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“Yes! Christopher, please do!” The three of them yelled. The girls were jumping up and down, grabbing Christopher’s arms, almost knocking him from his chair.
They all looked at her for a decision. She had no choice; she couldn’t let them down. Besides, what was the other option at this hour? She nodded, though she wasn’t happy with the idea.
Her little family was beginning to rely on Christopher too much. What would happen when he had to leave? She dreaded the disappointment and hurt the kids would face.
“Then it’s settled.” Christopher said. “I’m happy to do it. I would do anything to make you—them—happy.”
Raina felt his eyes on her, the heat behind them and the warmth behind his words, but she felt the heat rising to her face as she took in what he said. She glanced at her feet, shuffling them a bit.
“Okay. Okay.” She looked up at him to find him still intent upon her. “Thank you.”
“Anything you need. You only have to ask.” Christopher’s voice was velvet, and though the children were jumping and dancing around the table, in that moment Raina felt as though the rest of the world fell away and it was just the two of them.
His words seemed to hang heavy between them, and as she tucked the kids into bed later that evening she was still turning them over in her mind.
“You don’t have to go to the school, you know. It’s my responsibility.”
“You have a lot of responsibilities.”
Raina nodded. “I guess.”
They were sitting across from each other with cups of decaf coffee. Raina pulled her knees up to her chest and shivered. She didn’t want to talk about her responsibilities at the moment; she wanted to forget them.
“The weight of the world is on your shoulders tonight.” Christopher commented. It was a statement of fact, not a question.
Raina shrugged, giving him a tight smile. She brought the cup to her lips and drank deeply.
“A problem shared is a problem half solved....”
Raina half snorted in laughter and derision. “Well in that case, have you heard of any job openings?” Immediately she regretted her words.
“Why?” Christopher sat up, suddenly very concerned. “Are you thinking of leaving Del Mar? It would be terrible without you. You keep the place running.”
“Hardly,” She shook her head, brushing aside the compliment, “but I am glad there’s someone who sees it that way.”
Knowing she had said too much, she clammed up after that and refused to give in to Christopher’s probing. She turned the conversation to lighter topics and soon they were laughing like old friends. Telling him her problems would not solve them. Besides as much as she liked him, she wasn’t sure she could trust him not to tell anyone. It was just safer if only she and Kelly knew.
The following morning, she saw the kids off to school with the promise that Christopher would show up at the school at nine in the morning. Nervously, she hoped that he would not forget his promise to her and the kids. They had had so many disappointments in their lives already. Still, Christopher had proven reliable thus far.
She returned to the house to do a little cleaning before heading to work. While she was at the hotel, Raina couldn’t seem to concentrate on her work as she shuffled papers without really taking in what they contained.
She could only relax when Christopher returned. The plan had been to come in to work and then excuse himself for an hour or two to go to the school. She hadn’t seen him at all and had resisted the urge to go off in search of him. Time ticked away slowly and every minute seemed to drag on. At half past ten, she looked up when she heard a soft knock at her door. It was Christopher and he gave her thumbs up.
Raina felt ashamed of herself at her first thought. He was dressed in his usual attire of jeans and a shirt which had seen better days. She had hoped he would have smartened himself for the occasion.
“How did it go?” she said.
“It went very well. The kids are doing well and they were proud to introduce me as their ‘Uncle Chris.’ " he said with a grin that melted her heart.
“Uncle Chris, huh?” Raina said, matching his grin with her own. “Thank you so much, I can’t tell enough—"
“Yeah, you already did. You’re welcome. Gotta go, I have tons to do.” Christopher brushed aside her thanks. He shot her a grin that caused a slight dimple to appear in his left cheek, and Raina almost melted. He gave her a quick wave and left.
The relief that Raina felt was huge, though it would be recapped in the evening when she heard the kids’ account of how the morning went. Now she had one less thing to worry about. She spent the rest of the day jumpy, expecting to see Roger’s smirking face at any moment. However, much to her surprise, he never showed up.
Waiting for the other shoe to drop was pure torture. She certainly didn’t think Roger was just going to forget about what happened in her office the other day. Still, as the clock showed the hour for her day to end, Raina gave a little prayer of thanks that she hadn’t had to deal with him that particular day.
Returning home, Raina followed her usual routine of a quick shower and a change of clothes and then made a snack for the kids. She knew most working mothers usually had a sitter to watch over the kids after school for an hour or so, or sent them to daycare. But after losing their parents so abruptly, Raina hadn’t wanted to introduce another person into their lives or create instability.
