A Family Under the Christmas Tree

by Terri Reed

  She considered him for a moment. “No, you’re not. Why is that?”

  He opened his mouth to answer but realized he only had excuses. He was too tired at the end of the day to pick up. It was easier to leave everything where it was, since Troy would only drag it all out again anyway. He settled for a shrug.

  “Look,” she said in a modulated tone, “you’ve got to prioritize your life differently. Troy has to come first. If you can’t hire a nanny, then you need to work when he sleeps.”

  David ran a hand through his hair. He was exhausted. And he didn’t need a lecture. “Yeah. You’re right. I can do a lot when he’s in bed. It’s just—”

  “Just what?”

  He cringed at the sharp edge to her tone. “He has nightmares.”

  Her expression softened. “That’s rough.”

  He’d survived on little sleep in college; he could do so for two weeks. “And there are some things I can only accomplish during normal business hours. I have a company to run.”

  Her eyes widened. “You own your company. Okay. I get it.” A dose of derision filled her lovely face. “I do. My parents were like that. Workaholics. It left my brothers and me feeling very disconnected and unimportant.”

  He ached for the hurt he heard in her voice. He didn’t want Troy to feel that way, but what was he to do? He didn’t have a partner to share the load of parenting with. Though from the sound of it, both of Sophie’s parents put work ahead of their children. “By summer I can hire a nanny. But that doesn’t solve the immediate problem.”

  “Don’t you have employees who can take care of business for a while? What do you do when you go on vacation?”

  “I’ve never gone on vacation.”

  Her brows hitched to her hairline. “Ever?”

  Uncomfortable under her incredulous stare, he moved to his desk to save his work. “Not in the five years since I started my company. Not counting the time after Daniel and Beth’s accident. Troy and I were both a mess then.”

  And he hadn’t taken a vacation before that either, but he wasn’t about to share that tidbit. Growing up, money had been beyond tight. Day trips to the beach or hiking had been the extent of their family vacations. Then came college, and he’d worked as well as studied.

  “Maybe you should consider taking a vacation for the next two weeks while Troy is out of school,” she suggested.

  He considered her words. What would a vacation look like? It wouldn’t be a real vacation, since he wouldn’t be leaving town. Didn’t they call that a staycation? “I don’t know if I can do that.”

  She stepped closer. Her expression puzzled. “You don’t trust your employees?”

  “I do,” he was quick to assure her. “It’s not that. I don’t know if I”—he thumped his chest—“could take time away from work.” He glanced at his computer. All that still needed to be done on his project raced through his mind. “If I tell you what I’m working on, will you promise not to tell anyone?”

  She widened her eyes and canted her head. “Of course. Who would I tell?”

  “There are people out there who would love to get their hands on my computations.”

  “And you think I’m one of them?” She laughed.

  Excited to share his vision with her, he explained his idea for a finger sensor on electronic device platforms to monitor hydration levels. “Do you see how this might be a useful app?”

  Enthusiasm brightened her face as she looked at his design. “Yeah. I’m so impressed. If you can pull this off, your app could help the elderly, athletes . . . everyone. Water is such an important part of our lives.”

  He couldn’t stop the way his chest expanded with her praise. “I wish I could say I was the one to first think up the idea. But I might be the first to actually make it happen.”

  “So that’s what you’re working on here.” She pointed to the desk.

  “Yes.”

  “Then you don’t need to go into the office?”

  “I haven’t the past two days, but I’ve got meetings scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.”

  “What are you planning to do with Troy?”

  Acid churned in his stomach. That was a quandary he’d been wrestling with for the past week. “I’ll have to take him with me.”

  “Can you reschedule the appointments until after the holidays?”

  He shook his head. “No. Each meeting is with a big client. I can’t afford to put them off. I need to secure the business before the end of the year.”

  She tugged on her bottom lip with her teeth. She seemed to be struggling with something. Her gaze moved to the table. She let out a small gasp and picked up his sketchbook.

