Page 59 of Chocolate Cherry Cabin

She might have to mentally uncheck a box or two on the does-he-check-out list if he continued on like this.

“Miss Hannah, kiss Santa!” Anya called, starting another round of giggles.

“There will be no kissing. Everyone move back so Santa can come in.” Hannah began shooing the kids farther from the entry while Naina opened the baby gate for Louis. As soon as he was inside Colts and Fillies, he closed in on Hannah, asking, “Have you been a good girl?”

Seriously. One minute inside the day care and he was knocking everything off-kilter. Why did she find herself drawn to him? She must have something wrong with her brain.

“Okay, boys and girls,” Hannah said, ignoring Louis, “go to the story-time carpet so Santa can show us what he brought for us.” She tipped her head to the right, subtly gesturing to the sack of toys hidden from the kids’ view.

Louis had it over his shoulder in seconds. “Speaking of presents, do you boys and girls want to know what I brought for Miss Hannah?”

Her head snapped to Louis. He was digging in the sack of toys, and the kids all raced back to him. He had palmed a box roughly the size of a volleyball and was holding it over his head. “This present says it’s for Miss Hannah. What could it be?”

“Me! Me! I want one, too!” Anya was bouncing in front of him, yanking at his sleeve as he tried to pass the gift to Hannah.

“There’s one for you, too. Miss Hannah’s been extra good this year, and she’s often forgotten. Is it okay if she gets hers first?”

Anya nodded, and Louis handed Hannah the gift. “Go ahead. Open it.”

Hannah reached for it, curious where it had come from. The look Louis was giving her suggested he’d somehow planted it in the sack. She hefted it, finding it heavier than she’d expected. What was it? Something over-the-top? Ridiculous? Embarrassing? Telling?

“I’ll open it in a bit.” She tucked the gift in the crook of her arm. “Let’s get the kids settled.” She eyed Edith’s office, and sure enough, her boss came trundling out to see what the disturbance was.

“What’s this?” Edith asked.

“Santa!” Anya yelled. “He came!”

The woman’s eyes narrowed as she tried to identify the man behind the fake white beard.

“He’s here now,” Hannah said brightly.

“And he has a gift for Miss Hannah,” Louis said with a wink.

“He does?” Edith’s tone was unamused.

“He does,” Louis said smoothly. He winked again, at Hannah’s boss, whispering, “No gift for you. I heard you werenaughty.”

She jolted as if she’d been goosed, and Naina giggled.

“Open it,” Louis urged, his attention back on Hannah.

“I will.” She began directing the kids toward the carpeted area again, placing the wrapped box high on a shelf so they wouldn’t open it on her behalf.

“Come, children,” Edith said. “Let’s gather on the carpet with Santa.”

Hannah stood at the edge of the crowd, waiting to be needed as Louis expertly wrangled the little ones into a circle. The way Louis was so natural with them warmed her heart, and while she had no plans to fall in love again, and especially not with someone so frustratingly meddlesome, she could see that if she wasn’t careful, Louis might just sneak in and steal her heart, anyway.

“He’s a sweetheart,” Naina said, joining Hannah. “And he really likes you.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she murmured, desperate to pump her for details on why she thought that.

“He thinks very highly of you,” Naina said. “In fact, I heard you’ll be joining the teaching profession very soon.”

“What?” Her head snapped away from Santa and the little fantasy that had been playing out in her brain. Louis had been wrestling sheets onto Thomas’s bed, then tucking him in before joining Hannah for a cup of tea and warm kisses that tasted like love and chocolate chai.

Naina was smiling at her expectantly. “You’re going back to school for a few classes to complete an education degree, right?”

Hannah had told only one person that she’d applied. One. And he was already blabbing it all over town, while she hadn’t even been accepted into the program yet. That man didnotunderstand the no-meddle rule.

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