Chapter Twelve

“I can’t believe it’s moving day already! I’ve never moved before!”

Maggie was running around the new house, her voice echoing in the empty space. There was only a week and half left before Christmas.

Since spending the night with Chase, she’d seen him and Maggie every day, but they’d both decided they didn’t want to confuse or hurt her, so their night together was it…until…neither of them spoke about her leaving after the holidays. They also hadn’t talked about everything Chase had revealed to her, but it had changed things. She felt their connection grow deeper and a part of her was terrified of the love she felt for him. Her heart knew the only answer, but her mind hadn’t let go of the fear. And since her chat with Cassy, she still hadn’t gathered up the courage to go visit Matthew or Michael.

“Auntie Julia, I’m so happy you showed Daddy this house!”

Julia laughed. “It’s pretty awesome, isn’t it?”

“Yeah! And Daddy said our new furniture is coming tomorrow too.”

Julia turned to look at Chase, raising an eyebrow. “You’ve been shopping?”

He shrugged, as he drilled a screw into the drywall above the window in Maggie’s bedroom. He was doing the finishing touches on installing the curtain rod. “I one-clicked the hell out of Pottery Barn.”

“Daddy, ‘hell’ is a swear word. Remember you got me in trouble for saying ‘what the hell.’”

“Yup, remember. Thanks for the reminder.”

Julia tried not to laugh out loud. Chase was smiling, pride stamped clearly on his handsome face as his daughter tore through the house, dashing from one room to another, squealing with delight.

“I guess she likes it,” Julia said, smiling.

“I love it,” Maggie screamed from somewhere down the hallway that led to the bedrooms.

They both laughed.

“This place looks spotless.”

“The cleaners came in again yesterday, scrubbed it from top to bottom.” Chase held out his hand for her coat and she gave it to him. “Painting was finished the day before that.”

“Wow, you are a man who knows how to get things done.”

He grinned, looking more than a little pleased by her compliment and like he had something he wanted to add to that statement. “I needed this place up and running as quickly as possible or the idea of being in here for Christmas wouldn’t be a smart one if we’re still living out of boxes.”

“Well, I’m here and I’ve got nothing to do for the next two weeks. I’m all yours.” The second those words came out of her mouth, she felt her cheeks burst into flames. It didn’t help that Chase was staring at her as though she was a giant piece of cherry pie. Or maybe it was because the man had such presence that he seemed to take up the entire space, wherever he was. “Well, I can think of better ways to spend our time than unpacking.”

That slight tilting of his lips at the corner of his mouth added to her suspicions. She was getting in over her head with him. She was struggling with all of this. The idea of leaving filled her with dread and the idea of staying filled her with fear, but she was going to have to make a decision very soon. She was scared she was not what Chase or Maggie needed in their lives. They needed someone strong and without baggage. Maggie needed a mother that didn’t come with a broken heart; she needed someone whole. And Chase…he needed a fearless woman, a woman who knew what she wanted, who could be the perfect partner to an already strong man. She could be none of those things to either of them.

“Daddy, when did you have time to paint my room?” Maggie said as she ran into the hallway. Julia was thankful for the interruption.

“I didn’t. I had it painted, but it was the color you chose.”

“They did a pretty good job.”

“Glad you approve, sweetheart.”

“When do they start the reno on the kitchen?” Julia asked.

“Right after New Year’s,” he said, putting his drill back into the toolbox and straightening up to look at her.

“That’s great. How did you decide on what you wanted?”

“It was pretty simple. I went into John’s Cabinetry on Main Street, and basically told them everything you told me.”

She choked. “But I didn’t tell you anything.”

He shrugged. “It was enough to go on. You know, the banged up cabinetry, the island in a different color, that farmer sink. Then they came out and took the measurements. I approved the drawings and now they’re having everything built.”

“That is efficient,” she said, trying not to let her horror show over the free range he’d just given the kitchen designer. She took a sip of her takeout coffee that was perched on the window sill.

“Kitchen design isn’t really my specialty,” he said. “I needed it over and done as fast as possible.”

“It’s true. Daddy is too busy to deal with this kind of stuff,” Maggie said, patting him on the back and looking very serious.

Julia laughed and Chase rolled his eyes. “Maggie, where do you come up with this stuff?”

Maggie shrugged, a mischievous look on her face. “I read between the lines.”

Chase shook his head but he was smiling.

“When’s our furniture coming?”

“Everything should arrive tomorrow,” he said, picking Maggie up and placing her on the counter, her legs dangling.

“I can’t wait. I get a new quilt for my bed too, Auntie Julia.”

Julia smiled. “That’s so great, Maggie.”

“Yeah, that Pottery Barn place is great. They had stuff for everyone.”

“I had no idea this would be such a hit for you,” Julia said, trying not to laugh at him. Just the thought of big, tough Chase ordering from Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids was so endearing.

“Again, I need to be in and out. I was done in two hours.”

She choked on her coffee. “You mean you shopped for an entire house in two hours?”

