CHATTERING SPARROWS BROKE the stillness of the morning, with a little help from their neighbors, juncos and cardinals. These few minutes alone on the pier were all that stood between him and the day ahead and the people who came along with his job. It had been easier to hide out in the woods in North Carolina than here in Bluestone River.
He had to laugh at himself. It wasn’t easy to say no to Mike, and then the neighborhood seven-year-old got into the act. When Nicole rearranged her Saturday so she’d be available for Santa Day, what could Parker do but agree to help wherever the organizers needed him? Besides, it was a good excuse to see Emma. His chiming phone startled him and when he looked at the screen, he smiled. Speaking of Emma…
Odd, only Emma hadn’t tried to coax him to be part of this event. Parker knew himself pretty well, and if no one had roped him in to be there, he’d have skipped it and worked on displays for the nature center. But did he mind? Not really. It would give him another excuse to spend time with Emma.
Snowflakes the size of pennies and dimes swirled over the water, but sunbeams broke through the cloud cover and hinted at the promise of a bright day. This small lake, only forty-five acres, seemed to invite him into its orbit every day, and he was conscious of its quiet presence all the time.
The phone in his pocket buzzed. He checked the screen. It was Emma calling.
“Hey, you’re up early,” he said into the phone. Why was he grinning so?
“Want to meet me for breakfast at Sweet Comforts and head down to the Santa Claus Festival from there?” Emma asked in a cheerful voice.
Yes, yes, he wanted to say yes.
“I sure wish I could do that, but Nic sent me a text late last night. She’s making her world-famous blueberry pancakes this morning. I’m expected to show up in about half an hour.”
“Well, you can’t disappoint your daughter. Especially when she makes you that kind of offer. I’m glad Nic likes her job and still has time for Santa on River Street.”
“She sure likes you—and Star and Ruby. Sometimes I feel like I’m in over my head with Nic, though. She’s a puzzle.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. You’ve got good instincts when it comes to Nic.”
“Apparently, so do you. The quilt you gave her is one of the best gifts she ever got. Her words.”
“I thought she would take to it.” All business again, she said, “I’ll see you on River Street. What job have you got?”
“That’s TBA. Might man the donation table, could be handing out cookies or herding the kids. Whatever’s needed.”
“Like me. I’m just along for the ride. Well, see you then.”
“Emma, wait. One more thing.”
“Okay.”
“Can I have a rain check on breakfast?”
“Of course. Whenever you’re free.”
“Good.”
Parker showed up at Nic’s cabin shortly after the phone call from Emma. If he’d been blindfolded, the aroma of bacon would have led him to the right door. He knocked and waited for her to tell him to come in before he opened the door.
“Smells like a café in here—in a really good way,” he said.
“I hope you’re hungry. I’m making a ton of pancakes.”
“I know you’ll stash the leftovers in the fridge to snack on.” The idea of cold pancakes never appealed to him, but Nic and Jackie slathered them with butter and feasted on them.
He glanced around at the table with what looked like an old-fashioned tablecloth. It was blue with swirls of red and white flowers. It could have come from his grandmother’s house. Each of their cabins had two folding bookshelves. Nic had one jammed with books and binders and odds and ends. Framed prints she’d hung over the table looked like illustrations of castles and towers and princesses from fairy tales.
“Looks nice in here, Nic. You’ve added some things, too.”
Nic’s face lit up. “I’ve been thrifting again with Cam, the girl from school. The tablecloth is from way back, you know, like the 1950s.”
“A real antique,” he agreed. “I like your art, too.”
“Same store—I like the ones of Thumbelina and Rapunzel. I remember being really little and telling Mom I had hair just like Rapunzel.” She didn’t look at him, but kept her gaze on the prints. “When I was little you read fairy tales to me all the time. I remember.”
Without warning his chest started to ache. Nic turned into a three-year-old sitting in his lap, her tiny fingers turning pages of the picture book. His voice caught in his throat when he said, “I remember, too.” We were happy then, Nic…you, your mom and me.
