Page 2 of Architect's Christmas Nanny

Thank you for letting her grow up happy and fearless,Jillian added inwardly to the family’s prayer.

“What are you thankful for this year, Dad?” Josie asked when it was done.

“I’m thankful that I finished the Eriksson project,” Brad began with a smile.

Jillian was pretty sure they were all happy that Brad had finished the Eriksson project. It had caused endless late-night calls and missed activities for Brad at the school.

“But most of all, I’m thankful that we’re all healthy and happy, and looking forward to a new year and new adventures,” he finished.

“I’m thankful to have tomorrow off from school,” Josie said with a smile, turning to Jillian.

“Yes, me too,” Jillian told her with a smile of her own. “Because I’m thankful that we can get the Christmas bins out and start our decorating.”

The two had a tradition of decorating the penthouse for Christmas starting the day after Thanksgiving. It wasn’t as elegant when they were finished as it had been back when Brad hired home stagers to do it—just as this dinner wasn’t as refined as the department store one Brad had ordered in when Josie was a baby. But in Jillian’s opinion, children enjoyed the shared work of the holidays, and imperfect things felt so much more like home if you had planned them and made them yourself.

Besides, these were the activities Jillian and her little sister, Rachel, had longed to do as children, but they had never really had these kinds of resources.

Brad frowned across the table, and she wondered what she had said that displeased him. Maybe he didn’t like having the house decorated so quickly after Thanksgiving. If so, this was the first indication.

But the expression disappeared so quickly that she wondered if she had imagined it in the first place.

“Webrinedthe turkey,” Josie told her dad excitedly. “I think it will be better than last year’s.”

“Let’s find out,” he replied with an indulgent smile, setting Jillian’s heart at ease.

Brad stood to carve the turkey, rolling up the sleeves of his white dress shirt. The sight of his muscular forearms and the dark, silky hair that contrasted with his light tan made Jillian’s cheeks heat, and she looked down at the dish of cranberry sauce, willing herself to let go of this silly schoolgirl crush.

Of course it wasn’t really a crush, not anymore, and she knew it. After all these years, she knew Brad Williamsthrough and through, and she loved nearly everything about him.

Focus,she told herself as he handed her a plate of turkey.

It was a thin slice of white meat, exactly what she always wanted—just enough turkey to say she’d had some—and little enough that she could fill up on her favorite sides. Clearly, Brad knew her pretty well by now too.

“Did you know this stuffing iscornbread stuffing?”Josie asked her father, before launching into a rundown of all she and Jillian had learned about stuffing traditions before landing on which kind they wanted to make.

Brad listened to Josie and asked questions, and it warmed Jillian’s heart to see how his undivided attention made the little girl unfurl like a flower in the sunlight.

At one point, Brad glanced over at Jillian and winked.

Of course he was just winking in a friendly way. He had no idea the effect it had on her. She managed to smile back at him, amazed that her hand still remembered how to hold the fork.

After dinner was eaten and cleared away, and the pumpkin pie was nearly gone from their plates, Brad glanced over at Josie.

“Hey, Junebug,” he said. “Want to give me a minute to chat with Jillian? I’ll be up to read with you in a few minutes.”

“Okay,” Josie said cooperatively. “Goodnight, Jillian.”

“Good night, sweet girl,” Jillian told her. “Happy Thanksgiving.”

Josie launched herself off the chair without any warning,and Jillian accepted the quick, tight hug that was about the most snuggling the girl allowed these days unless she was very sleepy.

“Happy Thanksgiving,” Josie whispered as she let go.

Brad waited until Josie had headed down the hallway before turning his full attention to Jillian.

“Why don’t you come down here,” he said with a smile, indicating Josie’s seat.

Brad asked to talk with her privately all the time, after all, they were basically raising a child together. But every single time, wild fantasies that this was finally the time he was going to confess his love for her flashed into Jillian’s mind.

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