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With a laugh, Jack clapped Byron on the shoulder. “Thanks, By, this is awesome.” He squeezed Byron’s shoulder for a little longer than normal while I took out my own.
Mine was mint green with snowflakes and red birds all around it, my name etched in silver on one side. “It’s breathtaking.”
Jack hung his bauble not far from Royce’s, then got onto his knees in front of me.
“What are you doing?” I wriggled my eyebrows at him.
Jack chuckled. “We might have time for that later. Get on my shoulders.”
I stepped back. “What?”
“Come on. If you don’t, you won’t be able to reach the top.”
“Well, okay.” I hooked one leg over his shoulder, then the next, and held onto his mane of brown locks as he rose to his feet again.
“Oh, God, you two look ridiculous.” Eric picked up his cell phone and began snapping photos of us. Jack and I pulled faces, especially for him.
“You ready, babe?” Jack looked up at me from between my thighs.
I couldn’t help laughing at him. “Yep.”
He walked us over to the tree, and I hung my bauble on the highest branch I could reach.
“That’s it, pretty girl. Right above all of us, which is exactly where you belong.”
“Hey, while you’re up there, maybe you could add this to the top?” Eric handed me a reindeer tree topper.
I admired the piece before I added it to the top of the tree. Jack lowered me down, and I backed away to admire the tree as a whole. “You guys have such beautiful decorations.”
Eric draped an arm over my shoulders. “They were all Mom’s. She loved Christmas, and even if we went away for the holidays, she would always take that big old box of stuff with us.” He pointed to the wooden Christmas chest sitting open by the couch. “A tradition we’ve continued and always will.”
“We’ve added to it over the years,” Tate continued. “A little here and there, just like Mom did each year.”
“Thank you for adding Jack and me to it.”
Eric brushed his fingers over my cheek as Tate scooted over on the couch and looped his arm around my thigh.
“You’re family, baby. Both of you.” Tate indicated to Jack.
Jack overheard and gave a nod of thanks.
We were all becoming closer every day, and I was grateful for it.
ChapterTwenty-One
Louisa
“Harris?”
After we finished decorating the living room, I went searching for my hot chef. He’d been cooking up a storm all day, and I hadn’t seen him once.
I found him in the midst of designing a gingerbread house with all the Christmas trimmings. “Oh, Harris, it’s beautiful.”
“Stop! Do not come anywhere near it, Lou. This thing is delicate, and the icing needs to set.”
Tucking my hands behind my back, I made sure to keep my distance. “So, you’re a pastry chef as well as a regular chef?”
Harris shot me a glare. “There’s nothing regular about me. Of course, I’m a pastry chef as well. I can’t be limiting myself now, can I? I studied at the best pastry school in the world.”