Nic filled his plate with a stack of hot pancakes and crisp bacon and put it on the table. “And now I have the gorgeous quilt. Emma told me she thought of me when she saw it because of the birds.”
“You saved the famous owl, honey, so you’ll always be Emma’s hero.”
“She’s really something, Dad. I suppose she’ll be at the Santa party today.”
“Yep, she’ll be there. I just talked to her. She’ll be a floater, like me. We’ll go where we’re needed.”
“You already talked to her this morning?”
“I was down at the pier when she called. She wanted to know if I could meet her for breakfast at the café before the Santa thing.”
Nicole pulled her head back, her eyes widening in disbelief. “And you said no?”
“Of course I said no. I’m having breakfast with you.”
She looked at the ceiling and groaned. “I can’t believe you did that, Dad. I could have made these pancakes tomorrow—or some other day.”
“I took a rain check. I had plans with you.”
“Fair enough. But I hope you realize how much Emma likes you.”
“I like her, too,” he said, aware he sounded stupid, like he didn’t catch what Nic really meant.
“Good start,” Nic said. “But do you like her like her?”
More every time I see her. “Where is this coming from, Nic?”
Nicole pointed to the chair. “Let’s eat.”
Grateful for the diversion, Parker sat down and avoided looking at Nic while he slathered on the butter and poured way too much syrup on the pancakes and took the first delicious bite. “Thanks for doing this. The pancakes are great, as usual.”
“You know, Dad, I’m beginning to accept that Mom isn’t going to change her mind—”
“Nic, stop.” His voice was razor-sharp. He didn’t care one way or the other if Jackie was having second thoughts. “We’re divorced. Look, I realize I haven’t talked much about what really happened, but—”
“Nope, you sure haven’t. One day you two were like…you know…normal boring parents. You didn’t even fight.”
“We probably should have,” Parker said, with a heavy sigh. “If you learn anything from what happened to your mom and me, maybe that’s it. Don’t go silent. Fight it out.”
Resting her chin in her palm, Nicole stared off into the room, pensive and silent.
“But just because you didn’t hear us fight, that doesn’t mean I wasn’t trying to work things out between us.”
“Could have fooled me.”
“Maybe, but none of it was ever about you. Parents are supposed to worry about their teenagers, like every minute. But kids aren’t supposed to worry about Mom and Dad.”
“I suppose. But maybe that’s why I was so upset—well, shocked out of my mind is more like it—when she said she was leaving.”
“I didn’t know about Ben until around that time. Time had run out on recapturing something we’d lost.”
Nicole bit off the end of a piece of bacon. “You hover around me wondering if I’m okay, but what about you? I’m worried about you, Dad. I want you to be happy.” She waved the piece of bacon in the direction of the window. “It’s nice here. I like it. But it’s no rescue center. You aren’t spending all your time splinting broken legs or taking X-rays of wings. Is it enough for you?”
True enough. Her expression, the worry in her eyes, sent a message he didn’t welcome. “You don’t need to be concerned about me.”
Nic swallowed hard. “You seem happy around Emma. I don’t see any sign you’re dating anyone else.” She shrugged. “So that’s why I asked if you like her.”
Parker nodded. “You’re the most observant person I know. You get that from your mom.” He said the words to fill in some empty space, but in his mind he was fixated on Emma and his heart thumping in his chest.
“So, what about you, Nic,” he said, steering the conversation in another direction. “Really.”
“Hey, school and my job are good. This is a pretty friendly place. What’s not to like?”
He’d have put more stock in her answers if she hadn’t been pushing a piece of a pancake around the plate with her fork. She was holding something back. Maybe Nic herself didn’t even know what it was.
* * *
BRIGHT SUN REFLECTED off plowed snow, forming borders on the sectioned-off end of River Street. Emma shaded her eyes to look down the street at the wreaths and banners mounted on the streetlights. The storefronts were decorated with multicolored lights.
