Wanted: Mom for Christmas (A Cates Brothers Book)

by Lee Kilraine

  Nora was a little unsure of what happened after that because she burst into tears…which caused Heather to cry…which confused HL…and freaked out Hawk, who gathered up his family and took them home.

  Chapter Fifteen

  All I Want for Christmas is You

  They’d been back at the house for over an hour and no one had seen Nora. She’d still been crying when they walked in the door and had gone straight on back to her room. It had been quiet ever since.

  “Dad, can’t you please go talk to her?” Heather asked. “What if she’s in there packing?”

  Hawk shook his head. “Nora wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t leave without talking with us.” Would she? Dammit, he was just as worried as the kids.

  “I want her to stay, Daddy. I want her for our mommy. Our real mommy.” HL’s big brown eyes were sad and serious. “Please, Daddy! Make her stay!”

  “It doesn’t work that way, buddy.” He sucked in a painful breath and rubbed his chest because there was a stinging ache over his heart. “We can’t make her stay. She has to want to.”

  Nora entered the kitchen and HL and Heather stared over at their dad, trying to prod him into asking Nora to stay. But Hawk had already asked her and he was too afraid to ask again in case she said no.

  She moved to the refrigerator and took out an apple, before closing the door and turning to them; her splotchy face and red-rimmed eyes had Hawk’s hope sinking.

  “Well, we won the Reindeer Games.” Her gaze touched on each one of them. First HL, then over to Heather, before landing on Hawk. “But if you think the honorable mention in the light contest was a total Charlie Brown-true-meaning-of-Christmas-Linus-speech moment—you’re wrong. We know the true meaning of Christmas, right? Love, forgiveness, family, and belief. Sure. But mark my words, this family is coming back bigger and brighter next year.”

  Nora walked out of the room, leaving the three of them staring at each other. They slowly grinned and those grins turned into huge smiles.

  “Nora’s staying!”

  Nora’s staying. Holy shit, Nora’s staying. “I need to talk to Nora,” Hawk said, rushing out of the room.

  Down the hall, he tapped on her door. “Nora?”

  “Come in.”

  Hawk entered her room a little surprised to find her sitting on her bed, with her computer on her lap. “Are you okay?”

  She looked at him, her green eyes tearing up again, but she blotted at them with a wadded up tissue in her hand and nodded. “I’m sorry I freaked out, but I just needed some time to myself. To think things over and figure out my life.”

  “I’d like to say something before you make any final decisions.”

  “Sure.”

  He sat at the end of her bed, next to her feet. “I think we have something here. Something worth exploring. Whether it’s a long distance relationship or you move back to Climax—we can make it work. If that’s what you want…”

  She nodded her head, looking at him with a fierce surety. “That’s what I want. But I want to double check with the kids again before we take it further. Just to make sure they’re sure.”

  And that was why he loved her. Okay, one of the reasons, but a big one. Even back in high school she’d been generous and caring. Putting others first.

  Glancing at her computer, he ran a hand down his face. “Damn, Nora, you scared me. I saw that computer and was afraid you were booking the first flight out of here.”

  “God, Hawk, I’m sorry. I’m such a jerk.” She rolled her eyes, disgusted with herself. “No, I’m buying more parenting books. If I’m going to be in HL and Heather’s life, I need to figure it out. I’ve got a lot more research to do.”

  He was in the process of kissing her senseless when one of the kids knocked on the door. He placed a kiss on her neck before sitting back on the end of the bed again. “I’m going to remember where we were for after they go to bed.”

  “You and me both.” Nora gave him a flirty smile before turning to the door. “Come in!”

  Heather poked her head in cautiously. “Is she staying?”

  “Are you staying, Nora?” HL burst through, throwing the door open wide.

  “If you’ll have me.”

  “Yes!” HL jumped up on the bed, wrapping Nora up in a hug.

  Heather climbed up on the bed too, leaning up against Hawk with a happy smile on her face.

