Chapter Fifteen
All I Want for Christmas is You
They’d been back at the house for over an hour and no one had seen Nora. She’d still been crying when they walked in the door and had gone straight on back to her room. It had been quiet ever since.
“Dad, can’t you please go talk to her?” Heather asked. “What if she’s in there packing?”
Hawk shook his head. “Nora wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t leave without talking with us.” Would she? Dammit, he was just as worried as the kids.
“I want her to stay, Daddy. I want her for our mommy. Our real mommy.” HL’s big brown eyes were sad and serious. “Please, Daddy! Make her stay!”
“It doesn’t work that way, buddy.” He sucked in a painful breath and rubbed his chest because there was a stinging ache over his heart. “We can’t make her stay. She has to want to.”
Nora entered the kitchen and HL and Heather stared over at their dad, trying to prod him into asking Nora to stay. But Hawk had already asked her and he was too afraid to ask again in case she said no.
She moved to the refrigerator and took out an apple, before closing the door and turning to them; her splotchy face and red-rimmed eyes had Hawk’s hope sinking.
“Well, we won the Reindeer Games.” Her gaze touched on each one of them. First HL, then over to Heather, before landing on Hawk. “But if you think the honorable mention in the light contest was a total Charlie Brown-true-meaning-of-Christmas-Linus-speech moment—you’re wrong. We know the true meaning of Christmas, right? Love, forgiveness, family, and belief. Sure. But mark my words, this family is coming back bigger and brighter next year.”
Nora walked out of the room, leaving the three of them staring at each other. They slowly grinned and those grins turned into huge smiles.
“Nora’s staying!”
Nora’s staying. Holy shit, Nora’s staying. “I need to talk to Nora,” Hawk said, rushing out of the room.
Down the hall, he tapped on her door. “Nora?”
“Come in.”
Hawk entered her room a little surprised to find her sitting on her bed, with her computer on her lap. “Are you okay?”
She looked at him, her green eyes tearing up again, but she blotted at them with a wadded up tissue in her hand and nodded. “I’m sorry I freaked out, but I just needed some time to myself. To think things over and figure out my life.”
“I’d like to say something before you make any final decisions.”
“Sure.”
He sat at the end of her bed, next to her feet. “I think we have something here. Something worth exploring. Whether it’s a long distance relationship or you move back to Climax—we can make it work. If that’s what you want…”
She nodded her head, looking at him with a fierce surety. “That’s what I want. But I want to double check with the kids again before we take it further. Just to make sure they’re sure.”
And that was why he loved her. Okay, one of the reasons, but a big one. Even back in high school she’d been generous and caring. Putting others first.
Glancing at her computer, he ran a hand down his face. “Damn, Nora, you scared me. I saw that computer and was afraid you were booking the first flight out of here.”
“God, Hawk, I’m sorry. I’m such a jerk.” She rolled her eyes, disgusted with herself. “No, I’m buying more parenting books. If I’m going to be in HL and Heather’s life, I need to figure it out. I’ve got a lot more research to do.”
He was in the process of kissing her senseless when one of the kids knocked on the door. He placed a kiss on her neck before sitting back on the end of the bed again. “I’m going to remember where we were for after they go to bed.”
“You and me both.” Nora gave him a flirty smile before turning to the door. “Come in!”
Heather poked her head in cautiously. “Is she staying?”
“Are you staying, Nora?” HL burst through, throwing the door open wide.
“If you’ll have me.”
“Yes!” HL jumped up on the bed, wrapping Nora up in a hug.
Heather climbed up on the bed too, leaning up against Hawk with a happy smile on her face.
“Hearing you two earlier today—well, that meant so much. I can’t tell you what it feels like to be welcomed. To be invited into such an amazing family.” Nora wrapped HL up against her side. “HL, for right now, your dad and I have agreed to date. Is that okay as a start?”
“Yes,” HL said, nodding in a rare serious moment. “Nora, I been asking my daddy for a mommy for a long time now. And sometimes I was mad because he didn’t bring one home. But I think he was waiting for you.”
That felt exactly right to Hawk.
“All right. Clear out, you little Savages, so Nora and I can have a few minutes.” He hustled them out the door, before turning back when a thought hit him. “Oh, shit.”
“What?” She stood, stretching her arms over her head, making him groan again. “What’s wrong?”
“I just realized something worse than being lonely and celibate.” Hawk pulled her against him, loving the feel of her in his arms and his life. “Being in lust and in love with you and not being able to do a damn thing about it.”
