Happy Ever After in Christmas

by Debbie Mason

  Sawyer bit back a groan. Jack looked at him as he and Grace inched past them. For a couple seconds, Sawyer considered letting the egg fall. But it’d be a little hard to hide his physical reaction to Jill if he did that now. “So you and the doc, any chance of a second date?”

  She glowered at him.

  “Okay, I’ll take that as a no. Probably for the best anyway. Anyone who’d give up on you just because they think they’ve got a little competition isn’t really worth—”

  “He didn’t have any competition,” she snapped at him.

  “Yeah…yeah, right.” He lifted his chin. “We’re gaining on them. Just a couple more steps to go and we’ve got this in the bag, Shortstop.” And that was the key, he thought when the blood returned to his head. He had to keep calling her Shortstop.

  They passed Grace and Jack. “Thank God,” Jill murmured when they drew apart and dropped the egg into the nest that sat on a sawed-off log. At least what was left of the egg.

  “Yay, Mama Jill and Daddy Sawyer delivered their baby safely to the nest.” Ty, who’d planned the dinosaur-themed birthday party, came over to untie their hands. But Jill had already undone hers. “Looked to be some friction there, you two. Anything you want to share with Uncle Ty?” He moved his eyebrows up and down behind his red-framed glasses.

  Jill shoved the rope into Ty’s hands and stomped off. “Hey, I was just teasing,” Ty called after her. “I thought it was a great game, didn’t you?”

  “For an adults-only party,” Sawyer said.

  “Oh really, do tell.”

  * * *

  Somehow Ty and Nell had missed the memo that Jill was over Sawyer. So had her body if her reaction to him while playing the dinosaur egg game was anything to go by. Though she could just as easily blame it on no under-the-covers action for a while. A really long while. She came out of the guest bathroom after washing the chocolate from her chest and nearly walked into Nell.

  Jill glanced toward the formal living room and the kitchen at the back of the house. Since no one was around, she took advantage of the opportunity. “Ah, Nell, you know how Chloe suggested Sawyer and me for your next book?”

  “Yep, didn’t see that coming. I was all set to work my matchmaking magic on Sawyer and Brandi. She could use a good man, you know. But Chloe’s probably right. Readers like the brother’s-best-friend-with-the-little-sister romance. I was still on the fence until after I saw what I did today. Wasn’t sure Sawyer could get past the—”

  “He can’t. We can’t. I’m not interested, and neither is he. I’m serious, Nell. We’re just friends so you should probably find another couple for your book.” She couldn’t bring herself to say Sawyer and Brandi.

  Nell winked. “You leave that up to me. I’ll go wherever my muse takes me, and right now, she seems to be stuck on you and Sawyer.”

  Wonderful, just flipping wonderful. And to think she’d been hurt when it looked like Nell had dumped her. She needed a distraction. Something to keep Nell occupied. “I don’t want to take time away from your writing, but I have a case I could really use your help with.” She lowered her voice. “But you can’t tell anyone about it,” she said, then shared what was going on at Mountainview.

  “Evelyn, Stella, and I will get on it right away. We’ll go in undercover.”

  This was working out better than Jill expected. Not only would Nell be focused on something other than matchmaking, she might actually help Jill solve the case. “They’re always looking for someone to do arts and crafts with the residents. Think you can handle something like that?”

  Nell rolled her eyes. “You’ve known me for how long? Not much of a detective if you have to ask me that.” She patted Jill’s arm. “Don’t worry, the girls and I’ve got it covered. We’re the Crime Stoppers, remember?”

  Jill had a sudden flashback to Nell, Evelyn, and Stella’s attempt to solve another case. She’d had a serious lapse of judgment. “Um, Nell, you know what, maybe I—”

  Grace appeared in the hall. “I wondered where you two were. Come on, it’s time for little Jack to open his presents.”

  Jill followed Nell and her sister-in-law into the yard. Her nephew sat between Sawyer and Jill’s brother on a blanket surrounded by his friends. Little Jack was adorable in a pair of camouflage shorts and a T-shirt, a plastic safari hat on his head. Looking at her nephew with his curly dark hair and his big blue eyes, she forgot all about Sawyer and Nell’s matchmaking. She’d fallen in love with little Jack from the first moment she’d held him in her arms.

