Holiday Promise (Hollyberry Harbor #2)

Chapter 8

EIGHT

Christmas continued to approach at a speed that Blake wasn’t prepared for. The closer it got, the sooner he’d have to return to his usual work schedule. With each passing day he spent in Melody’s presence, he found he craved even more.

They’d promised to keep Max in the dark about the whole thing. He wasn’t old enough to understand what was going on, and they’d agreed there was no rush in the matter.

Still, each time he shared a meaningful look with Melody across the dinner table, each time his hand brushed against hers when they went to town for some fun, his joy grew. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this happy.

The only thing that interrupted his time with Melody and his son was his work. He’d promised to take the two of them to a restaurant in town this evening, but they couldn’t leave until Thomas arrived with some paperwork. The documents couldn’t be signed digitally, and already Thomas was running late.

Blake glanced at his watch before returning his stare out the window to where the helicopter usually landed. Max and Melody were at the kitchen table behind him, drawing Christmas cards for Alison’s extended family.

He turned and, at that moment, caught Melody’s eye. Her soft smile had a most interesting way of putting him at ease. If he knew he could live the rest of his life seeing that smile every day, he’d die happy.

“Dad?”

His focus shifted to his son, and he turned fully. “What, buddy?”

Max tilted his head much like a puppy would when they were curious about something. “Why are you smiling at Miss Melody like that?”

Melody’s eyes widened, and she flushed deeply.

Blake moved across the room and pressed his palms onto the tabletop. “Because Miss Melody is doing a wonderful job. Don’t you agree?”

Max craned his neck around and stared at Melody for a moment. “Yeah, I guess so. Did you always want to be a nanny?”

Her gaze darted to Blake. “Actually, one time I thought I might want to be a teacher.”

“How come you didn’t?”

She shrugged. “I guess it had more to do with my finances at the time. In fact, when I got this job, I was going into the building your dad works at to get a job as a secretary so I could finish my degree.”

Blake frowned. He’d known that Melody hadn’t intended on being interviewed for the nanny position. But he hadn’t realized that she’d only planned on working so she could save for school. She hadn’t mentioned any of that in the interview, nor the year she’d worked for him.

Max studied her for a moment. “I think you would’ve been a really nice teacher.”

She smiled warmly at him, then ruffled his hair. “I sorta get to be your teacher. I taught you how to write your letters, didn’t I?”

Max grinned. “Yeah.”

“And I taught you how to build a snow fort.”

“Yeah,” he said, with more exuberance.

“So I guess I still got what I wanted.” Her gaze found Blake’s and her smile waned at his expression.

He wanted to tell her that she shouldn’t have to put her education on hold. If she wanted to teach, there was still a way for her to do that. But the front door opened before he could suggest it.

Thomas breezed through the house and down the hallway into the kitchen. “I’ve got those documents for you. I’m sorry I’m late. But to be fair, there was a blizzard in Portland just as we were leaving.” He glanced over to Max and Melody, then winked.

Blake stiffened, his eyes shifting from Thomas to Melody. It hadn’t been quick enough to gauge a reaction from her. How long had they been comfortable with each other like that? Was she interested in him? No, he would’ve noticed.

“Sir?”

Blake started and glanced once more at Thomas. “My office,” he muttered gruffly. “Let’s get this taken care of quickly. I promised Max we’d go to dinner.”

Thomas nodded, then shot another grin in Melody’s direction. “If he’s taking the kid, then maybe you’d like to go to dinner with me. I’d love the company?—”

Before Melody had a chance to turn him down, Blake did it for her. “She’s coming with us. You’ll have to get a raincheck.” He didn’t miss the apologetic smile she gave Thomas before they left for his office. She was just being nice. That was her way. Blake wasn’t going to let a bit of jealousy get in the way of the relationship they’d started to develop.

He gestured flippantly to the desk. “Put the documents there.” By the time he rounded his desk and pulled out a pen, Thomas had flipped the folder open and was pointing at the place for him to sign. Blake scribbled out his name, then motioned for Thomas to flip the page.

“Sir?”

A grunt was all he could muster. His thoughts swirled with questions he had no right asking.

“Is something… going on between you and Melody?”

Blake’s head snapped up, giving himself away.

“I know it’s only been a couple weeks, but… do you think it’s wise ? Your HR policy states?—”

“I’m going to forget that you overstepped and asked such a thing. May I remind you that I’m the one in charge.”

“With all due respect, sir, that’s exactly my point. The power dynamic?—”

“I don’t need a speech about the dynamic between myself and Melody. The way I run my business is different from the way I run my household, and you’d be wise to remember that.”

Thomas shut his mouth and nodded grimly. Thankfully, he chose to be smart over being nosey. For the next strained five minutes, Blake initialed, dotted, crossed, and signed very line that Thomas had prepared. When everything was said and done, his assistant gathered up the documents and stacked them neatly in the folder before grabbing the whole thing and shoving it under his arm. “I was going to stay the night, but I think I’ll just head back.”

“I think that’s best,” Blake murmured.

Thomas gave him one last pointed look but didn’t utter a single syllable. He headed out the door, paused to say goodbye to Max and Melody, then slipped out the front door.

Blake watched it all unfold, his doubts continuing to grow.

He hadn’t been worried about professionalism. He knew he could handle the possibility of a failed relationship. Would it be difficult? Sure, but no more so than other issues he’d dealt with. There was only one thing that bothered him. It was like an itch in the back of his skull that he couldn’t scratch.

What if Thomas was right?

Had Blake manipulated Melody into their relationship? It was still so new that he couldn’t be sure. What did he really know about her besides the fact that she was amazing with children, her family had been local, but only her sister remained, and that she wanted to be a teacher? That last one had been learned today, for heaven’s sakes.

For all he knew, she’d agreed to try out this budding relationship because she didn’t want to offend him by turning him down. She might have agreed to it because she worried about losing her job.

He swallowed down his own disgust at the thought that she might have only agreed to it because she worried about Max more than her own self-autonomy.

Dang it!

Now he couldn’t pull her aside and ask her how she felt, because if he did now there was no guarantee she’d be honest. He should’ve let her be the one to make the first move. Then he wouldn’t have to wonder.

Blake hadn’t had to worry about this sort of thing when he’d met Alison. He’d only just gotten the promotion for the company he now owned when they’d started dating. He’d moved heaven and earth to ensure that his wife would be able to remain in the town she so loved growing up in. Sure, she might have married him for his future wealth, but that had been a concern that resided so far in the back of his mind that he’d easily brushed it off.

His life with Melody was so vastly different that he wasn’t sure where to go from here.

He returned to the kitchen, his gaze landing on the two most important people to him at this moment in time. Melody smiled at him, but it faded just as quickly. Great, now he was going to make her wonder what was going on—especially if he couldn’t pull himself together. He smiled, but deep down, knew it wouldn’t be enough.

Max turned to look over his shoulder and the glee returned to his face. “Is it time to go? Do you think we can go ice skating?”

Blake dragged his gaze from Max to Melody. “I’m not sure, kiddo. I guess it depends on how busy they are.”

Max hopped down from his seat and hurried over to Blake. He lifted his arms and Blake picked him up.

“I can promise you one thing, though. We’ll go ice skating at least once before Christmas. And maybe once more before I have to go back to work full time.” He could feel Melody’s gaze burning a hole right through him, but chose to ignore it. All he had to do was push down his doubts and then they could go back to the way things had been before his ridiculous assistant had pointed out the only problem with dating his son’s nanny.