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How long could he get away with standing here under this mistletoe, kissing her like this? The rest of his life wouldn’t be long enough.
“Awesome!”
The word, said on a whisper-shout, made its way to his ears. He knew that whisper-shout. He’d know it anywhere. And nothing would force the end of this kiss like his daughter’s voice.
He stepped back and dropped his hands to his sides, feeling like a criminal who’d been caught in the act.No, I wasn’t kissing that woman. It was just your imagination.
When he finally dared a glance in that direction, J.J. stood between Nic and Charity, a big smile on her face. In her hands was one of the cups of cocoa.
The three of them weren’t the only ones watching. The pastor’s wife stood behind J.J., smiling at the two of them.
“It’s so good to see someone making use of that mistletoe,” Mrs. Murray said. “And a newly engaged couple at that.”
Holden let out a sigh of relief that at least that piece of gossip made its way around town. Being new here, the last thing he’d want was for the town to label him as some sort of womanizer.
“Couple number three!” J.J. said. “Miss Charity’s friend said three couples would get together under the mistletoe this year.”
“I’d say it’s more than three,” Mrs. Murray said. “Why, the pastor and I might have even kissed under the mistletoe a time or two this year. They hung that stuff all over town.”
Holden couldn’t help but smile that the pastor and his wife still kissed under the mistletoe. He could only hope to be that in love once he reached their age.
What was he saying? He wasn’t going to be married that many years. If he did marry again, it would be after J.J. was grown, and by then he’d already be in his late forties.
“Threenewcouples,” Charity clarified. “And I think the rule is that the mistletoe brought them together.”
“Or what?” Mrs. Murray looked over at Charity, who’d now turned slightly to face her. That made Holden aware that he and Faith were still standing under the mistletoe.
“Just some sort of game Noelle is playing with her boyfriend, Officer Reeser,” Charity said.
“Well, tell him he needs to lighten up,” Mrs. Murray said. “Mistletoe brings everyone together. These two are probably more in love after kissing under that mistletoe than they were before.”
The whole group looked over at Holden and Faith. What a strange thing to say. Why would they be more in love now than the other times they’d kissed?
But they hadn’t kissed before tonight. He’d almost forgotten about that.
“We should probably get going,” Holden said, if for no reason than to stop this conversation before it got really awkward. “I’m sure someone will wake me up way too early in the morning to open her presents.”
“Are you staying with your parents, dear?” Mrs. Murray asked Faith.
Holden certainly hadn’t expected that question to pop up so soon. “She’s staying with us in the nanny quarters. It’s a separate area of the house. She’ll be helping with my business and with J.J. over the next few weeks.”
Wait. That was the real arrangement. Maybe he shouldn’t have shared that. But he definitely wanted to make sure people didn’t think they were living together, especially since it might eventually come out that they weren’t getting married.
“Oh, how nice,” Mrs. Murray said. “I know J.J. is going to love having you around.”
J.J. was beaming as she looked over at Faith, and that filled his heart with happiness. All Holden cared about was that J.J. was okay with everything. But that brought a new problem, and it hit him as they said their goodbyes and headed toward the door. What if J.J. got attached to Faith? It would break her heart when their arrangement ended and they had to split up. How did he protect his daughter against that?
What had he gotten them into?
8
Faith was alone. Completely alone. The full force of it hit her the next morning when she woke up in a gigantic bedroom that smelled like fresh paint.
“I should have spent the night at my mom’s house,” she said as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and pushed herself to her feet.
Those thoughts continued as she brushed her teeth and tried to make her hair look less bedhead-ish. She was in the process of heading back out to the room to get dressed when a sound outside her door stopped her in her tracks. It was followed by J.J.’s voice.
“Miss Faith? You have to come see.”
