“Jayden!” The uncle sounded as frantic as he looked. “There you are. You scared me to death.” The little girl in the baby sling started fussing, and Jayden, alarmed at the uncle’s wild-eyed expression, stopped stock-still on the path.
“Hi, I’m Harper.” She spoke in a cheerful, nonthreatening tone and plastered a big smile on her face, hoping the uncle would take the hint, lower his voice and stop scaring the kids. “Jayden and I are friends,” she said brightly. “We know each other from last Christmas. Are you staying at the Stryker cottage?”
The uncle turned his angry glare on her. “Where else would we be?”
Still in her child-soothing voice, she suggested softly, “You need to smile. Because a smile would be so much less scary than your face right now.”
* * *
Linc finally got what the woman with Jayden was trying to tell him. “Uh, right.” Bouncing Maya gently to calm her down, he drew a deep breath and rearranged his expression to something he hoped came off as not quite so freaked. “I apologize for the scariness. I was worried...”
“I completely understand.” The woman—Harper?—softened her smile. Linc found himself thinking how pretty she was, with long, thick blond hair and enormous pale blue eyes in a heart-shaped face.
He introduced himself. “I’m Linc Stryker, the kids’ uncle and guardian.”
“Great to meet you, Linc.” She cast a downward glance at the wide-eyed Jayden and then arched an eyebrow at Linc.
He took her meaning and spoke gently to the little boy. “Jayden, I’m sorry for using such a loud voice. But remember, no adventuring without an adult.”
Jayden gave him a slow and very serious nod. “I’m sorry, too, Uncle Linc. I shouldn’t have left like that, and I won’t do it again—and I wasn’t adventuring, not really. I just wanted to say hi to Harper and Hailey.”
“I get it. But leaving without telling me where you’re going is not okay.”
“I know, Uncle Linc. I promise I won’t do that again.”
“Excellent.”
Right then, Maya whined, “Unc Winc, I hungwy!”
He dropped a kiss on the top of her curly head. “Okay. Let’s see what we can do about that.” He held out his hand for Jayden, who let go of Harper to take it. “Thank you,” he said to the blonde.
“Anytime.” Her soft mouth bloomed in a radiant smile as he turned to take the kids back the way they’d come.
* * *
Harper felt weirdly stunned.
The uncle was way too attractive, tall and broad shouldered with caramel-brown eyes and full lips and a sculpted jaw dusted with just the right amount of scruff—and where were her manners?
Linc Stryker could clearly use a hand.
“Wait.” When he paused and glanced back at her, she offered, “Let me help. What can I do?”
Linc turned fully around again and grinned at her, a slow grin that caused the muscles in her belly to tighten and warmth to flare across her skin. “I’ve been trying really hard to pretend that I’ve got this.”
“Pretend? No way. It’s obvious to me that you know what you’re doing.”
He scoffed. “If you say so.”
“I do. Now and then, though, you need to let a neighbor give you a hand.”
“You’re sure?”
“Honestly, I’m happy to help.”
“Hungwy, hungwy, hungwy,” chanted the little one in the baby sling, reaching up to capture Linc’s face between her hands.
He caught the teething toy she’d dropped and bent to whisper something to her. When he glanced up, he aimed that sexy smile at Harper again. “Help would be wonderful.”
“So, what can I do?”
“I hate to ask...”
“Just tell me.”
“Well, if you would maybe come on back to the cottage with us? I would owe you big-time if you could keep an eye on the kids until I can unpack the car and get the power and the heat turned on...”
* * *
The Strykers’ charming, gray-shingled two-story vacation house was a cottage in name only. Harper guesstimated the size at around four thousand square feet, with a beautiful, modern kitchen and lots of windows offering forest and ocean views.
“It’s been updated since last year, hasn’t it?” she asked, when they stood in the kitchen—still wearing their coats because the heat wasn’t on yet. “I remember seeing workmen here, in July and August...”
