Page 58 of Christmas with the Boy Next Door

Robin met his gaze, then she couldn’t help but laugh when he shot her a crooked grin and pointed to the ceiling of the foyer. “We can’t just ignore it, right?”

Her belly fluttered as she recalled him saying those words weeks ago, right before he’d kissed her cheek for the first time. Still holding her daughter snuggly in her arms, she watched him walk away, and peace settled over her for the first time in four years.

* * *

The adults letthe children open their presents first on Christmas morning. Robin sat next to Jack on the couch while Joan, Nick, and Holly huddled together on the other side of the room. Tommy watched the scene with coffee in hand, looking well-rested after staying in Jack’s favorite room last night.

Maybe Jack was right about the sleepy dust he thought Joan sprinkled on the pillows. They’d elected to spend the night at the inn because they all planned to spend the morning there anyway—and Tommy and his detective also needed a room for the night. And kidnapping or no kidnapping, they’d still needed to play Santa, so none of them had made it to bed until well after two in the morning.

But you wouldn’t know it by looking at them. No one appeared as though they’d missed any sleep at all, thus convincing her it was either Joan’s sleepy dust or Christmas magic. Either way, Robin was glad for it as she watched the girls enjoying their morning without an ounce of last night’s trouble sneaking in to ruin it.

When Abby and Noelle had finally finished tearing through the pile of treasure they’d found under the tree with their names on them, Abby bounded over to Robin and Jack with two inexpertly wrapped presents in her hands.

“These are for you two,” she said, handing one to each of them.

Robin caught Holly’s eye from across the room, and she could instantly tell her friend was in on whatever Abby had bought her at the school’s store. Holly knew how Robin felt about the last gift her daughter had brought home from there, and judging by her expression, Robin could only imagine what it could be this year.

She opened the wrapping, then a surprised smile spread over her face. “Oh, wow. Abby, this is beautiful.”

Robin reached into the package and lifted the snow globe so she could see the figures inside more clearly through the tiny dots of snow that swirled around them. There was a snowman—unsurprisingly—but there was also a little girl clinging to the waist of a woman. It was the perfect mother-daughter gift, and she loved it.

“All three of us are in there, see?” Abby said as she plucked the globe out of Robin’s hand and pointed at the contents inside.

Robin exchanged a look with Jack, wondering if she was missing something. But when he only shrugged, she frowned at Abby. “All three of us?”

“Yeah, silly. That’s you, that’s me, and that’s—”

Jack must have put the pieces together quicker than Robin, because he held up a finger and shot her a warning glare. “Don’t say it.”

Robin was dimly aware of the snickers coming from the other side of the room as Abby bit her lip before replying with a giggle, “Jack Frost.”

“You little—!” Jack reached out and tickled her, then looked over at his sister with a mockingly ferocious snarl. “You think you’re funny, huh?”

“I’m hilarious,” she called back, throwing a wadded-up piece of wrapping paper at him.

Abby collected herself and then pushed Jack’s shoulder. “Open yours.”

“Oh, the snow globe wasn’t for me too? But I’m in it.”

“Openit,” Abby insisted.

Jack grumbled something under his breath as he tore into the present he still held. Robin leaned over, grinning when she saw the tiny wooden nutcracker wearing a police uniform. Jack picked it up and held it between two fingers. “Oh, this is going on my desk at work for sure.”

Tommy chortled into his mug, then muttered an apology when Jack scowled at him.

“It’s so you can start a collection of them. One day maybe you’ll have a bunch of nutcrackers in your house, and I’ll have a bunch of snowmen, and we can have a competition to see who has the most.”

Jack nodded as he turned the wooden figurine, examining it with a contemplative smile. “You have a bit of a head start, don’t you think?”

“Just catch up,” she said with a shrug.

He snickered, then closed his fist around the nutcracker and held it to his chest. “Tell you what? This is the coolest gift I’ve ever gotten, and I’m going to treasure it, but I’m not gonna start a nutcracker collection.”

“Why not?”

“A couple of reasons, but most importantly, because I’d have nightmares that they’d come alive at night and attack me while I slept.”

Robin winced at the vividly horrifying picture he’d painted, then giggled along with Abby, loving how easily he could make them laugh. But then Abby’s eyes widened. “Wait, do you think that’s gonna happen with my snowmen?”

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