  “Mama, Auntie J, sit with me.” He waved them over.

  Sawyer smiled and made room for her between him and little Jack. Seeing his love for her nephew shining from his eyes, it was hard to stay mad at him for ruining her dates with Jake and Matt. Like her, Sawyer would do anything for their godson, and that pretty much made him a star in her eyes. Which was probably another reason why she had such a difficult time letting go of her feelings for him.

  “Did you remember batteries?” he murmured when little Jack began tearing off the paper from their present. Since they were his godparents, they’d always given him a joint birthday gift.

  “Of course I did,” she said, her eyes on little Jack, waiting for his reaction to the Mighty Megasaur Remote Control Dinosaur they’d bought him. He didn’t disappoint, squealing with delight and demanding that they open the box right away.

  Sawyer chuckled. “It’s a hit.”

  “Thank your Auntie Jill and Uncle Sawyer,” Grace said.

  Little Jack launched himself at them, wrapping his small arms around their necks. He gave them each a smacking kiss. “Now you kiss,” he said, pulling their heads together. Jill glanced at Sawyer. He looked about as uncomfortable as she felt. It was like the memory of the dinosaur egg race shimmered and danced between them. It could shimmer and dance all it wanted; she wasn’t going to think about it. Another memory for the vault. She pushed it in and slammed the door, then leaned in and kissed Sawyer’s cheek. His return kiss was as perfunctory as hers.

  “Okay, are you ready for Mommy and Daddy’s present now?” Jack asked his son.

  Little Jack frowned. “I got it. I’m getting a baby.”

  “Wait…what? Are you guys pregnant?” Jill said, looking from Grace to her brother.

  Jack put his arm around Grace, and they smiled at each other. “Yeah, we were going to wait another couple of weeks to tell you but—”

  “Oh, my God.” Jill leaned over and pulled them both in for a hug. “I’m so happy for you guys.”

  “Hey, are you crying?” her brother asked.

  She slugged him. “No, I got something in my eye.” She let go of her brother and hugged Grace tighter. “You should have told me.”

  “I was going to at Vivi’s shower, and then with all the excitement…”

  “Hey, let me in there, Shortstop,” Sawyer said, nudging her out of the way. Jill moved aside to let him and everyone else congratulate the mommy- and daddy-to-be.

  Jill stood and picked up little Jack, swinging him in a circle. “You’re going to be the best big brother ever. Just like your daddy.”

  He giggled, then ran off with his friends when she put him down.

  Sawyer came over and slung a companionable arm around her shoulder. “Congratulations, Auntie.”

  She smiled. “Same to you, Uncle Sawyer.” They both stood and watched Jack and Grace with their friends. “I was getting worried they weren’t going to be able to have another baby.”

  “Yeah, so was Jack. I couldn’t figure out why they asked Ty to plan little Jack’s party.” He nodded at the decorated yard. Ty had once again gone all out. Shiny green-and-blue fabric covered the table with a runner of brown felt down the center. On top of the runner, Ty had placed rocks and small logs with stuffed dinosaurs in between. “Looks like we better prepare for Jack going into overprotective-daddy mode.”

  “Probably, but Grace won’t mind. He missed out on so much with little Jack. And now…” She trailed off
, afraid she was going to cry.

  Sawyer’s arm tightened around her shoulders, and he rocked her gently against him. “Look around you, Jill. He’s got everything he wanted and more.”

  “You’re right, he does. And no one deserves a happy ever after more than my brother and Grace.” She sniffed, wiping a furtive finger under her eye.

  He smiled down at her. “You’ll get your happy ever after, too, Shortstop.”

  She’d like to think that she would. But she wasn’t sure it was possible. The only man she’d ever wanted happy ever after with was Sawyer.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jill had been feeling pretty proud of how she’d dealt with her matchmakers. Nell and her best friends were volunteering Tuesdays and Thursdays at Mountainview, running a workshop on creating life-story books, a combination of scrapbooking and narrative. Sandy had agreed it was a great activity and a good way to stimulate the residents’ minds. It was also a great way for Jill to preserve her sanity. She’d even been able to arrange for Ty to do hair at the home on the same days. He earned a little extra cash, and it kept him out of her hair. So yes, with her matchmakers occupied for the last couple days, she’d been breathing easier.

