His Last-Chance Christmas Family

by Michelle Major

  “Slow down,” Brynn admonished gently.

  “I want to finish so I can feed her.”

  “You’ll have plenty of opportunities to feed her.” Brynn wiggled her eyebrows. “Don’t forget diaper duty.”

  Tyler made a face. “Gross.”

  “I can confirm gross,” Nick told him with a wink. “Last night she had a blowout.”

  “A blowout,” the boy repeated, sounding mesmerized.

  “Poop halfway up her back.”

  “Seriously? Mom, did I ever have a blowout?”

  “You were legendary,” Brynn answered, laughing. “And your timing was impeccable. Something about the car seat got you moving like nothing else. I can’t tell you how many times we’d pull out of the driveway only to pull right back in.”

  “She gets her blowout talent from me.”

  Brynn wrinkled her nose. “I’m not sure that’s a talent.”

  “She still takes after me.” Tyler shoved a final meatball into his mouth, wiped his hands on a napkin, then pushed back from the table. “Can I have a turn feeding her? I even ate the salad scoop.” He darted a wicked side glare toward Nick. “Which wasn’t small at all.”

  “Nice work with the salad,” Nick said and Tyler nodded, seemingly mollified by the praise.

  Nick ate his dinner and watched as Brynn instructed her son on feeding the baby. As soon as Tyler moved into Remi’s line of sight, she squealed with delight and pumped her whole body back and forth, as if a current of electricity coursed through her. It was hard to believe the two of them could have formed a bond in such a short time, but the connection was undeniable.

  In the space of one day, Nick’s life had been turned upside down. Wednesdays normally meant dart night at Trophy Room. He’d begged off tonight without explaining his reason. Remi’s presence would be public knowledge soon enough, but he wasn’t up for fielding questions he didn’t have the answers to. No one would believe he’d willingly become the foster parent to an orphaned baby.

  But no one understood what Brynn meant to him.

  He’d denied the feelings for so many years that even he couldn’t quite comprehend how quickly she’d once again become essential to him.

  It was different than it used to be, and not just because of the divergent paths their lives had taken. He’d been a young, stupid, selfish kid back in high school, his ego preventing him from believing that his life would ever be anything but perfect.

  Brynn had been a steady presence in his life, and he’d been an idiot to believe that would never change.

  His heart clenched as Tyler dissolved into a fit of giggles when Remi took a bite, then let it dribble out of her mouth.

  The baby grinned and smacked her hands against the top of the high chair table.

  “I think she’s had enough,” Brynn said, humor lacing her tone, when Remi repeated the action two more times.

  “She’s funny,” Tyler observed. “Was I a funny baby?”

  Brynn gave his cheek a quick kiss. “You could make me laugh harder than anything.”

  The boy shrugged away from his mom’s embrace even though it was clear he enjoyed the attention. “Did I make Dad laugh, too?”

  The band around Nick’s chest tightened for an entirely different reason as Brynn’s smile turned wistful.

  “All the time,” she answered. “Your dad thought you were the funniest, smartest, cutest baby in the whole world.”

  “I wish he was here to meet Remi.”

  “Me, too, sweetie,” Brynn whispered, reminding Nick that as perfect as this night felt, this wasn’t his family. They didn’t belong to him.

  In a few weeks, when Brynn’s application was approved, Remi would be gone from his home and Brynn would continue building a life with her two children. And Nick would be alone again.

  Chapter Eight

  Nick looked up from his computer two days later as the door to his office opened. “I’ll be done in a...”

  He swallowed back a groan as Finn and Parker shot him twin death glares. Finn closed the door, giving Nick the briefest glimpse of the curious stares from his assistant and the deputies in the station’s outer office.

  “It’s not a big deal,” he said, pushing the chair away from the desk. No point bothering to pretend he didn’t understand why his two friends had cornered him at the station. “I was going to tell you when the time was right.”

  “There is no right time for you to be fostering Daniel Hale’s illegitimate baby.” Parker crossed his arms over his chest, the tie knotted at his neck shifting in the process. Parker’s big-city style had relaxed since he’d returned to Starlight, but he still favored tailored suits during the workweek.

  “It’s not her fault her dad was a two-timing loser.” Nick shook his head. “I’m doing this as much for Brynn as for the baby.”

  “You don’t have any experience with babies,” Finn reminded him.

  “Neither do you,” Nick shot back.

  Finn handed Nick and then Parker a wrapped sandwich from the brown bag he carried. “Which is why I didn’t agree to foster one. Eat the chicken salad and come to your senses, man.”

  “If you’re aware I’ve got her, then I’m sure you’ve also heard that Brynn is planning to adopt her if the mother doesn’t return.”

  “Also irrational,” Finn said.

  “Don’t call Brynn irrational,” Nick warned. “She’s the most levelheaded person any of us know.”

  “She wants to raise her cheating husband’s—”

  “Stop.” Nick stood. “We all understand the situation. Brynn is doing what she thinks is right for Remi and for Tyler. It’s not anyone’s place to judge. We need to support her, to support all three of them.”

  “Did you give that line to Mara?” Parker asked, shaking his head. “She said almost the exact same thing to me this morning.”