Linc gave Maya back her teething toy. “I hired a contractor last summer to upgrade the kitchen and bathrooms. Then in September, I arranged for a decorator to come in. She had all the rooms painted and changed out the furniture.” His warm brown eyes looked shadowed suddenly. Harper had a sense he was thinking of the sister he’d lost. “I wanted to bring the kids here for the holidays and the place needed an upgrade or two.”
“It’s beautiful,” she said.
“I like it!” declared Jayden.
Linc seemed pleased. He ruffled the boy’s hair. “I’m glad to hear it meets with your approval.” He glanced down at the little girl attached to his chest and then up at Harper. “If you’ll take Maya, I’ll get busy unloading the car.”
Harper helped him unhook the sling. When he handed the little one over, Maya didn’t protest, just reached out her arms and let Harper gather her in, taking the blue teething toy out of her mouth long enough to remark, “I hungwy. Now.”
“We’ll fill up that tummy. Promise.” Harper brushed a kiss on her plump cheek.
* * *
Linc brought in the food first—what there was of it. “It’s not much,” he confessed sheepishly. “I had this idea I would just take the kids out with me to get everything we needed right here in town.” He set the two bags of groceries on the white marble countertop.
Harper shifted Maya onto one arm and took a quick peek inside the bags. “No worries,” she reassured him. “I see bread, eggs, milk and sandwich fixings. Fruit. Perfect. Nobody will starve.”
“Hungwy,” whined Maya hopefully around her blue teething toy.
Harper stroked her soft hair. “We’ll fix you a nice snack.” She sent a quick smile Linc’s way. “Turn the heat on. We’re fine.”
“Great.” He was already turning away.
There was a booster seat at the table. She put Maya in it, peeled a banana and gave the little girl half. Next, Harper found crayons and a tablet in a kitchen drawer. She handed them to Jayden and asked him to draw some pictures.
He had questions. “Pictures of what, Harper? How many pictures? What colors do you like? Should they be Christmas pictures?”
She tipped Maya’s chin up. “What do you think your brother should draw for us?”
Maya swallowed a bite of banana and exclaimed, “Cwissmuss!”
Harper winked at Jayden. “You heard your sister. We want some Christmas pictures—in Christmas colors, like green and red and yellow.” But why limit a guy’s creativity? “Blue and purple and pink are perfectly acceptable, as well. In fact, Jayden, you should use any color in the box. I kind of love them all.”
“A Christmas tree, Harper? A snowman?”
“Yes. Good ideas. Start with those.” She pressed a kiss to Maya’s silky hair just so she could breathe in the scent of baby shampoo and that special something else exclusive to little ones—like fresh, sweet milk and clean sheets hung to dry in the sunlight.
“More?” pleaded Maya, who had scarfed down the half banana in record time. Harper gave her the other half, found a plastic plate and a sippy cup in one of the cupboards and then supplemented the banana with dry cereal, sliced apples and milk.
Linc got the utilities turned on and the fire going in the gas fireplace. It wasn’t long before the cottage warmed up enough that they could hang up their coats.
Harper kept both kids occupied as Linc got the rest of the stuff fr
om the car and then started making beds.
As soon as Maya finished her snack, Harper gave her back her chew toy and set her down on the kitchen floor, where she toddled around a bit and ended up plopping to her butt by the table. For a while, she just sat there cuddling the stuffed pig Linc had brought in from the car, contentedly chewing on the blue toy.
By then, Jayden had drawn a Christmas tree, a snowman and a picture of five smiling stick figures. “That’s me and Maya and Uncle Linc and Gramma Jean and PopPop,” the boy explained. “Gramma and PopPop just went on a boat to go everywhere around the whole world. They won’t be back for a looong time.”
Harper studied the smiling figures. “Are you saying your grandparents went on a cruise?”
“Yeah. A cruise. That’s what they call it. They took care of us for a looong time and now they get to go on vacation, and we will be with Uncle Linc, but get to see them all the time on Stype.”
