Page 34 of Marrying Chrissy

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Now all of them had colorful tracks from their wrists to their elbows.

Chrissy must have noticed the same thing. “I tried to clean them up but didn’t have a lot of success.”

She’d jumped right in and helped him when he’d volunteered to take all four kids—aged three to seven—on the scavenger hunt. Violet was happy to not have to go running around in the heat after her twin girls, Abby and Lily, and Brody. Lucy, ever busy taking photos, appreciated his offer to take young Ruby.

“Don’t worry about it. Lucy will see it as a great photo opportunity.” He lowered his voice and leaned closer. “And Violet doesn’t care as long as she’s not the one out here.”

Chrissy frowned. “That’s sad.”

“Yeah, it is.” Abby and Brody each took one of his hands, while Lily talked constantly about the seashell she’d found and why she thought they should include it in the bag as well. The poor kids ate up the attention at family functions because they didn’t get nearly enough of it at home. Violet left them with babysitters whenever possible, and her husband worked two jobs to keep their financial troubles at bay.

Wyatt had a lot of issues with how they managed their family. But right now, he’d focus on giving them the attention they craved. Thankfully, Chrissy was keeping Ruby occupied by letting her mark off the items on their scavenger hunt list. Ruby, while only five, acted more mature than her older twin cousins.

“What are we looking for now?” Lily asked, eager to start the hunt for the next item.

“How about some seaweed?” Chrissy tucked the clipboard under one arm and relinquished their bag of goodies to Ruby’s care.

Brody gave a whoop as he raced for the waves. Wyatt broke into a jog to keep up with him and make sure the boy didn’t run right into the ocean. “Hold up, buddy. We all need to look for it together.”

That didn’t stop Brody from scouring the sand at his feet. They found some kelp five minutes later, and Brody was the first to pick it up.

Everyone took turns touching it except for Abby, who backed away from it with a disgusted look on her face.

Chrissy knelt on the sand in front of her. “You know what? I’ve never seen seaweed up close before. It’s pretty weird looking, isn’t it?” Abby nodded. “But it doesn’t feel as weird as it looks. You can touch it with the tip of your finger just like this.” She demonstrated the movement and soon had Abby repeating it.

Even though the disgusted look never did completely fade from his niece’s face, Wyatt was proud of her for facing her fears.

His attention shifted to Chrissy. She was amazing with the kids. Not only did she seem to know exactly what to say to them, but they liked her, too. Especially Ruby, who didn’t move far from Chrissy’s side.

Wyatt used to imagine having a family. Ever since the mess with Ashley, he’d been content to spend time with his nieces and nephew. He was a devoted uncle, and usually it was enough. Except for moments like this. He wondered what it would be like to go on this scavenger hunt with his family. To hear his own children laugh, watch his wife and daughter ponder over the list, and then later clean the popsicle sticky off their hands and tuck them into bed for the night.

What about Chrissy? Did she hope for a family someday? He had a hard time believing that someone who took such delight in these kids wouldn’t want her own. Suddenly, an image of a little girl with Chrissy’s pretty hair and his eyes came to mind.

The shock of it made him almost trip when Abby stopped right in front of him. He shoved the image away and nodded toward the clipboard. “What else do we need to collect?”

Ruby carefully put a checkmark next to seaweed and grinned with satisfaction. “That’s the last one. We’re done!”

The kids cheered and began to race back toward the resort, leaving Chrissy with the clipboard and bag of treasures.

Wyatt reached for the bag as they followed the kids at a brisk pace. “Here, let me carry that.”

His fingers went through the loops of the bag and settled next to Chrissy’s. Hers were cold from holding the seaweed earlier, and he longed to take her hand in his and warm it up. Wyatt felt her fingers shift slightly. Her steps faltered as she relinquished her hold on the bag. “Thank you.”

Chrissy’s words were so quiet, he nearly missed them. He watched as Ruby slowed down and grabbed Chrissy’s hand again, a look of adoration in her eyes.

He couldn’t fault the girl. The more time he spent with Chrissy Laughlin, the more he wished she wasn’t just his fake girlfriend.

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