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“Hey,” he protested, “I know what I’m doing.”
He loaded the dishwasher, turned it on, then grabbed his cell phone. It took less than ten minutes to set things in motion. That was one of the benefits of being rich. Trace rarely threw his weight or his money around. When he did, people were eager enough to do as he asked. He’d always been satisfied in a distant sort of way when he thought of the delight his toys would bring to kids on Christmas morning, but he’d never actually experienced that sense of awe and wonder that was pictured in his commercials. Maybe this year things would be different.
Satisfied that Christmas was under control, he grabbed his coat and joined Savannah and Hannah, who’d already retreated to the slowly warming interior of the car. Hannah shivered dramatically when he opened the door.
“I hate cold weather,” she declared.
Trace regarded her in the rearview mirror. “You’re living in the wrong place, then, kiddo. Weren’t you the one who was out here half-buried in snowdrifts yesterday?”
“It’s colder today,” she insisted. “And now I’ve seen snow. Yesterday I hadn’t.”
“Does that mean you want to move back to Florida?” Savannah asked.
There was no mistaking the note of trepidation in her voice, Trace thought. He glanced over and saw the tight lines around her mouth.
“No,” Hannah said at once. “Even if it is cold, I want to stay here.”
Savannah’s relief was almost palpable. “Why?” she asked.
“Because since we got here, you’ve started laughing again,” Hannah said quietly. “You never laughed in Florida.”
Savannah turned her head away, but not before Trace saw a tear sliding down her cheek. He wanted to reach for her, to hold her…to make her laugh.
Instead he glanced toward Hannah. “How about you and me making a pact?” he said. “The one who makes your mom laugh the most today wins.”
Hannah’s eyes lit up. “Okay. What’s the prize?”
“Hmm,” Trace began thoughtfully. “If you win, I make us all hot-fudge sundaes for dessert tonight.”
“Good prize,” Hannah said enthusiastically. “What ifyouwin?”
“Then you make me the biggest, mushiest Christmas card ever, something I can hang on my office wall.”
“Deal,” Hannah said, slapping his hand in a high five.
He glanced toward Savannah and saw that her lips were twitching. It wasn’t a real laugh, but it was at least the beginning of a smile. He pointed it out to Hannah.
“I get the first point,” he said.
“That’s not a real laugh,” Hannah scoffed. She leaned over, slipped her hand down her mother’s back and tickled Savannah until she giggled aloud. “That’sa real laugh,” Hannah said triumphantly.
Savannah wriggled away, then scowled at both of them. “What doIget if I maintain a totally stoic facade all day long?”
“Never happen,” Trace said.
“No way,” Hannah agreed.
“Bet I can,” Savannah retorted, her eyes twinkling.
“Okay, that does make it more interesting,” Trace agreed. “If you win—and that’s a really bigif—you get Hannah’s mushy card.”
“What about you? What will you give me?”
Trace met her gaze evenly and felt his heart take a leap into overdrive. “Same as last night,” he said softly.
He noted the flush that crept into her cheeks as she remembered that fleeting kiss they’d shared.
“You’ll have to do better than that,” she challenged.
