Kisses on Her Christmas List

They hit the bottom with a thump.

Obviously paying attention to the grove of trees ahead of them, Rory banked left, toppling the sled to a stop. She rolled on the ground. He rolled beside her.

She turned her head to face him; he turned to face her and they burst out laughing.

Finley’s little voice echoed down the hill. “Me next, Daddy!”

He bounced up and held his hand out to Shannon, helping her up.

“That was amazing.”

He picked up the sled. “I know. It was like being a kid again. Fun. Free.” Holding the sled with one hand, he looped his other arm across her shoulders. “Now we have to trudge about fifty feet up a hill.”

She laughed, but her insides tickled. Even working at the store, she’d been nothing but lonely in the past year. Not because she didn’t have friends. She did. Lots of them. Not because she missed her husband. Any man who’d desert a woman the day she had a hysterectomy was an ass. But because she’d missed belonging. With Rory and Finley she felt as if she belonged.

She sucked in a breath, erasing that thought. These two would be with her for one more day—well, one evening and one night. Maybe breakfast in the morning. She couldn’t get attached to them.

Still, when they reached the top and found Finley bouncing with delight, happiness filled her again. Finley was a sweet little girl who deserved some fun. Maybe even a break from the reality of her life—that her mom didn’t want her.

Rory scooped her off the ground and fell with her onto the sled. The weight of their bodies set the sled in motion and it slid down the little slope. Shannon fell to her own sled and careened behind them so she could jump off when she reached the ledge and watch them as they whipped down the bigger hill.

Finley’s squeals of pleasure echoed through the forest. Shannon’s chest puffed out with pride. She’d thought of the idea that had turned a potentially dismal afternoon into an afternoon of joy.