Emma waved to Sam Wilson, aka Santa Claus. The padding and white beard couldn’t fool her. He was another graduate of Bluestone River High School who’d not come back after college, at least until a year ago. Sam’s wife, Lynn, was dressed in an ankle-length red dress with a white faux fur hood, a perfect Mrs. Claus. With kids and parents lining up, Sam looked about ready to begin.
Emma had to laugh out loud at Sam sitting on a gilded throne, probably borrowed from the prop room at the high school. The maintenance crew had built a plywood backdrop, and teenagers from the high school painted a sled being pulled across the sky by reindeer. Rudolph’s red nose stood out against the dark blue paint.
She spotted Mike in his red down jacket and jeans meandering through the crowd with Jason at his side. He stopped to shake hands and chat with people who’d braved the bitter cold day to come out. Giving his considerable political skills a workout, Emma mused. Today mayor, tomorrow what? State senator, maybe? It could happen.
Still trying to find Ruby, Emma headed toward the event tent set up to hand out brochures and regional tourist guides and serve hot chocolate and cookies. With a heater near the tables, it was probably the warmest place on River Street.
“There she is.” The familiar voice came from behind. When she turned around Nicole was hurrying toward her with Parker following. The three of them ducked inside the tent and out of the cold wind.
“I wonder where the organizers want us.” Nicole bounced on the balls of her feet and rubbed the palms of her mittens together. “Looks like the goody table is covered. Lots of kids to pour the hot chocolate.”
Emma added, “Our string of Christmas festivals is providing the high school kids a chance to earn a slew of community service credits, I hear.”
Parker scoffed. “More people already showed up here than we managed to lure to the sanctuary over a three-day weekend.”
Nicole waved him off. “Don’t be jealous. Dad. You were right in the first place. The open house was a dumb idea with no hope of working.”
Emma let a hearty laugh escape. “Don’t sugarcoat it, Nicole.” She glanced at Parker. “Wouldn’t the board love to hear that assessment?”
“They did,” Parker said. “I was just a little more diplomatic.”
“Let’s not be Scrooges about it,” Emma said dryly. She pointed around her. “For a Bluestone River native, it warms my heart to see a crowd like this on River Street.”
“Will Rivera was telling me this is a big deal,” Parker said. “His family used to take him to the mall in Clayton to do the Santa thing.”
“Will, huh?” Emma said, giving Parker a quick glance.
Nicole tilted her head. “He’s cute, but he has a girlfriend. He’s off the market.”
Emma groaned. “Off the market? I thought that expression died ages ago. Deep-sixed in the past.”
“Seems it’s made a comeback.” Nicole lifted her hands. “Like Bluestone River.”
Parker caught Emma’s eye and they both laughed.
“It wasn’t that funny,” Nicole said, turning to look in all directions. “I’ll go see what they want us to do.”
“Mike said something about keeping an eye on the donation jar,” Parker said.
“No fair,” Emma shot back. “Ruby offered me that job.”
Nicole rolled her eyes. “Are you two really going to fight over it? Let me go find someone in charge, so we can settle this.” She pretended to go off in a huff.
Emma shook her head. “Your daughter is such a funny girl.” When she looked into Parker’s face, she saw pride, but something else, too. Nostalgia, maybe?
“I know. She throws me sometimes. She joked about us fighting over the donation jar. An hour ago she was pointing out that her mom and I never had loud arguments. That’s why telling her we were splitting up came as such a shock.”
“As shocking as her mother’s affair?” Emma immediately grabbed Parker’s arm. “I’m so sorry. Forget I said that.”
Parker gave her a pointed look, but then his expression softened. “I guess you don’t sugarcoat anything, either.”
“Really, Parker. I apologize.”
All she got was a quick nod before he used his height to advantage to get a good look around. “I see Nic found Mike. She’ll come back with news.”
“I’m surprised I haven’t seen Ruby,” Emma said, puzzled. “She was supposed to be here and we always find each other at things like this.”
“Mike showed me some old video of all of you at the resort and the covered bridge. You two almost always turned up together.”