  He sucked in a sharp breath. The etching he’d drawn of her stared back at her from the pages of the sketchbook.

  “You did this?” She lifted her luminous eyes to stare at him.

  He straightened. Oh, no. He hoped she didn’t think that was strange. “I’m sorry, I hope you don’t mind—”

  “It’s beautiful,” she said.

  She was beautiful, he thought. But what he said was, “I studied art as well as computer science in college.”

  “Where did you go?”

  “DigiPen in Redmond, Washington.” The technology school was world renowned in the gaming and software world.

  “You’re good.” She continued to stare at her image. “I could watch Troy for you while you take your meetings.”

  Wait. Did she just say what he thought she said? “You’d do that?”

  Setting the sketchbook back on the table, she lifted her chin. “Yes, if you promise to take the rest of the two weeks off.”

  “Wow. I don’t know what to say.”

  “Say yes. Troy needs you right now. This will be the first Christmas without his parents.”

  The reminder punched him in the gut. The burn of grief stung his eyes. He blinked rapidly to banish the tears. “Yes. Christmas will be hard. For both of us.”

  She touched his arm. “I’m sorry. Of course you’re grieving, too. Maybe you need the time off for yourself as well.”

  Touched by her concern, he put his hand over hers. “I’ll take that into consideration.”

  She slipped her hand from beneath his. “Okay, now that that is settled, we should head to Grandma’s.”

  As she stepped past him, he snagged her hand and drew her closer. The glow from the dining room ceiling lamp sparked in her eyes, highlighting the crystal blue irises rimmed in a darker hue of blue. A man could lose himself in those serene pools of color and light. “Thank you. I can’t tell you how blessed Troy and I are to have you and Louise in our lives.”

  Her breath hitched slightly. She licked her lips. He tracked the movement, and his gut clenched. “We’re happy to help you out.”

  He wanted to kiss her. The thought tore through him like a flash of lightning. Yearning built in his chest. He felt a magnetic pull toward her.

  He knew he should resist. Knew it wouldn’t be smart or gentlemanly to give in to the desire to kiss her. He leaned toward her and managed by sheer will to stop halfway, allowing her the choice to close the distance between them or to turn away. He hoped she would close the distance.

  She ducked her head and tugged her hand free, then stepped around him. “Uh, Troy’s waiting.”

  He straightened but couldn’t speak. His tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth as humiliation flooded his system.

  What had he been thinking?

  She was way out of his league. A world traveler, a sophisticated photographer who probably had rich, good-looking men falling over themselves trying to gain her attention.

  He gave a mental snort. That’s the thing. He hadn’t been thinking. Apparently that was today’s theme. Wow! For a smart man, he was acting like an idiot.

  Sophie’s pulse pounded in her ears as she hurried across the driveway toward Grandma’s house. David was right behind her. She could feel his presence in the prickling of her skin and her heightened senses. His
musky scent wrapped around her, chasing away the chill of the December evening.

  She tried not to think about what had just happened, but the memory wouldn’t leave her mind. First she’d found the charcoal drawing. Was that really how he saw her? She’d been flattered and flabbergasted.

  Then to realize David wanted to kiss her . . .

  And had nearly done so, but then he hadn’t. He’d hovered just out of reach, like forbidden fruit.

  At first she’d been confused and hurt, thinking he’d suddenly realized what he was about to do and had changed his mind. But then she’d realized he was letting her make the choice whether to kiss him.

  Why, oh why, hadn’t she kissed him?

  She wanted to. Ached with the desire to press her lips to his. To feel his arms around her and to snuggle close to him. But it wouldn’t be wise. Right now, she and David were both in strange places in their lives. She was on the cusp of realizing a dream and he was struggling to figure out how to parent his nephew while running his company. It would be far too easy to get caught up in the feelings bouncing around her heart and head. Too easy to think that this handsome man could be the “one,” as Grandma hoped.

