Page 51 of Mr. Wolfe's Nanny

“This is why I do my Christmas shopping online. Jesus.” Yes, I’d agreed to join this outing to see Santa Claus even with it technically being my day off but, clearly, I hadn’t thought this through.

Theo chuckles from the driver’s seat. “We’re not goingthereto see Santa.” He gives me a reassuring smile - heknowswhy the mall might bother me. “He’s somewhere else today.”

The kids start asking where Santa is if he’s not at the mall or the North Pole.

But Mr. Wolfe is playing things close to the vest. “You’ll all see where we’re going once we get there. It’s a bit of a drive but it’ll be worth it, I hope. You used the bathroom before we left home, right, baby?”

Jill sniffs, offended by her father’s dubious tone. “Of course, I did, Daddy.”

“You’ll have to pee in twenty minutes,” Ryder predicts.

“Will not!”

“Will so!”

“Kids! Stop arguing or I’ll turn this car around.”

And thus, my first real road trip with the Wolfe family has begun.

We drive past the mall, heading west, further and further away from Chicago and its suburbs.And we’re driving and driving…

I don’t mind. I enjoy being with them and viewing the snowy landscape. I’m okay riding in cars despite what happened. These roads have been plowed and it’s daytime. Plus, Theo’s playing holiday tunes to soothe the savage beasts in the back which always gets me in the Christmas spirit.

Of course, the patience of an adult differs from a child’s.

“Are we there yet?” Ryder whines from the backseat for the eighth time in the past fifteen minutes.

“Daddy, I need to make a bathroom stop…now!”Jill wails before Theo can even answer Ryder.

“Are you enjoying your first road trip with children?” he jokes after we’ve stopped.

The kids are busy munching and grumbling behind us. They’d declared they were dying of thirst and starving upon entering the rest stop. They’d had their eye on the slushie machine and candy bars. Theo bought them water and some peanut butter crackers to share.

“Well, I chaperoned field trips so I won’t say it’s a first exactly beyond it being two kids in an SUV versus twenty on a school bus.”

He shudders. “Point made.”

“But I’m enjoying this very much.” I lower my voice and lean closer to his ear. “So, are we there yet, Daddy?” My cheeks flush no sooner than I’ve said it. I shouldn’t have called him daddy.

But his eyes turn away from the road long enough to meet mine and, damn, that’s a dark and delicious look he’s giving me. “We’ll be there soon,” he answers quietly. “Have you been a good girl this year or are you on Santa’s Naughty Nanny List?” His voice is so low and gruff it makes my nipples peak.Oh shit.

My whole face is on fire as I jerk my chin towards the backseat in warning. He smirks and turns his attention back to the road but his hand finds my thigh for a quick, subtle squeeze. We are definitely having a talk about the naughty and nice list later.

∞∞∞

The Christmas tree farm Theo’s driven us to is a small, year-round, family-owned operation outside of Rockford surrounded by acres of woods where they grow fir trees and farmland where they keep bees and have cherry, pear and plum orchards.

The pale green farmhouse with red shutters is as postcard idyllic as it sounds and it’s currently decorated to the max for the Christmas season. I gasp with delight right along with the children as we turn up the long drive towards it and I catch Theo grinning over our reactions. There’s a barn, some outbuildings and several cars here. A queue for hot cocoa being sold out of a trailer has formed.

I can hear chainsaws in the distance as we climb out of the vehicle and I have to push away uncomfortable memories at the sound but here’s three dogs coming up to act as our welcoming committee. Something about those wagging tails helps me forget the sound of chainsaws.

“Well hello, you three,” Theo says affably to the dogs, patting each head.

The children and I soon make friends with them as well. There’s nothing quite like running your fingers through the silky soft hair around their ears. They’re friendly and well behaved but I notice the yellow Labrador Retriever, after greeting us first, stands back and waits for us to interact with it instead of pushing forward like its more rambunctious fellow canines.

An older lady comes out from the farmhouse, affectionately shooing the dogs away and identifying herself as Mrs. Hoskins, co-owner, before asking if we’re here to get a tree, visit Santa Claus or adopt a dog.

“The first two,” Theo answers though I don’t miss the way his eyes follow the Lab as it trots off.

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