  “Hearing you two earlier today—well, that meant so much. I can’t tell you what it feels like to be welcomed. To be invited into such an amazing family.” Nora wrapped HL up against her side. “HL, for right now, your dad and I have agreed to date. Is that okay as a start?”

  “Yes,” HL said, nodding in a rare serious moment. “Nora, I been asking my daddy for a mommy for a long time now. And sometimes I was mad because he didn’t bring one home. But I think he was waiting for you.”

  That felt exactly right to Hawk.

  “All right. Clear out, you little Savages, so Nora and I can have a few minutes.” He hustled them out the door, before turning back when a thought hit him. “Oh, shit.”

  “What?” She stood, stretching her arms over her head, making him groan again. “What’s wrong?”

  “I just realized something worse than being lonely and celibate.” Hawk pulled her against him, loving the feel of her in his arms and his life. “Being in lust and in love with you and not being able to do a damn thing about it.”

  She laughed into his neck.

  “You think it’s funny?” Hawk framed her face with his hands, kissing her with the most carnal, heated kiss he could. He stroked her tongue with his, and bit into her bottom lip, while he cupped her ass in his hands, bringing her body tight into his until she groaned.

  “You’re right. Not funny. Please tell me we’ll figure something out.”

  “I have a few favors I can call in. My sister owes me. And Quinn and his brothers.” He kissed her again until they were breathless. “Maybe not until after Christmas, but we’ll figure something out.”

  “Daddy?” HL called from the other side of the door. “Kaz Cates is here!”

  Hawk and Nora walked out and found Kaz waiting in the kitchen talking to the kids. Hawk made the introductions before asking, “So, what’s up?”

  “I checked out the Rent-A-Mom company like you asked. I thought you’d be interested in what I found.”

  “Darn, Kaz, I forgot I asked you. I’m sorry I wasted your time. Everything turned out fine.” Hawk loved the way his whole family smiled at that.

  “Well, if the rumors going around the grapevine are true, then I guess so.”

  “Thanks, though. Heck, I almost feel like I should send them a thank-you card.”

  “You could try. Except they don’t exist.” Kaz pulled the contract from his back pocket, slowly unfolding it, and smoothing out the creases. “I mean—they did—but they don’t.”

  Hawk crossed his arms over his chest and raised his brows at Kaz. “Want to explain that?”

  “I wish I could. I found the website easily enough. But I was in the middle of navigating around it, and it went dark.”

  “What do you mean ‘went dark’?”

  “Disappeared. Without a trace. No trail. No digital foot print. Nothing. It’s like it never existed.”

  Just like the damn rental car.

  Kaz handed the contract Hawk had given him when he’d asked him to look into it. “Did you happen to notice the signature at the bottom of the rental contract?”

  “To be honest, I was a little busy noticing Nora.”

  “Understandable.”

  Hawk glanced down at the bottom of the sheet. “Are you kidding me? K. Kringle? You don’t think—”

  Kaz shrugged. “It’s a mystery.”

  After dinner that night, which Hawk happily cooked, they moved into the family room to sit
by the tree lights and eat some of the Christmas cookies Georgie had dropped by.

  “Hey!” HL’s head popped up and he moved from sitting by the tree to snuggle on the couch next to Nora. “Will I get to go watch the Olympics in two years when you play?”

  Nora’s face fell and she kissed the top of Henry Lee’s head. “I doubt I’ll be in the next Olympics, HL. Between fixing the scar tissue, extra rehab, and finding a new partner… There’s so much involved. The odds are terrible.”

  “Since when did that ever stop you?” Hawk challenged her with his gaze. “In our junior yearbook you said you wanted to win a gold medal in the Olympics. Some kids laughed. I’ll be honest, I thought it was just one of those crazy dreams, like I want to be an astronaut. It sure wasn’t.”

  HL turned his head up to her. “You wouldn’t let me give up on the light contest. You said, ‘We’re not quitters.’”

  Heather nodded. “And don’t forget what you said in the interview. ‘When it gets hard, don’t quit, even when you think you can’t keep going.’”

  “Oh my God. Is this what being a parent is like? They remember everything you say and then use it against you?” Nora poked HL in his belly, making him giggle.