  Sophie wasn’t sure there was a “one” out there for her. Someone who would accept her, flaws and all. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to find the one—not if it meant giving up her dream job or her career.

  No, she needed to keep things between her and David on a neighborly basis. Friends. Especially since she would be caring for Troy. The last thing Troy needed was to get his hopes up that she and David would ever be together. She was leaving after New Year’s for the job she’d been working toward her whole life, and nothing short of a natural disaster could keep her away from that.

  With that thought, she opened Grandma’s front door and ushered David inside. Troy scrambled down from the dining room table and raced across the living room to launch himself into David’s arms.

  David held his nephew against his chest. “I’m sorry I’m late, buddy.”

  “I thought—” Troy buried his face in David’s neck.

  “I’m right here,” David cooed. “And you were safe with Louise and Sophie.”

  Troy nodded and leaned back. His eyes shone with tears and his lip quivered. “We made Christmas cookies. Though some of the shapes aren’t Christmasy but I put red and green frosting on them. Now they look like Christmas. I made a tiger and a bear and the waffle tower.”

  Sophie chuckled. “Eiffel Tower.”

  “That’s so exciting.” David set Troy on his feet and gave Sophie a tight smile. “We’ll get out of your hair now.”

  Grandma rolled up, nudging Sophie aside without so much as a how do you do. Sophie eyed Grandma with suspicion.

  “David, we’d love for you and Troy to stay for dinner,” Grams stated firmly. “Troy and I were just about to watch a Christmas movie.”

  Sophie should have seen that coming.

  “Yes! Please, Uncle David!” Troy hopped up and down like his feet were spring-loaded.

  Riggs barked and danced around Troy, excited by the child’s excitement.

  Grandma beamed, and Sophie’s heart clenched. The company was good for Grandma. And if Sophie hoped to convince David that he and Troy should give Riggs a home, she needed him to be around the dog more and to see how good Riggs was for Troy.

  She’d just have to put her own confused and scattered feelings aside.

  David met Sophie’s gaze. She could see hesitation in his eyes. After rebuffing his kiss, he no doubt thought she didn’t want him around. “We’d love to have you stay.”

  She meant it. David intrigued her. And if they were to become friends, she wanted to know more about him. His selflessness in taking in his nephew said a lot about his character. Not many single guys she knew would have made the sacrifice.

  One corner of David’s mouth curved. “Four to one. I guess the answer is yes.”

  “Four?” Sophie cantered her head in confusion.

  David’s gaze dropped to the dog, who now lay on the floor at Troy’s feet, his big head resting on his paws and his dark eyes twinkling. David chuckled. “How could anyone resist him?”

  Sophie grinned. “How indeed.” She moved to step over Riggs just as the dog lifted to his feet, setting Sophie off balance. Her arms windmilled as she toppled toward the floor. Years of gymnastics as a kid kicked into gear and she tucked and rolled, landing on her feet in a squat.

  She jumped up and turned to stare at Grandma. “That’s how you hurt your foot, isn’t it?”

  Grandma’s eyes were huge and her mouth open with astonishment before she clamped her lips together and smiled sheepishly. “Maybe.”

  “Note to self,” Sophie said. “Don’t try to walk over Riggs or you’ll end up on the floor.”

  Riggs let out a bark and then licked her hand.

  “Wow, that was impressive,” David said, amusement lacing his words. “What do you call that move?”

  “A somersault.”

  “Show me how to do that!” Troy attempted to roll on the floor but rolled off his shoulder and landed with a thud on his backside. Sophie ignored David’s interested stare and proceeded to teach Troy how to do a proper somersault.

  CHAPTER

  5

  With Louise and Troy in the living room watching a Christmas movie, David leaned against the kitchen counter. He watched Sophie pulling food from the refrigerator. She’d tied a green-and-red-striped apron around her waist. Trading the rain boots for fuzzy slippers, she’d retied her pretty hair up with a bright yellow hair band, revealing the long, slender column of her neck.

