Chapter Fifteen
HOW, EXACTLY, HAD HIS LIFE COME TO THIS?
He had been asking himself that same question since he arrived in Shelter Springs and had yet to find an answer.
A few short months ago he had been flying training missions miles offshore above the Pacific Ocean. Now he was sitting in a crowded Christmas market in a small Idaho town, listening to a bunch of off-key, squeaky-voiced kids sing carols.
What was he doing here , first of all? And what was he doing sitting next to a woman who smelled like flowers, holding an adorable little girl who had climbed into his lap and snuggled against him without waiting for any kind of invitation?
The bigger question, he supposed, was why on earth would he feel so content at the status quo?
He tried to relax into the moment. The kids really weren’t that bad. They had some nice harmony and Audrey’s friend Megan sang a solo in a song he had never heard before about angels and animals.
The crowd clapped with enthusiasm after their final number and Ryan set Lydia on her feet so he could stand.
“Now Santa!” she exclaimed.
Audrey made a face. “Can I go talk to Megan while you guys go do that?”
“You have to tell Santa what you want,” Lydia insisted, her eyes troubled.
Audrey sent Ryan and Holly a sort of conspiratorial look before she turned back to the little girl. “I already did,” she said. “I wrote him a note about it. I should be good.”
Lydia appeared to find that acceptable. She clearly didn’t want to wait around arguing the matter.
“Let’s go!” she said, tugging Ryan’s hand with one of hers and Holly’s with the other.
Holly laughed, looking bright and lovely as she let her child tow them away from the stage seating area.
“This way, honey,” Holly said, steering the three of them in the other direction.
“Last year they had this outside,” she told Ryan as they made their way through the crowd. “But apparently some of the parents complained about having to stand out in the cold with their little kids.”
“Your Idaho winters aren’t for the faint of heart.”
“I know. But I thought it was magical out there under the stars, next to the big colorful Christmas tree. Apparently I was in the minority. So this year Santa has moved back inside.”
Her ex was right. You couldn’t miss it. The line of excited children stretched about thirty feet from the cozy little structure decorated with lights and candy canes.
They found her ex-husband standing slightly outside the crowd with a tall, statuesque blonde woman who was holding a cute baby, carrying what looked like a designer diaper bag and talking with an older woman.
The younger woman’s face lit up when she spotted Holly and Lydia.
“There you are! I was so happy when Troy said he bumped into the two of you. What could be more perfect than Hudson having his older sister by his side when he has his first picture with Santa?”
By her forced smile, Ryan could tell Holly could think of several answers to that, but instead she greeted the two women with a warmth he had to admire.
“Hi, Lydia,” the older woman said after greeting Holly back. “Are you excited to see Santa? What are you going to ask for this year?”
Lydia’s brow furrowed as she considered. “A dollhouse and some books and some dishes for a tea party.”
She slanted her mother a sly look. “And a puppy.”
Holly arched her eyebrows. “We talked about that, honey. Santa can’t bring you a puppy this year because it would be too scared to ride in the sleigh.”
“What kind of puppy do you want?” Troy Moore asked his daughter.
For some reason, Ryan could imagine the man surprising his daughter with a dog for Christmas, despite Holly’s clear objection, so that he could be the hero of the hour. Troy would then take off again, leaving his ex-wife with all the responsibility.
He knew people like this in the military, who acted without thinking through the repercussions for those impacted by their shortsighted decisions.
His own father fit that description.
“A yellow one,” Lydia was saying, pronouncing the word “lello.” “My friend named Ty has a yellow dog named Sandy.”
“I’m sorry, honey,” Holly said firmly, looking at her ex as she spoke so he didn’t miss the message. “We can’t have a dog right now. But maybe you can ask for a puppy next year.”
Lydia’s pouted but with more resignation than disappointment as they all headed into the queue.
“Aren’t you going to introduce us to your friend, Holly?” the older woman said, with a pointed look at Ryan.
Pink tinged her cheeks. “Of course. Ryan, this is Brittany, Troy’s wife, and that little cutie is Hudson. And this is Brittany’s mother, Carol Baker. This is Ryan Caldwell. Um, a friend.”
He wanted to help her out so he gave her a private smile and what he hoped was an adoring look—which probably looked like he was swallowing a burp.
“Lovely to meet you all,” he said. “Holly has told me a great deal about you.”
Brittany gave Holly an uncertain look, as if wondering what she had said about them. She suddenly looked painfully young. She couldn’t be much older than early twenties, which made her probably a decade younger than Holly and Troy.
Though tall and striking, Brittany didn’t have any of Holly’s grace or quiet beauty. Why would any man in his right mind choose her over Holly?
The conversation was stilted and awkward at first as the line slowly moved them closer to Santa’s workshop but Holly seemed adept at keeping it flowing. He had to admire that, too. She seemed to sense Brittany felt insecure and was doing her best to put the other woman at ease.
Feeling oddly protective of both Holly and Lydia, he stepped in to help when the conversation stalled again.
“I understand you’re in town for a wedding.”
“That’s right,” Troy answered. “My little sister finally decided to tie the knot. Weddings aren’t my favorite thing. Normally I would have tried to wiggle out but since it’s so close to Christmas I decided we could make it work.”
