Chapter 19
MADDOX
We'd lain around in bed until it was time for Sofia to get off the bus. I figured we could eat dinner together, then head to the trail at the same time. It was nice to see what it would be like if we were living together.
I was positive Sofia would be excited to see Eve at home when she arrived. She adored her.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Eve asked after she came out of the bathroom. She'd brushed her hair as best she could and smoothed her clothes. But to me, she still had a rumpled look. An outsider might say she took an afternoon nap, but I knew better.
I had to admit I liked the daytime quickies almost more than our midnight rendezvous. I moved around the counter to stand in front of her. "I like this look."
She tipped her head to the side. "Oh, what would you call it?"
I grinned wolfishly. "Freshly fucked."
I loved that I could make her look this way, deliciously rumpled and well fucked. Then I kissed her like we had all the time in the world to remove her clothes again. When the brakes on the bus sounded, I lifted my head. "Sofia's home."
She smiled. "Later then."
"Yes," I said, not sure when we'd be able to have time alone again. We'd have to take advantage of my days off when Sofia was in school.
First, I needed to greet Sofia. "Be right back."
I walked outside just as Sofia stepped off the bus. Her face lit up when she saw me, and she ran toward the porch. I met her on the bottom step.
When she was younger, she'd fly into my arms, but she was too old for that now. "Hi, Daddy. What's for dinner?"
It was always her first question as if she hadn't eaten a snack and lunch at school. "I thought we could order pizza, then head to the light trail."
Her eyes lit up. "I almost forgot about that."
"How could you forget about the grand opening of the light trail created from your amazing designs?" I teased.
"Dad," she said, embarrassed by my declaration.
Eve opened the door for us.
Sofia threw her arms around her waist. "What are you doing here?"
Apparently, it wasn't embarrassing to hug a family friend, just your father.
Eve looked at me over Sofia's head. "Your dad invited me for dinner so we could celebrate the grand opening of your light trail."
Sofia stepped back. "My light trail?"
"You're the amazing designer," Eve said with a smile.
"When is the pizza coming?" Sofia asked.
Typical kid cared more about food than just about anything else. "Go wash your hands while I order it."
Sofia disappeared into the powder room, and the water turned on.
"Nice save," I said to Eve.
Her eyes wide, she said, "We should have thought of a reason for me to be here."
I opened my mouth to say that hanging up flyers probably would have worked too, but Sofia was back, chattering about how she told her friends to come to the light trail tonight.
"Nice marketing," Eve said.
"What's marketing?" Sofia asked Eve as I scrolled through the pizza place's online ordering menu.
"That's when you tell everyone about what you're doing, and you invite them to come experience it."
Sofia nodded eagerly. "That's what I did."
"I hope they come and see what it's about. The proceeds benefit the fire department."
"The firehouse needs lots of money," Sofia said, probably having overheard me talk about budget cuts since she was old enough to understand what was going on around her.
"That's why we do fundraisers. It was nice of Eve to create this one for us."
Sofia opened the coloring book I kept on the table. "You're a friend of the firehouse now."
Eve raised a brow. "Is that a thing?"
"I'm fairly sure you were a friend of the firehouse when you showed up with muffins." Wearing that red dress. But I wasn't going to say that in front of my daughter.
I set my phone aside. "Pizza ordered. Who wants to play a game?"
Sofia raised her head. "Me."
"Which one?" I asked, knowing it would take a bit to find the perfect one.
She slid off her chair and ran into the living room where I kept games and puzzles.
"We're a game family," I said to Eve.
"That's good because I love games."
"You're going to fit in just fine then," I said as Sofia returned with her recent card-game obsession.
I helped her shuffle the cards. Then Sofia dealt them. I let Sofia explain the rules since this was a newer version of a game from our childhood. Not surprisingly, Eve was competitive. We played two rounds before the pizza was delivered.
Eve reached for plates while I grabbed the pizza. I opened the boxes on the counter.
I put two slices on Sofia's dish.
Eve served herself, and I pulled out the sparkling juice I saved for special occasions. It was a celebration after all.
I poured everyone a glass and held mine up. "I think we need a toast."
Sofia grinned, immediately lifting her glass.
Eve raised hers slowly.
