Page 61 of Single Mom's Christmas Wish

“Hey, guys,” she says upon reaching us. “It’s so good to see you under much happier circumstances. How’ve you all been?”

I give her a dry smirk. “We’re fine. What are you doing here?”

“Gosh, you and Dakota must read each other’s minds. It’s uncanny,” Callie quips. “My foundation is co-organizing this charity event, and I thought I’d do more than just sign a check this time around. I’d like to help.”

“Why?” I ask, proceeding to untangle another yard’s worth of string lights while Reed feeds the clear line up to Maddox. “It’s all taken care of, as you can see. Plenty of volunteers around.”

“Plenty plus one,” Callie says and takes a step closer to me.

Reed chuckles. “I’m not sure there’s anything left for you to do. Perhaps Dakota may need a hand setting up the bar. It might be a good opportunity for you to bond with your sister.”

“Oh no, she’s got it covered,” she replies quickly. “I was hoping to get to know you fellas better, instead.” Looking at me, she stretches her lips into a hungry, sensual smile. “You, in particular.”

“I’m a boring prick, trust me,” I reply. “Cole’s bouncing around here somewhere. He’s wearing a red shirt. See if he’s got any tasks left uncovered. He might be able to find you something to do.”

“What are you handsome gentlemen doing here?” Callie insists.

“What does it look like we’re doing?” Maddox scoffs from above.

That gets a nervous laugh out of Reed as he tries to keep things, as he likes to put it, civil. “We’re stringing up some decorative lights.”

“Okay, I can help with that,” Callie says and takes another step closer to me. She’s so close, in fact, that her perfume fills my nostrils and makes it hard for me to breathe. “Here, let me untangle the rest of this, Archer, and you can fetch another roll.”

She’s pissing me off. There’s an agenda here, and I know it has something to do with Dakota’s inheritance. My brothers and I have been talking about it over the past couple of days quite extensively. We’ve yet to address the issue with Dakota, but we’re hoping we’ll get to do that tonight. Time is running out, and I’m determined to make sure that everything works out for our woman. We just need to make sure she’s on board, too.

“Sure, Callie, if you insist,” I sigh and hand over the wire, letting her do her thing.

It’s going to be a long couple of hours because she seems intent on sticking around while Dakota watches us from behind the bar. The conversation is mostly casual, dragging in places. At one point, it delves into the past, piquing my interest.

“According to my mother and grandmother, when Dad left, he cut off any contact,” Callie says. “No letters, no Christmas cards, nothing. He ceased to exist for us, though I insisted on having some form of contact.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” I say.

“I gave my grandmother every letter that I wrote to him. But he never replied.”

“How do you know Katherine even sent them?” I ask.

Callie gives me a startled look. “Why wouldn’t she? Anyway, even though he was her son, he never spoke to her again. He cut all of us off. So, yeah, I was mad growing up to learn he’d made a new family. Of course, Dakota was never to blame for any of it, but it took me a while to understand that.” She pauses and leans forward, not-so-accidentally brushing her shoulder against mine. “Be a darling and fetch another set of lights, please, Reed?” she asks my brother. “This one’s got a few broken bulbs.”

Reed finally notices the dark notes that I was telling him about.

The touch of her shoulder.

The looks she keeps giving me.

He nods and smiles, then proceeds to bring a box of colored LED lights to replace the broken ones on the wire. Callie smiles and starts working on them, one piece at a time, while Reed politely and discreetly pulls me aside.

“Okay, I see it now,” he whispers. “We need to do something.”

“Fucking finally.”

As the afternoon progresses, the sports hall is transformed into a Christmas wonderland with colored lights, American-themed pom-poms, and a slew of holiday decorations on the walls.

Callie’s foundation sent out some official invitations as well, and we’re expecting senators and representatives from out of state, not just from California, along with plenty of members of the press. I’ll give her credit—she’s got the right connections and knows how to work the phone. At least she’s made herself useful.

But the way she keeps hovering around us is putting us under unnecessary pressure. Once in a while, she’ll stop by the bar to check up on Dakota, but she never stays for more than a minute or two. It irks me.Sheirks me.

As people start streaming in for the charity event, there’s no room left for managing Callie’s contentious and mutedly dangerous presence. Besides, she’s one of the co-organizers. As much as I’d love to just kick her out, I can’t. Instead, I remain content with the fact that I’ve gotten my brothers on board with the next stage of our relationship with Dakota. Now, we just have to convince her.

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