Page 73 of Single Dad's Christmas Cookie

She narrowed her eyes, and then they went wide as I had to guess she realized what I was saying. Of course, we met that one glorious night at the hotel, but that was our secret. As far as anyone else needed to know, we met when she came and cooked for me.

“When I came to cook for you,” she agreed.

“When you know, you know,” I said.

Her hands were shaking as I reached forward and took the ring box from her. I pulled the ring from its resting place and held Nova’s hand.

“This was my grandmother’s ring.” I slowly slipped it down her finger. “It’s yours now, if you’ll have me.”

She watched as I slid the ring slowly down her finger, all the way over the knuckle. It was a perfect fit.

“Yes, Bryan, I accept.”

And then she was in my arms, her lips against mine. Amelia hugged us both and giggled. I fell back on the floor with Nova on my lap. She peppered my face with kisses.

She stopped and held her hand out to admire the ring. “This is beautiful. Will it bother your mother that I have your grandmother’s ring?”

“Wrong side of the family,” I said. “That ring is from my father’s side. It’s an antique, from the turn of the last century.”

“Victorian?” Nova asked.

I shook my head. “Nineteen hundreds, so Edwardian.” The ring had a large center stone—probably a two-karat diamond—set in a tapered oval-shaped filigree that was studded with other, smaller diamonds. It was almost shaped like an eye the way the focal diamond filled the center.

“This is so amazingly beautiful,” Nova said, her voice still quavering with emotion.

“You’re so beautiful,” I said as I dipped my head to kiss her again.

Nova started giggling. “I had a perfectly horrible idea.” She continued to sit on my lap and admire the ring.

I leaned back, content to be pinned in place by her and in no hurry to do anything else. “Perfectly horrible? Is it something you can tell me?” I cast my gaze quickly to Amelia, hoping Nova got the hint. Nothing too scandalous around my daughter. Our daughter. I was going to have to get adoption papers drawn up. They should take effect the same day we got married. My lawyer could figure that out.

“I was going to block Veronica’s number once I was thinking clearly. But I think I should send her one last picture.” She wiggled her fingers at me, causing the diamonds to flash and send sparkles of light around the room. “She just got engaged too. She woke me up to show me her ring, and then…” Nova took a deep breath that expanded her chest in a very distracting way. “And then she walked in the door with that jerk to rub it into my face. She got the man who ripped out my heart.”

Nova leaned against my shoulder. “But I got the man who held mine together when it was falling apart. I’m pretty sure I win.”

I kissed her brow. “I didn’t think you were that petty.”

“Oh, Bryan, you have no idea. I work with six-year-olds. I’ve been trained by some of the most petty, passive-aggressive parents you could ever imagine.”

“The parents?”

Nova sat up and shifted on my lap. “Never underestimate a parent when their precious baby’s entire future is at stake over a macaroni noodle craft project. They genuinely think if their first grader isn’t getting straight As or can’t read at a collegiate level already, they are doomed. Colleges don’t even care aboutanything much before high school when reviewing admission applications. It’s nuts.”

“Would showing off your ring make you happy?”

She smiled at me, and then her smile dissolved back into crying. I cradled her against my chest.

“Veronica was my best friend. She was supposed to be my maid of honor. She was going to be the first person I told. She didn’t even know about you. I mean, how I felt about you. I was afraid to tell her because I didn’t want her to remind me how stupid it was to fall in love with my boss.”

“You love me?” I couldn’t help but pull that shining nugget of information out of the pile of crap she was wading through emotionally.

“Yes, I love you.”

“Good, because I’m in love with you too. Sorry to interrupt. Veronica was going to tell you that you were stupid if she knew about me?”

Nova nodded. “I worked for David, and well, that’s how that started, but it’s also how things ended. Lost the boyfriend, lost the job, but I thought I still had my friend.”

Her pain tightened in my chest. I hated that she was suffering at the hands of someone she had loved and trusted. Not that David asshole, but that Veronica bitch.

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