"To Sofia's amazing design for the holiday trail. May everyone come out and enjoy it."
"To Sofia's design," Eve said, her eyes sparkling.
Sofia clinked her glass against ours and said, "To Sofia," and we all laughed.
"And to Eve, who's made our lives infinitely better." I met her gaze, which shone with emotion.
"To Eve," Sofia cried, oblivious to the emotional exchange happening between us.
Eve clinked her glass with mine once more, and I couldn’t resist leaning over to kiss her.
When we broke away, Sofia glared at us. "I said no kissing."
I sighed. "You might have to get used to it."
"Tell me everything about what happened at school today," Eve said to Sofia to distract her.
Sofia took a deep breath and started with her first period of physical education. I ate, watching Sofia and Eve interact. This is what I'd been missing.
It was nice to have someone here in the evening to do something as mundane as talking about our days. I enjoyed doing this with Sofia, but it wasn't the same.
It was a good change to spend the evening with another adult, one I was starting to care about deeply.
When we finished eating, I put the remaining slices in one box and set it in the fridge for later. It would make a nice breakfast on Saturday morning.
"Are you ready to open our light trail?" Eve asked Sofia.
She ran toward the door to pull on her jacket, hat, and gloves. When she was out of sight, I pulled Eve into my arms. "Thank you for staying for dinner."
She laughed against me. "You drove me here. I was kind of stuck."
I raised a brow. "You could have hired a driver."
She nodded. "I wanted to stay. It was fun."
I tipped my head slightly. "I bet it's not how you imagined you'd spend your evening."
Eve winced. "Honestly? I probably would have spent the day at the office until the trail opened, forgetting to eat dinner."
"So you're saying we're good for you too? We remind you to take a breath and eat."
She nodded. "Yes."
"Are you coming?" Sofia called from the foyer.
"Be right there," I said as I lowered my lips to Eve's, kissing her, hoping I'd have some time with her later.
Sofia's feet sounded in the hallway, and we broke apart just in time, laughing about how close it was. She'd asked me not to kiss Eve in front of her, and I'd attempt to comply with that request for now. But I wouldn’t be able to hold out forever. I'd already messed up and kissed her at dinner.
We grabbed our things and climbed into the truck. We were excited to see the trail and welcome visitors. I had a feeling it was going to be busy once everyone heard about it.
I parked at the inn's parking lot, instantly feeling more relaxed to be in Christmas Town. It was a magical place, and it was becoming harder to remember the grumpy guy I was when Eve walked into my firehouse. So much had changed, and I wanted it to last.
The thought of losing what we had made my chest constrict. I pushed away the familiar panic and got out. Sofia scrambled out without help.
We headed toward the beginning of the trail, just off the town square.
Eve drew to a stop. "What's this?"
There was a woodshed painted red with two windows to collect money from visitors. I'd had Steve decorate it with twinkling lights, and the sign for the entrance fee was already affixed to the red siding. "I thought you could use a ticket booth."
Eve blew out a breath. "I thought I'd have to throw up a table, but this is amazing. I can't believe you did this."
"One of the guy's dads sells sheds, and when he heard what you've been doing for the fire department, he donated it for your holiday trail."
Eve hugged me tight. "Thank you."
Sofia skipped to the entrance to the trail. "Can we turn the lights on?"
"We sure can," Eve said.
There was a switch located at each grouping of blow-up decorations, so we walked the trail, turning them on one by one and troubleshooting any issues. It was windy tonight, so some of the blowups didn't want to stand up straight.
It was close to opening time, so I said, "Why don't you get to the ticket booth, and I'll finish turning everything on."
"That's a good idea," Eve said.
"What should I do?" Sofia asked.
"You can go with Eve and pass out tickets, or you can stay with me."
Her brows furrowed. "I want to do both, but I want to see the lights more."
"Finish up here, and you can help with tickets and wristbands later," Eve suggested, and I shot her a grateful look.
Eve left, and we moved to the next grouping of blow-up decorations. When we finished turning everything on, we backtracked through the trail to make sure it was still working. "I have a feeling we're going to have to have someone walk the trail each night to ensure everything is up and running."
"That's a good idea," Sofia said as if she was a part of this too, and I suppose she had been all along.