Emma wasn’t sure she liked Parker seeing her that young and fit.
As if they were standing alone rather than in the midst of a crowd, he leaned in and whispered, “You’re a really good dancer.”
Her cheeks suddenly caught fire. She patted them with her gloved hands as if she could hide them. “I wasn’t expecting that. You and your daughter are experts at taking me by surprise.”
“But it’s true. You were in your own world in those videos.” Parker smiled, as if remembering something. “One was down by the bridge. The other was on the grass at the resort.” He paused. “And here I didn’t know you not only were the best dancer, but the cartwheel queen, too. You really were a jock girl.”
“No, no, I’m not going there.” Oh, but doing those cartwheels was so much fun. She could almost feel the strength in her back and legs turning end over end. “So what about you? How are you on the dance floor?”
He pulled his mouth down in a silly expression. “I can find my way around.”
“Aren’t you smug?”
“You asked.”
“I did.” Her inner imp wanted to grab the flirtatious moment and make it last, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jason hurrying toward them with Nicole in tow. “Look who’s here,” Emma said. “Did you see Santa yet?”
Jason shook his head. “My mom has a stomachache.”
“But his dad said it wasn’t serious.” Nicole stood behind Jason with her hands resting lightly on his shoulders. “Uh, I’m going to take Jason to Santa right now and look after him today. Mike is driving Ruby to Clayton to have her stomachache checked out. He wanted me to ask if it’s okay if I watch him at your house.”
Emma kept her voice casual. “It’s fine. I’m always happy to have Jason around,” Emma said, forcing a smile at the boy, whose attention was fixed on Rudolph’s blinking nose. “I’ll wait for you.”
“Wait, Nic. Did Mike say who’s in charge here at the festival?” Parker asked.
“A couple of town council people are taking over, so it’s covered.” Nicole looked down at Jason. “What do you say we see Santa?”
Jason ran ahead toward the line. Nicole took off after him.
“Could the baby be in trouble?” Parker whispered.
“I’m trying not to jump to that conclusion, but there’s always that chance,” Emma said, nervously rubbing her hand across her mouth. “But I’m a little concerned Jason might get scared if Ruby’s gone for very long. I don’t think Ruby’s had so much as a cold since she first met Jason over a year ago. She’s like a rock, you know, always there for him.”
Parker’s tone was thoughtful when he said, “You wouldn’t ever think she was his stepmom, and for only a year.”
Emma had told Parker about Jason not speaking for months after his mother died in a fire. Peach and Ruby helped Mike and a therapist get Jason over the hump of trauma and grief. “He only started calling her Mom this summer. She’d assured him he could call her Mommy when he was ready, but he told her that’s what he’d called his first Mommy, so she was Mom. That was that.” She remembered Ruby’s eyes going soft when she talked about it.
Parker’s mouth dropped open. “Yikes. Such a grown-up way to think about it.”
“Jason loves to play around with words, so it made sense to me.” Her phone buzzed in her jacket pocket. Emma pulled it out and glanced at the screen. “Ruby…oh…they’re leaving for the emergency room in Clayton.” She looked at the screen and read, “Just in case.” With the next line her shoulders slumped. “Oh, no…”
“What?” Parker asked.
“She wrote ‘I am so scared.’ Knowing Ruby, she’s probably trying to put on a brave front. But we don’t do that with each other.” Emma sighed, remembering that she confided her fears to Ruby when she faced her surgery.
Parker put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “You two are so lucky to have each other.”
“We are.”
“Okay, time to go.” Nicole’s voice surprised them and they quickly moved apart.
Jason hopped up and down. “Emma, Emma, guess what?”
“What, sweetie?” Emma said, avoiding Nicole’s amused expression.
“Santa said maybe we could get a friend for Peach.”
Now, that was pretty hard to believe. “Is that so?”
“A puppy?” Parker asked, incredulous.
Jason shook his head. “Dad said babies and puppies are a lot of work, especially if you get new ones at the same time. Santa said that maybe I could get goldfish for Peach. She could watch them swim.”
