Page 7 of Christmas On Anchor Island

“The trick is to never let her know when I’m decorating my own tree. Every year she says she’ll help, and every year I accidentally forget to tell her when I’m doing it.”

Lauren laughed. “That’s a good plan. What she doesn’t know won’t hurt you.”

“Exactly.” And not just when it came to Christmas trees.

* * *

“Aunt Henny is here!”exclaimed Conner as he bounded into Henri’s arms. “Where have you been? I missed you!”

Oh, how she loved this kid. “I missed you, too, buddy. Did you have a good time picking up Grandmama?”

“She smells funny,” he replied, wiggling out of her arms. Thankfully, the woman in question was too far away to hear the child’s assessment.

Conner hugged his mother, then he crossed to the playpen as if to see if the twins were still there. After touching both gently on the head, he jogged back to Callie. “Daddy took me to see a big boat.”

“The Battleship Wisconsin,” Sam said, setting his mother’s suitcases at the foot of the stairs before crossing to his daughters.

“The battleshit,” Conner repeated.

Callie lifted wide eyes to her husband, who was laughing. “I’ve corrected him every time, I swear.”

“I can attest to that,” said Eugenia Edwards, matriarch of the very wealthy and very southern Edwards family.

Upon first meeting, the older woman reminded Henri of a Hell’s Kitchen bouncer, only with pearls and a faux shearling coat. Like the Charleston version of Queen Elizabeth, but with a distinctly southern accent and better shoes. Eugenia possessed a cutting wit, a dark sense of humor, and had become one of Henri’s favorite human beings. Only partially due to the fact she was one of the few who could get Callie’s mother, Evelyn Henderson, to sit down and shut up.

“How are you, Henrietta?” Eugenia refused to use the shortened version of Henri’s name.

“I’m good. How are you?”

“As old and cranky as ever.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Henri reached for the suitcases. “Your room is next to mine so I’ll carry these up for you.”

“I’ll do that,” Sam protested.

She waved him off. “I’ve got it. You keep cuddling your girls.”

The elder Edwards followed her up the stairs, and an hour later they were all gathered around the dinner table, finishing a meal Callie had ordered in from Pilar’s. Conner was sound asleep on his father’s shoulder, while Callie fed one twin and Eugenia fed the other. Both babies looked ready to join their brother in la-la land.

“Do you still have developer contacts in Charleston?” Henri asked Sam as she swirled the wine around her glass.

“I do,” he said, brows drawn, “but if you need to talk to one for some research, I could answer your questions.”

“This is research of a different kind.” Taking a deep breath, she said, “I’m thinking about buying my own place.”

Callie sat up straighter. “Are you serious? You haven’t even rented an apartment in ten years.”

Henri didn’t like to be tied to one place. When she wasn’t traveling for reader events or book research, she was at her parents’ place in Charleston or visiting Callie here on the island. But she would be thirty-five next month and recently felt the urge to establish a home base that was all her own.

“Reader events aren’t as frequent as they used to be, plus my next series will be set in Charleston so no travel required. It’s time to settle down.”

“Good for you,” said Eugenia.

“Why not settle down here?” Callie asked, as Henri knew she would.

“I didn’t say I would never travel at all. More than four hours from the nearest major airport is a deal breaker.”

Her cousin’s excitement waned. “But it would be so nice to have you around all the time.”

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