A Family for Christmas (6 page)

Lydia
put down her laptop when Gabe came in, though. He was carrying his phone.

“I’ve
got to go to Raleigh this evening,” he said, without preamble. “We’ve run into
a bit of a snag with work.”

“Okay,”
she said, straightening up. “When will you be back?”

“Tomorrow.
It will just be a short trip. I’d rather not take Ellie, since I’ll be working
the whole time. Do you mind her staying here?”

“Oh.”
Lydia blinked, her stomach dropping at the thought of being with the girl on
her own for a day and a half. “Okay. Yeah, I guess that would be okay.”

“Good.
Thanks. I’m going to pack and take off right away.”

“Where
is Ellie now?”

“She’s
up in her room reading. I’ll go up and tell her before I leave.”

“Okay.”

Lydia
didn’t like this idea. At all. She didn’t like to be solely responsible for a
child’s welfare. And she definitely didn’t like trying to take care of a girl
like Ellie, who obviously wanted nothing to do with her.

But
Gabe seemed to think it was important that he leave. He seemed to think that it
was natural that she’d watch his daughter while he went off on business.

And
Lydia had no good reason not to do it, since she had nothing else pressing to
do.

In
their preparations for marriage, they’d agreed that Gabe had primary
responsibility for Ellie, but Lydia would help when she could.

She
could now.

So,
before she knew it, she and Ellie were standing on the porch together, watching
Gabe drive away in his fancy car.

Lydia
took a deep breath and looked down at the girl.

She
was wearing the braids again, and she was frowning as her dad disappeared down
the street.

“Well,”
Lydia said, trying to sound cheerful. “Looks like it’s just you and me. Do you
want to do something fun this afternoon? We can go to the library or shopping
or something.”

Ellie
stared up at her with those dark blue eyes. “I’m going to read.”

Lydia
sighed. “Okay.”

***

At seven the following
evening, Lydia was just about at the end of her rope.

She’d
done everything she could think of to bond with Ellie. She’d taken her out to
eat for dinner the day before and breakfast this morning. She’d taken her to
the library and to the bakery for donuts. She’d tried to play three different
games. She’d asked about the books the girl was reading and the story she was
writing and the friends she’d had in school. She’d tried to make a game of
cleaning the kitchen so Ellie might want to join her.

And
nothing. The girl hadn’t even smiled.

Lydia
had gotten so desperate that she’d called up her mom for advice.

“She
just doesn’t like me,” Lydia said, for about the fifth time. She’d rehearsed
the last two days, and the frustrated helplessness was catching up to her. Her
voice broke on the last word. “She’s mostly a well-behaved girl. She’s never
nasty, and she obeys her father really well. But she doesn’t like me—no matter
what I do.”

“You’ve
got to give her some time,” her mother said. “It’s only been a couple of
weeks.”

“Yeah,
but it’s been months since I got together with Gabe. I wouldn’t mind if there
was slow progress, but there’s no progress at all. I don’t know what to do. I’m
just no good with kids.”

“You’ve
always said that, but I’ve never known why. You do fine with kids.”

“No,
I don’t. I never know what to say to them.”

“You
just haven’t spent a lot of time around them, but they’ve always liked you
fine.”

“But
Ellie doesn’t. Don’t you have any suggestions on how I can talk to her or what
I can do?”

“I’m
sorry, honey, I don’t know what to tell you—except kids aren’t alien creatures.
They’re people. Treat her like a person. If it were you, in her situation, how
would you want to be treated?”

Lydia
sighed and slumped down on the couch, stretching her legs out and closing her
eyes. “I just don’t know. I’ve never been in her situation, and I’m so
exhausted now I can’t even think.”

“It
just feels overwhelming now because it’s new to you and you’re not used to it.
It will get easier. I promise. She’s your family now. Try to start thinking about
her that way, and she’ll eventually warm up.”

Lydia
didn’t reply to that. Ellie didn’t feel like family, any more than Gabe did.
That was part of why it was so hard, and it was something she couldn’t tell her
mother.

“What
does Gabe say about it?” her mom asked.

“Nothing.”

“You
mean you haven’t told him you’re having trouble with her?”

“I’m
not having trouble with her. I mean, it’s not like she’s really being bad.”

“But
he still needs to know. How does she act when he’s around?”

“Better.
She’ll answer me and say thank you when he’s around. It’s not like she’s ever
friendly.”

“Well,
tell him. He’ll want to know you’re so upset about it. The two of you can
figure out something to do.”

“I
don’t want to go and whine to him about his daughter.”

“It’s
not whining. It’s part of life. If you’re building a family together, you all
need to work together to deal with anything that comes up.”

Lydia
swallowed and bit back an immediate objection.

Her
mother’s tone softened as she added, “You’ve got to work together, honey, or a
marriage can never work.”

“Yeah.
I know.” Lydia opened her eyes and realized her mother was right.

It
didn’t matter why or how she’d married Gabe. It was still a marriage. And Ellie
and her happiness were important. They needed to somehow make this work.

When
he got home, she’d talk to him. It would be fine. They were two reasonable
people, and they could figure out a way to make this marriage successful.

***

Gabe didn’t get back
until almost midnight.

Lydia
put Ellie to bed at nine, and she stayed awake in her bedroom, waiting. At ten,
when he still hadn’t arrived, she’d gotten ready for bed, but she kept the
light on and read, listening for the sounds of Gabe returning.

