Page 85 of The Christmas Eve Delivery

“Or that’s what he wants us to think.” Would Miles even be aware that Dan was manipulating him?

I understood what Evie was saying. This was one of those times I had to trust that everything would work out—Dan getting Miles to do something, Miles being here like he kept saying he would.

Even though Miles and I had a contentious start to this family we suddenly found ourselves in, if I trusted that we would make it, maybe that’s all I needed to keep going.

40

MILES

It was almost dark by the time Dan finished with me and dropped me at home. I paused before I climbed the stairs to the inn and realized I did think of it as home. Lydia and my child were inside. Wherever they were, that would be my home, whether it was living in an apartment within this building or buying her a house somewhere.

I knew I was never going to get her out of this town and into New York City. Maybe my city days were over. Maybe I had to give a small town a second chance? Besides, after today, I realized Brookdale was a fabulous place, and I wanted my kids to grow up here. I wanted them to have memories of a town like this and Christmases where we helped each other out.

I shivered. Even though my heart was full of nostalgia and happiness, my toes were going numb. I had stopped feeling my ears hours ago. The fire crackled in the fireplace as I opened the door. The lobby was empty, but it somehow felt different. Maybe because it was so familiar to me now and so cared for.

I toed off my boots and left them by the front door so that I didn’t track snow in through the lobby and down the hallways. Ichecked the kitchen first, just in case, but it was empty. And then I made my way down the hall and into Lydia’s little apartment. Our apartment, if she let me stay with her. And if she didn’t, I’d rent one of the rooms on the second floor.

I thought her idea of expanding so that she would take over this entire hallway for her living quarters was a good idea. With the extra room, we could put in a kitchen, an office space for me, and a large master suite bedroom. Her room was the same size as the nursery, and while that was a good-sized bedroom for a kid to grow up in, she needed something grander, more in line with being the innkeeper of a glorious old building.

The Sweet Mountain Inn could be glorious. It definitely was old. The door to her bedroom squeaked as I tried to quietly open it and check in on her. She was curled up in the middle of the bed, the baby tucked into her arms. They both were sound asleep, and they were both perfect.

I began to close the door and back out when I heard her whispering.

“You came back. What time is it?”

“Go back to sleep. I didn’t mean to disturb you,” I said quietly.

“No, it’s okay. Baby’s probably going to wake up in a few minutes. We seem to have fallen into a pattern, about three hours on, three hours off.”

“That’s good that you figured it out already.”

“Evie told me to write everything down. She’s the one who figured it out. We’ll see if it’s accurate.”

“It’s about five thirty,” I said, checking my smartwatch.

“I should get up and make dinner,” she said.

“Don’t even think about it,” I responded. “You take care of the baby. I’ll go make dinner. I’ll bring it in. If you get up before then, come find me in the kitchen.”

“You’re going to cook Christmas dinner?” she asked.

“I’m going to cook dinner, and it’s Christmas. I think that’s a very different concept from the big Christmas dinner. I’ll see what you’ve got in the kitchen. I don’t promise anything fancy. Maybe scrambled eggs.”

“Scrambled eggs would be good,” she said. “I don’t do anything fancy.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” I began to close the door.

“You can leave it open, it’s okay.”

I began to step away when I heard her call my name.

I stepped back into the room. “Did you need anything?”

I could hardly see her eyes in the dark room. But they were turned toward me.

“Thank you.” Her voice was so quiet.

I crossed the room over to her and carefully leaned over the baby so that I could get to her.

---