Parker clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle his laugh.
“Now there’s an idea for you. Very special.” Emma couldn’t resist adding, “Just think, Jason, you could have fish the same color as your dog.”
Jason’s eyes grew big in surprise, and so did Nic’s. “I never thought of that,” she said with a giggle.
“Speaking of Peach…” Parker cleared his throat. “Why don’t I swing by their house and get her? I could bring her to your place to be with Jason.”
“Good idea.” And maybe he’d want to stay a while.
* * *
JASON LINED UP cars and trucks in neat rows in front of the TV in the office. That kept him occupied until lunchtime when they polished off a large pizza. Now Nic and Jason were making three miniature snow people in the back with Peach having fun getting in the way.
“The mama, papa and baby bear.” Parker stood by the patio doors watching Nic help Jason create his snow family. Emma was at the table checking her phone again. Two texts so far, but nothing for an hour or so.
“No news?” Parker asked.
“Not since I checked ten minutes ago.” She got up and joined him. “This is silly. I’ve got to stop staring at the screen. The doctor is just being careful. Mike said so himself.”
Parker was aware that Mike and Ruby had plenty of help. His presence wasn’t essential, but he wanted to be there for Emma, Nic and Jason. He’d made himself useful picking up the dog and gathering a few toys in the kitchen. And he could take charge of bringing food in.
He was at home in Emma’s house. They moved easily around each other at the sanctuary and here, too. Like a dance. It amused him to know Nic had been keeping an eye on him with Emma. Trying to not be obvious about it. Ha! He knew that maneuver from trying to study Emma without getting caught at it. He failed every time.
“They’re almost done out there,” he said. “The second head is in place. One more to go.”
“Nicole is so patient. It must be getting cold,” Emma said. “I’m going to start making soup for Mike to take home. And we’ll need dinner, too.”
“I’ll go on home,” he offered just to be polite. With any luck she’d squash that plan. “You don’t need to feed me.”
Emma rolled her eyes. “I meant dinner for all of us.” Then she frowned, “But don’t feel like you have to stay if you don’t want to. I’m sure Mike will run Nicole home later.”
Parker rolled his eyes and smiled. “I was offering to leave so you wouldn’t think I was inviting myself.”
“All right, let’s get this straight. I want you to stay,” Emma said. “Take it or leave it.”
“I’m taking it.”
“And anything you can do to keep my worrying mind off Ruby is appreciated. If I don’t stay busy I’ll stand here wringing my hands.”
He squeezed her shoulders. “I know this is hard.”
Parker found a quiet corner while Emma lined up sauté pans and mixing bowls, but then joined her at the counter to chop vegetables for soup. They could watch the antics going on outside. With the snow family complete, Nic and Jason were doing jumping jacks. Peach’s paws were in constant motion, jumping and prancing in the space between them.
Parker chuckled. “She’s showing Jason what I taught her about staying warm on the few icy cold days we had in North Carolina.” Parker scraped the pile of celery into the pot Emma put between them. “Seems so long ago now, but we used to do jumping jacks in the yard and count out loud. Fifty was the goal.”
Emma perched her hip on her stool. “They look so carefree. But I know that’s not true for Nic. She has challenges. She’s good with Jason.”
“Jason’s quite the little character, isn’t he?”
Emma grinned. “Pretty clever of Santa to talk about a goldfish.”
“Cute. Seemed to satisfy Jason, too. As for Nic, I think she’s done letting her mother pull her one way or another. Maybe Jackie’s less confused or something. I’m not sure.”
Emma looked like she was about to say something, but the door opened and Jason came in still jumping and excited.
“Wow, that’s quite a snow family you made.” Parker’s words were lost in the flurry of getting Jason out of his coat and boots before he paraded through the kitchen, dropping clumps of snow. Nic corralled Peach and rubbed her down with the towel Emma tossed to her. She passed a smaller one to Parker to use on Jason’s hair.
