Did she have a crush on him? Yes, maybe a little. Did that mean she was going to act on her attraction? No.
Her job was to care for and educate Addison, so when her feelings for her boss became especially distracting, she pushed herself deeper into her work.
Skylar started labeling items around the house, using a red marker for the first letter of each word. Addison was learning that S was for sink and T was for television. Rhett was impressed with how quickly his daughter could acquire knowledge.
Sunday evening, Skylar made pasta with Italian Mary’s special meat sauce. Rhett came home at six-twenty. Each day it seemed a little earlier.
She enjoyed cooking for him because he ate with such curiosity and enthusiasm. Addison loved telling him about her day during dinner. In a way, Skylar felt like an intruder, but Rhett insisted she eat with them every night—unless she had other plans.
She didn’t know what it meant that she’d purposely cooked dinner on a Sunday, when every Sunday of her twenty-one years had been spent eating dinner with her family at the big house. Deep down, she assumed it spoke volumes about her being exactly where she wanted to be. But there would be hell to pay for missing a Sunday dinner at Gran’s. Not to mention that she also missed church to avoid any preemptive lecture about skipping dinner.
“I saw Santa’s reindeer!” Addison announced before slurping a large bit of spaghetti through her lips. As the noodles disappeared with a slither of red sauce leaving her mouth a mess, she scooted higher in her seat. Italian Mary’s gravy was obviously a hit.
“Where was this?” Rhett asked, maneuvering his pasta with a much more refined twirl against his spoon.
“Up on a gigantic mountain, Daddy! ‘Member? I told you! There was a barn, and we saw three reindeer. We made a gingerbread house that was as tall as me, and Miss Maureen said I can come back any time. I made lots of friends.”
He glanced at Skylar and grinned. “Your relatives?”
“The McCullough side.” It was sort of a joke around Jasper Falls that there were more McCulloughs than all the other townsfolk combined.
“Ah, well, it sounds like you two had a fantastic week.”
“Why don’t we have a Christmas tree?” Addison asked, abruptly shifting gears.
Rhett made an expression Skylar couldn’t read, which wasn’t anything new. But something protective came over her, and she wanted to save him from whatever put that look on his face.
“My Gran showed Addison our family’s ornaments. She was a bit enchanted by them.”
His brow kinked. “We have the one out front.”
“That’s not the same, Daddy. We need one inside, so Santa can put the presents under it.”
“Santa puts the gifts by the hearth.”
Addison’s stern expression made Skylar chuckle. It became perfectly clear this was no longer acceptable in her book.
“Well, I guess we need a tree.” He glanced at Skylar. “I’m holding you responsible for this.”
“Me?” She laughed. “She got here on her own.”
“Oh, please.” He eyed the red and green paper-chain garland they made earlier that week and the paper snowflakes hanging from the chandelier over the table. “Every day this place looks more like Santa’s workshop. I’m convinced I’m not your only boss, and you’re working personally for the big guy.”
Addison’s eyes widened. “Do you work for Santa, too?”
“No.” She shook her head at Rhett. “Your daddy’s starting rumors.”
“What’s a rumor?”
“A fib, sort of like when people call your daddy a grinch.”
She gasped. “My daddy’s not the grinch!”
“Ouch,” Rhett laughed. “Okay, maybe I have some work to do.”
After dinner, they bundled up and drove down to the tree lot in the O’Malley’s pub parking lot. Classic rock filled the SUV and Skylar frowned.
“You’re doing this all wrong.” With a twist of the dial, she set the station to Christmas carols. Addison bounced and sang in her seat. So did Skylar. She wondered how it was possible for a man Rhett’s age not to know the words. Maybe he just didn’t like to sing.
Tree hunting was one of Skylar’s favorite pastimes. The scent of pine needles and the strung lights overhead… It was all so very Charlie Brown.
Rhett had no idea how to go about getting a tree. His questions confused her.
“How do they stay upright?”
“You get a stand. Haven’t you ever had a Christmas tree before?”
“No.”
She stared at him completely perplexed. They celebrated Christmas, so she didn’t think it was a religious thing. Before she could ask why he never had a tree, Addison ran over to a bulky Douglas fir and declared it their tree.
“Ooh, I like this one!” She returned to Rhett’s side and dragged him closer to the tree. “Sniff it, Daddy!”
“Why?”
Addison frowned. “You gotta.”
Skylar walked over to the fir. “Because it smells like Christmas, silly.” She stuck her face close to the pine needles, shut her eyes, and breathed in the magical fragrance.