Page 87 of Wanting You

“You hope who’s okay?” Chloe asked when he joined her in the kitchen.

“Oh, um…Jade said your dad’s on his way here, but no one’s heard from him yet,” he said and hoped he wasn’t speaking out of place.

“He just texted me a few minutes ago,” Marie said as she walked over and hugged him. “He stopped for gas and should be here in ten minutes. And apparently he’s bringing a bunch of food from the pub.” She rolled her eyes. “We have food here. Why he felt the need to bring food like that on a five-hour drive is beyond me.”

“Mom,” Levi said wearily. “How about we just be thankful that he wanted to bring anything?”

“Fine. Whatever. But we can all cook just as good as Kate can,” she murmured.

“I can’t!” Ashlynn said proudly. “And I will never turn down anything Aunt Kate makes. I wish some of her food traveled better. Or that we lived closer so I could go there and eat more often.”

Marie mumbled something under her breath before walking out of the room.

“Mom is not a fan of Aunt Kate’s,” Ashlynn told him with a sly grin. “And sometimes it’s just fun to poke the bear.”

“Maybe a little less poking,” Billie said as she put a bowl of chips on the table. “We’re supposed to be having fun today, remember?”

“We’re having fun! And for me, sometimes having fun is poking at Mom.” She shrugged. “You can’t control how people enjoy themselves, Bill.”

Now it was Billie’s turn to mumble something and walk away.

“I’m not sure how fun this is,” Chloe said, glaring at her sister. “Can’t you just play nice? Why the poking?”

“Because after everything Dad did for her, she still picks on him. That makes me want to pick on her to prove a point.”

“I don’t think she’s getting that point.”

“Maybe.” Then she looked at Tanner. “So, I hear you taught my sister how to ski! I’m seriously impressed.”

Wrapping his arm around Chloe’s waist, he held her close. “She did a great job all on her own. I was just there to talk her through it. With a few more lessons, she’ll be ready to hit the slopes with the first snow.”

“I really can’t wait,” Chloe said happily. “I hope we can do a family ski day. How fun would that be?”

Ashlynn grinned from ear to ear. “I still can’t believe I’m hearing you say that! Heck, I never thought I’d hear you say it!”

“Me either, and yet…I am!” She snuggled closer to him. “I mean, none of us will be able to do what Tanner does, but we can all have fun and then sit around the fire and drink cocoa. It will be great!”

In the distance, the doorbell rang. “I got it!” Levi called out.

“I’m surprised Dad came back so soon,” Chloe said. “I figured we wouldn’t see him until Thanksgiving at least.”

“Yeah, I thought so too, but Levi said he wanted everyone here for dinner today. Like we don’t get together enough?” Ashlynn mused. “But maybe they want to discuss the holidays? You know, to make sure we’re all on the same page since there’s more of us?” Again, she looked at Tanner. “Are you going up to New York for the holidays or will you be here?”

“Um…the plan is to be here. My parents are coming down. At least, they are for Christmas. I think they’re staying home for Thanksgiving.”

“I wish I could meet them before Christmas,” Chloe said with a soft sigh. “With the pressure of the holidays, it’s hard to really have any quiet time to sit and talk.”

“Maybe I’ll see if they can come down a few days before so we can sort of ease into Christmas. What do you think?”

“Wait…so are you spending Christmas with Tanner’s family or ours?” Ashlynn asked.

“I just thought we’d all spend it together,” Chloe replied. “At least Christmas Day.” Then she waved her off. “This is all the stuff we need to discuss with everyone over dinner. Thank God Levi thought to get us all here for it.”

After that, everyone ate and drank while spreading out and talking about how their week went. Tanner spent part of the time simply observing but wondered about how he and his family were going to fit into the Donovan family Christmas. When he invited his parents, he just assumed he and Chloe would be together both days. Now he realized how unrealistic that was.

However, he needed to have at least part of Christmas Eve alone with her with neither family around. If everything went as planned, he’d have some first-run snowboards to give her as gifts. He couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when…

“Tanner!” Ronan said jovially, breaking him out of his reverie. “It’s good to see you again!”

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