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Longing Holly had never expected slammed into her with the force of a freight train, reminding her of what a wonderful father Chace would be. Or could already be to children of their own if Holly hadn’t given in to her fears and had been willing to take a risk.
Don’t go there, Holly warned herself, because no good would come of it. Being a brother and an uncle was much different from being a husband and father. That’s what Holly needed to remember. Not how wonderful he was with Emme and Wren or how much they adored him. And definitely not how merely looking at him continued to take her breath away.
Dammit!
“Did you know Mommy went to see Daddy?” Wren asked as she settled on one of his muscled thighs.
For a brief second, Chace’s eyes met Holly’s. “I did.”
“Is that why you’re here?”
“Mainly,” he hedged.
“Are you staying until Mommy gets back?” Emme took over the inquisition and perched herself on his other leg.
“That’s the plan.”
“Awesome!” they chorused. Or rather squealed. Grinning, the girls high-fived each other, then Chace. “You know what we should do today?” Emme asked.
He arched his right brow. “What’s that?”
“Christmas in Hickory Ridge.”
With Sean’s injury and the flurry of activity that followed in getting as much as possible in place for Lyss to fly to Germany, Holly had completely forgotten all about the two-week holiday festival that always began on the second Saturday in December. Which, as luck would have it, was today.
Despite the growing mountain of laundry needing to be washed, the boatload of senior essays to grade in her school satchel, and the weekly grocery shopping to tackle, Holly was beyond grateful the next two weeks provided an abundance of activities for the twins, especially on the weekends.
Like today.
Chace looked across the table at Holly for guidance in answering Emme. She tilted her head to the side and shrugged, throwing the ball figuratively back in his court. Sighing, Chace rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“Well?” Wren prompted.
“Let’s ask Aunt Holly what she thinks.”
Asshole.
Both girls whipped their heads in her direction. “Please, Aunt Holly,” they pleaded in tandem with identical puppy-dog eyes to boost their appeal.
Whether learned or inherited, Emme and Wren had mastered the ability to sync their powers of persuasion through both words and body language to get what they wanted. Not in any sort of devious manner, but a seemingly inherent ability to work their magic.
Just like they were doing now.
“I’m game if Uncle Chace is.”
They swiveled their attention back to Chace. “You are. Right?”
The corners of his eyes crinkled first. Followed by the gleam and then the smile that stretched into his whisker-stubbled cheeks. “Sure. Why not?”
“Yay!” Both girls squealed as they hopped off Chace’s lap. “Let’s get ready!” Wren added.
“Whoa, there, munchkins.” Chace palmed the tops of their heads to hold them in place. “It’s not eight o’clock yet, so I doubt anything is even open this early.” Chace shifted his gaze to Holly. “Does everything still begin with the parade?”
She nodded. “It did last year.”
“Okay.” Chace pointed to Holly’s phone lying beside her empty plate. “Your job is to look up the schedule of events with the girls while I make their breakfast. Once we see what’s happening, we can figure out our itinerary.”
“What’s an itinerary?” Emme wanted to know as she sat on Holly’s right with Wren on her left.
