Christmas at Holiday House - RaeAnne Thayne Page 0,64
it, he had a hard time making the pieces fit together.
The scent of her mingled with the lemony smell from the soap. It was clean, honest, intoxicating. He wanted to draw it deep into his lungs and try to remember this moment forever.
“The grounds looked so wonderful. Thank you so much for stepping in today with your crew. You must have given up half a day at work, but I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t. You truly saved the day.”
“My pleasure,” he said gruffly. He meant the words. He had enjoyed the morning of working with his hands more than he had anything in a long time. It was sometimes easy to forget the simple satisfaction of encountering a problem and solving it through sheer hard work.
“It meant the world to your grandmother, as well. She had to fight tears today every time she talked about it.”
“It was one small thing I could do.”
“You know it wasn’t small to her. It made all the difference.”
He would have cleared away a hundred trees to earn that look in Abby’s eyes.
He cleared his throat. “Have you given more thought to letting me take Christopher and you skiing?”
She laughed as she rinsed the final dish in the sink. “I had a nightmare last night about falling out of a ski gondola. So yes, you could say I’ve given it more thought. Or at least my subconscious has.”
“Do you really think I would let you fall?”
Her gaze met his and the moment seemed to stretch out between them, heavy with things unsaid.
He needed to kiss her. He could no longer deny the hunger. It would only take a shift of his body, an angle of his head. He started to move and saw her eyes flicker with heat. Her lips parted. An instant before his mouth would have connected with hers, the door opened and Emily Tsu, who owned a bakery in town, bustled in, carrying a tray.
She stopped in the doorway as if she sensed she had been interrupting something.
“Um. Sorry. I just need to refill the shortbread. Apparently, that’s a popular choice tonight.”
“They go well with cocoa, I guess,” Abby said in a voice that sounded slightly strangled.
“Right. I’ll have to make sure I bring more of those for tomorrow.” Emily gestured to the sink. “You’re not supposed to be washing dishes. That’s my job. It’s part of the whole caterer gig.”
“I don’t mind washing a few dishes. You’ve had a long day on your feet already.”
Emily blew her a kiss. “You are a doll. Thank you.”
She refilled the plate with more shortbread cookies from one of her bakery boxes on the counter and then hurried back out of the kitchen.
Ethan tried not to be annoyed at the interruption. It was probably for the best. Anyone could have walked in on him kissing Abby.
“She’s been so good,” Abby said. “All the Silver Belles have. This event means so much to them. They are so excited about being able to help build the adaptive ski lodge at the resort.”
“It will be a big asset to the community.”
Abby gave him a sidelong look. “Winnie finally told me your family has donated the land for a lodge. What a kind gesture.”
He shrugged, embarrassed, as always, to talk about the philanthropic activities of his family’s business. “It’s a small thing we can do for a good cause.”
“Not small at all, from what I understand,” she said softly.
“Hey, Ethan, come see my mountain,” Christopher commanded.
Grateful for the diversion, he dried the final saucer and slipped it into the cabinet, then headed over to the table.
“That looks great,” he said.
Christopher had jumbled together Legos from a box that had probably been Ethan’s to create a multicolored mountain.
“That’s a person on a sled.” Christopher pointed to a mini figure on an improvised blue sled. “It’s not very good.”
“I think you did an excellent job.”
“I wanted to make a tubing hill, but couldn’t find any round bricks for the tubes so I made it a sled.”
“Good substitution.”
“He’s had a lot of fun with what Winnie says are your old toys. Thank you for letting him use them.”
“I am glad someone can find a use for them. I spent a lot of enjoyable hours building sets.”
Christopher yawned suddenly, and Abby set down the cloth she was using to wipe down the table.
“We need to get you to bed. It’s an hour past your bedtime.”
“But I don’t want to go to bed,” Christopher informed her in a