Page 19 of One Hellion of a Christmas

Excitement filled her face, but she paused before throwing herself at her fathers, her quick mind working out all the clauses of their agreement. “But what if it’s notmyfault if someone breaks a bone or the house or the town? I didn’t break anything last time. That was Ciaran. And no one talked him into jumping off the roof. It’s not my fault he was trying to jump into the pool in the backyard on the Fourth of July and he missed and broke his arm. Just because I said it would be cool if someone jumped from that high and made a big splash doesn’t mean I should be blamed for him deciding to do that, Daddy.”

Ky crouched down in front of her, his face scrunched up in a way that told me he was fighting to stay stern. “Then I suggest you use your superpowers for good rather than evil, baby havoc.”

“Fine,” she said with an exaggerated huff. Then, with a squeal, she hugged him hard, smacked a kiss to his cheek, and ran off to tell her besties, “I told you I was gonna get that kitty!”

“She is diabolically adorable. I love her so much,” Sammy mused, staring after the girls with a content smile on her face. It was a look I knew well. No one could meet Jessa and not get that look at least once a day.

“You alerted the poor unsuspecting citizens that we were arriving today, I hope.” I smirked at Abi.

“They have it marked on their calendars. Vaughn made a special cyber countdown for everyone that was posted on the bank clock in the center of town. I think the mayor might have even made an announcement at the last city council meeting. There was mention of higher taxes on this side of Creswell Springs if they have to continue to make repairs when any major holiday rolls around. Maybe we should take pity on them next year and have Christmas in Malibu.”

“Let’s not.” Jamie vetoed that suggestion without hesitation. “It gives our neighbors a break when we visit. Let us know how much the extra property taxes are, and I’ll send the mayor a check. Besides, up here, there’s less chance of a casualty since the population isn’t nearly as dense.”

“And it makes it easier to defuse any explosions,” Sparks grumbled, shooting his offspring a quick glance to make sure she was still safely on the ground and not making random, dangerous suggestions to any of the kids who had impulse-control issues.

Ciaran was always at the top of that list, but there were plenty of others who were right there with him. That number tripled when Jessa batted her thick lashes and popped her dimples.They typically didn’t see the fire in those melted-chocolate eyes until it was too late.

Even Emmie could fall prey to my little demon. Ky wasn’t joking about her superpowers. She could twist a person inside out with nothing more than a flash of that smile and a few choice words that made them think what they were doing was their own idea.

“Literally or figuratively?” Elias joked to Sparks as he helped unload the presents from the SUV.

“Yes,” Sparks deadpanned.

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