AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Mom’s a great judge of character.”
Roman stopped walking at this comment, so Cara stopped, too. They were about halfway to the house, sort of alone, but not fully. Someone could come out of the house at any moment, and her dad was still in view.
“You okay?” Cara asked, because she couldn’t read his expression.
“I think tonight needs to be the night,” he said in a low voice.
“For what?”
His gaze turned amused. “You know, your first foray into watching one of my films.”
“Oh, that . . .” Cara paused. He’d brought this up more than once, and it seemed pretty important to him. “If we have time.”
He looked surprised at this.
“We’ll be heading into town for the Christmas sing-along. It’s an annual tradition. Don’t worry, you don’t have to sing if you don’t want to, but Mia will love it.”
“A . . . what?”
Cara nudged him. “You’ll see. It’s a Prosper tradition that you can’t skip.” She linked her arm through his and tugged him toward the house.
He walked willingly at her side. “I’m not opposed to singing. Christmas songs, right?”
“Of course.” At the base of the porch steps, she released his arm, then headed up the stairs.
Sure enough, inside, Knox and Lane were playing a high-stakes card game with what looked like Christmas candy as the bartering items.
Holt and Macie sat at the kitchen table, leaning toward each other as they looked at something on one of their phones. The scent of baking pies filled the air.
Evie and Carson were nowhere in sight, and neither was Mom.
“Where’s Mom? And Jana?” Cara asked.
“They’re in your old bedroom,” Knox said. “Now the craft room.”
“Is that what that table was for in there?” Cara said.
“Yeah,” Knox said. “Wanna jump in on a game, Roman?”
“He’s coming with me,” Cara said, tugging Roman’s hand. “We’re going to help Mom.”
Knox just smirked, and Lane grinned.
Cara didn’t hold Roman’s hand for more than a couple of seconds, but she’d gotten her point across to her brothers. Roman was her friend, not theirs. She had to laugh at herself, acting like a jealous sibling fighting over a new friend.
She headed to her childhood bedroom, where she’d noticed a long table set up with plastic bins beneath. In all the commotion and introductions, she hadn’t had the chance to ask about it when one of her brothers had carried in her luggage.
Cara paused at the doorway, Roman stopping behind her. Mom and Jana were gluing what looked like little eyes and antlers onto candy canes. The table was spread with other craft items, such as pipe cleaners, popsicles, and boxes of candy canes.
“What are those for?” Cara asked.
Her mom looked up. “Oh, just fun things to hand out at the Christmas sing-along tonight.” She smiled. “We’re about halfway done here. Did you need your bedroom?”
“Nope,” Cara said. “We came to see if you needed help.”
Her mom waved a hand. “We’re fine, you can enjoy the outdoors with your guest.”
Roman stepped past Cara and walked into the room. He glanced about, and she wondered what he thought of her childhood memorabilia that was still taking up a bookcase on the other side of the room. He settled on one of the folding chairs, then slid a couple of the candy canes toward him. “We’re here to help, Mrs. Prosper.”
