Page 39 of Maybe This Christmas
He helped her down, and she finally released his hand.“I’ll see you in a little bit.”
Caleb took the long back way into the lodge.He wanted to avoid his sister and the biddies, who were likely setting up for bingo.He wasn’t sure he could keep the loopy look off his face.He wasn’t in the mood to answer questions.
On his way to his room, his phone chimed with a video call.He smiled when he saw it was from Olivia.As soon as he accepted the call, his daughters’ faces popped up on the screen.
“Daddy!”The wind half-carried their voices away, as it looked like they were at a ski resort.
“How are you, Daddy?We miss you,” Emerson said.
His heart welled in his throat.He’d gotten used to missing his girls.Olivia and Ashley had primary custody.It made sense—they had a big house with a backyard and a dog.He’d been stuck in his apartment since the divorce.
“Hi, girls, whatcha doing?”He badged in through one of the doors marked “Employees Only.”
“Skiing!Just me, though, Poppy’s still a baby.”
“Am not!”Poppy began to whine.
Okay, maybe he didn’t miss the way his girls picked at each other.Emerson had Olivia’s big, bold personality, while Poppy was quieter, like him.Sometimes, parenting felt more like refereeing.Perhaps it was his penance for the constant infighting he and his siblings put their parents through throughout their childhood.
Olivia appeared behind the girls.“Ashley’s still on the slopes, so we’re having a little après-ski break until she gets back.”She set two cups of hot cocoa in front of the girls, who quickly began fishing out marshmallows.And bickering.He smiled.Even when they were going at it, his kids were adorable.
“How are you, Caleb?You look good.”
He wanted to tell Olivia about his day, but he hesitated.This thing with Emma felt like somethinghuge.But that anxious voice in his head told him to take things slow.
Besides, he had the girls to worry about.He wouldn’t introduce anyone to them unless things were serious.
“Good.Busy, but that’s a good thing.Staying in the holiday spirit.”
Olivia cocked an eyebrow.“Really?Is there a particular reason—or a person—you’re feeling so holly jolly?”
Thankfully, he was saved from having to answer by the girls.
“We get a second Christmas when we get home.Did you know that?”Poppy interjected.
The girls started to chatter on again as Caleb arrived in his room.He stayed on the call until it was time for them to return to the slopes.
* * * *
“Wait a minute, slow down,” Aniyah said.“You kissed this guy?Less than seventy-two hours after handing Davis back his ring?”
Emma bit her lip.Shit, maybe it was a bit of a rush.
Aniyah noticed her expression and chuckled.“That wasnotjudgment I was passing, Em.I’m impressed.”She held up her hand to her phone, wanting an air high-five.
Emma began to fret.“No, you’re right.I’m a terrible person.I forced my fiancé to come on this trip with me.I gave him the ring back, and I’m already hooking up with someone else.”
Aniyah leaned back on her bed, adjusting her pillows as she fell back.“First of all, a kiss is not a hook-up.Secondly, you are the farthest from a terrible person I know, Em.You deserve happiness.I hope you can remember what it feels like after so long.”
Aniyah had never been shy about her views on Davis.But she’d long told Emma that he didn’t have to make her happy—only Emma.And if Emma was happy, that was all that mattered.Emma, of course, had lied and said she was.Because Aniyah would’ve shown up with her husband and a moving truck otherwise.
“You thought I was happy with Davis all that time.”
She snorted.“No, I didn’t.Look, I would’ve gotten you out of there if he was anything other than a self-absorbed asshole.”
“Straight up the middle of the road,” Emma and Aniyah said together.It’d been one of Pa Henderson’s favorite sayings.
Aniyah laughed.“Exactly.This guy isn’t, though.”