“You got wet out there,” Emma said, gathering up the dripping things. “It’s taking three adults to dry off one child and a dog.”
Emma went off to get some dry socks for Jason and Nic.
When Emma came back, Jason sat on the kitchen floor to put on his dry socks and kicked his feet in the air and made the fabric flop around. “Too big,” he said, laughing.
“They’ll do,” Nic said. “Uh-oh, here comes Peach.”
The dog sniffed around Jason before flopping down next to him.
“You’re a pushover for that dog.” Nic playfully shook her head.
“Peach snores,” Jason warned, but he got a big kick out of announcing it as he jumped up and pulled a chair closer to the counter. “Sometimes I wish I was a dog.”
“Oh, yeah?” Parker said, getting back to work on Emma’s soup. “Sometimes I wish I could be a bird.”
“You could be like the owl and fly away into the woods and hide.” Jason looked to the window.
“I could. Or I could be one of the little birds that flit around through the trees,” Parker said, using his hand to do a pretty fair imitation of flitting about. “What about you? If you were a dog, would you swim in the lake? Chase sticks?”
Jason shook his head. “I’d let everybody pet me and in between I’d take naps.”
“You’d get tired of that in a hurry,” Nic said.
“No, I wouldn’t.”
With the same singsong lilt, Nic said, “Oh, yes you would.”
It was like listening to music, Parker thought, almost embarrassed by the bittersweet emotions taking over. He stole a glance at Emma, who was looking down at her cutting board, but an amused smile had taken over her face. Her pretty face, with all her features set off by her big brown eyes.
“I know where the movies are,” Jason said. “Wanna see?”
Nic squinted and pursed her lips in teasing disapproval. “I don’t know. Did you ask Emma?”
“Can we watch movies, Emma?”
Emma grinned at Jason. “Of course.”
The next couple of hours passed quickly. Emma made a triple batch of vegetable soup and the house was filled with the scents of garlic and oregano and the yeasty aroma of the rolls Emma heated. Parker was lifting the second of two pans of baked chicken out of the oven when Emma’s phone rang.
She grabbed her phone. As Parker listened to her side of the conversation, her face got brighter and she glanced his way and gave him a quick thumbs-up.
Relief shot through Parker, the power of it surprising him.
“Nic and Jason are in the office watching movies,” Emma said. “Shall I bring him to the phone. Oops, too late. Here he comes.”
“Is that my mom?” Jason asked. He slid across the floor in his stocking feet.
“It’s your dad.” Emma handed him the phone. “Here you go.”
“Is Mom coming home?” Jason frowned as a couple of seconds passed. “When are you coming to get me?” A couple more seconds went by. “Why?” His voice got smaller with the question. Jason looked at Emma. Then he said, “Okay.” Silence. “I will. Can Peach stay, too?” A little smile appeared. “She’ll behave. She always does, Dad.”
Parker stifled a laugh and shook his head. Three pairs of eyes, four if he counted the dog’s, were fixed on Jason and hanging on his every word.
Jason handed the phone to Nic. “He wants to talk to you, Nicole.”
Her conversation was a series of one-word responses, but ending with, “Don’t worry. It’s all good.” Then she handed the phone to Emma, who said goodbye and ended the call.
“So, Jason, I get to have you as my houseguest tonight. You can sleep in the big bed in one of my guest rooms or on the couch where you watch movies. Then your dad will pick you up in the morning. The best news is your mom is just fine.”
“Sounds like fun,” Parker said. “It’s very grown up to be a houseguest.”
“I want to sleep on the couch.” He didn’t look happy about it. “If my mom is okay, then why can’t my dad bring her home?”
“Doctors like to keep an eye on things,” Nic said, raising her hands in a helpless gesture. “Go figure. When I was about your age, I had a bad sore throat, so bad the doctor made me stay in the hospital overnight.”
“I remember. We were scared at first, but Nic spent most of her time sleeping.”
“I’m not tired,” Jason said.
“Well, then, you can stay awake and play.”
