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“You won’t. You’re a great dad already. You love him and he can tell. But you know, you should talk to Steven about him. He was about the same age when both of his parents died, and he grew up living with Gram.”
“Really? I didn’t know that.”
“I’ll bet at some point Jace is going to act out a little. Right now he’s probably trying really hard to earn your love, so he’s on his best behavior. But I’m betting later on, when he’s more secure, he’s going to be pretty angry about losing his parents.”
“It makes sense. I think I’ll ask Steven for some advice while we’re here.” Upon reaching the mudroom entrance, Josh paused before opening the door. “Charlie... Uhmm... Thanks for skiing with me. It was fun.” Wow, that was eloquent. There were so many other things he wanted to say, but he knew it would only make things more awkward between them. Better to keep his thoughts and feelings to himself.
“Yeah... Uhmm. It was fun.”
GRACE SPOTTED JOSH and Charlie as soon as the door opened. She smiled to herself. Perfect. Alone time was exactly what they needed. She already had Jace busy playing video games with Brad. Maybe she could get Charlie and Josh into the hot tub together. It was worth a try.
The twins and Chloe came running to surround Charlie as she entered, hampering her progress as she attempted to discard her outerwear. Josh swung Chloe up in the air and held her over his head. She squealed with delight and both boys immediately clambered for their turns. He alternated joy rides with each one while Charlie managed to shed the wet ski-gear. Then she bade all three to follow her to the living room, where she collapsed in front of the fireplace and they climbed all over her.
Derek came out after completing his shower and sat on the couch, observing their play. “How were your last runs?” he asked Charlie. “Did you beat him like a stick? I certainly hope so, since you skied me into the ground.”
“We only got in two more runs because the lift got stuck forever, and I thought we’d end up spending the night up there. But we never got a chance to race.”
She sat up, depositing the toddlers on the soft carpet beside her before standing. “I guess I’m gonna hit the shower.”
Grace saw her opportunity. “Don’t you want to sit in the hot tub first? I’ve already got it on, so I bet it’s hot by now.”
“Oooo! Actually, that sounds great. I’ll go put on a swimsuit instead.” She turned to her sister, who was, of course, reading a book. “Emily! Come get in the hot tub with me?”
Emily saw her chance to get Charlie alone with Derek. “Sure, Sister. I’ll come. You go first and I’ll bring hot chocolate out.”
As Charlie hastened to change clothes, Emily went to the kitchen to put the hot water on and find the homemade hot chocolate mix she’d brought along. She knew it was her sister’s favorite. But she had no intention of getting in the hot tub. Instead, she would send Derek out with it. While the water was heating she went back into the living room and spoke to Derek. “You’re going to get in the hot tub, aren’t you?” she whispered, with a meaningful wag of her eyebrows.
“Sure thing.” He smiled, dashing off to his room to retrieve a swimsuit.
She returned to the kitchen to make the hot chocolate with the now-boiling water, humming happily to herself.
GRACE WATCHED HER PLANS going awry. Not only would Charlie not be alone in the hot tub with Josh, but she would soon be alone there with Derek. She found Olivia watching TV. “Hey! You need to go to the hot tub.”
“I’ve already had my shower.” Olivia kept her eyes glued to the television. “And I like this show.”
“But Derek is going to the hot tub and Charlie’s going to be there.”
“So what—let them.”
“No,” said Grace, pulling her off the sofa by her arm. “You need to go. In fact, you should sit between them. Use that amazing body of yours to keep his attention.”
Olivia shook her hand away. “Stop Grace, I want to see the end of my show.”
“Fine. I’ll go start planning your wedding. What colors do you want to use? I’ll be the matron of honor, of course...”
“Arghhh!” she cried. “Okay, I’m going.”
ANNE RETRIEVED THE toddlers and brought them into the kitchen for a snack. She saw Charlie dash out to the hot tub. Soon after, Emily brought two cups of hot cocoa from the kitchen to Derek, who made his way outside wearing a swimsuit and carrying the two steaming cups. Anne smiled, thinking things were going according to plan. But then Olivia followed through the glass doors onto the deck, clad in a towel-covered swimsuit. Anne peeked outside and saw Olivia climb into the hot tub and seat herself between Charlie and Derek. She frowned when she noticed Olivia was a bit closer to Derek than she ought to be.
Anne found Josh emerging from his bedroom in clean clothes with freshly washed hair. She motioned him into the kitchen.
“I assume you’re going out to the hot tub, right?”
“Well, I hadn’t really planned on it.”
“But of course, since Olivia’s out there with Derek, you’ll want to go. I was just going to tell you I’d have two cups of hot cocoa for you to take outside with you.”
Josh’s expression darkened. “Right. I’ll go change. Thanks, Anne.”