Maybe
she should just wait until the next morning, but she’d steeled herself to have
the conversation tonight, so she wanted to just get it done.

Finally
she heard the garage door open and his car pull in. She waited and heard his footsteps
on the stairs. They kept going up to the third floor, so he must be checking on
Ellie.

Hopefully
the girl was asleep.

He
didn’t stay up there long, so she must have been sleeping. Lydia waited when
she heard the floor of the hallway creak outside her bedroom.

Maybe
he’d check in with her, to let her know he was back and see how things had
gone.

The
light was on in her room, after all, so it would be a polite thing to do.

He
didn’t, though. After a moment, she heard the footsteps continue on to his
room.

She
let out a breath and stood up.

She
wore a pair of red cotton pajama pants and a matching tank top. Since it was a
little chilly and she felt too exposed, she pulled on a hoodie to cover her
arms and shoulders before she left the room.

Her
hair was rather tousled, but she didn’t really care.

She
wasn’t trying to look good. She wanted to have a reasonable conversation with
Gabe.

His
door was half-opened so she tapped on it and pushed it open farther.

He
was in the process of pulling his shirt off, and she froze at the sight of his
broad, well-developed back and his very fine ass in the trousers he still wore.

He
turned around quickly at her knock, holding his shirt in his hands.

“Sorry,”
she said quickly. “The door was…”

His
chest was very nice too. She trailed off as her eyes lingered on the
well-developed muscles and scattering of dark hair.

“It’s
fine. I thought you were in bed.” He was staring at her too, and he hadn’t
moved, not even to put his shirt down.

“Yeah.
I mean, no, I was just reading.”

Lydia
started breathing a little quickly at the sight of him half-dressed this way.
In his bedroom. In their house.

“How
did things go?” he asked, finally realizing he was still holding his shirt and
tossing it towards the closet.

She
took a few steps into the room. “Fine. It was…it was okay.”

His
brows drew together. “Is something wrong?”

She
was flushed and breathless from seeing him like this, but she had enough brain
capacity to realize this wasn’t what he was asking. “Not really. Not wrong,
really. It’s just that—”

“Is
Ellie okay?”

“She’s
fine,” Lydia replied, just slightly sharp. She was trying to explain, if he’d
just let her get the words out. “It’s not that. It’s just that it’s been kind
of hard to…to do everything myself.”

That
wasn’t exactly what she’d wanted to say, but it was certainly the truth.

He
frowned and stepped closer to her. “I thought you said it was fine to watch her
while I was gone.”

“I
did. I mean, it was. Although we might want to talk about it some more, since
you seemed to expect me to without question, and that’s not always going to
work for me. But—”

“What
do you mean I expected you to without question? I asked you. What else could I
have done?” His body had tensed up, and his voice was edged with annoyance.

Lydia
was suddenly annoyed too. She hadn’t been very lucid with her explanation, but
he didn’t need to immediately take offense this way. She had a valid point.
“You could have run the possibility by me before it was a done deal. You were
practically out the door when you asked me. What could I have said but yes?”

“You
could have said no. What else did you need to do?” He’d moved even closer to
her, big and tense and quietly angry.

She
sucked in a breath at the implication. “Just because I’m not working right now
doesn’t mean my time is entirely yours to use. I didn’t marry you to become
your babysitter or housekeeper, you know.”

She
wasn’t the kind of person who got angry easily. Annoyed, yes. Angry, no. So she
had no idea why she was so angry right now. But she was practically shaking
with it, wanting to claw the condescending, impatient look off his face.

“Damn
it,” he bit out. “When did I ever say you should be my housekeeper or
babysitter?”

“You
don’t have to say it. But for the last week I’ve done the housework and made
the meals and watched your daughter. We’d agreed we would split things up
equally, and that’s not what is happening.”

He
was almost choking on some sort of outrage. “You offered to do all of that. If
you didn’t want to, then why the hell did you offer?”

“I
was trying to be nice. And you haven’t showed the slightest bit of appreciation
or reciprocation.”

“I
said thank you. What else did you expect?”

Their
voices weren’t loud, but they were both angry, and he was very close to her
now.

She
could reach out and touch him. Ridiculously, she was still overwhelmed with
that physical attraction—even more so now that he was so visceral, so
passionate, so real.

Not
distant at all—angry and in her face this way.

“I
expected this to be a partnership,” she snapped. “And that’s not what it is. I
feel like I’m the only one making any effort here, and I’m not going to keep
making efforts if you’re not willing to do your share.”

“And
it never occurred to you to open your mouth and let me know you weren’t happy
about things?” He was breathing heavily, and his cheeks were slightly flushed.

She
wanted so much for him to kiss her that she had to clench her fingers at her
sides.

“I’m
opening my mouth now,” she said. Her voice cracked slightly, and she realized
she needed to leave—right now—before she did something incredibly stupid.

And
humiliating.

So
she just turned on her heel and walked out of the room.

“Lydia.”
His hoarse voice followed her out the hall. “Don’t—”

She
didn’t hear the rest because she’d closed her bedroom door behind her.

She
rarely fought. With anyone. She occasionally rubbed people the wrong way, but
she always apologized and made an effort to make things better. With some work,
she’d always gotten along well with everyone in her life, and any brief
disagreements she’d been able to smooth over with honesty and a warm smile.

Her
fight with Gabe kept her awake for a long time.

This
marriage was supposed to help both of them and not demand too much.