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“Which none of you has ever read,” Molly said with a pointed look for her daughter.
“We wrote that book,” Lucas said, with a high five for his twin.
“You all can go now,” Max said. “Caden needs his rest.”
“Why would we leave when things are just getting interesting?” Hunter asked.
“I expect better from you,” Max said to his eldest sibling.
“Really? Why?”
The others cracked up laughing. Thankfully, they moved on to other topics and left Max alone about Lexi. Now that the crisis with Caden had passed, he was feeling badly about the way he’d left her so abruptly and declined her offer to come with him. They’d been wrapped up in each other in bed a few minutes before that, so he could only imagine how much it had hurt her to have him take off without her.
He winced thinking about that, even though he still felt it had been the right thing for Caden. But it hadn’t been the right thing for him—or her. Now that they’d found each other again, all he wanted was to be with her as much as he possibly could. He would tell her that as soon as his family left and he got Caden tucked into bed for the night.
Max couldn’t wait to talk to her.
While Max tendedto his son, Lexi had been making plans to move home to Vermont as of early January. She was on a tight budget and would shop for used furniture at secondhand shops when she arrived. All she needed was a bed and a few kitchen items to get by for a while.
She’d also been doing some research about online classes so she could pick up her education where she’d left off when illness struck. Finally, she’d been job hunting, applying for several jobs within the Abbotts’ company, which was the town’s largest employer.
Her mom came to the door of her bedroom, where Lexi was seated at her desk. “I thought you might want a cup of that Sleepytime tea you like.”
“Thank you.”
“What’re you up to?”
“Making plans.”
“To move home?”
Lexi nodded and took a sip of the tea.
“Us, too. I hired movers today, and we’re putting this house on the market next week.”
“Are you prepared to go back to those winters after living here?”
“That’ll be an adjustment, but I miss the New England seasons. I never thought I’d miss snow, but I do.”
“Me, too, even though I’m always cold.”
“You’ll have Max to keep you warm.”
“I hope so.”
“You sound uncertain.”
Lexi shrugged. “It may not happen. His son isn’t digging me.”
“He must barely know you,” her mom said. “You were only there a few days. How much time did you spend with him?”
“Not much.”
“It’s theideaof you he doesn’t like. He isn’t opposed to you. He’s opposed to any woman who takes a portion of his father’s time and attention from him. I suppose that’s to be expected when it’s just been the two of them for all this time.”
“I worry that he’ll never accept me as part of their lives.”
“He will. It just might take some time and finesse on your part.”