“Is that bad?”

She shook her head slowly. “That’s pretty impressive. Usually I hem and haw, put things in my shopping cart, then take them out and add different things. I can never decide.”

“Oh. Well, I picked a room I liked from their catalogue and ordered it.”

“You ordered the room?”

He nodded. “That way I didn’t have to worry about it matching or not. They did all the work.”

“That’s really…efficient.”

“That’s what I thought, Auntie Julia. I mean, what does Daddy know about decorating? First, I was very worried, but then when he showed me pictures of different living rooms and we picked our favorite, he just added all those things to the order. I was relieved.”

This time they all laughed.

“I’m going to finish installing those blinds in my office and the family room,” Chase said.

“Why don’t we go outside and build a snowman for your front yard, Maggie?”

Maggie jumped off the counter and ran to the front door. “Yes!”

“We’ll be outside and hopefully that’ll give you some time to get some uninterrupted work done around here,” Julia said, aware that they were finally alone. Chase was on the same page because he swallowed up the distance between them in a second, only for Maggie to barrel through the doorway. Somehow the child had managed to get completely ready in full-on snow gear in a minute. “Ready, Auntie Julia?”

Chase ducked his head, rubbing the back of his neck.

Julia smiled. “You bet, sweetie.”

…

One hour later, Chase tugged on his gloves and stood on the front porch. He didn’t announce his presence yet, he couldn’t, because the image of his daughter and Julia rolling what had to be the head of the snowman around the yard filled him with something that was becoming more and more familiar since Julia came back to town. He was not used to opening up. He never did like it. Even his ex-wife had never known him on that level, but Julia had cut through everything. He’d been able to be himself, show her the man he really was.

It was a peace he’d never felt. Something he’d imagined, but never truly experienced. It made him think sappy things, brought a lump to his throat. This is what he wanted. God, how badly did he want this?

The snowball that landed in his face, however, was a cold reminder he had no business wishing for things that would probably never happen. It also reminded him what a badass Julia was when she was at her happiest, the way she used to be. He grinned, walking down the front steps, his eyes on hers. Both women shrieked at his approach and his traitorous daughter yelled out, “Don’t worry, his aim is horrible.”

He tried not to laugh out loud.

Maggie hid behind the snowman, but Julia kept running. When Maggie turned her head to see where Julia was headed, he quickly dumped a pile of snow on her as he passed. She screamed, promising revenge. He laughed and kept on walking, catching a glimpse of a red scarf trailing through the trees.

He glanced back at Maggie to make sure she wasn’t following him. She wasn’t; his daughter was currently laughing maniacally and rolling a giant snowball no doubt meant for him, and the minute he turned his head a dense, cold, wet snowball hit him in the back of the head. He whipped around and then ran after Julia, laughing as he heard her laughter trailing behind her. God, was it good to hear her laugh. Seconds later he had caught up to her, grabbed her hand, tugged her over to him, and pinned her lightly against a tree. The laughter stopped immediately as their bodies made contact. Her smile had faltered, but her eyes were a brilliant shade of green, the light of awareness filling them.

“Julia.” His voice sounded gruff to his ears. He reached out to pull the hair that kept blowing in her face.

“Chase, clearly, I’m the better shot.”

He grinned, dipping his head slightly. God, how he wished they were alone right now and not in the company of a child that was about to ambush them with snow. He had about sixty seconds. “I’m a gentleman and needed to go easy on you.”

“Nice cover,” she said, her gaze going from his eyes to his lips in a way that made all his self-control vanish.

“Or maybe I wanted to get you alone. Maybe I haven’t been able to sleep since the night in this house. Maybe I can’t get you out of my head, and all I can think about is tasting you again, feeling you.”

Her lips parted and a smart-ass retort didn’t come out. Instead, her hands reached out to grasp the front of his coat. “Then stop talking and kiss me.”

That was all the encouragement he needed. His lips hovered close to hers for a moment. And in that moment of almost perfect heaven, his daughter screamed, “Avalanche!”

He pulled back immediately, swallowing all the expletives that were on the tip of his tongue as a bucket full of snow was thrown at him. Julia screamed with laughter as did Maggie. He let out a giant growl and ran toward Maggie, who was barely able to run from him because she was laughing so hard. He grabbed her and tossed her in the air. Seconds later she was begging for mercy and the three of them declared a truce.

They proceeded to create a slightly insane looking snowman that day. ‘Mr. Flake’ was situated in the center of the front yard, perfectly in the middle of the living room window.

Chase knew he’d look back on this day as one of the most perfect in his life. He didn’t care if it made him a sap. Today, his daughter looked as though she’d never been burdened by the pain of a mother leaving her. She looked like a child who was living a happy life, and Julia looked like a woman who’d never known pain either. And that night when they were on their way out to dinner and he caught his reflection in the mirror, he realized that he looked like a man that finally knew the love of a good woman.

Dammit, if that didn’t set himself up to be destroyed.