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I steal a glance at Violet—with her bottom lip pulled between her teeth—as we peel away the tape and unwrap the boxes.
“I love it!” I hold up my olive-green knit hat, admiring the braided pattern.
“I thought that color would go with your hair.”
I tug it on my head. “Thank you, Vi.”
“She’s been working on it every night for the past two weeks,” Gayle exclaims.
Inside Henry’s box is a simple beige knit beanie.
“You had a black one on at Rockefeller, so I thought something different would be good. You don’t have one like this already, do you?” Violet waits for his response with her hands balled into tight fists.
“I don’t have this color.” When Henry meets her eyes, his sparkle with something raw I can’t identify, and his jaw is taut. “It’s perfect. Thank you, Violet.”
She blushes and then averts her gaze as if uncomfortable.
I lean in. “AndI’m thanking you, too, because your father looks hot in a beanie.” It’s the first time I’ve called him anything but Henry in front of her.
Violet scrunches her nose with disgust as Howard and Gayle laugh.
Henry shakes his head at me before holding up his index finger toward Violet. “Okay, you can openonetoday. The skinny, silver one in the tree.”
I frown curiously at him as Violet bolts for it. I wrapped all the gifts we brought, but I didn’t wrap that one.
“It’s a surprise,” he mouths with a knowing smirk.
She tears open the thin rectangular box and pulls out a plastic card attached to a lanyard. “A ski-lift ticket?” She frowns as she reads. “Colorado?”
“I thought the three of us could go there for a few days next week. I have a hotel there.”
She reads the pass again and her face lights up. “That’s my birthday.”
A soft expression unfurls on Henry’s face. “I know.”
I hadn’t even thought of Violet’s birthday, so swamped with work and Christmas.
But Henry did.
I feel my pulse in my throat as I watch this exchange, the urge to throw myself at this man tremendous.
Violet looks at her grandparents, hopeful.
“Well, of course! He’s already cleared it with us.” Gayle’s smile is broad. “You only turn sixteen once.”
“I’ve never skied before,” she admits, looping the lanyard around her neck.
“Neither have I. We can learn together,” I say.
“I’ve already booked you both an instructor for the bunny hill,” Henry confirms.
“And you’ll be on—”
“The black diamond runs.”
“Of course. Because there’s nothing Henry wasn’t born good at.” I throw my hands up in mock annoyance, earning his amused snort and a round of chuckles.
We help clean up and spend a few minutes saying goodbye, with Violet diving into Henry’s arms in a hug that makes my chest swell with emotion.