"Are you ready to greet some visitors?" I asked, eager to see how the shack was working out.
I glanced at my phone; the trail had officially opened ten minutes ago, but we hadn't seen anyone walking around yet. Even if we didn't get anyone tonight, I had a feeling we would once word got out.
We reached the entrance to the trail, and Sofia spotted the hot chocolate truck, "Can I have hot chocolate?"
"Of course." I handed her a five-dollar bill and watched while she ran to it.
A woman in the window leaned down to talk to her.
"How are things going?" Frank approached me.
"The light trail looks great. Now we need visitors."
"I'm not talking about that. I was talking about you," Frank said.
He wanted to know if I'd followed his instructions. "I've been seeing that therapist you recommended, and I'm going to a grief support group."
"I'm glad you're being proactive about this."
This time I wasn't surprised. "Thanks for pushing me."
"Are you sure it doesn't have anything to do with a certain woman?" He inclined his head toward the ticket shack where Eve was talking to a family of five.
I let out a breath. "I think she had something to do with it too."
"I wanted to let you know that I see the effort that you're making to be more engaged with the community. You've done a lot between the holiday party and now the light trail. Is it true that all proceeds will go to the fire department?"
"Yeah, but that was all Eve's doing."
He rocked back on his heels. "I knew I liked that girl when she came into the firehouse."
"You liked her muffins."
He let out a loud guffaw. "You might be right about that. But I knew she meant well. She wants the best for this community."
"She does." Eve was special, and I wasn't going to do anything to mess my relationship with her up.
He clasped my shoulder. "At this point, the chief job is yours to lose. Keep up the good work, and it will be yours."
"That's good to hear, sir." The way he'd phrased it was concerning. The job was mine to lose. It wasn't as reassuring as I think he meant it to be.
Sharon approached with two hot chocolates and two tickets. "Can we walk the trail now?"
Eve leaned out the ticket window. "Sofia, you want to check wrist bands and let people know how to navigate the trail?"
Sofia walked toward us with her hot chocolate cradled between her hands. "Yes."
"You just need to see that they have their wristbands, color coded for the night, and you can give them some instructions on what to expect," Eve continued.
"I can do that." Sofia nodded seriously, and then she asked Frank and Sharon, "Can I see your wristbands?"
When they showed them, she pointed, "You'll enter the path here, and walk the trail, enjoying the lights until you come out over there. You can go through the trail as many times as you'd like. Enjoy the holiday lights."
Frank inclined his head toward her. "Thank you."
"Happy holidays!" Sofia cried after them.
"That was great," I said to her.
At first, it was a slow trickle. Then it picked up. Occasionally someone mentioned that a blowup had fallen over with the wind or that the music wasn't working. I got one of the younger firefighters to walk the trail and trouble shoot any issues.
Sofia stayed by the entrance until eight, when the trail was closed for the evening.
"It seemed like a lot of people came through." We were busy but not overwhelmed.
Eve nodded as she closed the door to the shack. "I have a feeling it's going to be busier tomorrow, once everyone finds out about it."
"I'll see if a few of the firefighters can volunteer each night to help keep things running on the trail."
Eve nodded. "That would be great. I can't do the ticket window and the trail at the same time."
"I want to work the trail," Sofia said.
"You can't work every night. You have school," I reminded her.
"Since it's closed, can we go through by ourselves?" Sofia asked.
"I don't see why not," Eve said, "unless you wanted to get her to bed."
"We have a bit of time before we need to head home."
"Yes," Sofia cried, running toward the entrance to the trail.
"I'll hang up the closed sign." Eve hung it over the ticket window and then joined me by the trail.
We walked behind Sofia as she ran from one section to another, exclaiming over the characters she knew and loved. Occasionally, she paused to pose for a picture, and Eve nudged me into a few. When we reached the Grinch, I said, "We should all get into this one."
She set up the camera on a timer, so that we could all get into the picture, and we huddled close. I rested a hand on Eve's back and one on Sofia's shoulder. I felt like we were a family.
There was that niggling fear that I'd lose someone close to me again. But I enjoyed this new connection too much to distance myself from Eve.
I hoped that things would work out. That I wouldn't revert to my grumpy self or give into the worry that I was going to lose her.