Chapter 12
ANGELA
After the reveal, Hudson helped us clean the house before he left for the night. I was overwhelmed with the thoughtful gesture. He'd brought us a tree, helped us decorate it, then spent the afternoon with us while his brothers decorated the porch.
I'd never had anyone do something so elaborate for me, and I wasn't sure what to do with that. Then there was that question he'd asked right before his brother interrupted us. He wanted to know how he could win me over.
I hadn't thought about dating anyone seriously. I'd assumed that wasn't what Hudson would want anyway.
But he made me want things I shouldn't even be thinking about. He had been reluctant to let us rent the house initially, but he'd come around to decorating it. I wasn't sure how to respond, and I worried that it was too late. I'd missed my chance.
Should I have taken him aside when he was leaving? Should I have called him that night to talk?
My plan was to wait until after the holidays to deal with it.
There were so many things to do. I should probably bake cookies so that Ayla could put them out for Santa. I also needed to pick up her bike before the store closed.
I'd left Ayla with Clara for an hour so that I could run to the bike shop. I was so happy that they assembled the bike and put a large bow on it that I hadn't thought about whether it would fit into my car.
Now it was sitting next to my trunk. We'd tried every which way to get it in, and it wasn't working. It was too awkward even with the seats down. Then there was the issue that I wasn't sure how I'd get it out by myself.
"I could take off the wheel. Then it would fit."
I shook my head. "There's no way I could get it back on."
The guy sighed. "Do you know someone who has a truck?"
"I do, actually."
"You might want to call him because I can't get it to fit." When another customer arrived, he said, "I need to see if they need help."
"I've got this." I hesitated to call Hudson because he shouldn't be coming to my aid. But I couldn't do this by myself.
Was it time to ask someone for help? I disliked depending on anyone, but it would be nice to lean on someone.
I needed to get this present under my tree without Ayla knowing about it. I didn't have a choice. I had to call the only guy I knew with a truck.
I hit Call before I could rethink it.
"Angela?" Hudson's steady voice came over the line.
My heart was racing. "I need your help."
"What is it? Are you okay?" His voice went from relaxed to concerned in a second.
"I'm okay. Nothing's wrong. I'm at the bike shop trying to load Ayla's bike into my tiny car, and it's not working. I didn't want him to take the bike apart. It's assembled with this pretty red bow. I need to get it home and hide it until Ayla goes to bed."
"You need my truck?" Hudson asked.
"I don't know what you're doing. You might be busy—"
"I was just finishing up an inspection. I'll be right there," he interrupted.
"Thank you." I got into the driver's seat of my car and turned on the engine to get warm. I felt like an idiot for not thinking this through. For not realizing that her bike that I'd bought large enough for her to grow into was never going to fit into the back of my car.
I scrolled my phone until Hudson's truck lumbered to a stop next to my car. Hudson hopped out, and I met him at the back.
"This is awesome. Ayla's going to love it," Hudson said, easily hoisting it into the bed of his truck. He had a blanket under it so that it wouldn't get scratched.
"Thank you for coming. I know you were probably busy with something else."
Hudson leaned a hip against the side of his truck. "I don't mind helping. We can't have Ayla not getting the big present she asked for."
"I was so relieved when they said they would assemble it and add the bow that I didn't think about whether it would fit in my car."
A slow smile spread over his face. "I'm glad you called me."
"You are?" I asked.
"I want to make Ayla's day special tomorrow too. Now, where are we hiding it?"
"I was hoping you'd have an idea since it's your house. I was planning on putting it in the spare bedroom and dropping a blanket over it."
"I think we can do better than that. I have a little shed you could put it in. She'll never go out there in the winter."
"That sounds good."
Then his forehead creased. "Where is Ayla?"
"I dropped her off at Clara’s shop so I could come here, but I need to pick her up soon."
He moved toward the driver's side of my car, opening the door. "We'd better get going then. You can follow me."
"Okay." I needed Hudson, and he'd come through for me.
I waited for Hudson to back out, and then I followed him all the way home. I parked next to him and waited for him to get the bike out of the back of his truck. He lifted it like it weighed nothing.
"Where's the shed?" I hoped it was close to the house I didn't want to be struggling with a bike in the middle of the night when it was cold and windy.
"It's right around the side of the house. I use it for lawn equipment. But there's plenty of room."
He set the bike on the ground by the door of the small shed that looked like a miniature house. He opened the door and rolled it inside. "We can grab it after she goes to bed."
"Oh, I can get it. It's not that far from the house, and I can roll it across the lawn." I wasn't expecting him to stick around on Christmas Eve to help me with a present.
