Nancy Thompson - A Celebration Christmas

“What do you like to eat, George?” Lily asked.

The boy didn’t answer. Megan nudged him.

“Ms. Palmer wants to know what you like to eat,” she said.

The boy shrugged, indicating he wasn’t the least bit interested in their conversation.

Lily decided not to push him. “You don’t have to call me Ms. Palmer. Why don’t you call me Lily?”

Hannah leaned back and looked up at her. “Hi, Lily.” She giggled.

“Hi, sweet Hannah,” Lily answered.

Hannah giggled again and twirled one of Lily’s curls around her finger.

George spun the car so hard that it sailed off the board and skidded across the floor. It disappeared in the space between the wall and the refrigerator.

“Crap!” George growled.

Hannah and Bridget both clasped their hands over their mouths.

“George!” cried Megan. “You’re not supposed to say words like that. If Mom were here, you’d be in so much trouble.”

“Yeah, well, she’s not here anymore.” He turned his angry gaze on Lily. “What are you going to do about it, Lily? ”

* * *

It was nearly ten-thirty when Cullen got home that night. After being called away from the office midday, he’d had a lot to catch up on when he got back. Plus, there had been an emergency he’d had to handle. It had taken him that long to get everything in order.

He put his key in the lock, but before he could open the door, someone opened it for him from the inside. Lily was standing there. Cullen’s first thought was What did they do? Please don’t tell me you’re leaving.

But Lily simply pressed her finger to her lips in the international sign for quiet. She motioned him inside. The door clicked behind him, and for one glorious moment, Cullen stood in the deafening silence. The kids were quiet. The dog wasn’t even barking. It was a calm he hadn’t heard in days.

Lily walked toward the kitchen and he followed her.

“How in the world did you manage this?” he asked. “Did you slip a tranquilizer into their dinner?”

“No, of course not,” she said. “I told you I would tire them out by keeping them busy.”

He glanced around at the clean kitchen and the tidy family room, surprised not to see a mess.

“They’re angels when they sleep, aren’t they?” he said. “This place looks great. Did they help you?”

“A little bit,” she said. “We had a good bit of fun, too. In fact, we made Christmas decorations out of some glitter and construction paper I had in my trunk.” She gestured toward the table, where he could see several flat and shiny objects neatly laid out.

“But they cleaned up after themselves,” she said. “We even tackled that blue mess in the upstairs bathroom.”

“The blue potion?” He had forgotten all about it in his rush to get back to work. “You cleaned it up?”

“Potion? Is that what that was?”

She must’ve had a speck of glitter on her cheek, because something glinted in the kitchen light. Maybe it was pixie dust. Maybe that was her secret. She certainly was as cute as a pixie with her blond hair, laughing green eyes and smooth ivory skin.

“Apparently so,” he said. “You didn’t have to clean it up.”

She chuckled and Cullen had to ball his hands into fists to keep from leaning in and brushing the glitter off her cheek.

“If it sat there any longer,” she said, “it was going to either start expanding out into the hall and take over the entire house or dry out on the toilet and tile and stain everything blue. We actually made a game out of it. The kids were great once they got used to the idea that they had to clean up their messes. Are you hungry? Because I’m happy to reheat some pizza for you.”

The non sequitur threw him, but as he made the jump from the blue potion to her offer of food, a feeling of gratitude washed over him.

“No, thanks,” he said. “I’m sure you’re exhausted. You need to get home so you can get some rest for tomorrow.”

He wasn’t sure that the feeling inside him might not actually be relief. Not only did Lily have the situation firmly under control, but for the first time since the kids had arrived, he was able to take a deep breath and let himself believe that maybe, just maybe, everything was going to work out. And to think there had been a few shaky days there when he’d convinced himself that he’d gotten in way over his head by taking in the kids, even for a little while.

She walked over to the table and picked up her purse. She shrugged into her coat and fished her keys out of her bag before pulling on a pair of red leather gloves. “Actually before I go, I wanted to ask you if you had a schedule you wanted the kids to follow. We didn’t really get a chance to talk about specifics before you left to go back to the hospital earlier today.”

Schedule? “No. You just keep doing what you’re doing. I’ll be working late most nights. I won’t be around much.”

Maybe it was his imagination, but the sparkle in her eyes seemed to dim a few watts.

“There’s a park not too far from here. It’s just a short drive. You all could go there. I know it’s cold outside, but if you bundle them up they’d be fine. Is your car big enough to transport five?”

Lily frowned. “No. I have a sedan. It seats four. I guess that’s a problem. Maybe we could walk to the park.”

Not unless she was an expert at herding cats.

“I’ll call around and see about renting an SUV or a minivan for you to use. It’s too cold outside to walk anywhere, but I know that you can’t stay cooped up inside. Let me see what I can come up with.”

“That would be great,” Lily said. “Hannah was showing me her booster seat today. She’s quite proud of it.”

Cullen could imagine the girl doing that. For a surreal nanosecond, he saw a flash of what it might be like to keep the kids permanently, with someone like Lily at his side helping him raise them. The thought was simultaneously inviting and terrifying. He blinked it away.

“You’ll need a front-door key,” he said. “Let me get it for you.”

Lily followed him over to a brass key holder that was hanging on the foyer wall just outside the kitchen. He plucked a silver key on a leather key valet.

As he handed it to her, his fingers grazed her soft palm. A tingle of awareness zinged through him and she pulled her hand away a little too fast.

“Feel free to let yourself in,” he said. “No need to knock.”

She nodded.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said and turned toward the door. He followed her to lock up after he let her out, feeling a bit like a stray dog trailing along behind a beautiful stranger. She was a good soul who also happened to be a striking woman. A different brand of beautiful that wasn’t his usual type. But even if she was, he didn’t need to complicate matters by crossing lines that should be clearly drawn.

“Good night,” she said.

“Lily?”

She stopped and turned back to face him. The glitter winked at him. Before he knew what he was doing, he reached out and brushed it away. Her cheek was just as soft and smooth as it looked. It took everything he had not to trace his finger along the edge of her jawline and over that full bottom lip—

But then her fingers flew to her cheek.

“It was a speck of glitter,” he said. “On your cheek. For a moment, I thought it might be some of that pixie dust you used to work your magic on the kids. But I guess it’s just your sparkling personality shining through.”

Oh, hell. That was corny.

But she smiled. And blushed. He could even see it in the golden glow of the porch light.

“Thank you,” she said. “But I probably have enough loose glitter in my car to decorate the entire neighborhood.”