Page 53 of Holiday Surprise

I was surprised to find it already opened. I frowned, thinking Lily had forgotten to lock up the night before.

“Hello?” I cried out just to be sure I wasn’t being robbed or anything.

“Good morning, Sydney,” Chasity said as she waltzed around the room moving items and showcasing things in new ways.

“Wow, it looks great in here, Syd,” Jessie praised.

I took a close examination of the room. It really did look fabulous.

“Did you make all these changes yourself?” I asked Chasity.

She stopped and frowned, lowering her eyes as she nodded. “I’m sorry Pack Mother, it’s just that I was so excited to help. A few customers that came in yesterday knew exactly where the items they wanted were. They never even looked at anything else and I thought, if I moved just a few things around to break up the flow they had become accustomed to that maybe they’d actually stop and look around and see something else they like too. I overstepped, I’m sorry. I’ll put it back. I should have asked you first,” she rambled.

“Chasity,” I finally managed to say as I bit back a smile knowing I tended to do the exact same thing when I was nervous. “Jessie’s right. It’s great. Leave it.”

She beamed up at me. “Really?”

I nodded. “Really. Oh, and this is my sister Jessie. I heard things got busy around here yesterday so I thought having the two of you tag team the rest of the week would be less overwhelming for either of you.”

“Hi Jessie. I’m Chasity.” She gave a little wave.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around,” Jessie said. As she got closer to the girl, she sniffed the air. “You’re a Larken?” she asked sounding confused.

Chasity didn’t seem to take it personally, she just smiled and nodded. “I am.”

Jessie looked at me. “And Thomas is okay with this?”

“Thomas is fine with it, Jess. You do realize I’m Larken too, right?”

Chasity was by my side seemingly out of nowhere. She gave me a side hug and grinned proudly. “Yup, she’s my Pack Mother.”

“Why do you look surprised by this revelation? You were there Christmas Eve when I told you guys.”

“I know, it’s just, I don’t know, seeing her here just makes it more real. And trust me, dad will not let any of us forget what a disappointing traitor you are.”

I rolled my eyes. “Lovely. Are you backing him on this, too?”

“Oh please! I’m going to the ARC now. I deal with far worse types than a Larken.” She got quiet for a minute and worried her bottom lip.

Chasity and I both chose to ignore her.

“What is it? Just spit it out. Whatever’s bothering you,” I said.

“Safe space?” she asked.

I grinned. Growing up that was our code for “you may not like what I’m about to tell you, but you won’t get mad or rat me out for it either.”

“Safe space,” I agreed.

“Is it true that Uncle Sid is still alive, and we have a cousin with a kid?”

I nodded. “Yeah, Nettie. Her boy, little Tom, is the absolute cutest.”

“I babysit for him all the time,” Chasity chimed in. “He really is a cutie.”

“Do you think dad will ever forgive Uncle Sid?” Her big eyes stared up at me with hope.

I shrugged. I didn’t want to tell her that I was going to be leaving and so would Sid, so our father was never going to get the chance to make those amendments. I couldn’t form the words to explain it all to her. I didn’t want to. I wasn’t ready. Instead I simply said, “I hope so, Jess.”

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