Smoothing her flyaway hair away from her face, Lydia gave Kim’s brother her wide, generous smile. “Hi. I’m Lydia.”
Ryan Caldwell looked nonplussed for an instant then gave her a slow smile in return that Holly somehow found even more devastating.
“Hello. Nice to meet you, Lydia. My name is Ryan.”
“Uncle Ry!”
Even as he spoke, the door opened and Audrey came in looking breathless, as if she had run after Lydia the whole way from the elementary school, which was just down the street from the middle school Audrey attended.
“You’re here already! I didn’t think you would be here for a few hours! I’m so glad you were able to come early.”
Audrey hurried toward him and gave him a hug, which he returned. Holly found the clear affection between them reassuring.
“I’m sorry it took me so long to make the arrangements,” he said.
“Totally fine.” Audrey gave him an apologetic look. “I can’t leave with you yet, though. I’m sorry! I promised to watch Lydia until the store closes.”
When Ryan shifted his attention to Holly again, she tried not to feel guilty.
“She’s been babysitting Lydia after school for me. Usually I try to work my schedule around Lydia’s so I’m done here by the time school is over. It’s a little more, um, challenging now that I’m short-staffed.”
While her best employee, Kim, was absolutely where she needed to be, her absence created a scheduling nightmare this time of year, especially when the season also inevitably brought more sick days for her staff.
“Audrey has been so great to help out.”
“I love Audrey,” Lydia announced. “She’s my friend.”
The older girl tousled her hair. “And you’re mine. We’re besties.”
“Besties,” Lydia repeated with a giggle. She truly did adore Audrey, which warmed Holly’s heart. She was grateful all over again for the older girl’s kindness and willingness to take a job babysitting for her.
“Why don’t we skip today and start up again Monday?” Holly suggested.
She was still overwhelmed, especially with the first of her three seasonal weddings the next day, but she was sure she could figure out how to work around Lydia’s presence. With luck, Holly might even be able to get her to take a nap in the break room, where she and Audrey usually hung out.
“I’m sure your uncle could use your help getting settled in at your place,” she went on.
“But what about my bestie here?” Audrey asked.
“We’ll be fine,” Holly assured her. “We’ve finished all the deliveries for the day and I don’t expect the afternoon to betoo busy. I’m only going to be working on wedding decorations and Lydia can help me with that. Isn’t that right?”
“I’m a good helper,” Lydia declared. It wasn’t precisely true but Holly would never dispute her daughter’s claim.
“Are you sure?” Audrey looked worried.
“Positive.”
“I was thinking we could head over to Haven Point to check on your Grandma Diane this afternoon,” Ryan said to Audrey before turning to Holly. “I would hate to put you in a bind by stealing away your babysitter though. We don’t have to go this afternoon. There’s no rush.”
“It’s no problem,” she said. “Go.”
“What about my stuff?” Audrey asked. “My suitcase is still at Rose Cottage with my phone charger and everything.”
“I can gather your things and your suitcase and take them to you later tonight.”
“You don’t need to go to any trouble,” Ryan said with that stiff politeness again. “I don’t want to put you out further, especially when it looks like you have your hands full. If it works for you, we can stop by later this evening to grab them.”
“We have a Christmas tree,” Lydia announced. “Audrey doesn’t have a Christmas tree.”
