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“Thank you again.” Impulsively, Sage hugged Lisa.

“You ready?” Ricky asked, shrugging into his coat. Sage hadn’t taken time to remove hers.

“Ready.”

As they headed to where she’d parked her car, Ricky reached for Sage’s hand. It was the first time he’d voluntarily taken hold of her hand. Sage didn’t want to make a big deal of it, or embarrass him, so she said nothing. She couldn’t keep from smiling, though. This was Ricky’s way of saying he trusted her.

“You memorized the entire poem,” she said, praising him. “You did a great job.”

“I know.”

She nearly laughed out loud at his lack of humility.

“Did you hear how many words there were?”

“I did,” she said.

He climbed into the car and chatted nonstop all the way to the condo, telling her about his day. When they arrived, Sage found Ethan waiting for her and Ricky.

“Ethan.” She called his name, happy to see him and unable to hide how much. “What are you doing here?”

He grinned, looking both boyish and adorable. “Waiting for you and Ricky. How did the party go?”

“It was awesome,” Ricky answered for her. “Auntie Sage was the last one to arrive, and I was afraid she wouldn’t come, and then she did, and I was so happy because I memorized this really long poem, and I wanted her to hear it.” He said all this in one giant breath.

Ethan squatted down to Ricky’s eye level. “That sounds amazing. I think we should celebrate, don’t you?” He glanced up at Sage. “That is, if your auntie is willing.”

“What do you have in mind?” she asked. Not that it mattered; she’d be happy to spend time with Ethan.

“Dinner, followed with ice cream.”

Ricky jerked his head up to look at Sage. “Can we?”

She nodded, and he let out a loud whoop of happiness. “Can we eat the ice cream first?”

Before she could answer, Ethan said, “I think we should.”

And so they did.

Chapter Seventeen

Christmas morning, Ricky was up long before the sun. He stomped into Sage’s bedroom, his steps loud enough to alert the neighbors. “Are you awake?” he shouted, so loud it felt like the pictures on the wall shook. For all intents and purposes, a freight train might as well have roared through the middle of her bedroom. Thankfully, Sage had convinced him opening his gifts at midnight was out of the question. Five-thirty, while much too early to suit her, was a decent compromise.

Startled, Sage struggled to sit up. She blinked twice at the time. “Ricky, it’s only five-thirty.”

“I’ve been awake for hours. Santa came!”

Despite the ungodly hour, Sage struggled not to smile. Santa had indeed made an appearance. The gifts from Santa were nestled below the small Christmas tree in Ricky’s bedroom. All the others were placed beneath the fancy Christmas tree Sage had been convinced he’d love. And hadn’t.

“I woke up and saw all those gifts, and I couldn’t wait a single minute longer,” he said.

“Can I get a cup of coffee first?” she pleaded.

“Okay.” From the way he said it, with a little pout that turned down his mouth, she knew it really wasn’t. Sage chose to ignore his eagerness as she reluctantly tossed aside the covers. As her feet fumbled to find their way into her fuzzy slippers, she swallowed a yawn. With her robe half on and half off, she headed into the kitchen to brew her coffee.

It amazed her that Ricky was up this early, since it had been well past his usual bedtime when they returned from the Christmas Eve service at the church. Ethan had joined her, and they’d had a wonderful evening together.

She knew he had something he wanted to tell her. Something important having to do with his talk with Mowrey. He’d wanted to wait for a time when they were alone, but all their time together had been spent with Ricky.