Chapter 8 #2
“I’m so sorry to put you out of your house. You could stay with me, of course.” Jane clutched Logan’s and Sophia’s hands when they were jostled by the growing crowd.
“Don’t worry, the children have enjoyed staying with your parents. And trust me, Patrick and I have had fun staying at the hotel all by ourselves.” Lyssa shot Jane a quick wink. “Every couple needs alone time.”
“Noah does all right without you?” The baby was only ten months old and from what Jane could tell, a total mama’s boy.
“He sleeps through the night, thank goodness. He’s my best sleeper out of the bunch.
I lay him down in his crib at eight and he wakes up like clockwork at six thirty.
And he’s always thrilled to see his grandma in the morning.
She indulges his every whim,” Lyssa explained, then kissed Noah on the cheek.
“Sophia is really close to my mother, too. All of that time she spent living with them when she was so young, you know. For a long time she cried whenever she was with me. She always wanted to be with Mom.” Watching Sophia cry and feeling so helpless had broken Jane’s heart at first.
“I remember,” Lyssa said softly. “She’s doing okay now though, right?”
Jane nodded, tugging Sophia a little closer to her side. “She’s doing great. They’re all doing great. The adjustment was tough at first, but they love living in the house, playing in the big backyard, and being close to the lake.”
“I’m so glad. You know you can stay as long as you’d like at our house. We love that you’re all healing there. After everything that happened, Patrick and I, we’re willing to do anything to help you.”
Jane smiled, too moved to say anything else.
Not that she could, considering the town mayor’s voice boomed from the speakers flanking either side of the giant redwood, silencing nearly the entire crowd.
He gave the usual general speech, welcoming everyone to the annual tree lighting, thanking the sponsors of the event, encouraging everyone to go buy a round of hot chocolate.
Jane didn’t really listen, too distracted by the idea that she could see Chris at any given moment. Was he here yet?
She tried to push thoughts of him from her mind when Patrick and Mac returned with many cups of hot cocoa to go around.
Jane helped pass them out, holding onto one for Sophia and telling her daughter to wait so she wouldn’t burn her lips or tongue on the hot liquid.
She blew on Sophia’s cup, took a few sips, and when she scorched her tongue, she shook her head. Bad as a kid, even she couldn’t wait.
“…And we want to thank CAL Fire, specifically Captain Christian Nelson for escorting the jolly man in red himself, Santa Claus!” The crowd erupted in cheers, most of the voices young and high-pitched. Jane’s heart turned over in her chest.
“But first, we must light the tree. Is everyone ready to count down with me?”
The mayor started at five and everyone counted along, Jane included, though her heart and head were elsewhere. She kept her eye on the one spot she figured the fire engine would come from, ready to see it appear with the dashing captain behind the wheel.
Okay, now she was being just plain hokey. Was she pinning all of her fantastical and romantic hopes and dreams on this one man because of his good looks? Stephen had been no slouch in the looks department, but he was nothing like the fire captain.
Chris went against her normal type. Besides being a handsome man, he was also the hands-on type. Physical, fit, didn’t mind getting a little dirty. The men she’d been attracted to before had been the type more likely to work behind a desk.
And maybe that was the allure, as well. That he did happen to be so different from her normal type. It didn’t hurt that he was nice to her children. And friends with her brother. He smiled often and with ease, and he seemed so utterly confident in his surroundings…
She envied him that. She didn’t have that sort of confidence. She never really had.
“Look, Mommy, it’s the fire engine! And the captain!
Wow, Santa’s riding with him. The captain’s so lucky!
” Logan squeezed her hand so tight that she grimaced.
He jumped up and down, trying to catch a better glimpse of the fire engine.
Mac caught sight of him and swung him up on his shoulders, allowing Logan a bird’s-eye view of all the action.
The crowd quickly turned chaotic, kids clamoring to see Santa and their parents forcing their way to the front of the line for the jolly fat man. A small stage had been set up with a giant, throne-like chair. Santa was already perched atop it, waving and ho-ho-ho’ing to beat all.
“I wanna see him!” Logan shouted down at Jane.
Mac swung in her direction, his hands tight around Logan’s legs. “I’ll take him if you take the girls.”
“Deal.” Jane nodded. She went in search of Lexi.
“I don’t want to go,” Lexi said when Jane found her, clinging to her older cousin’s side. “I want to stay with Madison.”
Lyssa nodded her approval to Jane. “Go ahead and bring Sophia. I’ll stay here with them.
Patrick is taking everyone else.” They all trooped toward the Santa stage and stood in line alongside the gleaming red and silver engine.
Jane trembled in anticipation because surely, Chris hung out in the cab of the truck.
She knew she’d catch a glimpse of him somehow.
“Jane, come on.” Mac yelled over his shoulder and she realized she was lagging behind, dreamy-eyed over a man she shouldn’t be dreamy-eyed over.
Why not? You’re always there for your children. What about you?
She ignored the nagging little voice inside her head, focused instead on the excitement she saw on her son’s face, on the way Sophia chanted Santa over and over again. Why Lexi didn’t join them, she wasn’t sure, and she needed to question her further once they got back home.
“Captain Nelson!” Logan’s screech made Jane’s heart drop to her toes. She couldn’t contain the smile that broke out at his approach.
