We Wish You a HappilyEver After (Ever After, #5) - Elena Aitken Page 0,9

with such authority that no one questioned her. “We’re only friends. I haven’t even really spoken to him since he left town with the baby.”

The baby.

It was hard to forget that particular dramatic turn of events. In September, at Faith and Logan’s wedding celebration, a stranger had shown up out of the blue with a baby, claiming it was Nick’s responsibility. He’d been pretty much MIA since then, dealing with the details of exactly what it meant to have a baby thrust into his life.

Jeremy still didn’t know the details about what had happened; as far as he knew, nobody did. Nick had been in the city pretty much since then, and if anyone knew what was going on, they weren’t saying.

And he didn’t ask. Soon the conversation shifted to Christmas, and the festivities they were planning, including the orphan dinner on Christmas Eve that the fire department put on every year.

“You’ll all be there?” he asked unnecessarily.

“You know we will.” Faith smiled. “I’m looking forward to it. I haven’t been in years. Is your family going to be there?”

Jeremy shook his head. “Not this year. Mom and Dad went to visit my sister, Charlotte. She’s been living on the East Coast. So I’m on my own.”

But maybe not. The conversation swirled around him, but Jeremy was only half listening as he let his thoughts drift to the one person he’d really like to be celebrating the holidays with. Ever since Bella had mentioned she’d be staying for Christmas, he couldn’t help himself from making a bit of a Christmas wish for himself.

One he certainly hoped would come true.

Bella put the brochures for the assisted living homes on the kitchen table in front of her grandfather and pasted the biggest smile she could on her face.

“This one looks nice, don’t you think?” She tapped a finger at the glossy picture of a home in the city, close to her parents’ condo downtown. “It has a pool.”

“A pool?” Papa looked at her as if she were the one who’d lost her mind. “Do you think I care about a pool?”

“You might.” She knew she was grasping at straws. “It could be a lot of fun to take one of those classes with the music and belts where you kind of run in the water.”

Her grandfather eyed her suspiciously. “You think that sounds fun?”

She couldn’t help it. Bella laughed. “No,” she admitted. “It doesn’t.”

She dropped her head in her hands and massaged her temple. She’d convinced her parents to let her talk to Papa about moving. She thought he might take the news better from her, but so far, despite her best attempts, he was not buying into the idea.

“Bella. This is my home. I don’t want to move to the city.”

“But, Papa. You can’t stay here.” She looked up. “It’s not safe. Jeremy said the fire department practically has your house on autopilot.”

“Fine.”

Bella looked up cautiously. There was no way she’d just spent over thirty minutes trying to convince her grandfather to move and now, just like that, he’d agreed. She knew better. Bella narrowed her eyes and tilted her head. “What do you mean, fine?”

“Fine. I’ll move.” He took a sip of his tea. “But not to the city.”

Ah.

She knew it was too easy.

“But, Papa, that’s where we all live.”

“No.” He put his mug down. “That’s where you all live. I live here. And I will not have my family’s poor life choices affect my life.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “The mountains are gorgeous.”

“Damn straight they are.” He looked at her seriously. “But that’s not why I stay.” He waved his hand to dismiss her oversimplification. “The mountains put everything in perspective. Strip away the noise of the city and the busyness so you can find yourself and everything that’s really important. The city has a way of muting you.”

Bella thought about that. Had the city muted her? She didn’t know the answer because the city was all she knew. It’s all she’d ever had.

Not true.

She’d had the mountains once before, too. When she was young. Some of her favorite summers had been spent in Glacier Falls. It felt like a million years ago that she’d felt the freedom of her youth. It was almost a wildness that had flowed through her.

She’d never stopped to think of it before, but it was only when she’d stopped visiting her grandfather that it had changed. But Bella had been too busy working on her career. Taking every singing gig she could get,