Page 45 of Maybe This Christmas
“Oh.”She tried not to let the disappointment show on her face.She wanted nothing more than to get under the warm flannel sheets with Caleb.But he was right.“I don’t want to rush things,” she murmured.“Especially if you have to be in full activities director mode tomorrow.”
He snorted at that.“I doubt Sabrina or Brandon will allow for that.I fully expect one of them to be there in the morning.But I agree.”He swallowed.“About not rushing.”
She arched up, bringing her cheek against his.“Then you should go now while you still can.Because otherwise, I’m going to change my mind.”She tilted her head, so they were eye to eye.“And there’s really no talking to me once my mind is made up.”
His chuckle was warm against her cheek.“That sounds oddly threatening, but I get what you mean.”
They shared a quick kiss.“I’ll see you at sledding, then?”
“After I hit the breakfast buffet, you’ve got it.”
He opened the door.“See you then, Em.”
He slipped out of the door.It latched automatically behind him.
“So, we’re at nicknames now,” she mused to herself.
She kicked off her shoes and fell back into bed, smiling.
* * * *
The only hill worth using for the sledding competition was in front of Sky House, so Caleb spent the early hours of Sunday morning clearing the section of the parking lot where the sledders would finish their run.
Then, he had to climb the steep set of stairs to the top and spread salt on the slick steps.
Usually, he’d find this sort of work monotonous.But given his good mood, he found himself humming as he stacked sleds.He and Emma were on the same page.It was time to stop overthinking and have some fun.
“Is that birdsong I hear?”a voice called behind him.“Because that couldn’t be my crabby brother, whistling while he works.”
He half-turned to face Sabrina, dressed for the ski slopes, even though Sky House was not a ski resort.Yet.Brandon and Sabrina still had dreams of expanding, but that dream wasn’t within reach right now.
“First of all, I was humming.Secondly, you’re welcome to set this up.It’s a pain in the ass.Literally.I almost wiped out twice as I was de-icing the stairs.”
Brandon came behind her, dropping another set of metal sleds on the other side of where Caleb stood.
“We appreciate your help, Caleb.Even if my wife may not say it directly, we do.”
“Stop speaking for me,husband,” Sabrina said.“Of course I appreciate Caleb’s hard work.That’s why I’m here!To help.”
Brandon laughed at that.“You’re here because the biddies were talking about what a hustler Emma was at bingo.Then they got to talking about how you and Emma left together.”
“And now you’re up here, in twenty-five-degree weather, humming as you work.”
“What are the criteria for entering the biddies, do you know, Brandon?I don’t think there’s a firm age limit since they brought Eleanor in, and she’s not even fifty.Because I think it’s time Sabrina got an application.”
She gave him a half-hearted slap on the arm.“Inez was fixing to put on her boots and come get the details herself.So, you should be glad it’s me, not her.”
“I’d be happier if it were neither of you,” he said.
“It’s nice to want things,” Sabrina said sweetly.
His glare quickly lessened when he caught Sabrina’s smile.She might tease him, but it came from a good place.
Most of the time.
“I like Emma.She likes me.It’s nothing serious.She’s going through a bit of an upheaval in her personal life.It’s more than just her ending her relationship with her ex.But that isn’t my place to discuss.”
Brandon and Sabrina exchanged a glance.“Then there’s you, divorced and doing a whole lot of nothing.You deserve to have some fun, brother.I’ll try and get the biddies to back off.”
