around the kitchen. He looked like he belonged there. He was barefoot, hair still damp from his shower, and he hummed Christmas tunes under his breath as he flipped heart-shaped pancakes onto a plate.

It was a simple domestic task, something that Ted would never do. She often wondered how Ted managed to live without her since she doubted he could open a soda can by himself. Did he hire maids, cooks, someone to wipe his butt?

“Oh, I promise my pancakes aren’t that bad,” Joe said, interrupting her thoughts as he stepped up, holding out a plate toward her.

“Sorry.” She cleared her mind. “I need more coffee.” She wiggled her half-empty mug and then took it and the plate of heart-shaped pancakes to the table and sat next to her daughter, who was trying to squeeze the syrup on her plate all by herself. She took over that task before it became a tidal wave of stickiness. Joe walked over and refilled her coffee and set the creamer down in front of her before turning back to the stove.

Did he even know what the small task of serving her did to her? Was it on purpose? She knew people could pretend to care or be nice, but then over time, they dropped the facade.

Was he faking this?

She figured the only way to know was to watch him carefully over the next few days. Still, something deep inside her told her it wasn’t a ruse. She’d had plenty of warning signals with Ted.

He’d come from wealth, power, and if you’d met his mother once, you would have known to run away. The apple hadn’t fallen far from that tree. She’d controlled everything about their wedding, right down to the shoes Ally had worn that day. Back then, she’d just been grateful for all the nice things since her single mother of three hadn’t been able to afford much, especially with Faye’s medical bills piling up.

As they ate, Charlotte kept them entertained by talking about her and Joe’s big plans to build a snow fort in the backyard. He listened to her like every word mattered to him and even added in the occasional dramatic gasp or serious nod, which made Charlotte giggle until she nearly tipped off her chair.

Ally couldn’t remember the last time her daughter had laughed with a man like this. Well, except for with Max and Nate. But they were both family, so they didn’t really count.

After they had built that snow fort, exactly to Charlotte’s specifications, she and Charlotte had gone upstairs to lie down for a nap. Joe had made a run into town for groceries so by that evening, the fridge was freshly restocked. He’d come back from the store with everything from extra marshmallows to her favorite coffee creamer and a box of cereal that Charlotte loved and had just mentioned once earlier that morning.

Dinner was a group effort. While Joe grilled chicken, Charlotte shook the salad dressing Joe had created in a bottle, and accidentally spilled half of it. Joe had laughed and cleaned up the mess instead of flying off the handle like Ted would have done.

She’d watched him during that scene. There wasn’t an ounce of anger or attitude upon seeing the mess her daughter had caused. Zero.

Ally tried to remember how to breathe through the sudden warmth that had taken over her once-quiet life. Could this be real? Was he real?

When they finally sat down to eat dinner, it wasn’t awkward or forced like so many quiet evenings with Ted, when she’d been afraid to say or do something that would set him off. Tonight was… easy. Like the entire day had been.