  Until now.

  Standing in Jack and Grace’s kitchen, she discovered she had another matchmaker to contend with. One who was more devious and dangerous than Nell and Ty combined.

  Jill crossed her arms and leaned against the counter. “What do you mean Sawyer’s staying here, too?” Two months earlier she’d agreed to stay with her nephew while her brother and Grace attended a wedding in Virginia. They were leaving in an hour, and Grace had conveniently forgotten to tell Jill that she was sharing babysitting duty with Sawyer.

  Grace avoided meeting Jill’s eyes, focusing instead on an imaginary spot on the island. “I just thought it would be easier if you both were here. That way it won’t interfere with your work schedules. Sawyer can take the days, and you can take the nights.” She continued rubbing the black granite countertop with the white cloth. “And, um, Sawyer knows how to cook. You don’t.”

  “Please, I know you. You probably have the meals all made up with the instructions taped to their lids.”

  “I do, but I’ve never been away from little Jack this long. I thought it would be more fun for him to have you both here. If he gets lonely, it’ll be easier for the two of you to distract him.”

  Jill pushed off the counter and covered Grace’s hand with her own. Knowing her sister-in-law as she did, Jill should have realized what was going on. Grace wasn’t playing matchmaker after all. “He’ll be fine, Grace. We’ll keep him so busy he won’t even know you’re gone, I promise.”

  Grace turned her hand beneath Jill’s and squeezed. “Thanks. I’ve tried to cancel twice, but Jack really wants me to go.”

  “Of course he does. You guys haven’t been away together since your honeymoon. Now you can have a babymoon. You two deserve some alone time.”

  “That’s what your brother said.” Grace’s cheeks pinked while a small smile played on her lips.

  “And from that smile on your face, I can guess what else he said. And I’m just going to bleach those thoughts from my mind because that’s not something I want to think about. Ever.”

  Grace laughed. “Best friends share that kind of thing all the time.”

  “You don’t have to tell me that. I’ve heard you, Madison, Skye, and Vivi when you get together. I just don’t want to hear that kind of stuff about my brother.”

  “What don’t you want to hear about me?” Jack said, coming in from the backyard with her nephew in his arms.

  “Details about the babymoon,” Jill said, holding out her arms for little Jack. “Hey buddy, are we going to have fun when Mommy and Daddy are away?”

  “I know we are,” Jack said, moving to stand behind Grace. He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck.

  “Ah, baby and baby sister here,” Jill reminded him, though she secretly loved seeing how much her brother adored his wife.

  “I’m no baby. I’m a big boy,” little Jack said, struggling to get out of her arms. She put him down and gave him a light pat on his butt. Her nephew didn’t like to stay still for long. “Where’s Uncle Sawyer? I wanna play.”

  “Hey, what am I, chopped liver? I can play, too, you know,” Jill said.

  “You’re a girl.”

  She crossed her arms and looked down at him. “So what does that have to do with anything?” She glanced at her brother and Grace, who were trying not to laugh. “What are you teaching my nephew?”

  Before they had a chance to answer, the front door opened. “Hey, little Jack, come see what Uncle Sawyer brought you?”

  “What a suck-up,” Jill said as she reluctantly followed the family to the front hall. Sawyer leaned against the doorjamb wearing a black golf shirt, khaki shorts, and a smug smile. He gestured to the bright green John Deere truck complete with dump bed sitting on the wraparound porch.

  “No freaking way,” Jack said, looking as delighted with the truck as his son, who raced out the door on his chubby little legs. Sawyer scooped him up, and the three of them admired the John Deere with manly grunts of approval.

  She and Grace crossed their arms at practically the same time, but it was Jill who spoke first. “Do not tell me you bought a four-year-old a motorized vehicle.”

  Sawyer glanced at her with a raised eyebrow. “Okay.”

  “Buddy, this is too much. You guys just bought him the dinosaur for his birthday,” her brother said.

  “One of my customers sold it to me cheap. He’s moving. His kid barely rode the thing. It’s in mint condition.”

