Page 85 of Wylder Ranch
“Alex! Don’t ask me that. There’s the whole street to choose from. The lights, the wreaths, the stores are all decorated so beautifully. I don’t know if I can pick one, it was all too cute.”
He takes the diaper I’m holding out for him. “Huh, I thought you were going to say the tree stand.”
“I didn’t spend a ton of time there. It’s a cute stand, though. . . oh, there was one thing that happened while I was there. Hendricks came by?—”
“To the tree stand?”
I nod. “Yeah, he didn’t see me, but he yelled at the girl running the place.”
I expect Alex to be shocked, but he barely looks surprised. “Story?”
“Yeah. Hendricks didn’t look happy when he heard about her yesterday. Who is she?”
“They were best friends.”
“What happened?”
“Hendricks has never talked about it.” He shrugs. “No one knows, except Miles probably. But.. .I have a theory they hooked up and it went wrong. Right around whenMax arrived. He was distraught, and most people put it down to the shock of him finding out he was going to be a father, but I think it was more than that.”
“Oh.”
“Never underestimate the power of a hookup.” He winks, picking up our now fully dressed daughter and planting a kiss on her cheek before handing her to me so we can put her in the crib together and say good night.
Wrapping his arm around my shoulder, he pulls me in, and we stand there staring at her, the same as every single night, in contented silence before he switches on her mobile.
And afterward, he holds his hand out and says, “C’mon, I have something for you downstairs.”
I’m not sure what I’m expecting, but when I reach the den, I realize what Miles came for. I’m standing in front of a naked Christmas tree and three stockings hanging above the fireplace, embroidered with DADDY, MUMMY, and EVERLY.
I’m speechless.
Alex watches for my reaction. “Do you like it?”
I turn to him.This guy. This guy, who’s done nothing but show up for me since I arrived, has made us feel special and welcome, andwanted.And now he’s got me a Christmas tree and stockings because he knows how much I love Christmas.
I already know it’s pointless to stop the tears, so I wipe them away as quickly as I can.
“Alex . . .yes. Yes, I like it. Iloveit.” I run my fingers over the pine needles. “You got a tree for us to decorate?”
“I did. But we can decorate with Everly. Just us three.” He points over at the table where Isee a couple of ornaments laid out that I remember him buying in the store last year.
The last few weeks, my heart has filled so much that it’s overflowing, and it’s all down to Alex.
“Thank you.” I rise on my tiptoes and kiss him, and allow him to drag me over to the armchair by the fireplace to pull me onto his lap.
His fingers twine around the ends of my hair, breathing in the scent of lavender from the bath. “Thankyou.You have no idea, truly.”
We stay there in quiet contemplation, watching the flames crackle and spit. My mind always goes back to how much has changed in the last twelve months and how different everything could have been. Then they land on Alex’s words from earlier. The power of a hookup.
“Can I ask you something?”
He runs his nose along my jaw. “You can ask me anything.”
“After you left, after you came back here . . . did you . . . was there anyone . . .?”
I don’t know why I’m asking. I don’t want to know the answer. Because if it’s yes and there was someone else. . .of courseit’s going to be yes.
“No one.”