“Hey bro,” she heard Mac greet, and the two men clapped each other on the back, as men did. Logan stood between them, set down by Mac a few minutes ago, and he gazed up at Chris with adoring eyes. Chris reached out, ruffling Logan’s hair affectionately.
Jane’s heart was now firmly back in her chest considering at Chris’s sweet gesture toward her son, it had done a flip-flop so grand, she was left breathless. Touched by the easy affection she saw between the three males just ahead of her.
“Hi, Jane,” Chris said when his warm golden eyes landed upon her, his smile gentle.
She returned his greeting with a quick smile, her eyes unable to stop from drifting down the length of his body and then back up. Unabashedly checking him out. But he looked oh, so attractive in his uniform and matching navy blue coat.
“Where’s Lexi?” he asked as he looked around.
It touched her all over again that he noticed Lexi wasn’t with them. “She’s with my brother’s girls over by the tree. They didn’t want to see Santa.”
“Who doesn’t want to see Santa?” he asked incredulously, which excited Logan all over again.
“Did you talk to him? Did you tell him you knew me?”
Chris laughed and knelt so he was on Logan’s level. “I told him about all three of you, plus your mom, and how deserving your family is. He agreed, so watch for an extra load of presents under the tree this year.”
“I can’t wait to tell him what I want.” Logan started in on his list, which was forever long, and Chris stood, taking hold of Logan’s hand as they inched up the line.
The man had the patience of a saint.
Patrick, who had been way ahead of them in line, approached with two of his four in tow. “Lyssa told me the girls want Lexi to spend the night. Is that okay?”
“Well, only if Mom agrees to it.” Which of course, Jane knew she would.
“Lyssa already called and confirmed it. So if you don’t mind…” Patrick shrugged. “Like one more is going to make a difference.”
“No, that’s fine. She has clothes over there, so she’s good. Just have her call me in the morning.”
“Will do. See you all later.” Patrick nodded and then walked away, winding through the thinning crowd.
The line started to move quickly. When they finally got to the front, Sophia screamed when placed on Santa’s lap, but Logan spent so much time with the poor man, Mac eventually had to drag him away.
“You have a tree yet?” Chris asked as they stood together watching Logan accept a giant candy cane for himself and his sister from one of Santa’s elf helpers.
“Not yet. I’m not really sure when I’m going to get one.”
“Uh huh.” Chris nodded, rocking back on his heels. He didn’t so much as look at her, keeping his eyes trained on the kids, who were both tearing into their candy canes. “I have a permit to cut down a tree. You want it?”
A fresh tree sounded like heaven. In the past, they’d always used an artificial one, since they didn’t shed needles and aggravate Stephen’s allergies. She’d indulged in buying fresh wreaths to hang on the front door…but it hadn’t been the same.
She glanced over at Chris. “Don’t you want the tree for yourself?”
He shrugged. “I’m not home much. And besides, it’s not like I have any decorations. I’d rather you take it. The kids want one, right?”
“Definitely.”
“Well, then I’ll cut it down for you this weekend.”
“That would be wonderful,” she said, turning to smile at him.
“Want to go with me?”
Chris waited with bated breath for Jane’s answer, hoping like crazy she wouldn’t turn him down.
On the other hand, he wanted to kick himself across the town square for even asking her such a question. Setting himself up to get rejected yet again was stupid.
Being around Jane, it was as if he couldn’t help himself. He’d become a glutton for punishment. He’d realized on Thanksgiving night, once he got back to his house—despite her protests, despite his own, maybe he didn’t want to be “just friends”.
Her attitude that night at Thanksgiving had intrigued him. She’d become flirtatious, funny. Over dessert, her brothers had shared story after story, many of them starring Jane. They’d involved her in their antics and surprisingly, she’d played right along.
He’d enjoyed the stories. Enjoyed even more watching Jane blush and laugh and try her best to keep her brothers quiet. It didn’t work. And he’d been glad for it.
“What day are you planning on going?” Her soft voice washed over him, made all sorts of things stand at attention, and he focused on the cold air, the fact that plenty of families and children, Jane’s children, surrounded them. Anything to get his mind out of the gutter.
“Probably Sunday.”
“You’re off?”
“I was off today, but the mayor asked me to drive the engine as a favor. In fact, I need to get it back to the station. They’re engine-less and that’s not supposed to happen.” He paused, studied her carefully, looking for some sort of reaction or emotion on her pretty face.
She looked frustratingly neutral. He wished he felt the same. But his stomach was tied up in knots, and he swore he was sweating in thirty-degree weather.
“Lexi’s staying the night at my parents’ house, so I’m thinking I’ll be busy with family tomorrow. But Sunday would definitely work.”
A twinge of jealousy moved through him and he tried to ignore it. Damn if he didn’t wish for an invitation to hang out with the family again. Even if they weren’t doing anything but sitting around and eating Thanksgiving leftovers, he would’ve enjoyed it.
Especially if pumpkin pie was involved…oh yes, and Jane.
“Sounds good. We’ll load up in my truck and take a drive up the mountain. I know the perfect spot, full of trees.”
“All right.” She didn’t even hesitate, and the vulnerable smile she flashed shot him straight in the heart.
“Okay. Perfect.” He nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets in fear of he might grab her and pull her close. “I’ll pick you up at your house, say around one?”
“I’ll let the kids know. They’ll be thrilled.” She smiled and his heart started to race.
He had a feeling he was more thrilled than the children could ever be.