She laughed into his neck.
“You think it’s funny?” Hawk framed her face with his hands, kissing her with the most carnal, heated kiss he could. He stroked her tongue with his, and bit into her bottom lip, while he cupped her ass in his hands, bringing her body tight into his until she groaned.
“You’re right. Not funny. Please tell me we’ll figure something out.”
“I have a few favors I can call in. My sister owes me. And Quinn and his brothers.” He kissed her again until they were breathless. “Maybe not until after Christmas, but we’ll figure something out.”
“Daddy?” HL called from the other side of the door. “Kaz Cates is here!”
Hawk and Nora walked out and found Kaz waiting in the kitchen talking to the kids. Hawk made the introductions before asking, “So, what’s up?”
“I checked out the Rent-A-Mom company like you asked. I thought you’d be interested in what I found.”
“Darn, Kaz, I forgot I asked you. I’m sorry I wasted your time. Everything turned out fine.” Hawk loved the way his whole family smiled at that.
“Well, if the rumors going around the grapevine are true, then I guess so.”
“Thanks, though. Heck, I almost feel like I should send them a thank-you card.”
“You could try. Except they don’t exist.” Kaz pulled the contract from his back pocket, slowly unfolding it, and smoothing out the creases. “I mean—they did—but they don’t.”
Hawk crossed his arms over his chest and raised his brows at Kaz. “Want to explain that?”
“I wish I could. I found the website easily enough. But I was in the middle of navigating around it, and it went dark.”
“What do you mean ‘went dark’?”
“Disappeared. Without a trace. No trail. No digital foot print. Nothing. It’s like it never existed.”
Just like the damn rental car.
Kaz handed the contract Hawk had given him when he’d asked him to look into it. “Did you happen to notice the signature at the bottom of the rental contract?”
“To be honest, I was a little busy noticing Nora.”
“Understandable.”
Hawk glanced down at the bottom of the sheet. “Are you kidding me? K. Kringle? You don’t think—”
Kaz shrugged. “It’s a mystery.”
After dinner that night, which Hawk happily cooked, they moved into the family room to sit by the tree lights and eat some of the Christmas cookies Georgie had dropped by.
“Hey!” HL’s head popped up and he moved from sitting by the tree to snuggle on the couch next to Nora. “Will I get to go watch the Olympics in two years when you play?”
Nora’s face fell and she kissed the top of Henry Lee’s head. “I doubt I’ll be in the next Olympics, HL. Between fixing the scar tissue, extra rehab, and finding a new partner… There’s so much involved. The odds are terrible.”
“Since when did that ever stop you?” Hawk challenged her with his gaze. “In our junior yearbook you said you wanted to win a gold medal in the Olympics. Some kids laughed. I’ll be honest, I thought it was just one of those crazy dreams, like I want to be an astronaut. It sure wasn’t.”
HL turned his head up to her. “You wouldn’t let me give up on the light contest. You said, ‘We’re not quitters.’”
Heather nodded. “And don’t forget what you said in the interview. ‘When it gets hard, don’t quit, even when you think you can’t keep going.’”
“Oh my God. Is this what being a parent is like? They remember everything you say and then use it against you?” Nora poked HL in his belly, making him giggle.
“Seriously, Nora. If you thought you could make the team, would you want it?” Hawk reached out, sliding his hand to her knee, just needing to touch her. He wasn’t sure he’d ever be tired of touching her.
“Yes.”
“Okay.” Hawk nodded. “What will it take to make the team?”
“A Christmas miracle?”
“Oh, babe. I think we’ve already had one.” No other way to describe how he felt about having Nora back in his life.
He needed to back off and let Nora make her own decision about her career. So instead he turned his mind to Kaz’s visit and the few other unexplained events recently. Being a cop, in his experience there was always a logical explanation, it’s just he hadn’t come close to finding it yet.
“HL, did you ask Santa for a mommy this year?”
“Yep. But since he hasn’t been coming through, I moved it way down on my list to number seven.” HL shook his head. “But it wasn’t me. Nora is nothing like the mom I asked for.”
Nora’s face fell. “I’m sorry, HL.”
“Why? You’re way cooler. I didn’t know they made moms like you.”
“I wrote a letter to Santa,” Heather announced quietly while she drew in a Harry Potter coloring book.
Hawk frowned. “Why didn’t I know you asked Santa for a mom?”
Heather finally looked up with a small secret smile on her face. “Because I didn’t. I asked Santa for someone for you, Daddy.”