Page 52 of A Christmas Bargain

He growled, dipping lower to kiss me harder at the same time that he backed away from my reach. “Teasing me so early in the day?”

I laughed as he took my hand and guided me to follow him down the hall.

Breakfast was a hurried effort, all due to Naomi’s enthusiasm to build snowmen. Derek opted to sit out, letting us have “girl time”, as he’d termed it, and Naomi was all for it.

“Now, we need to figure out where the girls will be and where the boys should go.”

I raised my brows as I snugged my hat further over my hair. This one was Derek’s, and while it was too loose, it smelled of him, spicy and masculine. “Just how many snow people are we talking about?”

“As many as we can make!”

She dictated her preferred process for making the balls of the body, but she wasn’t all matter-of-fact and businesslike. Goofing off and being silly came just as naturally for her as everything else did.

I wondered, for not the first time, if she seemed so mature because she read so much and was world-wise in that respect. Or if she’d had to grow up so soon—too soon—because she didn’t have her mom. That didn’t add up, though. I’d lost my mother too early, but I hadn’t?—

Oh, wow.

I never imagined that this realization would hit me while making snowmen, but it did.

I grew up to be the mother of the family, too.After Mom passed away, I took the role of being the mother hen to both Dad and Grace. I looked after my younger sister in every way I could. And I still was. Over time, it had shifted into my always cleaning up after her messes and mistakes.

But when will that stop? When will I change?The awareness of how I’d grown up too soon felt odd to admit. I’d always been the bubbly and peppy one, but now I wondered if I’d been like that because I had to overcorrect how serious I was to be the mother hen and in charge. The fixer. The mediator.

My call with Grace hit a note now. She’d been telling me that it was okay to stop acting like this, but I wasn’t sure how else I could behave, what else, or who else, I could be.

“Claire?” Naomi spoke up after finishing another small snowman.

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad that I met you.”

I smiled, lowering my arms to wade through the snow to reach her. “I’m glad I met you too.”

“We are friends, right?”

I nodded. “I’d like to think so.”

“We have to be. You don’t roll your eyes at me like other adults do. You listen to all my questions and don’t get annoyed. You wouldn’t be like that if we weren’t friends.”

I laughed, slightly uncomfortable about how she perceived her worth. “We’re friends.”And I loathe all those adults who ever made you feel like that.

“And you’re Daddy’s friend, right?”

I smiled. “I think so.”

“Yeah, you’re his friend. He smiles around you. I watch him sometimes.”

“Is it okay if I’m his friend?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I like that you make him seem less lonely.”

“Oh, he can’t be lonely if he’s got you.”

“But…” She shrugged. “It’s hard to explain.”

My heart cracked at this little girl’s worries about her dad.

“You’re the Christmas wish I reserved for him.”

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