AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Mom. Look. There’s something new.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked as I got out of the car.
Addy raced out of the vehicle, leaving her door wide open. She stood next to the present, where there was a snowman about the same height.
“Knox mentioned something about asking Talon to do more pieces like the present. I wonder if this is the second one, and he wanted you to have it.”
I snapped a picture of Addy admiring the lights and sent it to Knox, asking him to thank Talon. He couldn’t have known that Addy was struggling tonight, with the holidays coming up and her father’s absence feeling bigger than usual.
“Let’s do a selfie with our new lights,” I said to Addy as I knelt on the ground next to her and held up my phone.
We smiled brightly as I snapped a few pictures and saved them to my screensaver.
“I love Christmas,” Addy said as we headed inside, and I breathed a sigh of relief that she’d momentarily forgotten about her father.
How could someone’s absence feel so big? I had a feeling his inattention would always hurt her on some level, even when she stopped expecting him to show up for her. I hoped that another man would be that person for her. I just didn’t know if it was Knox. There were too many variables that had yet to play out.
Chapter 10
Knox
Last night, I’d gotten the picture of Addy in front of the new snowman, and I’d forwarded it to Talon. He hadn’t told me he planned on giving one of the new designs to them. Since I hadn’t heard from him yet, I took my coffee to go and walked to his cabin, which was closest to mine on the property. He had a work shed out back where I knew I’d find him.
I knocked before I opened the door but walked in when I didn’t get a response. Usually, he wore headphones while he worked. He was hunched over his workbench, working on something, when I touched his shoulder, not wanting to startle him.
He pulled off his headphones and goggles. “What are you doing here?”
“Have you slept at all?”
His face was drawn with dark circles under his eyes. “I made a snowman, and I dropped it off at Sarah’s last night. Then I was so excited about the possibilities that I came back to sketch some more ideas.” He gestured at his worktable, which had renderings of various light displays, some more elaborate than others. He’d included characters from nursery rhymes and the traditional holiday decorations like Santa, stars, and sleds.
“You missed the tree decorating,” I said as I leafed through the papers.
“That was last night?” He scrubbed his eyes.
“Mom would have liked to see you there. You know how she prefers it when we’re all together.”
“I forgot. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sure everyone texted you.”
“You know I don’t look at my phone.”
“Did you see the picture I sent last night?” I asked as Talon patted his pockets and looked around for his phone. He finally found it on a table near the front door. He’d probably dropped it there when he walked in and promptly forgot about it. It was always on silent, so it was impossible to talk to him unless you showed up while he was working.
Ever since I talked to his ex, Holly, I wondered if he was trying to forget about something and not just getting lost in his work, as he claimed.
When he saw the picture, his expression softened. “Did they like it?”
“Sarah sent me another picture this morning.” This one was a selfie of her and Addy. Both of them were beaming. It was the sort of picture you’d expect to see on someone’s holiday card or social media profile. I tilted my screen so he could see it.
“I’m glad they liked it. I originally made it for the farm but couldn’t resist giving her that one. I have a tree you can put up at the entrance.” He gestured toward the wall, where an outline of a tree rested.
“This will look amazing by the sign. Thanks for doing this.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “It was a good challenge. I’m enjoying it.”
“I thought you found lighting to be your challenge.” He made light fixtures that graced interior design catalogs and had requests for his one-of-a-kind creations year-round. He picked and chose which commissions he took. He insisted he was an artist and couldn’t produce on demand.
