“I love her, too.”
“I know you do. So why are you avoiding her?”
With a sniff, Lexi pulled her legs up and hugged them to her chest. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
“Sophie, you were right to be afraid I’d be the one to marry into your family. I’m really messed up on the inside.”
“I was never—” Lexi shot her a doubtful look and Sophie stopped before saying something they both knew wasn’t true. Sophie took a deep breath before starting over. “You and I are more alike than you know.”
“I sincerely doubt it, and I mean that as a compliment.”
“See, no one has to beat you up, Lexi; you’re willing to do the job yourself. I spent more years than I care to admit doing the same. It affected my family and my marriage. I thought I didn’t deserve to be happy. Once a year I withdrew from everyone I loved because I couldn’t forgive myself. I wasn’t just hurting myself, though. I was hurting my whole family. That’s where you are now. What are you holding in, Lexi? What are you beating yourself up for?”
A lone tear slid down Lexi’s cheek. “Willa and Kenzi have never been happier than they are now. I’m happy for them, but it’s hard, too.”
“Oh, honey, of course it is. A lot has changed this past year. You’re feeling left behind, aren’t you?”
Lexi nodded and wiped her check with the back of her hand. “Something like that.”
“Well, you’ve had a good wallow over it, but now you’re going to go take a shower, get dressed, and come shopping with me.”
“That’s a nice offer, Sophie, but—”
“It wasn’t an offer. Get up,” Sophie said in a firm tone as she rose to her feet.
Lexi slowly stood. “I love you for coming, but I’m not in the mood to go shopping.”
Taking Lexi by the arm, Sophie led her across the room. “Lexi Chambers, you are a beautiful and intelligent young woman, but you’ve got a lot to learn about family if you think I’m leaving here without you. Get your butt in that shower, cover up the shadows under your eyes with concealer, and let’s go buy you a new dress. It’ll make you feel better.”
Fresh tears sprang to Lexi’s eyes. “You don’t have to do this, Sophie. I know I drive you crazy most of the time.”
Sophie cupped one side of Lexi’s face. “Sweetie, I raised five boys—on your worst day you don’t come close to what they put me through. I’ll always be grateful that Kenzi had you and Willa with her in Canada. You were her rocks when we didn’t even know she needed one. You don’t have to marry one of my sons to be my family, in my heart you’re already one of us and you always will be.”
Lexi laughed as she wiped another tear away. “I couldn’t believe it when you told Clay your sons would line up to kick his ass if he hurt me. I meant to thank you for that.”
“You did, honey. Now, stop stalling and get cleaned up.”
Nodding, Lexi turned to do just that then looked back. “Thank you, Sophie.”
“Go on. Have you eaten? We’ll stop somewhere, get something to eat, and you can tell me all about what’s going on between you and Clay.”
Lexi nodded and trotted off to the shower. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that she would turn to Sophie for advice on anything, but suddenly she wanted to.
Before hopping into the shower she sent a text to Willa and then Kenzi. She told both of them she’d call them later but she was too busy to talk because she was heading out for an evening with Sophie. They both wrote back about how great that was and said they definitely wanted to hear all about it later.
A short time later Lexi applied the last touches of makeup and looked at herself in the mirror. She’d never had a mother figure in her life, but she did now. The miracle of it was that Sophie was taking on that role after seeing the worst of Lexi. She’d stuck out the tough times and somehow still loved her. The piece of Lexi’s heart that had shattered long ago found its way back together. The fix was fragile, but it felt good.
And for the first time in a very long time Lexi liked the woman she saw in the mirror. She certainly wasn’t perfect, but maybe, just maybe, there was hope for her yet.
Chapter Four
Three weeks had never felt so much like forever. Clay sipped on spiked eggnog while watching Asher laugh at a face his young son made. There was a time when Clay would have thought Asher looked ridiculous interacting with a baby who probably couldn’t tell him apart from any of the other men in the room, but this time the scene moved Clay. He thought about how Dax had said what came next was a million times better than the life he’d left behind.