“I suppose we can go, Dad,” Nic said.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Emma crossed her arms over her chest. “No one gets out the front door before we have dinner.” She glanced at the clock. “Like in the next fifteen minutes. Parker and I have been cooking all afternoon. I’ve got plenty for us and to send leftovers home with Mike.”
“O…kay. Looks like I don’t dare argue. Not that I want to.” Nic steered Jason out of the kitchen and down the hall.
“So, Ruby’s okay?” Parker asked.
She nodded. “Seems so, but they’re being extra-cautious. Mike wanted to stay with her. Jason will be fine here with me.”
“Seems you’re all set up for him. You can pull cars and books out of a hat. And his choice of movies and games.”
“Ruby sometimes brings him and Peach along when we work on grants and things. I like to keep plenty of activities around to entertain Jason so he’s happy while Ruby and I visit. When she has the baby, we’ll figure out a new routine to do grants and spend time together. I’ll want to help out.”
“I’m sure you will.”
As he got plates and bowls off the shelves in her cabinets, Parker felt oddly like he and Emma were hosting a party. Together.
* * *
“JASON’S DOWN FOR the count,” Parker said, arranging a pile of pillows and blankets on the floor in front of the couch. “I know that at his age he’s not likely to roll off, but if he does, it won’t be a hard fall.”
Emma closed the blinds and followed Parker and Peach out of the room.
“He fought so hard to stay awake,” Emma said, going into the kitchen. “Can you stay a while? Maybe have a glass of wine.”
“Sure. I’m in no hurry to leave. I’m sure Nic is having a good time with her friends.”
Good answer.
While she opened a bottle of cabernet he took glasses out of the cabinet.
“I like how you move around in my house like you’ve spent a lot of time here,” Emma said. She was conscious of the dimmed lights above the dining room table.
“You make it easy.” Parker smiled. “Your home is like a person with long open arms.”
Her heart beat harder in her chest. It took effort to steady her hand when she handed him the full glass. “That’s sweet of you to say.”
“The house matches—literally. Think about it, Emma. It has this large open space in the center, and then two long wings, like open arms.”
“When you put it that way, no wonder I like it so much.”
“And then there’s the view. Come look outside.” Parker pointed to the December half-moon casting its light on the snow.
“A perfect end to a day that had a few scary moments.” She sipped her wine and nodded to the outside. “My winter postcard. It can seem like the land really is asleep under that blanket of snow, just as sure as Jason is dreaming adventures on my couch.”
She turned a chair to face the door that led to the backyard. “Let’s sit here. I need to get off my leg, but I don’t want to stop watching what’s going on right outside my door. I’ll douse the light so it’s even clearer.”
Parker pulled both chairs closer to the doors.
“It’s been a remarkable day in many ways,” Parker said. “I’ll make that the last couple of weeks.”
“Oh? Tell me more.” Here in the dark with the moon lighting up the snow, everything was remarkable. They were dancing around something real, something good.
“Working with you, sharing Thanksgiving with new friends, releasing the owl, my mom’s visit coming up. And then there was Jim bringing me the crow. Everything good going on comes back to you.” Parker took her hand. “Even hanging pictures was a good time.”
She could make a joke, tease a little, but she didn’t want to. Instead, she said, “Yes, every moment is a good time.”
Parker put his glass down and stood. He held out his other hand and Emma took it and rose to her feet. They wrapped their arms around each other as if their hearts were leading them to this next step. They held each other in the dark, quiet space. The kiss she knew was coming was everything she wanted, expected and so much more. She clung to him, bunching the fabric of his sweater in her fingers. They deepened the kiss and when they finally broke it, they both sighed happily together.
“So much is happening between us,” Parker said.
“Kind of hard to describe.” She looked into his eyes. “I can barely talk right now.”
“Then we won’t,” he said, leaving a trail of soft kisses down her cheek to her neck before finding her lips.
Emma’s heart was filled with new and wonderful feelings. She couldn’t talk, and yet she felt she had so much to share.