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“Your mom is a smart woman. I am responsible. My family depends on me to help on the farm. See how busy we’ve been all day?” At her nod, he continued. “If I hadn’t shown up to do my part, it would have been harder on everyone else. Customers wouldn’t have gotten their trees, and business would have suffered. Our farm has a reputation to maintain.”
Addy nodded thoughtfully, and I wondered if she’d made the connection with her father. That she couldn’t depend on him and what that meant for her.
“You want to meet us there?” I asked him.
“Why don’t you send me your grocery list? I’ll pick everything up and grab a pizza. After we eat, I’ll tackle your laundry.”
Addy giggled. “You can’t tackle laundry, silly.”
Knox nodded seriously. “You sure can. Stick around and you’ll see.”
Addy shook her head as Lori came up to us. “I suppose you want to get out of here. Eat some dinner.”
“I promised I’d help them with some chores around the house since they were so generous with their time.”
“You were such great helpers. Holly wanted me to give you one of her creations.” It was a glass ornament with a nutcracker painted on the side.
“It’s beautiful, but we can’t accept that,” Sarah said.
“Holly wanted Addy to have it. I think you guys must have bonded when you restocked the tree earlier.”
“She’s nice,” Addy said as she took the ornament and carefully cradled it in her hands.
“Here’s the box if you want to put it inside for safe transport.” Lori handed it to me.
“Thank you so much. We enjoyed hanging out today.”
Lori smiled. “You’re welcome anytime. We love having you here.”
We said goodbye and walked toward Knox’s truck. We’d need to ride with Knox to his house to grab my car. At his house, Knox touched his stomach. “I’ll hurry with the shopping. I’m already starving for pizza.”
“Me, too,” Addy said as she climbed into the back of my car and shut the door.
I kissed Knox’s cheek. “Thank you for a wonderful day. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun.”
He smiled, his grin a little wicked. “I didn’t realize that’s all it took to show you a little fun. If you love to work around the farm, then I can really use you guys.”
His good-natured teasing felt nice.
“I didn’t say that. But we had fun. Thank you for another wonderful day. Everything is different with you. I never know what to expect.”
“I’m glad,” he said, pulling me in for a hug.
I breathed in his scent, reveling in his strong arms holding me close. I loved the feel of his chest against my cheek, his breath in my hair. The longing to have him in my life for longer than the holidays intensified. I forced myself to draw back. “I’ll see you soon.”
Knox winked at me and waved at Addy. “Be there as soon as I can. I don’t want to leave you hungry.”
As I drove away, he stood in the driveway, smiling and waving to Addy, who was giggling in the backseat. What if he was ours? What if he was the man we could count on forever? It was so scary and so far outside the realm of my current reality that I almost couldn’t wrap my mind around it.
“You really okay with me dating Knox?” She’d said she was the other night, but I wanted to check in with her.
“I like Knox.” She was quiet for a few minutes, and then she asked, “Does it mean he’ll be my daddy?”
My stomach twisted. “No. You’ll always have your father. But do you think Knox could be there for you, too?” I wasn’t even sure if he wanted that beyond us dating casually. We hadn’t discussed the future or what he wanted.
“I like spending time with him. He’s fun.”
“Is that because his family owns a Christmas tree farm? Will you feel the same when the holidays are over?”