The whole idea of marriage was crazy. Two people decide to choose each other over not only everyone they’ve ever met, but also anyone who might come into their lives later. He watched Dale reach over and take Sophie’s hand as they listened to their children swapping stories from childhood. After many years of marriage, could they actually be that happy with each other? His attention moved to where Dax was standing beside Kenzi, smiling down at her. Would his friend one day stand in a room of his own children, still madly in love with his wife?
Clay placed the cup of eggnog down, unfinished. Christmas Eve had always been a night where he and his friends jetted off to some exotic location and partied hard enough that Christmas Day had always been a foggy recovery.
When Dax had invited him and told him to bring presents, Clay had been too curious to turn the invitation down. So this is what Dax considers living. He might as well have stepped into a holiday postcard. The Barrington home was ornately trimmed, from the bushes outside the home to every shelf and corner inside. Presents overflowed from beneath a ten-foot lit tree, the ones he’d brought were set with the others, but were in a distinct pile of their own.
“If you keep frowning you won’t get more than coal in your stocking.”
A warmth shot through Clay at the sound of Lexi’s voice. He turned, a huge grin spreading across his face. “And you think you’ll get better?”
Laughter lit her eyes. “If Santa knows what’s good for him I will.”
Clay laughed and allowed himself the indulgence of taking in the full beauty of her. The red dress she wore was a wrapping that did little to hide the gift of what lay beneath. He counted to ten and told himself to behave. “Beautiful dress.”
She spun before him then leaned against his arm as she asked, “You like it? Sophie bought it for me.”
“Really?” It was impossible to remember what they were talking about. Her mouth was close enough to claim, the warmth of her breast against his arm sent his blood rushing southward.
She leaned in even closer and lowered her voice. “We almost chose something conservative, but then I reminded her you’d probably be here. So, Merry Christmas.”
“You—it’s—” Damn. He gave in to the lusty smile he’d been fighting to hold back. “Thank you.”
Her laughter was light and heaven to his ears. She laid a hand on his forearm and said, “Hey, I’m sorry I never answered your text. I was going through something.”
“Something? Or someone?” He hated that he’d asked that aloud. He’d never been the jealous type. Ever. But the thought of her with another man was slowly driving him mad. “Are you still with him?”
“Him?”
“Mr. Thanksgiving night.”
She searched his face for a long moment. “More like Mr. Thanksgiving drinks after dinner, and I haven’t seen him since. I shouldn’t have gone out with him that night, but I was in a funk.”
Good. “I hear Mr. Christmas is more attractive and Mr. New Year’s is amazing in bed.”
She shook her head, but she was laughing. “All I know is Mr. Christmas Eve is full of himself.”
He raised and dropped a shoulder. “Is it bragging if it’s true?”
She laughed again and linked her arm with his. “Don’t ever change, Clay. You’re a hoot.”
A hoot? He wanted to be much more than that to her. “We all change
, Lexi, especially when we discover that having what we want necessitates it.”
Her eyes flew to his and her mouth rounded in preparation of saying something, but Willa interrupted. “Lexi, when did you sneak in?”
Lexi stepped away to hug her sister and Clay lamented the absence of her touch. “I just arrived.”
“You must have popped in while I was in the bathroom.” She looked Lexi over and her eyes popped. “That’s the dress Sophie bought you?”
Clay briefly took in Willa’s conservative, short-sleeved dress and marveled at how two women could have so much in common and still be so different. “It’s lovely, isn’t it?” Clay prompted Willa.
She hesitated as if she’d been about to voice a different opinion. Then she smiled. “It’s definitely Lexi.”
The two sisters exchanged a look of understanding that ended with Lexi smiling. “Yes, it is. Your dress really brings out your eyes, Willa.”
“Thanks.” Willa turned her attention to Clay. “Dax said you brought presents for everyone. That’s so nice of you. Lance and I didn’t know you were coming so you don’t have anything from us, but will you be here tomorrow?”
