Page 26 of Blame It On the Lattes

“Will do. See you later. Love you.”

I gave my sister a giant bear hug and then watched to make sure she got to her car safely. The sky was bright white, which meant the winter storm was coming quickly.

I closed the door and locked it before turning up the thermostat. I wanted to make sure the girls stayed nice and warm, especially if the weatherman was right and we were about to get walloped with a few feet of snow. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for Sugarplum Falls, but this was more snow than we usually got at one time.

“Alright, ladies,” I said as I walked back into the living room, rubbing my hands together. “Let’s start decorating!”

Fourteen

Avery

Ihad never heard Kennedygiggle as much as she did with Sam while they attempted to put tinsel on the tree. I told them it was a bad idea, but they didn’t listen.

Tinsel covered the carpet and most of Kennedy’s hair, with very little of it actually making its way on the tree. But Kennedy was having fun and smiling, which was the only thing that mattered right now.

I was finally feeling better and had more strength and energy than before, which was refreshing. I’d taken Sam’s advice and added a dash of whiskey to my tea—something I wouldn’t typically have done because of Kennedy. But having Sam there and seeing how good he was with her allowed me to lower my guard a little bit and accept his help with her.

Once the tree was trimmed and every inch of the house was decorated, we sat down on the couch to catch our breath. Kennedy curled into my side, and I was reminded of how blessed I was to have her as my daughter.

“Thank you, ladies, for your help. The house looks Christmas-tastic!” Sam said with a huge grin as he struggled to hide something behind the couch. “I have one last thing that I need Kennedy’s help with.”

“Me?” she asked, looking from him to me.

I smiled and nodded for her to go see what he had for her. She climbed off the couch and rushed over. Her eyes lit up like fireworks as he picked up the mini Christmas tree and set it in front of her.

“A pink Christmas tree?!” she exclaimed. “And it’s my size!”

“That’s because it’s your special Christmas tree. I thought we could put it in your room and you could take care of decorating it. There’s also this box of ornaments that you open one per day until Christmas.”

“My own tree in my own room?! This is so exciting! I can’t believe we get to live here forever!” Kennedy squealed as she hugged the tree tightly and swung it gently.

My heart sank in my chest as I heard her words, not wanting to break her heart by correcting her. Our stay with Sam was temporary, and we all knew that. Or at least I thought we did.

Sam helped her take the tree to her room while I sat on the couch, trying to get myself together. It wasn’t his fault that she made that assumption. It was mine for not properly communicating to her that we didn’t have a place to call home yet. I knew that I needed to figure something out, and soon, but it wasn’t that easy. I wanted to make sure that we had the best start possible, and that meant I had to take the time to figure out what that was. She was too little to know or understand everything that had happened, and I wanted to keep it that way.

A few minutes later, Sam came back with a sheepish smile on his face.

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