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Natalie chuckled and handed Chris the first egg. Three eggs later, she understood why this kid wasn’t allowed to help in the kitchen. Careful didn’t seem to be in his vocabulary, and there was egg white all over the counter and shell—lot of shell—in the bowl with the eggs.
These weren’t going to be edible. But she knew better than to dump them and try again. What she needed was a distraction.
“Do you want to listen to Christmas music?”
“Yes! I love that Hippopotamus song. Do you know that one?”
“Of course! I have a daughter, and it’s one of her favorites. If you go get my phone from the coffee table in the living room, I can play it for you.”
“Yes!” Chris’s little fist shot into the air before he hopped off the counter.
As soon as he was out of sight, Natalie tossed the eggs and shells into the garbage and cracked more into the bowl. She scrambled them quickly and had just gotten them into the pan when Chris came back into the kitchen.
Declan entered a moment later from the mudroom.
“Hey, Dad, guess what? We’re going to build a snowman! Can you help us?AndI’m making eggs. Natalie let me crack themall by myself. And I remembered to call her Natalie.” Chris’s gaze shot to Natalie. “Right?” She nodded, but the boy didn’t stop there. “Do you want us to make you some too, Dad?”
Natalie pressed her lips together in a small smile. The noise and chaos that accompanied kids annoyed some people, but Natalie loved it.
“Um, maybe later.” He grimaced.
Natalie bit back a laugh at the way his nose turned up just a bit. He clearly knew about his son’s shell issues.
“I have to call Uncle Finn and update him aboutGoldilocks’scar.”
“Dad, you said we had to call her Natalie.”
“Sorry,Natalie’scar.”
Was he teasing her? His tone was almost light, but his face still held that ever-present frown that marred his expression. If she was Goldilocks, then he was definitely the grumpy Papa Bear. Did the man live in a perpetual funk?
6
“Can’t getanyone out here to work on the gate until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest,” Declan huffed into the phone. The storm was causing all sorts of messes. He could probably get a tow truck out today, but since the gate was stuck where it was—firmly closed—that would be pointless. That also meant the plow truck that normally took care of the driveway when it snowed couldn’t clear a path, so he had to hike up to the gate through a foot of snow to get Natalie’s stuff out of her car. She offered to do it herself, but he felt like an ass sending her to wade through the deep snow.
“Think you can play nice until then?” Finn teased.
“Screw you. I’ve beenverynice, given the situation. Especially since Lauren’s up my ass about her being here.”
“Tell her it’s my fault, then ignore the wicked witch.” Finn chuckled.
He’d love to call Lauren his biggest mistake, but having his son was anything but that. Almost eight years ago, he’d been traded to the Metros and had been miserable in New York. He’d met Lauren, and that first winter, she’d suggested jumping on a plane to escape the cold. She loved partying with the team during the season and had always tried to get him to have fun.
She’d always liked his money and the attention that came with dating a professional athlete more than she liked him. But then she got pregnant with Chris, and his son became the thing she’d hold over his head to keep Declan doing exactly what she wanted him to do. And the fun-loving nature that had drawn him to her disappeared the longer they were together. The more Declan pulled away, the more possessive and controlling Lauren was.
A year ago, he’d finally had enough and ended things with her. But since he’d moved out of the apartment, it had been a battle to get time alone with Chris.
He startled as notes of a trombone from some kind of big band music came blasting from the kitchen.
What was this chick up to now?
“Dec? Ya there, bro?”
Declan shook his head. “Yeah, sorry. I’ll update you tomorrow.”
In the kitchen, he froze, taking in the scene in front of him. Chris and Natalie were dancing and singing something about wantinga freaking hippopotamusfor Christmas.
Who would call finding a hippo in their living room a joyous surprise? And it had never been on his son’s wish list before now.
