Page 64 of A Christmas Bargain

Later, after we were clean, tired, and sated, we fell asleep in his bed. Both of us put alarms on our phones for me to get up early and sneak into the guest room. While we were becoming more open with kissing in front of Naomi, it didn’t feel right to let her see that we were sharing a bed.

I wasn’t sure when or how we could. But I’d considered it. I’d gone so far as to like a few blended family pages and was scrolling on somedos and don’tsabout dating a widower.

In the middle of the night, though, I woke up and frowned. I heard something. I knew I had. It was always so different getting used to sleeping here in the country where it was quiet. I was so used to city noises that I had to adjust, but I was used to the peaceful lack of noise pollution now. That was how far I was into loving this slower pace of life out here in the open.

What was that?I glanced at Derek and found him sleeping away.

Unable to fall back asleep, I dismissed irrational worries that the Scott tradition of trees meant a squirrel or something unwelcome could be making noise in the living room.

I got up, wrapped a robe around myself, and headed out there.

Naomi sat in front of the tree. Cross-legged, she stared up at the twinkling lights.

“Hey,” I said softly. “What are you doing?”

She saw me step out of her daddy’s room, but she didn’t seem to judge or react to that. Her face looked so sad that I doubted she’d even realize any potential significance of my coming out of his room in the middle of the night.

“I couldn’t fall back asleep.”

“Did you have a bad dream?” I asked. My pajama pants swished as I walked toward her and sat next to her.

“No. I woke up and just started thinking and thinking.”

I nodded. “I hate when that happens.”

“Do you miss your mom?”

She asked it so suddenly that it caught me off-guard. “Sure. Sometimes. Do you miss your mom too?”

“I never knew her.”

“But you’ve heard about her.”

She sighed, hugging her stuffed animal bear tighter. “Yeah. But it’s not the same.”

“No, it’s not. But those stories are what keeps them with us.”

Damn, this was sad. First, I talked about this with Derek. Now, her. Maybe the holiday season was rougher on us all than any of us wanted to admit.

“Will you tell me a story?”

I blinked in surprise. “About your mom?”

She furrowed her brow. “Did you know her?”

I shook my head. “No, but I like learning about her.”

“Maybe a story will help.”

“Okay.” I got my phone out of my robe pocket, where I’d slipped it when I left Derek’s room. Just in case. “Um, let’s see.”

She laughed at what showed on screen when I unlocked it. “You want a puppy too!”

I smiled at being caught looking up details about caring for beagle puppies. “Wouldn’t it be so cute to get them all?”

“You’re worse than me,” she teased. “I said I wantedthreedogs. And you wanted all four of the ones in that cage at the end of the shelter.”

I sighed. “Wishful thinking.”

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