She peeks her head out of the door. “Do you already have lights?”
“I hope you like multicolor.”
She shakes her head, but I see her lips curl upward before she closes the door.
I shove my frozen hands into my gloves and smile as I walk across the street. Today was another risk, but it was totally worth it. I just really need to know that I’m going to get a lot more like it.
Chapter 39
SARAH
“I hope you’re ok with the dino nuggets for dinner. Since we were gonna be gone, I didn’t go to the store.”
Slade is on his knees with Ollie next to him, stringing the colorful lights around the bottom of the tree.
“I’m pretty sure dino nuggets are the Christmas Eve meal of champions,” he says, unwinding the end of a strand.
“Yeah. And you gots to b-bite the heads off first so they don’t eat your veggies. Right, Mama?” Ollie says, watching him.
I shift Frankie to the other hip. “That’s right.”
Slade gently guides Ollie’s little hands, looping the lights around the branches. A joyful peace I’ve forgotten spreads through my chest, dampened by the reality that this day has to end.
It’s like a dream. The kind I had long ago. One I thought I’d have when I married Miles, but it never came to be.
This is what I’ve always wanted. The ultimate dream. A family. The ones who are my home, no matter where I am. It’s not about a career or how much money you have. I think it’s about being with the people who make you feel whole.
Slade glances over his shoulder at me, moving around the tree. I don’t know what he sees, but he pauses. “You ok?”
He showed up unexpectedly this morning and took us on a grand adventure like none I’ve ever had. And this man is slowly making my heart ache for something I thought died along with my marriage. Butit’s also new. A kind of longing I didn’t know existed—one filled with joy and anticipation and heat and trust.
I think, bit by bit, Slade might be putting back together the jaded, broken pieces of my heart, along with the hope blasted all to hell that a man could be true to his word, loving, kind, and. . .selfless.
I nod and smile as a burn crawls up my throat with a desire for more of this. But not only more of this. More of this with him.
I shove it down, knowing timing is everything, and my timing has always been off.
I carry Frankie to the closet and pull out an old quilt. “I think this calls for a dino nugget picnic in front of the tree.”
“Yeah!” Ollie jumps as I spread the blanket.
“You guys finish with the lights, and I’ll get dinner.”
I set Frankie down, and she takes quick, wobbly steps to Slade’s outstretched arms. He smiles at her and then places her on his knee.
I fill a cookie sheet with breaded dinosaurs, sweet potato fries, tiny oranges, and two small cups of applesauce.
We eat while Ollie bounces back and forth between his food and the tree, placing his airplanes in the branches while Frankie points to each colored light, mesmerized by their glow.
Slade and I rest back against the couch, watching them. Eventually, Frankie crawls into my lap and falls asleep against me, worn out from the excitement.
“She’s a beaut, Clark.” I bump his arm with my elbow.
His head swivels in my direction. “Did you, Miss USA, just quoteChristmas Vacation?”
I twist, leaning away from him in mock offense. “First, it’s former Miss USA. And second, it’s a classic.” I shrug, returning my gaze to the tree. “It’s played every year in the community center on the cinderblock wall. I was watching it way before I understood everything that movie has to offer.” I laugh.
“What do you mean by ‘former?’” His tone isa little growly.