He locked the shed, and we headed toward the driveway. "I'm on my way to church with my family. Want to come with us?"
"Oh, I couldn't intrude."
"It's the more, the merrier with my family. We eat at my parents afterward. Then I can help you with the bike after Ayla's in bed."
I chewed my lip. "I was going to make cookies so Ayla had some for Santa."
"Mom made a ton of cookies. She'd give you some to take home."
"I don't know—"
He held up his hand. "Will you come, please? My mom will be upset if I don't bring you once she finds out why I'm late for church."
I huffed out a laugh. "I don't want to upset your mother."
He grinned, and I wondered if he'd counted on that reaction. "Then it's settled. Hop in my truck, and we'll get Ayla."
I got into the passenger side. "Are you sure your parents won't mind that we crashed their family thing?"
"I told you she'd be upset if I didn't invite you. You're living in my house, and don’t have any family nearby. This is the right move."
I let out a breath. "I can't believe we're going to church. We haven't been since Ayla was little."
"We only go at Christmas. It's a tradition now, and it feels weird when we don't go."
"That's nice." I loved that his family had traditions. "I should probably start some with Ayla."
He smiled at me. "Maybe you are, starting with a Sterling Christmas Eve."
I couldn't help but laugh. He was so relaxed tonight. So unlike the man I'd first met. "I wonder if Ayla will mind the change of plans."
He flashed a smile at me. "She seems like a girl who'll appreciate a surprise."
"She certainly enjoyed your surprises this week."
He nodded. "And she'll love this one."
"You're so confident."
"I think I won her over with those lights. She'll be my buddy forever now."
She'd talked about nothing since. How cool it was that Hudson and his brothers had surprised her with Christmas lights. "Why do you want to win my daughter over?"
"I enjoy her company, and I genuinely want her to like me. But I also want to get in good with her mother."
"You said something like that the other day."
"I asked you what I needed to do to win you over."
He'd surprised us with a tree and lights, and he'd come to my rescue with the bike. "I'd say you're on the right track."
He looked over at me, his expression vulnerable. "Really?"
"I'm not used to people surprising me or being there for me when I need them."
He glanced over at me. "You think it's because you don't let them?
"That's a possibility."
He parked on the curb in front of Clara's Christmas Shop. Hers was the most festive on the street with the ornaments and decorations. We got out and went inside.
Clara was in the backroom with Ayla going through some ornaments. "Oh, you're here. Ayla was helping me stock ornaments."
"We have plans tonight," I said.
"We do?" Ayla cocked her head slightly, probably wondering why Hudson was with me.
"Hudson invited us to go to church with his family."
"It's the kids' service. They'll have a live manger scene, and there's lots of singing."
"Can we go?" Ayla asked.
"Yes, but we need to thank Clara before we go."
Ayla hugged Clara. "Thanks for hanging out with me."
"Anytime. Don't stay up too late waiting for Santa," Clara said with a smile.
"I won't." Ayla skipped out, and Hudson followed her.
"You've been adopted into the Sterling family?" Clara asked, putting an ornament into a red bucket that she'd placed on the floor under a tree.
"I don't think so."
Clara gave me a look. "You've been invited to church. That's a big deal."
"He said his mom would want him to invite me."
"I bet she will once she sees the way Hudson looks at you."
I stilled at that. "How does he look at me?"
"Like he can't get enough of you. I've never seen him look at a woman like that. He's usually quiet and reserved. If he was dating anyone, I never heard about it. But now he's been seen spending a lot of time with you."
"He's fixing my pipes." Then my face flushed when Clara gave me an amused look.
"Is he now?"
"Ugh. That's not what I meant. He's fixing the building's pipes. That's it. Nothing else is going on."
"Let me know if you feel the same way after Christmas. I have a feeling everything is about to change for you." Clara's expression was introspective. "And it's about time. You deserve a man who puts you first and worships you."
"You deserve the same," I said because I wasn't ready to talk about me.
She waved a hand dismissing my comment. "I just came off a breakup. I need some time to be single."
"I didn't realize that you were dating anyone."
"For about six years. I thought we were moving toward something, but he didn't want to take that next step."
"He didn't want to get married?"
"Kids. Marriage. The white picket fence. I should have listened to him. He never wanted that. I thought I could change him. But I'm onto bigger and better things, and so are you."
"Yes," I agreed.
"Merry Christmas Eve," Clara said softly.
"You too." I was excited to have someone to spend the evening with. "I'd better get going. I don't want to be late for church."
That was not something I'd ever thought I'd be saying, but when new people come into your life, everything changes. And so far, I liked everything I was experiencing with Hudson.