Page 63 of Secret Triplets for Christmas

“Well, look at that. I’ll get the shovels and you can shovel us out.”

“I can’t shovel,” Georgie exclaimed.

“We’re too little, Grandpa,” Cassie added.

“I can try,” Olivia said, her face serious as if she didn’t realize my father was teasing her.

“How about breakfast instead? I’ve got waffles.”

“Yay!” the girls said in unison.

Once we were fed and bundled up, we stepped outside into a genuine winter wonderland. To be honest, having grown up in Boston, snow didn’t hold the appeal that it did for people who didn’t experience it every winter. Sure, it was pretty, but it was also cold, wet, and made getting anywhere a challenge. Luckily, I had nowhere to go. School was closed. I was still off from work. All of us, me and the girls, my dad, Mira, and Grayson built a family of snowmen complete with scarves, hats, and carrot noses. We also made snow angels and finished with a snowball fight.

Afterward, we headed inside, shedding our wet clothes and putting on sweats. My dad made a fire in the fireplace, and Mira made hot chocolate. We spent the rest of the afternoon doing Christmas crafts, except Olivia, who I finally allowed to play on the computer.

Later that night, Dad read Christmas stories to all the kids. In a feat of wonder, he managed to carry all four kids, each dangling off him in precarious ways, to their rooms. I pictured Oliver trying to do the same. Would the girls be enthralled with him like they were with my father? Would Oliver be as loving and devoted to the girls?

“How did he do that?” I marveled.

“He still works out.” Mira waggled her brows.

“Stop!” I held up my hand. “You know I love that you and my dad are happy together, but I don’t want to know how you like my dad’s physique. TMI, Mira. TMI.”

She laughed. “Sorry. I can’t help myself sometimes.”

Once the kids were in bed, I hid out in my room, wrapping Christmas presents. It was only ten days until the big event and I had tons to wrap. I’d just finished taping a bow to a present when my phone rang.

I picked up my phone seeing it was Oliver. My heart did a little flutter knowing he was calling.

"Hey. How’s your trip?”

"Long and fruitless.” He sighed. "I searched everywhere, but there was nothing unusual among Liam's things."

My heart went out to him as I pictured Oliver rifling through his brother's possessions, looking for clues. It couldn’t have been easy to deal with all the emotions and at the end, have it be for nothing.

“What’s next?” I asked.

“Have you heard from whoever has been texting us?”

“No.” Just to be sure, I checked my texts. “Why? Did he text you?”

“Good. He shouldn’t bother you anymore.”

“Why? What happened?” I worried that Oliver had done something reckless.

“Nothing. Everything is okay. Listen, I wanted to come home but—”

“It’s been snowing.”

“Right. But I’m told flights will resume by tomorrow.”

“It’s finally stopped snowing here, so as long as the runways are clear, you should be able to get home… uh… back to Boston.” This wasn’t his home. Not anymore. Remembering that had me wavering on telling him about the girls. How would custody and visitation work with him in California?

“How was your day?”

“You know how it goes… a snow day. There were snowmen, snow angels, and snowballs, followed by hot chocolate while our fingers and toes thawed.” I cleared off the wrapping materials from my bed and then climbed under the sheets, settling in to talk to Oliver.

“Sounds fun.”

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