Page 43 of A Moon Lake Christmas Hero

“Well. She was down on her luck, and Seb was just a newborn, and things were tough.”

“For her?”

He grinned. “For both of us.

“See, I longed for a family. Hated being alone in this house.”

“So you fell in love with her?”

He chuckled, then nodded. “After I forced her to move in with me.”

I raised a single eyebrow.

“Don’t give me that look. I was just looking out for her and Seb. And then I fell in love with them both.”

The smile he gave me was such an authentic portrayal of a man completely at peace and in love with his family, all I could do was smile back.

“Though we had some hiccups. It took us quite some time to find a way to communicate with each other.” He smiled at the memories. “But it turned into the best thing that ever happened to me. Even though I nearly blew it by not telling her.”

He fell silent and looked at me.

I raised my eyebrow in question.

“Oh, don’t give me that look. You’re in love with James, and the girls, aren’t you?”

I sucked in air. Was it that obvious?

“I only have one advice to give, and trust me, I leaned it the hard way. If you want the life you’ve always dreamed of, you have to take some risks and go after what you want. And you need to tell him.”

I nodded.

“Don’t wait too long,” he said, then took his last bite, then got up.

I was sitting there stunned. And at the same time, a calm settled inside of me.

Alan was right. I wanted James, and I wanted to be a mother to the girls. And waiting wouldn’t change anything.

My phone, on the table next to me, rang, and I picked it up.

James—just the man I was thinking about. The man I was falling in love with. The man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

ERIN

Ilooked at the clock before focusing back on changing the dressing on Mrs. Brooks’ arm.

She’d fallen off a ladder and had landed in the shards of the broken mason jar she’d tried to store away. She’d had cuts deep enough to require stitches, but they were healing nicely.

And watching the minutes tick by didn’t make the morning go faster or slower. I wasn’t quite sure why I was so nervous. When James called and told me he wanted to show me something, I didn’t expect excitement and dread to fight for the upper hand in my stomach all morning.

It was a change of the routine we’d fallen into.

Although seeing him alone, without the girls, would give me a chance to talk to him. Tell him.

Would he be willing to take a chance on me? To take the leap into a relationship?

I basked in the love and being part of the family dynamics—loved how his demand for me to stay with them had been an outward sign of his care for me.

But Alan’s words had hit home for me—that it wasn’t enough. I wanted more. I wanted it all, and I wouldn’t waste another day.

---