Holiday Promise (Hollyberry Harbor #2)

Chapter 6

SIX

A week had come and gone since Blake had sent Thomas to oversee everything at the main office. From what he’d heard there were no complaints. Clients and employees alike were doing perfectly fine.

It made Blake start to wonder if his presence wasn’t as imperative as he’d thought. He moved to his office window to look down at his son and Melody playing in the snow. That was where they spent the majority of their mornings.

His focus landed on the woman he’d hired to take care of his son and he couldn’t help being impressed with her willingness to get on his level and do everything that he wanted to do. She’d been the answer to his prayers and he was finding it more difficult to ignore just how his attraction to her had started to grow.

It remained a ridiculous notion—the whisper of an idea that he could break the rules he’d set out for himself and allow himself to act on those feelings.

And yet the more he watched her the more he toyed with the fantasy of it all. It was more than her relationship with Max—though that was a big part of it. His attraction for her had been triggered when she’d stood up to him. There was only one other person in his life he’d allowed to speak to him so candidly.

And she was gone.

Blake rubbed his jaw, unsuccessfully able to push out his new-found desires. He pulled away from the window. They were stuck in close confines for the month. When he returned to work in the new year as usual, everything would return to normal. This fantasy would remain just that.

But perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to pretend just a little.

He stacked the files he’d been working on and sent a message to Thomas that he’d be unavailable for the day. Then he grabbed his coat and headed outside.

Melody saw him first. Her eyes flashed with something he couldn’t read, especially because she quickly looked away. Max came barreling out from a snow fort they’d been working on. “Dad! Did you come out here to play? You can help make some snowballs for our snowball fight.”

He glanced toward Melody, finding her peeking at him and their eyes locked once more. “I was actually thinking we could go to that new Christmas village at the harbor.”

Max’s eyes rounded and he jumped up and down. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Do you think that Santa will be there? Can we go ice skating? There’s a new toy store there and Ms. Anthony said they had a toy train that drives around the whole store.”

Blake chuckled, dragging his attention back to his son. “I think we can manage all of that.” His eyes flitted to Melody. “Do you need to change?”

She stiffened and looked down at her snow gear.

He hurried on to say, “I only ask because I know how that can weigh a person down when they’re going for a walk.”

Melody offered a small smile. “Yes, thank you. I’ll be right back.” She wasn’t gone for more than five minutes which was enough time to get Max loaded into the car. The tension continued to mount the whole way to the harbor. Blake couldn’t make sense of what had changed, all he knew was that he was seeing Melody in a different light.

When they arrived at the harbor, Max ran ahead of them, laughing as he darted through tunnels of Christmas lights and around trees that had been set up around the main shopping center.

Melody walked beside Blake in silence, her hands clasped behind her back. Every so often, Blake glanced in her direction, but found her focused intently on Max.

He cleared his throat, drawing her attention. When she looked at him, he cleared his throat once more. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

“Yes?”

Blake peered out to where Max had settled. He stood in front of a row of snow sculptures, apparently mesmerized by them. “What you said—last week—about the importance of family. I’ve been neglecting to ask you about yours.”

They slowed as they continued to follow Max, and Melody smiled. “I have a brother and two sisters. My parents visit my brother and sister this time every year, so they’re not currently within traveling distance. My other sister lives in town. We don’t see each other much, but I do visit with her occasionally on my days off.”

“It’s nice that you have family you’re close to.”

“Do you? Have siblings, I mean?”

Blake shook his head. “I’m afraid I was an only child. My parents live in Florida. They always hated the cold. It’s like pulling teeth to get them to visit.”

She laughed. “You can’t blame them, can you? I would imagine the older I get, the harder it will be to stay in a place like this even though I love its beauty.” Melody glanced around the village. “I love places like this one, where you feel like you’re separated from the rest of the world. We’re surrounded by trees and a lake. It’s the most beautiful place in the world.”

His gaze followed what she was looking at. This woman had an appreciation for this town, much like his late wife. Blake had grown to love it, too, but he’d begun to despise it once he’d lost Alison. Staying had been one of the hardest decisions he’d made—and he’d done it for his son. He wanted Max to be as close as he could to the memory of his mother. “How is he doing?”

Melody jumped and gazed at Blake with a question in her eyes.

“Max. Is he doing okay? Better now?”

Understanding flooded her expression. “You mean his worries about his mother.”

Blake nodded. Max certainly seemed to be doing well, but Blake always had a hard time gauging his parenting skills. “You’ve gotten close to him. He tells you things.”

She moved toward Blake and touched his forearm briefly. “He’s doing great. It means more than you will ever know that you chose to work from home this year.”

The warmth from her touch drew his attention, and he glanced down as she pulled away. “I hope so,” he murmured, now distracted. “The worst thing I could do is fail him.”

“You’re not going to fail him,” Melody insisted. “You’re doing your best and that’s all that anyone can ask.” Her voice was quiet and breathless. It sent a shiver down his spine. Her words were some of the first anyone had spoken to him to make him feel he was doing right by his son. No one else had bothered. And why should they? He didn’t seek it out.

Still, it spoke to him in a way he wasn’t aware he’d been craving. He could tell she meant every word of it, too, by the way she looked at him. Blake forced a grim smile. “I appreciate that.”

Max moved on and so did the two of them. The air felt lighter, somehow. It was as if they’d broken through that wall of awkwardness and found solidarity together. They both cared for Max in a way that no one else would.

As they walked, Melody’s boot snagged on a crack in the sidewalk and she stumbled forward a step. His hand shot out and grabbed hers. She gasped, swinging around until they faced one another. Her free hand landed against him to prevent her from bumping into him. Their faces came within inches of one another.

Melody breathed heavily, the air from her lips forming small puffs of white, warm air. Blood roared in his ears and his own breath caught in his throat. She was close enough he could smell her perfume—a mild sweet scent with a hint of mint.

Max’s voice was quite possibly the only thing that could have broken the spell in that very moment. “Dad! Look at that one.”

Melody blinked and pulled away from him, forcing him to release her hand. She let out a strangled laugh and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. It was near impossible to tear his eyes away from her, but he did.

Max jumped up and down, pointing to a large sculpture of a reindeer. “It looks so real!”

“It sure does, buddy.”

“Do you think we could make one of these at home?”

Blake crouched down beside his son with a laugh. “I don’t think I’d be very good at that sort of thing. But I’ve seen the sort of stuff Melody can make.” He glanced at her, finding her staring at him.

Max turned his focus on her as well. “Really?”

In that moment, Melody seemed to break out of her trance. She moved to Max’s other side and offered him a grin. “I don’t think I’m that good, bud. But I’m sure we could come up with something fun. We’ll just need to make a plan. Do you think you could draw up a few ideas?”

Max nodded emphatically. He threw his arms around Melody, then peered up at her. “You’re so cool.”

“Yes, she is,” Blake murmured as he stood. His eyes locked with hers when Max pulled away and reached for her hand. Melody was a great deal more than he could have ever expected, and he was lucky she’d walked into their lives.