  “Kaitlin, too.” Finn scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “I admire Brynn’s devotion to mothering an orphaned child, but I don’t like that you’re involved.”

  “Why not?” Nick demanded. “I’m the police chief. My job is to take care of the community.”

  “Which has nothing to do with it.” Parker pointed a finger at him. “She’s a baby, Nick. A human being. Someone you have committed to keeping alive for the indefinite future in order to impress a woman.”

  Irritation made his skin flush hot. “That’s offensive to both me and Brynn.”

  “Not our intention,” Finn insisted. “At least where Brynn is concerned. But you, my friend, are not equipped to be responsible for a baby. You know nothing about babies.”

  “As a matter of fact...” Nick jabbed his finger into the air. “I watched Three Men and a Baby last night. Even I know you don’t dry a kid’s bottom by lifting them over a blower in a public bathroom. Those things spew a crap ton of bacteria into the air.”

  Parker swatted Finn’s arm. “We may have underestimated the severity of the situation. He’s talking about germs in public restrooms.”

  “What the hell is the problem?” Nick demanded.

  “Just tell Brynn you’re in love with her,” Finn shouted.

  Nick cursed and stalked around the side of his desk. “Keep it down. The last thing I need is that hitting the gossip train in town, especially when it’s not true.”

  “Come on,” Parker urged, running a hand through his thick blond hair. “It’s been the same way since high school.”

  “I feel it necessary to point out that you both spent the better part of the last decade away from this town. Neither one of you know everything that went on with Brynn or with me during that time.”

  Finn and Parker both had issues with their respective fathers while growing up and had left their hometown for college without looking back. Nick had done the same thing—or at least that had been his plan until his brother died. His two
friends hadn’t returned to Starlight until this past summer to attend Daniel’s funeral. It had been easy to slip back into friendship, but there was no denying all of them had changed in the intervening years.

  “Besides, I’m keeping our pact even if I’m the only man standing.” He ignored how foolish the words sounded, as if anything could block his feelings for Brynn.

  “It’s not a pact if there’s only one person upholding it,” Finn pointed out. He straightened the cuffs of his crisp white button-down. Although Finn had taken over the running of the bank his family owned in Starlight, like Parker, he still dressed the part of a big-city executive with tailored suits and expensive Italian loafers.

  But there was no denying his dedication to the town. In the same way, Parker had partnered with Starlight’s most accomplished attorney, who’d been waiting for the right moment to transition out of his practice.

  Nick couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit jealous of his friends. They’d gotten to leave town, experience the world and return on their own terms. It might not have felt like it to them when they first arrived back, but he’d never had the choice to make something of himself outside of who people knew him to be.

  He’d changed, and it was more than the uniform he wore or the outward appearance of honor. His role in town wasn’t just a job to him, although it had started that way when he’d first come back and joined the department.

  He’d come to care, more than he ever thought possible, about the town, its history and future. It got under his skin that his friends didn’t think he was capable of taking care of Remi.

  Never mind that he would have said the same thing back in the day. “I’m not telling Brynn anything. She’s got enough to deal with, and I won’t be a complication she doesn’t need. What she does need is for me to be her friend. She needs support, and I’m going to give her that.”

  “You have a second chance with her,” Finn urged. “Baby or no.”

  “No.” Nick crossed his arms over his chest and refused to think about what it had felt like to kiss Brynn. The taste of her and her inherent softness. He wouldn’t let his own selfish desires eclipse his intention to help her.

  His two friends shared a look. “What can we do?” Parker asked after a moment.

  He stared at them.

  “To help with the baby,” Finn clarified.

  “To help with whatever you need,” Parker added around a bite of sandwich. “We may not agree, but we’re here for you.”

  The band choking his gut eased and he blew out an unsteady breath. “You’re probably right about me,” he admitted. “I got certified as a foster parent so I could help older kids. I’m unqualified to have a baby in my care.”

  “So are most new parents.” Parker shrugged. “We came in here to give you grief.”

  “Mainly to see how you’d react,” Finn said. “This new, responsible, town golden boy Nick takes some getting used to. We remember the Nick who didn’t give a care about anything or anyone.”

  “A test?” Nick rolled his eyes. “You two weren’t the only ones who grew up over the past ten years. I know that a baby is different. You should have seen Brynn’s face when she thought they were going to take Remi away from Starlight, even for a few weeks. I owe her after how I treated her in high school.”

  “She might disagree,” Finn said quietly. “Have you talked to her about what happened back then?”

  “There’s nothing to talk about.” Nick couldn’t imagine revisiting that time or the pain he’d caused both of them with his selfishness. “I’m going to do my best with Remi until Francesca returns or until Brynn’s foster application is approved. She shouldn’t be punished for the fact that her father was a jerk.”

  “You’re not alone,” Parker reminded him. “You’ve got Brynn and you’ve got us. Even Mara was charmed by that little girl, and she’s a hard sell when it comes to small creatures.”

  “But you should still,” Finn said with a raised brow, “talk to Brynn about your feelings.”

  “Hard pass,” Nick muttered. “I can’t even believe you spoke the words talk about your feelings. Hello, Pot. This is Kettle calling.”