  “Seriously, Nora. If you thought you could make the team, would you want it?” Hawk reached out, sliding his hand to her knee, just needing to touch her. He wasn’t sure he’d ever be tired of touching her.

  “Yes.”

  “Okay.” Hawk nodded. “What will it take to make the team?”

  “A Christmas miracle?”

  “Oh, babe. I think we’ve already had one.” No other way to describe how he felt about having Nora back in his life.

  He needed to back off and let Nora make her own decision about her career. So instead he turned his mind to Kaz’s visit and the few other unexplained events recently. Being a cop, in his experience there was always a logical explanation, it’s just he hadn’t come close to finding it yet.

  “HL, did you ask Santa for a mommy this year?”

  “Yep. But since he hasn’t been coming through, I moved it way down on my list to number seven.” HL shook his head. “But it wasn’t me. Nora is nothing like the mom I asked for.”

  Nora’s face fell. “I’m sorry, HL.”

  “Why? You’re way cooler. I didn’t know they made moms like you.”

  “I wrote a letter to Santa,” Heather announced quietly while she drew in a Harry Potter coloring book.

  Hawk frowned. “Why didn’t I know you asked Santa for a mom?”

  Heather finally looked up with a small secret smile on her face. “Because I didn’t. I asked Santa for someone for you, Daddy.”

  Epilogue

  Hallelujah

  Christmas, Three years later…

  The smoke detector’s piercing beeps set the Savage family into motion. Like a well-oiled machine, Hawk, HL, and Heather dropped the strand of Christmas lights in the grass and went inside, straight to the kitchen. Their noses wrinkled at the smell of smoke and burned sugar.

  No one panicked because this had become part of the routine over the last four months. Each person manned a station. Heather grabbed the hand-held fan to wave under the smoke alarm, while Hawk and HL moved over to the kitchen windows, sliding them up for the smoke to escape.

  “Whelp, that’s it for me.” Nora stood at the oven, waving away the smoke that puffed out when she opened it. She pulled out the tray of burnt sugar cookies and set them on the granite counter with a look of disgust. “Three strikes and I’m out.”

  “They probably taste okay with icing,” HL said, watching the smoke rise off the dark brown cookies. “Icing makes lots of stuff taste better.”

  “HL, I love you, but you’ll eat anything.”

  “Nora, babe, you don’t have to bake cookies. In fact, I can guarantee you Georgie will be insulted if you do.” Hawk knew this wasn’t about the cookies though. It wasn’t even about baking. Nora could care less about being the next Martha Stewart in the kitchen.

  “I know. But I don’t want anyone calling me a quitter.” She looked up and around at everyone faces. “Three tries seems fair.”

  HL snickered and glanced at Hawk who only nodded, wisely keeping his lips in a straight line even if he did want to grin.

  Heather smiled and said, “No one would call you a quitter, Mom.”

  Nora blinked a few times, then she smiled like she did every time one of the kids called her Mom: like they’d just handed her a puppy. “Well, you guys gave me a hard time about the whole volleyball thing.”

  Hawk maintained the serious expression on his face, but he couldn’t keep the laughter from his eyes, especially when he heard HL snort. Hawk quickly dropped his head and stared at his boots until he was under control again.

  When he looked back up, Nora stood scowling down at the tray of Christmas-tree shaped charcoal briquettes.

  “I mean, I wanted to be one of those baking moms. I’ve tried three years in a row.”

  She had. They’d had to upgrade the smoke detectors to accommodate Nora’s baking experiments. Just thinking of all the ways Nora had added to their lives finally broke him, and he let the smile already warming his chest slide onto his lips.

  “So we’re all clear, right?” Nora rolled her shoulders back and lifted her chin. “Nora Joy-Savage is not a quitter.”

  HL and Heather giggled.

  “Agreed.” Hawk walked around the island until he stood in front of Nora. He reached out, grabbing the counter behind her so she was caught within the circle of his arms. “But I think the gold medal in the family room proves Nora Joy-Savage is no quitter.”

