Page 99 of The Snuggle is Real
“Smart girl,” Mom said, pinching her side and making her giggle.
The last time I’d had a cranberry-apple pie, I’d been aching with loneliness in an empty house. Now, my kitchen was full of love and laughter and family. When the holidays ended, Mom and Sawyer and Ash would go, but I wouldn’t be alone.
Not with Ford at my side.
I only wished Charlie could be there too. Because she’d captured my heart just as much as he had.
CHAPTER 26
Ford
Mason poppedinto work for a while—and somehow I ended up playing tour guide to his guests. Luckily, Charlie did most of the talking for me. She skipped along, hanging onto Vera West’s hand.
“They have an ice-skating rink and abigoutdoor Christmas tree and Santa lives here!”
“Does he?” Vera said. “I didn’t know that.”
“Yep! And they have the coolest toy store, with a guy wholooksjust like Santa. It’s called Santa’s Workshop. There’s a dollhouse there that I asked Santa to bring me.”
My heart skipped a beat at the mention of the dollhouse. I’d been saving every penny I could from these last-minute jobs I picked up, but I’d needed to catch up a few bills, too. Today, I finally had enough to shop properly, but I was cutting it close to the wire.
“Sawyer likes toys,” Ash said.
“He means adult toys.” At Ash’s smirk, Sawyer elbowed him. “Er, like lake toys, I mean, not like…adulttoys.”
“Like a bucket for sand?” Charlie asked, confused.
“Like boats and wakeboards,” Sawyer said. “I do sports on the water.”
“Oh, cool. Could you teach me?”
“I sure could. You’ll have to come visit the lake with your dad and Mason sometime.”
Her face lit up with excitement. Damn, it was a nice thought, me and Mason and Charlie taking a vacation to spend time with his family.
But with LuAnne getting out of rehab, Charlie wouldn’t be mine to take anywhere.
Unless you convince LuAnne to let her stay…
We’d just come out of the Festival Museum, where we’d toured the Christmas trees still on display, even though the Christmas Tree Festival was technically over.
The bookstore had donated a tree with little book ornaments that each sported a cover:Alice in Wonderland,Catcher in the Rye,A Christmas Carol,The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Even books likeCaptain UnderpantsandDogmanhad a place.
Charlie’s favorite tree was the one the animal shelter had done up with paw imprints from their cats and dogs, all with information about the pets up for adoption on the back.
“I wish I could get a dog,” she said.
“What would Peppermint Bark think of you two-timing him?” Vera teased.
“No, I mean to take home with me and Mama,” she said. “I won’t get to see Peppermint Bark every day anymore.”
Damn, her voice was sad. Did Charlie not want to go either? I wrapped an arm around her and squeezed. “They have animal shelters in Burlington, sweetie. It’s best to wait until you’re settled to bring a pet into the picture.”
She sighed. “Yeah. Mama will say no, anyway. It’ll make the rent too expensive and then we’ll get evicted.”
Ash and Sawyer had moved on to the next tree, but Vera still stood with us.
“Does that happen a lot?” she asked.
