Congratulating himself on finally having imposed rules and discipline on the household and relieved that whatever was bothering Jess at school didn’t seem to be affecting her at home, Tyler walked across the hall and pushed open the door.
“Go away!” Jess screamed and stuffed something back in a bag as Ash sprang up, barking frantically.
Tyler raised his brows. “Always good to have a warm welcome at the end of the day.”
“You can’t come in here!” Jess pushed bags under the sofa. “It’s Christmas, Dad. You have to knock on doors before you enter, not barge in.”
“This is my house. I’m allowed to barge anywhere I want.”
“Presents are supposed to be a secret! Wait there a minute.” There was rustling and muttering and finally Jess mumbled, “You can come in now.”
Accepting that grudging invitation, Tyler opened the door fully and saw Ash and Luna lying on either side of Jess like bookends. “I thought we agreed to keep them out of the den and the living room.”
“This is their favorite room.”
“Funny, because it’s my favorite room, too.” He glanced at Brenna, thinking that she looked every bit as good in skinny jeans and a blue sweater as she did in that black dress.
“We weren’t expecting you home yet, Dad. You said you had a late lesson.”
“She canceled.” His gaze flicked to the screen, and he saw an image of himself on the notorious Hahnenkamm, considered to be the most challenging course on the World Cup circuit. He remembered that particular run well. The light had been flat at the top, the visibility difficult. Three racers had fallen.
He turned away. “I assume you haven’t eaten. I’ll cook.”
“I’ll do it.” Jess jumped up. “You hate cooking.”
He hated it a whole lot less than he hated watching himself on TV.
“I’ll cook steaks.”
Ash whined and sprang to his feet, and Jess grinned.
“I swear he knows that word.”
“I’m prepared to cook for humans, but I draw the line at cooking for dogs.” But Tyler stooped and made a fuss of Ash. “You are a bad boy.”
“And you are an expert on that subject.” Jess gave him a look. “By the way, I’m staying at Grandma’s tonight.”
“Again?”
“What can I say? She has a tree and her house is Christmassy. Ours is a Santa-free zone, and the fridge is empty again. At this rate, Christmas is going to pass us by.”
Feeling a stab of guilt, Tyler raked his fingers through his hair. “I’ll go to the store tomorrow. And we’ll go and get a tree this weekend. We’ll take the snowmobile.”
“It’s probably too late. They’ll all be gone.”
“Jess, we live in a forest.”
“All the good ones will be gone.”
She stalked past him toward the kitchen, and Tyler turned his gaze to Brenna, who was unusually quiet. “Am I missing something here?”
“She’s excited about Christmas. We should decorate the house and get a tree. It’s important.” Without looking at him, she gathered up gift wrap, and he realized he still hadn’t done anything about Christmas gifts.
“So if you were writing to Santa, what would be on your list? What do you want for Christmas?”
“I don’t know. Nothing.”
“There must be something.” He pressed her. “What would you love more than anything in the world? What do you dream about?”