Page 31 of Soldier's Chrismas Hope
“Of course,” Nora told him, smiling when he wrapped his little hand around hers.
Pixie came along and they browsed the beautiful books while Sarah finished up with her customer. A few minutes later, the front door opened, and Nora looked up to see River stepping in.
“River,”Pixie cried out, running for him.
Then John-John was running too, and Nora watched with pleasure as the big man greeted the kids, seeming surprised but delighted to receive their hugs.
He bent to hug them back, and when he straightened up, he immediately looked to Nora again with that expression she couldn’t identify, but that made her stomach feel a little funny.
What’s wrong with me? I have enough going on in my life. Why am I turning into mush over River Young?
River cleared his throat and looked away from her to greet Sarah.
“Hey, Sarah,” he said. “How are Brody and the kids?”
“Everyone’s doing great,” she told him with a big smile. “It’s good to see you.”
“Did you get what you needed?” River asked Nora, this time without making eye contact.
“Yes,” she told him. “We’re all set. Sarah, thank you for everything.”
“My pleasure,” Sarah said. “Bye, kids. Nice meeting you.”
“Goodbye,” Pixie said. “Thank you for reading to us.”
“Thank you,” John-John echoed.
“Anytime,” Sarah returned.
Nora felt proud of them. Hopefully, she could find a way to sneak back here at some point to pick up a book for each child for Christmas.
They all filed out with River leading the way and the kids right at his heels. And Sarah gave Nora a funny little smile as she waved goodbye, like they shared a secret.
Could it be the way he was looking at me before?
But that was silly, wasn’t it? He had probably just been lost in his own world. That look had nothing to do with her.
And even if it did, wasn’t it a little scandalous to encourage someone to fall for their ex-brother-in-law?
She hurried after the others, glad that River hadn’t seen the look from Sarah, and determined not to think about it anymore. As she pushed the thoughts aside, the quote from her calendar popped back into her head.
It’s never too late to be what you might have been.
8
RIVER
Afew hours later, River stood in the middle of his own backyard, arms and back aching from trying to use a manual post hole digger, and feeling despondent.
He had surprised the kids by stopping for a pizza from Mario’s in town after dropping off the supplies in the truck. The cab had been filled with the rich scent of cheese and pepperoni on the drive home, and they were all ravenous by the time they got back to the farm.
He’d had such a good feeling, looking around the table as everyone enjoyed their pizza feast. It made him feel like a provider, and he found the idea very satisfying.
But after enjoying their delicious treat and bundling up again to set up the bird feeder, River was afraid he was going to have to disappoint them after all.
“I’m so sorry, guys,” he said. “The ground is really frozen. We can’t set the post right now.”
All the supplies were laid out on the back porch. Itwas such a shame he hadn’t thought about this aspect of the project.