“You mean Skype?”
Jayden wrinkled his nose, thinking it over. Finally, he nodded. “I think so, yes. Skype.” He bent over the paper again and began to add what looked like a boat to the picture. “All done!” he announced.
Harper praised his work and then found some magnets in the drawer where the crayons had been. She hung all three pictures on the big two-door fridge. “They look great,” she said. “Very festive.”
Jayden frowned. “What’s festive?”
“Happy and cheerful and jolly.”
“Like you feel at Christmas?”
She nodded approvingly. “That’s right.”
Jayden beamed with pride. “Yes, my pictures are festive. And I like them, too.”
“It’s always nice to be pleased with your work. And now that the pictures are finished, I think we need to get started on dinner.”
Jayden wanted to help, so Harper found him a step stool. He stood at the counter beside her, chattering away, munching on chips and nibbling on slices of cheese.
“I hewp, too!” insisted Maya midway through the process. She seemed pretty steady on her feet, so Harper let her stand on the other step stool, with Jayden on one side of her and Harper on the other. “I good!” announced the toddler as she chewed on a piece of bread.
“Yes, you are. Very helpful,” Harper agreed.
When they all four sat down at the table, Linc praised the meal and the kids’ efforts and confessed that he was having some serious trouble figuring out how to get the Wi-Fi working. “I may have to call the property manager,” he added.
“I’m pretty good with anything technical,” Harper volunteered. “Let me have a look at it first.”
“Not only a kid whisperer, but you’ve got the tech handled, as well?”
“I guess you could say that, yeah.” She explained her work at the Valentine Bay Theatre downtown. “I’m the theater’s tech director, which means if it doesn’t have to do with acting, I’m the one to talk to. We do several shows a year. With each one, we try to get the participation of every child in town.”
Jayden seized the moment. “Uncle Linc, can I please be in the Christmas show? I was in the show last year and it was so much fun.”
Linc turned to Harper. “So, the Christmas show would be at the Valentine Bay Theatre?”
“That’s right.” She gave Jayden a smile and suggested, “How about this? I’ll discuss the Christmas show with your uncle later and then he’ll talk it over with you.”
Jayden glanced from Harper to Linc and back to Harper again. She could see the wheels turning in his head as he considered going all out to get an immediate yes.
But in the end, he gave it up. “You just let me know, Uncle Linc.”
“Will do.”
And then he couldn’t resist one more push at the goal. “Because I really, really want to be in that show.”
“I can see that.” Linc was trying not to grin. “Now finish your sandwich.”
After the meal, they all four cleared the table. Even Maya waddled back and forth carrying her sippy cup and Little Mermaid plastic plate to the sink.
“Bath time,” Linc said.
Jayden objected. “We just had baths yesterday.”
“Might as well freshen up after that long car ride.”
Jayden moved on to bargaining. “Can I get bubbles?”
“Of course.”
“Well, then, okay!”
Linc herded the kids upstairs. Harper stayed behind to wipe the counters and sweep bits of chips and apple from the floor.
With the kitchen tidy, she sorted out the Wi-Fi situation. It didn’t take long to get the home network up and running.
After that, she couldn’t think of anything else that needed doing immediately, though she was tempted to delay leaving any way she could. Her cottage always seemed too quiet, and it was so warm and cozy here. The kids were the cutest. And Linc was...
Well, never mind about Linc. She didn’t need to go getting too excited about the temporary guy next door.
And come to think of it, maybe the kids’ clothes needed stashing in drawers upstairs...
She caught herself—because putting things in drawers without being asked to do it verged on intrusive.
She’d been a good neighbor, done her bit to help Linc and the kids get settled in. Time to say good-night.
At the top of the stairs, she followed the sounds of splashing and laughter to the hall bathroom.
