Page 28 of Christmas on Ice
“I love it when you say that.”
I made a mental a note to say it more often.
The door squeaked open, and Ryleigh came out with a handful of wadded cloth in her extended hand. “I’ll make it a point to say it more often. She’s out, so I’m gonna take her back to our seat.”
We hung up, and I crouched to open the tote so Ryleigh could shove her dirty undies inside.
“Did you wash your hands?” I asked gently.
Her eyes widened, and she ran back in. “I can’t reach the soap!”
I smiled and went in to lift her up to the sink. Ten minutes later, she was asleep on my lap, mumbling about how she forgot her Christmas list but remembered to ask Santa for a puppy for Christmas.
I wondered how Kami felt about dogs.
* * *
Back at Kami’s,I carried a sleeping Ryleigh to the door. Brenna opened it before I reached the stoop. In the lit room behind her, I was surprised to see Brendan chilling on the sofa, and I noticed Brenna’s usually carefully styled blond hair looked like what my sister Brooklyn liked to call “mermaid hair.”
“What’s Trotter doing here?” I asked. “Did you just finish at the barn?” I felt a pang of guilt for not helping like I said I would but quickly discarded it. I’d had the best time with Ryleigh, and the little glimpse I’d gotten into fatherhood had made me want it more, not spooked me like I was afraid it might.
She cleared her throat and glanced back at him. “He, um, had some ideas for the, ah, barn loft. Thinks it’s big enough for office space, if I’m open to creative, um, construction. He was just leaving.”
“Uh-huh.” I stepped over the threshold and let Ryleigh’s backpack slide off my shoulder and onto the floor.
“Let me take her,” Brenna whispered.
“Noooooooooo.” Ryleigh mumbled into my ear. “Story, Mr. Tiggerman.”
I’m pretty sure the thumping in my chest was my heart growing—or exploding.
“Okay, Ry. I can stay for a story, but only if you let your Auntie Brenna get you ready for bed first.”
“But I’m alreadyinmy jammies.” She lifted her head up and yawned.
“You need a clean nightgown, sweetie,” Brenna said. “C’mon, sweet girl. Let me get you washed up and ready for story time, okay?”
“Oh-kaaaay.”
I transferred Ryleigh to Brenna’s arms and watched them disappear into Ryleigh’s room. When the door shut, I joined Brendan on the couch. “So. Creative construction, huh?”
He grinned. “Hell’s yeah.”
“So ... you and Brenna, then?”
He sighed and turned his head to look at Ryleigh’s closed door. “She says she’s not looking for a relationship. But there’s something there. I know it. And she knows it, too.”
“Give her time. If there’s something there, she’ll come around.” As the words left my mouth, I realized the advice they carried applied to me, too.
I stood up as I heard the bedroom door open. “She’s ready,” Brenna announced. “Says she has an important job for you. Head on in while I walk Brendan out.”
“Uh.” Brendan stood up and rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t have my car, remember?”
She blushed. “Oh. Right.” She looked at me. “Can you give him a ride back to Brewski’s?”
“Sure.” I was even more curious about what had transpired between the two, but Ryleigh appeared in the doorway and I promptly forgot about everything else.
As I approached her room, Ryleigh ran inside. I sat on the bed while she rummaged in her toy box.
