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.“Your new hubby’s a hunk.Congrats.”Rachel blinked.“Just smile,” Lexi whispered in her ear.“And tell her we’ll drive up for the groceries.”Derek would never have believed skiing with a bunch of children could be so much fun.Even Travis seemed to be having a good time.When David offered to watch his nephews so Travis could do his own thing, they all expected the sandy-haired bachelor to jump at the chance.Instead, he stuck around and spent the afternoon on the beginner slope helping the twins.And when the kids begged them to stop at the lodge for hot chocolate with candy canes, Travis surprised them by coming along.The pleasant afternoon started to unravel when Connor and Caleb grew bored, grabbed their peppermint sticks and began a sword fight.It completely fell apart when, in trying to stop them, Travis’s cup of cocoa ended up in his lap.That was when they all decided to call it a day.But Derek still had to take Mickie to Christmas Eve program practice at church.He couldn’t believe she’d turned down Nick’s offer to ride with him and Addie.After buckling her seat belt, Mickie crossed one leg over the other and swung the top leg back and forth.“Thank you for today, Mr.Rossi.It was a blast.”Derek put the truck in gear and smiled.It had been heartwarming to see Mickie laughing and playing in the snow.“You’re welcome.”Mickie stared out the window at a passing minivan filled with parents and children.“It’s so not fair,” she said with sudden vehemence.Confused, Derek cast a sideways glance.Were those tears in her eyes?“I want to stay here.I want to live with you and Rachel.It’s all I want.It’s all I’ll ever want.”Derek’s heart gave a lurch.He understood.He didn’t want to be without her or Rachel either.“You understand…there is no Rachel and me.” Yet.“There could be.” Mickie stopped swinging her leg and turned in her seat, the tears gone.“You love her, don’t you?”Derek hesitated.“I do.But I’m not sure how she feels.”“I know the problem.” Mickie heaved a heavy sigh.“Tom.”“She still wears his rings.” The words were out of Derek’s mouth before he could stop them.Obviously his conversation with his mother had impacted him far more than he realized.“She still has his pictures all over the house,” Mickie added.“He was her husband,” Derek pointed out.“Was,” Mickie emphasized.“She needs to forget him.You need to make her forget him.”“The decision to move on is hers alone,” Derek said.“I thought her text meant she was ready.I’m not so sure now.”Mickie stared at the floorboard.“So it’s hopeless.I go to a group home.You go back to L.A.”“Not so fast.” Derek wanted to be with Rachel, but even if that didn’t happen, he still wanted Mickie to be his daughter.Yet he didn’t want to give her false hope.“In the past, when I thought about taking in a foster child, I thought I’d have to be married to make it work.And in my mind, the child was always a boy.”“Yeah.” Mickie slumped back down in her seat.“Everyone wants a boy.”Derek’s gaze settled on this funny, smart, amazing girl.“Then I met you,” he said.“And I wondered how I could have been so foolish.”“Really?”Derek nodded.“I also met some amazing people who made me realize that life doesn’t have to fit into some nice, neat slot.”Mickie’s gaze grew puzzled.“I don’t understand.”“Mary Karen is raising three small boys on her own.Lexi raised Addie by herself until last year when she met Nick.” Derek’s resolve to make this situation work strengthened with each word.“If they can do it, I can, too.”Hope lit the child’s eyes.“Are you saying…?”“I want you to be my daughter,” Derek said.“Assuming I can get your caseworker’s approval, when I return home to L.A., I’d like you to come with me.”The choral director turned his attention to the preschoolers for a second and Mickie scooted over to where Addie stood so she could finish the story she’d started earlier.“Then he told me he wants me to live in California with him,” Mickie said.“Yippee.”When the choral director shot her a warning glance, Addie smiled sweetly.“I mean, praise the Lord.”“Let’s go over here.” Mickie took Addie’s hand and pulled her across the shiny linoleum of the church basement until they stood behind a large green plant.“I don’t know what to do.”“Duh, you go with him.This is what you wanted, remember?”“I want Rachel, too,” Mickie reminded her friend.“And so does Mr.Rossi.”“Hmm.” Addie brought a finger to her lips and a thoughtful look crossed her face.“You’re right.Who wants half a sundae when you can have the whole thing?”“Huh?”Addie leaned close.“You have to figure out how to get the whole sundae.”Mickie paused.Was this a riddle?“You have to make Rachel see that she loves Mr.Rossi and has to forget all about her husband,” Addie said impatiently.Mickie thought how Rachel had reacted to her putting the pictures of Tom in the drawer.“That’s not going to be easy.”“Maybe,” Addie said, beginning to twirl.“But just think how great it’ll be when you have both a dad and a mom.”Chapter SixteenThe garage door rumbled open and Rachel’s heart skipped a beat.Derek had given her the pass code for the gate as well as a house key so she could drop off the groceries for tomorrow night’s party.He shouldn’t be surprised to see her.Still, by the time he walked into the kitchen, her heart was thumping like a schoolgirl’s.She fumbled with some condiments on the counter, but relaxed a little when his lips widened into a smile.“I just dropped off Mickie at the church,” he said.“I thought you’d already be here and gone.This is a nice surprise.”Even though she’d like to believe otherwise, Rachel knew the warmth rushing through her had nothing to do with the furnace kicking on.“How’d the skiing go?”“Couldn’t have been better.Mickie did fabulous.”“Good to hear.” Dear God, could she sound any more tongue-tied and gauche?His brows pulled together.“Is something wrong?”“Do you read the tabloids?” Rachel nearly groaned aloud.She’d planned to be casual and offhand about the whole matter, not blurt it out [ Pobierz całość 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.