Chapter 24 #3
Adelaide rolls her eyes so hard they practically clatter to the floor. “Please. That ended months ago.”
“Thank God,” Kane says. “I never liked his face.”
“You never met him,” she fires back.
“Didn’t need to. His face offended me in theory.”
She laughs while Chris studies her closely, eyes narrowing at the exhaustion she tries to hide. She gives him a look that says Not here, not yet, and he squeezes her shoulder once, silently promising he won’t push.
Kane loops an arm around her neck, dragging her into his side. “Welcome. There’s loads of food, and we need to eat it before Corn Dog tries to devour all of it.”
Adelaide groans. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
“Nope,” Noel states.
Her laugh is brighter this time, but there’s still a tension beneath it.
Chris says, “Come on, sis, let me take your bags up to the spare room.”
“I don’t have much,” Adelaide says with a casual shrug that seems slightly forced. “Not staying long, you know how I am. Got places to go, people to meet, adventures to have.”
Chris’s expression tightens. “Right. Of course.”
They disappear upstairs, and I immediately turn to Noel and Kane. “Okay, what is the deal with those two? Because that was weird and awkward and I need the full story.”
Noel sighs, running a hand through his long hair. “Chris basically protected her growing up from lots of bullying she used to experience.”
“But then Chris needed to build his own life,” Kane continues. “And Adelaide wanted independence. So she went her way, and Chris went his. Now there’s this weird tension between them where you can tell they love each other but neither knows how to bridge the gap.”
My heart actually hurts at hearing this. “That’s awful.”
“They just need to talk,” Noel adds. “Really talk, not surface-level how-are-you stuff. But neither of them will take that first step.”
“Well, if she’s staying here, maybe I can help,” I say, already forming plans. “Get to know her, earn her trust, figure out what’s really going on.”
Both of them stare at me with so much affection that my cheeks heat up.
“This is why we love you,” Kane murmurs, pressing a kiss to my mouth. “You immediately want to fix things and help people.”
“Probably unhealthy but we’re working with what we’ve got,” I reply.
We rejoin the party, and soon Chris and Adelaide come back downstairs. She immediately gravitates toward Lily and Ruby, and within minutes, all three women are laughing like they’ve known each other for years.
Noel starts carving the turkey at the dining table, and everyone gathers around to watch and cheer him on like it’s some kind of sporting event. It’s chaotic and loud and absolutely perfect.
Later, after we’ve eaten enough food to feed a small army and everyone is lounging around in food comas, I grab Lily to show her my new Jeep.
“You have to see this gift,” I tell her, practically dragging her toward the garage. “It’s insane. Like, completely insane.”
We’re walking through the hallway when we hear Adelaide’s voice coming from one of the side rooms—the study, I think. She’s on the phone, her voice low but carrying in the quiet hallway.
Lily and I both freeze, exchanging glances.
“Yeah, I’m here. I’m safe. Would you stop worrying so much?” Adelaide’s tone is affectionate but exasperated. “I won’t be here long enough for anything to happen. I’ll do what I came to do, and then I’ll be gone.”
She pauses, listening to whoever is on the other end.
“I know. I keep my word. When have I not? Chris knows nothing about any of this, and I’m going to keep it that way. It’s better if he doesn’t know.”
Another pause.
“Okay, I heard you the first fifty times. Yes, I’m being careful. Yes, I understand the risks. Yes, I know—”
Silence while the other person talks.
“I know what’s at stake here.” Her voice drops even lower, almost a whisper. “I’m not stupid. I know exactly what will happen if this goes wrong. But it won’t. I’ll be careful.”
More silence.
“I have to go.” Her voice softens. “I love you too.” The call ends.
Lily and I stare at each other with wide, shocked eyes and immediately scramble toward the garage before Adelaide can catch us eavesdropping like creeps. We burst through the garage door and close it behind us, both of us breathing hard.
“What the hell was that about?” Lily whispers, even though we’re alone now.
“Something’s going on,” I whisper back. “She sounded kinda scared.”
“Are you going to tell Chris?”
I bite my lip, thinking. “I don’t know yet. I need to figure out what’s going on first. If I tell him now with no context, it might just push Adelaide away, and then we’ll never find out what kind of trouble she’s in.”
“You think she’s in trouble?”
“Did you hear that conversation? She’s definitely in some kind of trouble.”
Lily nods slowly. “Okay. So what’s the plan?”
“I’m going to get to know her. Earn her trust. Figure out what she’s hiding and whether I need to tell Chris or if I can help her handle it quietly. She’s family now, which means she’s my responsibility too.”
“Good plan.”
I take a breath, pushing Adelaide’s mysterious phone call to the back of my mind for now. “Okay, enough about potentially dangerous secrets. Let me show you this absolutely ridiculous gift that’s making your men look bad by comparison.”
I hit the lights dramatically, and the Jeep gleams under the fluorescent bulbs.
Lily actually squeals. “Oh, hell, Hannah! Are you serious right now? This is gorgeous!”
We’re both climbing all over it like excited kids, and I’m showing her all the features when the garage door opens and my three men appear, clearly looking for us.
“Secret party in the garage?” Kane asks with a grin.
“Just showing off the best Christmas gift ever,” I say, unable to stop smiling. “Also making Lily’s Alphas look bad, which is an added bonus.”
Lily spins to face them, hands on her hips. “You guys are setting an impossibly high bar here. What are you going to get her for her birthday at this rate? A private island? A palace? A small country?”
They all laugh, and I fall into their waiting arms, letting them surround me again.
“I gotta go tell my men they need to seriously lift their game,” Lily says, still grinning as she heads back inside.
When she’s gone and it’s just the four of us in the quiet garage, I glance up at all three of them, who are staring at me with so much love and pride and happiness that I might cry again.
“This is our first Christmas as a family,” Chris says.
I melt against them, and we stand there for a long moment, just holding each other while snow continues to fall heavily outside and muffled music and laughter drift from the house.
This is home and family. Not the building, not the location, but these people. This feeling. And whatever challenges come next, I know I can handle it because I’m not alone anymore.
I have them. They have me. And together, we’re unstoppable.
Even if that means dealing with mysterious family secrets and reindeer with destructive tendencies. But that’s a problem for tomorrow. Today is for celebrating everything we’ve built together.
And it’s absolutely, perfectly, wonderfully imperfect.
Just like us.