SUSAN MEIER - Bride Under the Mistletoe - The Magic of a Family Christmas

“I’m only here for a few weeks.” Cullen turned to Wendy. “Are you okay?”

“Mr. Zamias just told me that Harry’s dad is dead.”

Cullen looked shocked. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

Randy frowned. His beady brown eyes narrowed. His voice dripped with disdain when he said, “So it appears custody falls to you, Ms. Winston.”

Not knowing what to say, Wendy stayed silent. She knew Randy Zamias wasn’t thrilled with the way she’d demanded the rights granted to her by Betsy’s will while social services searched for Harry’s father. But with the news of Harry’s dad’s death, she became Harry’s guardian. End of story.

“Don’t get smug,” Randy said, folding his arms on his chest. “The will may give you custody, but because Harry was in our system, we can check up on him. Check up on you.”

Wendy suspected Randy was only blustering because she’d challenged him, but before she could say something conciliatory to smooth things over, Cullen walked to Randy and slid his arm across his shoulders. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve been interacting with Harry since he’s been in Ms. Winston’s custody.”

“You have?”

“Yes. If you’re concerned about this transition period, I’m in Barrington until Christmas. I can continue to help out while Harry gets adjusted.”

“That does make me feel better.”

“Great,” Cullen said, leading Randy to the door.

Watching the exchange, Wendy didn’t know whether to be grateful or appalled. Cullen had taken the entire discussion out of her hands. He hadn’t even given her a chance to be her own diplomat. If she had any doubts that Cullen was exactly like Greg, he’d just eliminated them.

The second Randy was out of hearing range, Cullen spun to face her. “What the heck did you do to get on his bad side?”

“When Betsy died, Harry was put into foster care because I didn’t know about the will. None of us did.” She pulled in a breath and caught Cullen’s gaze. “When her lawyer finally contacted me, I immediately petitioned the courts to get Harry while they searched for his dad.”

“You made him look bad to his superiors.”

“I wasn’t saying he made a bad decision, just an ill-informed one. None of us knew about Betsy’s will. It wasn’t anyone’s fault that Harry had gone into a foster home. But I didn’t want Harry to be with people he didn’t know when he could have been with me.” She paused. Though it felt odd to thank him for high-handing her, she knew she had to. “I guess I should thank you for smoothing things over.”

“Save your thanks. I might just become a thorn in your side. Since I told old Randy I’d help with the transition, I’ll have to take Harry up on his offer of dinner every few nights.”

“That I can handle.” Sort of. She wasn’t happy he had insinuated himself into her life, but she did know his offer had given Randy a graceful out in their situation and he probably wouldn’t bother them. Harry was all hers to raise—

She stopped her thoughts as a terrible realization occurred to her. With Harry now officially in her custody, everything to do with the little boy was her responsibility.

She looked at Cullen again. “I have to tell Harry that his father is dead.”

“DO you want me to be there?”

Wendy bit her lip, considering that. Cullen had promised Randy Zamias he would be part of things while he was in town, but she didn’t want Harry to see Cullen in such an important role that he’d grow to depend on him and have a hole in his life when Cullen returned to Miami.

Still, this was a delicate situation and the more people Harry had around him for support, the better.

She glanced at her watch. “I’ve hired a babysitter who’s been staying with him after school until I return from work. I’m trying to decide if it’s better to let him have another afternoon of thinking he’s got at least some family, or if I should just go home and be honest.”

“Let’s go be honest.”

Leave it to Cullen to make the decision for her. In another twenty seconds she would have said the same thing. Yet, he beat her to the punch. Still, in this case, it really didn’t matter. Harry would appreciate having Cullen around when he got the news about his dad. Anything else was irrelevant.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

They drove their separate cars to her house. Wendy parked in the driveway beside the babysitter’s SUV. Cullen parked on the tree-lined street in front of her house. The ice from the storm over the weekend had melted. Broken limbs had been cleared away. The sun smiled down from a bright-blue sky, but the air was cold, promising that before too long there would be snow on the ground, a sparkling white blanket for Christmas.

She walked into her warm kitchen, where Mrs. Brennon was setting a mug of steaming hot cocoa beside a plate of iced Christmas cookies for Harry’s after-school snack.

“Mrs. Winston!”

“Hi, Mrs. Brennon. I know I’m early today but I really need to talk with Harry.”

Cullen walked in the kitchen door behind her.

Harry’s face instantly brightened. “Cullen!” He bounced off the chair and raced to Cullen to hug him around the thighs. “I missed you.”

Cullen stooped down. “Hey, kid.”

Harry glanced at Cullen’s topcoat, black suit and silk tie. “Were you at work?”

Cullen nodded. “Yeah. With Wendy.”

Wendy tapped Harry’s shoulder to get his attention. “Why don’t you and Cullen eat those cookies while I spend a minute with Mrs. Brennon?”

“Sure!” Taking Cullen’s hand, Harry led him to the table.

Wendy directed Mrs. Brennon to the front foyer. She explained that they’d gotten the news that Harry’s dad had passed away and they needed to tell him.

Mrs. Brennon’s eyes filled with tears. “How sad for that sweet little boy.”

“I know.”

The babysitter walked to the closet and pulled out her winter coat, mittens and scarf. “I’ll just be on my way then.”

“Thanks. We’ll see you on Monday.”

Mrs. Brennon said goodbye and exited through the front door.

Wendy took a deep breath then walked into the kitchen. Cullen had removed his topcoat and hung it on a hook beside the door. He sat at the table eating cookies with Harry.

“Hey, guys.”

“Hey, Wendy.” Harry peered at her above his glasses. “Cullen likes my cookies better than yours.”

“Well, yours were definitely prettier.” She took another breath. “How about if we go into the living room for a minute to talk about something?”

Harry grabbed two cookies. “Sure.”

He scrambled into the living room ahead of them. Without speaking, Cullen and Wendy followed him. He bounced onto the sofa. Wendy sat on one side. Cullen sat on the other.

“Randy Zamias from social services came to see me today.”

Harry wrinkled his nose. “He’s bad.”

“No. He’s trying to look out for your welfare,” Wendy said. “But he also had some news.”

When Harry didn’t answer, Cullen touched his forearm and Harry faced him. “About your dad.”

Harry looked at Wendy. “My dad?”

“Yes, honey. Randy was searching for your dad and he found him. But he’s…Well, he’s…”

“He’s like my mom, isn’t he?”

Wendy nodded. “Yes. I’m sorry. He died.”

It took a few seconds for that to really sink in, and when it did, Harry’s little face crumpled and tears welled in his eyes.

Wendy took his free hand, as Cullen grabbed the cookies that were falling from his other hand. Harry hadn’t seen his father since he was three. Technically, he’d lost his dad years ago. Wendy knew his tears weren’t so much from loss, but from fear. Now he was totally alone.