  Finn grinned. “What can I say? I’m a changed man. The love of an amazing woman will do that to you.”

  “Pass me a barf bag,” Nick told his friend, ignoring the stab of jealousy piercing his chest.

  “When do we get to meet her?” Parker asked with a grin.

  “Brynn asked if I’d bring her to the holiday concert at the mill tonight.”

  “She’s doing a hell of a job with marketing the events. Josh said they’ve exceeded projections for revenue the past two months and the holiday season is going to be even bigger than expected.”

  While Parker and his brother, Josh, had worked on getting the mill up and running together, Parker had turned his attention to establishing his law practice in Starlight once they’d had the grand opening. Josh still focused on his construction company but also retained his ownership in the mill.

  “It’s given her a shot in the arm of confidence. I hope taking on a baby won’t deter that.”

  “You know Josh will give her a flexible schedule. She’s not alone and neither are you.”

  Finn leaned in. “Is this the part where we talk about the fact that Kaitlin and Mara haven’t given up on finding Mr. Right for Brynn?”

  “She won’t have time for dating,” Nick observed. “Not with Remi in the picture.”

  “Are you sure about that?” his friend asked.

  “I’m sure.” In truth, Nick wasn’t sure at all. He assumed Remi’s arrival would put everything else on the back burner, but he hadn’t actually discussed Brynn’s love life with her.

  “My wife is determined that Brynn gets another chance at love.” Parker popped the final bite of sandwich into his mouth and balled up the paper it had been wrapped in. “When Mara sets her mind on something, look out, world.”

  A knock sounded at his office door, and Marianne peeked her head in, looking like she wished she’d been a fly on the wall for the past twenty minutes. “Your appointment is here.”

  “Lunch break is over,” Nick announced, tossing the sandwich wrapper into the trash can next to his desk. This conversation had unsettled him more than he cared to admit.

  His two friends did the same. “We’ll see you tonight,” Finn told him. “I don’t want to make you all squeamish with talk of emotions or friendship, but know we’ve got your back.”

  Parker nodded. “Always.”

  * * *

  Anxiety skittered down Brynn’s spine as she watched the Starlight residents filing into the open space in the center of the mill. Skittered like a million arachnids tap dancing along her nerve endings. She couldn’t tell which she was more nervous about—the first in a series of weekly holiday performances she’d arranged or the thought of Nick bringing baby Remi to the mill and the knowledge of Brynn’s plan to adopt her late husband’s illegitimate child becoming public.

  It was bound to happen sooner or later, and with how small towns worked, she understood that she needed to control the narrative before the gossips got a hold of it.

  She’d met her mom early that morning, before Whitney’s daily water aerobics class at the community center’s indoor pool.

  Brynn’s mom had taken the news about as well as Brynn expected. She’d stomped around the small kitchen, railing about Brynn’s life being dictated by mistakes and Daniel topping the list even after his death.

  Then she’d predictably gone down the path of how the news would affect her and the nosy neighbors she’d have to deal with and the judgment she was sure to get from people she counted as friends in the community.

  Not once in her ten-minute tirade had Whitney asked about Brynn or Tyler and how they were dealing with this latest revelation of a husband and father’s betrayal.

  Par fo
r the course, but it still hurt. Brynn wished she could turn that part of herself off. The part that still cared about her mother’s disappointment in her.

  As she’d done a decade earlier, she would put on her blinders and move forward. Tyler and Remi were her priorities, and she could take comfort in the fact that she was stronger now. She had friends, a support system and proof that she was a survivor.

  The trick now was switching from survival mode to flourishing in life.

  She waved to Mara, who walked in with Parker, her daughter, Evie, as well as Josh and his daughter, Anna.

  Josh, who was both a few inches taller and broader than his older brother Parker, gave her two big thumbs-up, and pride chased away some of her nervous energy.

  The interior of the mill had been transformed into a winter wonderland, with strands of twinkling lights, ribbons and fresh greenery from a local nursery. Although the temperature was cold, lines had formed at the three different food trucks parked in front of the main building.

  She’d checked and double-checked with Martin Nielsen, the director of the high school honor choir. He displayed a calm disposition and had been the choir and theater director at the school since Brynn was a student there. He’d always encouraged her to participate in extracurricular activities, but she’d been too shy to do anything more than volunteer for the stage crew.

  She was about to go look into things with the various shop owners when she caught sight of Nick walking toward the entrance from the parking lot, Remi’s infant seat hooked on one arm. From where she stood, it was easy to watch people staring at Nick. If he felt the attention, he did a great job of ignoring it.

  Brynn had kept herself mostly hidden. She preferred to work behind the scenes normally, but tonight in particular she relished her role out of the spotlight.

  Ignoring her anxiety, she moved toward Nick. The crowd in front of her seemed to part as if people could sense her focus like a palpable force. A few called out greetings, but most simply watched her, curiosity burning in their gazes.

  She didn’t relish the thought of being the topic of conversation throughout every holiday event scheduled in Starlight over the next few weeks. As much as she knew she shouldn’t rely on him, having Nick in this with her did make the whole situation a bit easier.