  “Jill’s right, Sawyer. Isn’t he a little young for a motorized car?” Grace asked.

  “Nope, I checked it out. And see here.” He pointed inside the truck. “There’s a second gear lockout to prevent him from going too fast.”

  Little Jack was already climbing in the truck. “Go now.”

  “Okay, buddy. Auntie Jill and I will take you for a walk. Mommy and Daddy will probably be gone by the time we get back so you better say good-bye now.”

  She caught her nephew’s hesitation, the slight quiver of his chin before he climbed out of his truck to give his mommy and daddy a good-bye hug and kiss. Sawyer may be a suck-up, but he was a smart suck-up, a thoughtful one, too. It’d be easier on both Grace and little Jack if he was tooling around in his impressive new toy when his parents left.

  Jill’s good-bye took longer than her nephew’s. Grace had at least forty notes with instructions that she wanted to go over with Jill before they left. At note number twenty, she finally said, “Grace, you do remember that the three of us lived together for over a year, right? You can text me, call me on the hour if you need to, but get your butt in gear before you miss your flight.”

  Grace’s eyes went all shimmery and wet. “It’s not you I’m worried about, it’s me. I’m really going to miss him.”

  Jill pulled her in for a hug. “I know you are. And he’ll miss you, too. But he’ll be fine and so will you. You’re only gone for four nights. It’ll fly by.”

  Her brother, who’d been talking outside with Sawyer, walked into the house. Grace moved out of Jill’s embrace and furtively wiped at her eyes before turning to her husband with a shaky smile. “All ready to go.”

  His expression softened. “Princess, if you don’t want to go, say the word and we’ll stay home.”

  “No, you can’t disappoint Holden. You’re his best man.” She touched her stomach. “Don’t mind me. I’m more emotional these days.”

  Holden was one of the men who’d been held captive with Jack in Afghanistan. Their shared experiences had created an unbreakable bond between the two men, between the rest of the crew as well. They’d all be at the wedding. Jill thought it was important that her brother was, too. It would be good for them to celebrate something happy and life-affirming.

  Jack covered Grace’s hand with his and smiled down at her. “We’
ll take care of your stress when we get to the hotel room. I ordered chocolate strawberries to be delivered as soon as we arrive. And there’s—”

  “Eww, baby sister here,” Jill said and reached up to kiss her brother’s cheek. “I’m going now. And you two better be gone when we get back.”

  “Count on it. Thanks again, Jill,” he said as she headed for the door. “Oh, and I read Sawyer the riot act. But just in case he forgets, no sleepovers with his legion of lady friends. I don’t want him scarring my son or baby sister.”

  “Jack, don’t be ridiculous. Sawyer would never do something like that. Besides, he’s not dating anyone right now,” Grace said, nibbling on her bottom lip as she cast a concerned glance Jill’s way. So she’d been right after all. Grace was trying her hand at matchmaking.

  Her brother laughed. “I think I know my best friend better than you do, princess. He doesn’t date.”

  No doubt Jack did know Sawyer better than they did. So Grace could put her matchmaking schemes to rest. Jill didn’t know why she found the thought a little depressing. She should be happy her three matchmakers were now out of the game.

  * * *

  She hadn’t counted on a fourth matchmaker. Little Jack wrapped his arms around their necks as she and Sawyer tucked him into bed that night. “Kiss,” he said for the third time. They did the cheek thing again. “No, on the yips.”

  Sawyer looked down at him. “I’m going to have a talk with your mommy and daddy.”

  Jill made a panicked sound in her throat, shooting daggers at Sawyer when little Jack whimpered, “I want my mommy and daddy.”

  Sawyer grimaced. “I know you do, buddy.” He rubbed little Jack’s shoulder, looking at a loss as how to comfort the now-crying child. “How about you and Auntie Jill call them on FaceTime?”

  She angled her head and gave him a what-the-hell look. The last thing her overanxious sister-in-law needed to see was an upset little Jack.

  “I want them come home now,” her nephew said on a hiccoughed sob. His little hands clutched his dinosaur sheets and balled into fists, his face turning red, his expression mutinous. Jill recognized the signs. The Flahertys were known for their tempers, and little Jack was no exception. She sensed a tantrum in the offing.