“Harper!” Jayden called when she stopped in the open bathroom doorway. He was in his pajamas and playing with Maya, who sat in the tub.
“Hawp!” Maya echoed.
They waved at her and Maya splashed with abandon, sending bathwater and bubbles flying everywhere. At this rate, Jayden would need dry pj’s before heading to bed.
Linc, kneeling by the tub, turned to grin at Harper. His button-up was wet and he had a patch of bubbles dripping down his cheek. She laughed.
“What?” he demanded.
She touched her own cheek. “You’ve got bubbles...”
“No kidding.” He wiped them away.
And then they both just stared at each other—for a while. Several seconds, at least. The sounds of the two kids laughing and Maya’s splashing faded into the background.
It was just Harper and this amazingly great guy—a guy who looked like someone off the cover of GQ and treated his little niece and nephew like the most important people in the world.
Because they were.
“Wi-Fi’s working,” she said, her voice strangely breathless.
“Best news I’ve had since you organized dinner. We have a video-chat with the grandparents first thing in the morning. They’re staying overnight in Miami, boarding a cruise ship tomorrow afternoon.”
“Jayden mentioned a cruise.”
“A cruise around the world, six months and thirty-three countries.”
“Wow.”
“Jean and Alan Hollister are the best there is. They canceled a two-week Mediterranean cruise last January to stay with me and the kids. The world cruise is my attempt to make it up to them.”
Jean and Alan Hollister, he’d said. Gramma and PopPop must be Kevin’s parents, not Linc and Megan’s. “I’m sure they’re going to love it—and the Wi-Fi is ready for your video call tomorrow. I left the password on a sticky note next to your laptop, but it’s actually printed right there on the bottom of the gateway, too.”
He gave a low chuckle. “See, I knew that...”
She tried not to giggle and found it a challenge to restrain herself. Something about him had her feeling like a thirteen-year-old in the throes of her first major crush. “Looks to me like you’ve got everything under control now.”
“I hope so.” He’d barely finished the sentence when Maya gave a gleeful screech and let loose a volley of wild splashing. Jayden splashed her back. “Whoa!” Linc swiped bubble
s off his forehead. “How ’bout we keep the bubbles in the bathtub, guys?”
“Sow-wy,” said Maya, looking completely angelic, with her curly hair sopping wet and topped with bubbles.
Linc’s amber gaze fell on Harper again. “I have no clue where you got the idea that I’m running this show.”
“Hey. The kids are happy, and the beds are made. The Wi-Fi is working. Everybody’s been fed. You’re on top of this situation, and my job here is done.”
The corners of his sexy mouth turned down just a fraction. “Wait. You’re not leaving? You can’t go yet.”
“Yeah, Harper!” Jayden backed him up. “We still have stories. You have to stay for story time.”
“Stow-ie!” shouted Maya, and then tossed her rubber frog in the air. It plopped back into the water with a splash. “Oopsy.” She tried to look contrite but didn’t really succeed.
Linc gave his niece an indulgent glance and swung those melty eyes back on Harper. “Are you vulnerable to a bribe?”
Absolutely. “Hmm. What’s on offer?”
“Later, there will be wine—or vodka, if that’s your preference.”
“You have wine?” There hadn’t been any in the grocery bags he’d brought in.
“I do. I just haven’t brought it in from the car yet. The way I see it, so what if we only had sandwiches for dinner? At least I didn’t forget the liquor.”
It happened again. They stared at each other. It felt like...infinite possibility, somehow. Like she was floating on air, walking on rainbows. Like all the corny, lovely things a woman feels when she meets a certain special man.
And she really needed not to get carried away here. Linc was a great guy. They had a neighborly thing going on, not a budding romantic relationship.
But reading stories with the kids? That sounded like a lot more fun than returning to her empty cottage and going over the list of props she still hadn’t found for the Christmas show. “Hmm. Wine. It just seems wrong to say no to wine...”
A Temporary Christmas Arrangement Page 2