Aidan sat alone in the sitting area in front of the fireplace, reading something on his ubiquitous tablet. When he spotted them, he closed the cover and rose.
“Are you two ready for a boat parade?”
“Yes!” Maddie beamed.
“Let’s go. I brought the ranch Suburban around the front of the house.”
“Are we picking up Sue and Jim at the foreman’s cottage?” she asked.
He shook his head. “They already left. Jim needed to pick something up at the farm implement store before it closed so I told them to go ahead. We’ll try to meet up with them.”
She drew in a sharp breath. That changed everything. She had been counting on the older couple to provide a buffer between her and Aidan. Now she was going to have to be alone with him except for Maddie, at least during the short drive to town.
“Let’s go! I can’t wait to see the boats!” Maddie exclaimed.
He smiled down at her. “Okay, Miss Maddie. You’ve got it.”
Whatever her disagreements with the man and her self-protective instincts, she couldn’t deny he was wonderful with her daughter. How was she supposed to keep any emotional barriers in place around him when he could be so sweetly patient with a five-year-old girl?
This ridiculous crush was one thing. Yes, it was mortifying—especially if he ever figured it out—but she could at least tell herself it was just a normal physiological reaction to a gorgeous-looking man who happened to kiss like he had written a doctoral thesis on effective technique.
It would be a disaster of a completely different nature if she let herself fall for him.
Eliza let out a breath. She couldn’t seem to shake the idea that she was standing next to a railroad track watching a train race merrily along toward the inevitable plummet into the abyss.
She couldn’t do this. Her mind raced, searching for some way to jump the track before it was too late and everyone onboard was doomed.
She could always say she wasn’t feeling well, that her head was pounding or her stomach hurt. She could fake-sneeze a few times and pretend to be coming down with something.
At the thought, she rolled her eyes at herself. How pathetic. What kind of mother would deprive her child of a greatly anticipated treat, a festive holiday event, because she didn’t trust herself to control her wayward feelings?
Couldn’t she simply enjoy herself for the evening without falling head over heels for the man?
Absolutely. She hadn’t taken enough time over the past few years to simply have fun.
“Let’s go,” she said, resolving to live in the moment and not worry about a million things at once. “We should probably hurry if we want to make sure we have a good spot to see the boats.”
“Great. Let’s go.”
Maddie chattered from her booster seat in the backseat the entire drive to downtown Haven Point about everything and nothing. Eliza tried not to think how surreal it was that the CEO of a Fortune 500 company didn’t seem the least bit bored.
Aidan actually seemed to be enjoying her daughter’s conversation about everything from the movie she watched that morning about two cute elves to a book Eliza had read her the other night to a robot toy her friend Rodrigo in her Boise kindergarten class was going to ask Santa Claus to bring him.
The lake gleamed a brilliant blue in the fading sunlight as they reached the outskirts of town.
“Oh, look at the big Christmas tree at that house, Mad,” she said, pointing out the window, just as her daughter was gearing up to start into a conversation about how she went to see Santa Claus at the mall, only he wasn’t very fat.
Maddie allowed herself to be distracted. “It’s pretty,” she said. “But not as pretty as ours. And not as big, either.”
She winced a little, wishing she could remind Maddie the Snow Angel Cove tree wasn’t theirs. They had their own smaller tree in the sitting room of the cook’s quarters that would be more than sufficient for their needs.
Maddie had become rather territorial about Aidan’s house. She wondered if he noticed. Eliza had even reminded her that morning they wouldn’t be staying there long, only through the holidays. “I know, Mama,” she had answered. “But when we have a house, I want it to look just like this one and I want to have a barn with six horses, too.”
She didn’t have the heart to tell her daughter they would most likely end up back in a crowded apartment building, probably without much of a yard at all. They certainly wouldn’t have a barn with room for six horses.
“Why don’t you see if you can find a snowman wearing a purple scarf before we arrive at the parade,” she suggested. Sometimes little distractions like this were the only parenting ploy that kept her sane.
“A purple scarf like mine? Does it have to have pink flowers, too?”
“Any shade of purple will do, flowers or not,” she answered.
Maddie immediately turned her attention outside the vehicle, frowning in concentration as she looked.
“Sorry,” Eliza murmured to Aidan, pitching her voice low so her daughter couldn’t hear from the backseat.
“For what?” he asked in the same low tone.
“Maddie likes to talk. I’m not sure if you noticed.”
He gave her a half smile. “I don’t mind. I have a few nieces and nephews, remember? Maggie and Ava could probably give lessons in chatter to all comers. Little Faith isn’t much for conversation but her younger brother, Carter, will talk both ears off and your eyeballs, too, if you give him the chance. Maddie will fit right in with all the craziness.”
She didn’t anticipate her daughter spending too much time with his family, though she imagined some interaction would be inevitable.
“She is entirely too comfortable with adults, probably because she has spent so much time in the hospital, around doctors and nurses.”
“She’s a delight, Eliza. Full of life and joy. You should never apologize for raising a child who rushes out to embrace life the way she does.”
His words seemed to resonate right into her heart. “You know, you’re right. I should remember to appreciate those moments, especially in contrast to those moments when she’s too sick to say much. Thank you for the reminder.”
He gazed at her, a warm light in his eyes that gave her a strange ache in her chest. “You’re welcome.”
“I can’t see a purple scarf anywhere,” Maddie exclaimed dramatically.
“I’ll help you look,” Eliza said.
“Too late. We’re here,” Aidan said. “And look at that. This must be our lucky night. A perfect parking spot.”
He skillfully parallel-parked between a minivan and an SUV with Oregon plates. It really was the perfect spot, close to what looked like the main viewing area.
“We are lucky,” she said. “I can’t see your name on it but maybe the Chamber of Commerce saved it just for you. A sign of their goodwill and all.”
He gave a short laugh as he opened the door and walked around to the passenger side of the vehicle to let them out.
He reached a hand out to help her over an icy patch on the sidewalk as she climbed out and she tried to ignore the little spark as his skin brushed hers.
He gazed at her with that strange light in his eyes that made the butterflies twirl again.
“Do you