He had made a mistake. She certainly made plenty as Lydia’s mother. She wasn’t perfect. No parent was. What mattered most was that Troy was trying. After this night and the trauma of losing track of his child, somehow Holly suspected Troy would be hypervigilant now.
She shook her head and managed a smile. “No. We can stick with the plan. You’re all set to have her here and she’s still excited to spend the night with you and Brittany.”
“Are you sure?”
She gave a short laugh. “Not really. When can we ever bea hundred percent sure about anything? But somehow it feels right.”
She certainly hadn’t been sure about marrying him but she had done it anyway. That marriage might have been the biggest mistake of her life, but out of that failure had come the most priceless gift imaginable.
Yes, if she had given in to her doubts and not married him, she wouldn’t have had to go through the pain and loss of their divorce.
But she also wouldn’t have the indescribable joy of being Lydia’s mom.
“Merry Christmas, Troy.”
He hugged her. Brittany, who had remained in the background throughout their conversation, stepped forward to hug her, too.
“Thank you. We will take better care of her, I promise,” she said.
“I’m sure you will. I’ll just go say goodbye.”
When she went inside, she found Lydia holding court in the kitchen, wrapped in a blanket and happily enjoying a sugar cookie and a mug of cocoa.
“I’m going home now, honey.”
“You’re not going to sleep over, too?”
She shook her head. “You will have so much fun with your daddy and Brit and Hudson. Merry Christmas, honey. I love you. Don’t leave on your own like that again, okay? Promise me.”
“I promise, Mommy.”
She hugged her daughter tightly, said goodbye to all the Moores and walked outside.
She found Ryan still standing in the driveway, looking completely comfortable as he chatted with two of the aunts, who were bundled up against the cold.
Love for him burned through her like a crackling fire on a cold night, warming all the frozen places inside her.
“Everything good?” he asked.
Not really. You are going to leave my heart in a hundred little pieces.
She forced a smile. “Yes. I’m ready to head back to Shelter Springs whenever you are.”
He looked surprised. “You’re not taking Lydia home with you? I thought for sure you wouldn’t want her to stay here without you, after everything that happened.”
“She is still excited about spending Christmas Eve with her father and his family. I don’t want to take that away from her.”
She could tell he disagreed. He opened his mouth but after a long moment, he closed it again, pressing his lips together as if to hold back the words. Instead, he held open the passenger door of her SUV then went around to the driver’s side.
While this was her vehicle, she didn’t mind him taking charge and driving them back to Shelter Springs, as he had done on their panicked way here. She found comfort, actually, that he seemed to want to take care of her.
“You are amazing, Holly Moore,” he said as he backed out of the driveway and turned onto the lakeside drive leading toward home.
“Ha. I’m not. You know I’m not. When I found out Lydia was missing, I was a complete wreck.”
“So was I. And I’m not her mom.”
She found comfort in that as well, in knowing he cared about her daughter—and abouther—enough to immediately spring into action as he had.