  He could see the pulse point just above the collar of her shirt and couldn’t help wondering if he would feel her pulse jump if he placed a kiss there.

  Considering her reaction the last time he’d attempted to kiss her, he stayed where he was. Still, it didn’t hurt to wonder, did it? He could feel his ears turning red. Hopefully, she’d think it was the warmth of the house. If she even noticed. She’d hardly looked at him since he’d agreed to stay for dinner. Not that he blamed her. He’d acted impulsively. There was a reason he didn’t usually do that.

  He noted she wore no jewelry. She didn’t need any. She was pretty without any decorations. It had been a long time since he’d been this attracted to a woman. Not since Sybil. His college girlfriend.

  They’d met his first year. She’d worked in the coffee shop near the campus and had an exotic beauty, with dark, short, spiky hair and coffee-colored, almond-shaped eyes. They’d dated for a year before she’d moved on to follow her dream of being a flight attendant. He’d never heard from her again.

  Her rejection had fueled his frantically paced schedule the next few years. He hadn’t wanted to admit he’d thought she hadn’t believed in him and his dream of opening his own software company. But in the end, she’d left him, just like everyone else. He’d wanted to prove to her, to his parents, to everyone, that he would succeed without anyone else’s help.

  Strange, he hadn’t thought about Sybil in years. With time and perspective, he realized he hadn’t been heartbroken, just indignant, when she’d left. But that hurt was long gone, as were his feelings for her.

  Forcing his thoughts away from the past, he focused on the lovely woman in front of him. “What can I do to help?”

  “Not sure yet.” Sophie laid everything on the counter and surveyed her bounty of broccoli, carrots, and a package of uncooked chicken. “Will Troy eat broccoli?”

  “I don’t know.” Guilt squeezed him. Shouldn’t he know something like that about the boy? Anxiety ate at him. “We’ve been surviving on prepackaged foods with some fruit thrown in for nutrition. I guess I should make more of an effort to cook real food.”

  Sophie laughed. “You’ll figure it out. Give yourself time. Now that you’re taking some time off, you could buy a cookbook and experiment.”

  He laughed. “Only if you promise to eat what I make.”

  She slanted him a sta
rtled glance. “Uh, well, uh, okay. I’m sure Grandma and I would be happy to taste test your creations.”

  He’d flustered her again. It was easy to do. And he had to admit he liked the way her nose crinkled up in confusion and her eyes grew wide. He liked her.

  There. He’d admitted it to himself. No harm in that. They needed to be friends. She was going to be a part of his and Troy’s lives for the next few days at least, and he’d better like and trust her if he were going to leave Troy with her.

  He’d just have to be careful not to let himself or Troy become too attached to the pretty photographer.

  She pushed up the sleeves of her off-white shirt. “Would you mind firing up the oven to four twenty-five? I’ll roast the chicken with some diced potatoes and carrots and steam the broccoli.”

  “Sounds good.” He did as he was asked. “I can cut up the potatoes.”

  She handed him a cutting board. “Knives are in the center drawer.”

  Glad to have something to do, he set out to chop the potatoes into cubes. “Louise said you grew up in Hollywood.”

  “Actually, my parents’ home is in West Hollywood.” She washed the chicken and patted it dry with a paper towel. “Though they work in Hollywood.”

  “Doing what?”

  “A little of everything behind the camera. Scriptwriting, producing, directing.” She turned her interested gaze on him. “Where did you grow up?”

  His stomach clenched. He should have expected the question. He didn’t like talking about his childhood. “Eastern Washington. Will you be heading south for Christmas Day?”

  If she noticed how quickly he changed the subject she didn’t let on. “Nope, I’m planning on staying here with Grandma until after New Year’s. I never know from year to year if I’ll make it home for the holidays. My parents have so much going on at this time of year, they hardly notice my absence, and my brothers all have their own families now.” She placed the chicken in a glass pan. “Hopefully, Grandma will be walking by then.”