“Kristine was telling me how lovely the flowers are. It’s so kind of you to do that for her,” Brittany said. Her words sounded genuine.
“I was happy to do it. I love Kristine.”
“And I understand you’re going to be a flower girl,” Brittany said, smiling down at Lydia, who for some reason had decided to grab Ryan’s hand again.
He had to wonder why she hadn’t grabbed her dad’s hand instead.
“Yes. I have a pretty dress and Mommy is putting flowers in my hair.”
Brittany obviously couldn’t understand Lydia’s words, which were sometimes a little garbled. Admittedly, it had taken Ryan a minute to pick up her speech rhythm but now he understood her clearly.
The other woman looked to Holly for translation.
“She said she has a pretty dress and that I’m planning to weave some flowers in her hair that match the bouquet.”
“She will be so adorable,” Brittany said, her voice just shy of gushy. “I’m only sorry we got married in Tahoe and I couldn’t have her be a flower girl for our wedding.”
“Yes. Too bad she missed it.” Holly spoke without a trace of dryness in her voice but he picked that up, too. “She was only three at the time, though, and probably wouldn’t have been able to follow directions.”
“Now I’m five,” Lydia said.
“You’re such a big girl,” Carol said in the sort of high-pitched voice someone would use when speaking with either a baby or a puppy. It grated on him. Those protective instincts flared again and he did his best not to speak to the older woman in the same tone.
“It’s too bad you’re not wearing the pretty dress you’ll have on for the wedding. It would look so good in the photos,” Brittany said, giving Lydia’s cute red Christmas sweater somewhat of a disparaging look.
“This is what she wore to school today,” Holly said with a trace of defensiveness. “We weren’t expecting to visit the market today. We came straight from the shop and didn’t have time to go home and change.”
“It’s fine. She’s sweet in whatever she wears,” Brittany said.
When it was their turn, Brittany took charge. Though Hudson seemed not in the mood for a photo shoot, she set up the scene like she was directing a big-budget Hollywood movie.
After she had taken what had to be two dozen pictures of Lydia and Hudson together on her phone, Brittany’s mother spoke.
“Why don’t we take a few with just Hudson now,” Carol suggested.
At her stepmother’s urging, Lydia stepped down with a confused expression, returning to her mother and Ryan.
“When do I tell Santa what I want?” she asked in a low voice.
“After the photo shoot. I’m sure they’ll be done soon.”
By now, Hudson’s whines had turned into full-fledged crying and the very patient Santa handed him back to his parents.
“We probably need to take him home,” Brittany said. “He’s tired and had a long day of traveling yesterday.”
“I’m sure that’s it,” Holly said.
“It’s good to see you,” the other woman said. “And nice to meet you, Ryan.”
“I’ll see you again at the wedding.” He couldn’t resist taking Holly’s hand in his. “I’m lucky enough to be Holly’s plus-one.”
He couldn’t help noticing Troy didn’t look particularly happy about that. Too bad.
“Is it my turn?” Lydia asked, an edge of impatience in her voice.
Holly winced. “Oh yes. Sorry,” she said.
Lydia climbed back onto Santa’s lap.
“I know you, Miss Lydia,” he said. “I don’t even need to ask if you’ve been good. I know the answer already. Of course you have.”
Lydia beamed at him, though Ryan thought she suddenly looked a little nervous.
When Holly took some pictures with her phone, Ryan decided to snap a few of his own. They might be nice to look at after he returned to California, so he could remember this unique Christmas.
“Tell Santa what you would like,” her mother urged, when Lydia remained silent.
“A dollhouse,” she whispered.
“A dollhouse,” Santa repeated. “I’ll see what I can do about that. Anything else?”
She went through her list quickly, then with another sidelong look at her mother, she added, “And a yellow puppy, if you can take it on the sleigh.”
The guy in the Santa suit must have seen Holly’s sharp head shake. “I’m not sure about that one,” he said kindly. “Christmas isn’t always the best time to get a new puppy. That’s probably something you should ask your mommy for, not Santa Claus.”
She again pouted briefly but smiled one last time before hopping down again.
“Thank you,” Holly murmured to the man.
“You’re welcome, Holly,” he replied, confirming Ryan’s suspicions that she and the man behind the beard and spectacles knew each other.
“He knows your name, Mommy,” Lydia said, an expression of astonishment on her features. “Does he know yours too, Ryan?”
“Sure do,” Santa said. “That’s my old friend Ryan. Good to see you again.”
Ryan had to admire the guy’s quick thinking.
As they walked away from the grotto, Lydia seemed giddy about the interaction, chattering a mile a minute, only about half of which Ryan could follow.
“Thank you for coming with us,” Holly said.
“It was fun. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Santa Claus.”
She smiled up at him and Ryan again had to fight the urge to lean down and capture her mouth with his.
He had to get a handle on his growing attraction to Holly Moore or he was going to end up doing something stupid.
He didn’t belong here in this small town filled with Christmas markets and curious neighbors. The sooner he remembered that, the better.
It was tough not to fall for Holly—or for her adorable daughter—but he needed to remind himself that his time here in Shelter Springs was temporary. As soon as Kim returned to pick up the pieces of her life again, he needed to head back to San Diego and do the same.