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Dad glanced at me and then at Dora. "You make a good case, Reese. I didn't think about indoor lights. I say let's go."
Dora jerked her head back, her shock mirroring mine. Not in a million years had I expected Dad to actually want to go.
"I can put things away and leave now, give you some family time, if you want," Dora offered.
Dad cut his eyes to her. "Tell the truth, girl. Do you want to have free time, or are you just doing it because you think you'll be in the way?"
"As you know, my family isn't in Chicago, so I don't have any plans at all. But if the three of you want to spend time together..."
"Nonsense," Dad said, waving his hand. "You and I can move around at a distance from these two so we’re not a third wheel."
"We’ll all have fun together," Reese said, smiling from ear to ear.
Dora stood up. "All right, then, let's get you ready," she told Dad. I was still waiting for him to change his mind abruptly and make up an excuse, but none of that happened as they went into the bedroom.
Reese turned to me once we were alone. "Anything wrong? You're frowning."
"I'm surprised," I admitted. "My father hasn't left the house in a long time."
"You told me that. But you also said he used to like Christmas strolls. That's why I looked up where we could go indoors."
"Wait, you researched this?"
She nodded. "Yeah. I like Christmas markets, but I haven’t been to an indoor one for some time.”
"You're unbelievable, you know that?"
She smiled sheepishly and dipped her head. I pulled her onto my lap, wanting even more body contact.
"Hey, what are you doing?" she said, looking over her shoulder. "They could come back any second now."
"No, that's going to take a while." I kissed up her neck, and she relaxed in my arms. That was always my favorite moment, when she went from composed to being putty in my hands.
She smirked. "You can't even behave when you're in your dad's house, huh?"
"I can't stop wanting to be closer to you, to touch you."
"I like what I'm hearing," she murmured.
A sound startled us both. Reese jumped out of my lap and grabbed some of the plates for no reason at all. The door opened, and Dora stepped into the room.
"We're almost ready," she began. Then her eyes fell on Reese, who was red in the face, clutching the plates tightly. "You don't have to clean up. I'll do it afterward."
"It's just a few plates," Reese said quickly. "We'll manage."
I got up, too, taking the last plate and the four mugs.
"We'll be ready in a few minutes," Dora said. "We should take two cars, right?"
I'd bought Dora a car that could comfortably seat my dad's wheelchair. Even though he hadn't wanted to leave the house, I always wanted him to have that option.
"Sure," I said, and she headed back into the bedroom with Dad.
Reese and I carried everything to the kitchen. I set the mugs and the plate next to the sink, where she was already rinsing the others.
I pushed my hip into hers and grinned at her.
"No," she said under her breath. "See? I knew something like that would happen and we'd get caught."