“Your new hubby’s a hunk.Congrats.”Rachel blinked.“Just smile,” Lexi whispered in her ear.“And tell her we’ll drive up for the groceries.”Derek would never have believed skiing with a bunch of children could be so much fun.Even Travis seemed to be having a good time.When David offered to watch his nephews so Travis could do his own thing, they all expected the sandy-haired bachelor to jump at the chance.Instead, he stuck around and spent the afternoon on the beginner slope helping the twins.And when the kids begged them to stop at the lodge for hot chocolate with candy canes, Travis surprised them by coming along.The pleasant afternoon started to unravel when Connor and Caleb grew bored, grabbed their peppermint sticks and began a sword fight.It completely fell apart when, in trying to stop them, Travis’s cup of cocoa ended up in his lap.That was when they all decided to call it a day.But Derek still had to take Mickie to Christmas Eve program practice at church.He couldn’t believe she’d turned down Nick’s offer to ride with him and Addie.After buckling her seat belt, Mickie crossed one leg over the other and swung the top leg back and forth.“Thank you for today, Mr.Rossi.It was a blast.”Derek put the truck in gear and smiled.It had been heartwarming to see Mickie laughing and playing in the snow.“You’re welcome.”Mickie stared out the window at a passing minivan filled with parents and children.“It’s so not fair,” she said with sudden vehemence.Confused, Derek cast a sideways glance.Were those tears in her eyes?“I want to stay here.I want to live with you and Rachel.It’s all I want.It’s all I’ll ever want.”Derek’s heart gave a lurch.He understood.He didn’t want to be without her or Rachel either.“You understand…there is no Rachel and me.” Yet.“There could be.” Mickie stopped swinging her leg and turned in her seat, the tears gone.“You love her, don’t you?”Derek hesitated.“I do.But I’m not sure how she feels.”“I know the problem.” Mickie heaved a heavy sigh.“Tom.”“She still wears his rings.” The words were out of Derek’s mouth before he could stop them.Obviously his conversation with his mother had impacted him far more than he realized.“She still has his pictures all over the house,” Mickie added.“He was her husband,” Derek pointed out.“Was,” Mickie emphasized.“She needs to forget him.You need to make her forget him.”“The decision to move on is hers alone,” Derek said.“I thought her text meant she was ready.I’m not so sure now.”Mickie stared at the floorboard.“So it’s hopeless.I go to a group home.You go back to L.A.”“Not so fast.” Derek wanted to be with Rachel, but even if that didn’t happen, he still wanted Mickie to be his daughter.Yet he didn’t want to give her false hope.“In the past, when I thought about taking in a foster child, I thought I’d have to be married to make it work.And in my mind, the child was always a boy.”“Yeah.” Mickie slumped back down in her seat.“Everyone wants a boy.”Derek’s gaze settled on this funny, smart, amazing girl.“Then I met you,” he said.“And I wondered how I could have been so foolish.”“Really?”Derek nodded.“I also met some amazing people who made me realize that life doesn’t have to fit into some nice, neat slot.”Mickie’s gaze grew puzzled.“I don’t understand.”“Mary Karen is raising three small boys on her own.Lexi raised Addie by herself until last year when she met Nick.” Derek’s resolve to make this situation work strengthened with each word.“If they can do it, I can, too.”Hope lit the child’s eyes.“Are you saying…?”“I want you to be my daughter,” Derek said.“Assuming I can get your caseworker’s approval, when I return home to L.A., I’d like you to come with me.”The choral director turned his attention to the preschoolers for a second and Mickie scooted over to where Addie stood so she could finish the story she’d started earlier.“Then he told me he wants me to live in California with him,” Mickie said.“Yippee.”When the choral director shot her a warning glance, Addie smiled sweetly.“I mean, praise the Lord.”“Let’s go over here.” Mickie took Addie’s hand and pulled her across the shiny linoleum of the church basement until they stood behind a large green plant.“I don’t know what to do.”“Duh, you go with him.This is what you wanted, remember?”“I want Rachel, too,” Mickie reminded her friend.“And so does Mr.Rossi.”“Hmm.” Addie brought a finger to her lips and a thoughtful look crossed her face.“You’re right.Who wants half a sundae when you can have the whole thing?”“Huh?”Addie leaned close.“You have to figure out how to get the whole sundae.”Mickie paused.Was this a riddle?“You have to make Rachel see that she loves Mr.Rossi and has to forget all about her husband,” Addie said impatiently.Mickie thought how Rachel had reacted to her putting the pictures of Tom in the drawer.“That’s not going to be easy.”“Maybe,” Addie said, beginning to twirl.“But just think how great it’ll be when you have both a dad and a mom.”Chapter SixteenThe garage door rumbled open and Rachel’s heart skipped a beat.Derek had given her the pass code for the gate as well as a house key so she could drop off the groceries for tomorrow night’s party.He shouldn’t be surprised to see her.Still, by the time he walked into the kitchen, her heart was thumping like a schoolgirl’s.She fumbled with some condiments on the counter, but relaxed a little when his lips widened into a smile.“I just dropped off Mickie at the church,” he said.“I thought you’d already be here and gone.This is a nice surprise.”Even though she’d like to believe otherwise, Rachel knew the warmth rushing through her had nothing to do with the furnace kicking on.“How’d the skiing go?”“Couldn’t have been better.Mickie did fabulous.”“Good to hear.” Dear God, could she sound any more tongue-tied and gauche?His brows pulled together.“Is something wrong?”“Do you read the tabloids?” Rachel nearly groaned aloud.She’d planned to be casual and offhand about the whole matter, not blurt it out [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]