  “But that’s volleyball.” Nora sighed, tilting her head and gazing into his eyes. “I really want to win at being a mom.”

  “Well, Jordy says you’re a babe,” HL said, trying to comfort her. “Do you think she’s a babe, Dad?”

  Did he think she was a babe? Mile-long legs. Lean, strong body. Perfect ass that still made him stop in his tracks. But she was much more than that. Smart. Funny. Devoted. She had a generous soul. Her heart was one part joy, one part passion, and one part marshmallow. Nora had become the sun in their universe.

  Hawk leaned forward, running kisses along Nora’s jaw until he took a soft nip of her earlobe and whispered, “Total babe. You still stop my heart.”

  Throwing her arms around his neck, Nora relaxed into him and whispered, “Back at you. I love you, Jackson Hawk Savage.”

  “Here they go again,” HL announced behind them, but his voice sounded pretty okay with it.

  “Close your eyes, HL. Just one kiss. I promise,” Hawk said.

  “I don’t mind. Jordy says he hates when his parents get all gooey. But kissing makes you two happy and then Nora says yes to almost everything I ask.”

  Nora dropped her forehead onto his chest and whispered, “He’s on to us. That’s how we ended up with the tire swing, the pair of stilts, and the stray cat. And her surprise litter of kittens.”

  Marshmallow through and through. Partly because that’s just who Nora was. Partly to make up for the crappy parenting she’d had. And partly, too, for Holly.

  One day, about two months after Nora had agreed to stay in Climax, Hawk had gone outside to find Nora in the yard. She was sitting next to the garden she and the kids had planted in honor of Holly and she was talking to her.

  Hey, Holly. I just want to say you have amazing kids. You and Hawk. Heather and HL will always be your kids. Always. But I’m going to be the best mom I can be to them. You can count on that. I hope you can hear me because I’ll be asking you for lots of advice. And tell you all their stories. You won’t believe what HL said last week…

  Yeah, that had melted Hawk’s heart on the spot. He’d backed away quietly and done the only thing a man could do—cut onions until he’d pulled it together. Then he’d called his s
ister to take the kids that night and made wild love to Nora until they were exhausted.

  And then he’d asked her to marry him. She’d said yes. (Technically, she’d burst into tears first, then said yes, and then they’d made love again.) Six months after Nora Joy rang their doorbell, Hawk and Nora were married on a beach in the Outer Banks surrounded by family and close friends.

  Somewhere in there Nora had sat them all down and asked if they were okay if she tried to wrap up her beach volleyball career with an attempt at one last Olympics. She explained it would mean she’d be away a lot for the next two years. And when she was home she’d still be doing serious training. It would affect them all. So, they might not want to sign up for that craziness. She was wrong; they were all up for it.

  She was right too; it had been a challenging two years of not seeing Nora enough, and her missing them when she called from the training center or some faraway tournament. She’d gone into beast mode and made an amazing recovery after the arthroscopic surgery to remove the scar tissue. And, as it turned out, finding a new partner had been easy. Because Nora wasn’t the first player in the small world of beach volleyball who Beth had hurt. Never underestimate the wrath of a woman. And two women? Let’s just say when Nora and her new partner beat Beth for a spot on the National team—well, the Savages celebrated.

  Watching Nora and her partner win the gold medal had been incredible for the whole family. To be in the crowd as people cheered their heads off was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It had been a wild ride, but Nora had retired immediately after the Olympics and come back to Climax and them for good.

  Thus, Nora’s push to conquer her failure at cooking. Now that she was a full-time mom, she didn’t want to fail Heather and HL. Full-time mom and student. Nora’s mom had come to visit them once after the Olympics to talk Nora out of retiring. When her mom had thrown Nora’s worthless degree in Nora’s face again, Nora decided she was going to fix that and go back to school for a degree in occupational therapy.

  “Mom, it’s okay if you burn stuff. You’re fun and funny. You read us stories and help us with homework when Dad’s working,” HL said. “Heather likes all the girly stuff you do with her, right, Heather?”