Kate Hardy - A Mistletoe Vow

“We should probably take off,” he said. “You need to tell Celeste thank-you for bringing you out here to meet Sparkle and to play with the puppies.”

“Do we have to go?” she complained.

“Yes. It’s late and Celeste probably has to work at the library tomorrow.”

She nodded and was suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of fatigue. The day had been long and exhausting, and right now she wanted nothing more than to be in her comfy clothes, cuddled up with her animals and watching something brainless on TV.

“Okay,” Olivia said in a dejected voice. “Thank you for bringing me down here to meet Sparkle and play with the puppies.”

“You are very welcome,” Celeste said. “Anytime you want to come back, we would love to have you. Sparkle would, too.”

Olivia seemed heartened by that as she headed for the reindeer’s stall one last time.

“Bye, Sparkle. Bye!”

The reindeer nodded his head two or three times as if he was bowing, which made the girl giggle.

Celeste led the way out of the barn. Another inch of snow had fallen during the short time they had been inside, and they walked in silence to where his SUV was parked in front of the house.

She wrapped her coat around her while Flynn helped his daughter into the backseat. Once she was settled, he closed the door and turned to her.

“Please tell your family thank you for inviting me to dinner. I enjoyed it very much.”

“I will. Good night.”

With a wave, he hopped into his SUV and backed out of the driveway.

She watched them for just a moment, snow settling on her hair and her cheeks while she tried to ignore that little ache in her heart.

She could do this. She was tougher than she sometimes gave herself credit for being. Yes, she might already care about Olivia and be right on the brink of falling hard for her father. That didn’t mean she had to lean forward and leave solid ground.

She would simply have to keep herself centered, focused on her family and her friends, her work and her writing and the holidays. She would do her best to keep him at arm’s length. It was the only smart choice if she wanted to emerge unscathed after this holiday season.

Soon they would be gone and her life would return to the comfortable routine she had created for herself.

As she walked into the house, she tried not to think about how unappealing she suddenly found that idea.

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