Page 76 of Take Me Home for Christmas

Elle grunted as she lifted Max and took him over to admire the tree. “What are you feeding this kid? He’s built like a tank.”

“According to his pediatrician, he’s going to be ‘a freak of a rugby player.’” Kate’s imitation of her husband’s British accent was perfect.

Max reached for an ornament. Elle tickled his belly to distract him. The baby’s laughter had her giggling along with him. “There is no greater sound in the world. Someone should add it to those stress relief apps. It would work wonders.”

“Speaking of stress relief,” Kate said as she carried the platter to the bar area in her great room. “You look like you’re sleeping a lot better.”

“Mm.” Elle decided not to take the bait.

Kate sighed. “Well, I’m glad to see you’ve worked through your issues.”

She hadn’t. Not really. Elle suspected she was sleeping better because Hayden wrapped his warm body around hers every night, protecting her.

Of course, the sex might have something to do with it, too. It was still off-the-charts fantastic. So good that she could hardly move her limbs afterward. No wonder she slept like the dead.

Yet another reason she was still holding on to West’s memoirs. She wasn’t ready to face sleeping alone in her New York apartment again just yet. Part of her worried the demons would show up again, perhaps even louder than before.

Monday came and went days ago without Elle alerting Madelaine or Helen that the book was complete. She worried they’d cut her stay in Chances Inlet short and insist she return to the office. And she wasn’t ready to go yet. She wasn’t ready to face those demons.

At least, that was how she justified it to herself.

“I still sleep with my clothes, shoes and phone piled on my nightstand,” she admitted to her sister.

Kate paused briefly as she pulled wineglasses from a cabinet. “There’s no shame in that. That’s a mature coping mechanism.”

Elle snorted. “Jeremy used to say I was being a baby.”

“Jeremy was a twat.”

Max squirmed in Elle’s arms. She put him in his bouncy harness. He shrieked a laugh every time he jumped.

“What does Hayden say about it?” Kate asked.

Her sister was tenacious, she had to give her that.

“He was the one who gave me the idea. I couldn’t sleep at all when I got back from Croatia.” Elle shrugged. “Hayden has a lot more experience with, and knowledge about, post-traumatic stress.”

Kate smiled softly. “He does. And he cares about you.”

Elle wandered over to peruse the holiday cards Kate had displayed on her mantel.

“I’m going back to New York, Kate. I’ve been offered my own column atVantage.”

Her sister nodded.

“You already knew.” Elle scoffed.

“Don’t blame Mom.” Kate offered her a guilty shrug. “What can I say? I have a knack for knowing how to drag these things out of our mother. Her face always gives it away when she has a secret she’s excited about.”

“Yeah, because she finally has something to be proud of me for.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Kate snapped a dish towel at Elle. “Mom has always been proud of you.”

“Oh, right. She’s so proud of her unfocused child who keeps ping-ponging from one career choice to the next while the rest of her kids are wildly successful at the first thing they chose.”

Kate recoiled as if Elle had punched her. “What the heck is going on inside that head of yours? And who says you’re unfocused? You’re months away from turning twenty-eight. No rule says you need to have it all figured out by now.”

“You did!”

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