Page 41 of Blame It On the Secret Santa

“I thought you were done?” my mom asked as we walked behind the girls while they headed toward the toy department.

“I was, but then I had a few new people that I needed to buy for at the last minute.” I nodded to the girls, and my mom smiled, giving my arm a quick squeeze.

Things had been busy since the day I met them, and I hadn’t had a chance to shop for them. I also felt bad not getting anything for Stephanie and my brother, even if things weren’t 100% better between us yet. He had apologized, and I appreciated it, but I had a hard time letting go of the past because of how strained things still were with Cassidy because of it. I couldn’t help but wonder if things between us would be different if she knew the truth about what happened all those years ago. Not that I hadn’t tried to tell her a million times, but I also knew it wasn’tmeshe needed to hear it from.

“If you have any ideas of what I can getthem, I would greatly appreciate it,” I said, making sure my mom understood exactly who I was talking about.

She nodded and walked down the aisle, touching certain boxes. When I failed to pick up on what she was saying, she rolled her eyes and pulled the girls to the side.

“Did you tell Uncle Sean about those baby dolls you saw on the TV? The ones that cry real tears and can eat real baby food?”

Their eyes lit up as they both spun around and started talking a mile a minute. While they were facing me, my mom caught my eye and pointed to the box sitting on the shelf beside us, too high up for the girls to really see.

I nodded, making a mental note to get the dolls for the girls. Just then, Cassidy came around the corner and headed our way. She stopped in her tracks, panic written on her face as she spotted me and my mom.

“Hey, Cassidy,” I said, locking her in place as my mom turned to see her.

“Hi,” she replied, her voice unnaturally high. “Mrs. Weaver, so nice to see you.”

“You too, dear.” My mother smiled warmly at her as she stood behind Carly and Jocelyn, resting a hand on each of their shoulders. “I’m not sure that you’ve met my granddaughters. This is Jocelyn, and this is Carly. They’re Declan’s twin girls.”

“Twins. Wow.” Cassidy’s eyes were big as she studied the girls with a soft smile. “Nice to meet both of you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Jocelyn said with a little wave.

“Do you want to come have pasgetti with us?” Carly asked, tilting her head to the side and batting her eyes.

Oh man, Declan was going to have his hands full with that one.

“Umm,” Cassidy hesitated, looking up from Carly to me and my mom. “I’m sorry, but I have to work. Thank you for the invite, though.”

“Okay,” Carly said, pouting again.

“I should get back to it,” Cassidy said, giving us a weird little curtsy bow and then immediately blushing. “It was great seeing everyone. Have a Merry Christmas.”

“You too, dear.” My mom turned her head to hide the grin that was spreading across her face.

“Hey, Cass?” I said, stepping to the side to block her for a moment. “Can you do me a favor and take these up to the front to hold for acustomer?” I grabbed two of the baby doll boxes from the shelf and looked at my mom, who nodded with approval.

“Sure. What name do you want me to put them under?”

“F. Face is fine. I’ll come take care of it in a few when I go on my lunch break.”

“F. Face?” she asked, the name she had solovinglybeen calling me not registering.

I leaned in and whispered in her ear, “fucker face.”

I stepped back and grinned at the color covering her cheeks as she took the boxes and walked away.

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