Her Christmas Wish

It was getting late and even though her fingers itched to tuck Olivia in, she knew she had to be patient. Tomorrow night, she told herself as she followed Ben down the hall. Tomorrow she could put her daughter to bed and begin building bittersweet memories. He opened the front door for her and she suddenly remembered something.

“Oh, I forgot to give you this.” Leah dug into her bag and pulled out an umbrella.

Ben’s mouth slashed into a reluctant smile as he took it from her and held it up to the light, making a point to study it from every angle.

“Does it pass inspection?” Leah asked. “See, it’s quite ordinary, just like me.”

For a moment, she felt the full force of his gaze and there weren’t any shadows lingering there. His eyes were warm and unguarded and his next words sucked the air out of her lungs. “I don’t think ordinary is a word I’d use to describe you at all, Miss Paxson.”

Chapter Four

“Looks like you have company.”

Jonah Fraser’s muffled voice reached Ben, where he was wedged between the wall and a built-in bookcase they were trying to remove with as little damage to it as possible.

“Man, that can’t be your new nanny.”

Ben closed his eyes briefly. Judging by the amazed tone in Jonah’s voice, he suddenly knew exactly who the company was. It was anyone’s guess, however, as to why they were here. Leah had been living with them for a week now and she still hadn’t figured out the schedule. Either that, or—and his suspicions were growing stronger by the hour—she just didn’t care about the schedule.

The first thing she’d done after she’d moved in was change suppertime. When he’d come home from work the day Leah moved in, expecting to eat a plate of leftovers at seven, he’d discovered the table set for three. Olivia had cheerfully announced that she’d eaten a snack after school and from now they were all going to eat together.

The second thing was, she really did play the saxophone. And she played it from eight to eight-thirty every evening. Olivia claimed it helped her fall asleep but he found it difficult to concentrate on his novel with the mournful, steamy notes of a saxophone permeating the house.

Now it looked like he was about to discover yet another Leah-driven change. He slid out from behind the bookcase just in time to see Olivia and Leah walk into the room. Leah had a picnic basket tucked under one arm.

“We made you and Jonah a pie, Daddy,” Olivia said excitedly.

Jonah swung Olivia up and perched her on his shoulder as she giggled helplessly. “This is a nice surprise.” He grinned at Ben.

Ben glanced at Leah, who was carefully removing a pie from the basket. “Right. Surprise.” He couldn’t argue with that. Over the past week, his life had become one big surprise.

“We’re making pies to take to Uncle Eli’s,” Olivia said. “Leah said it’s always good to have extra to share.”

“I’ll go along with Leah,” Jonah said in such a cheerful voice that Ben suddenly wanted to stuff him behind the bookcase. “I’m Jonah Fraser, by the way.”

Leah straightened and extended her hand. “Reverend Fraser’s son, right? It’s nice to meet you. I’m Leah Paxson.”

“Always labeled as the minister’s kid,” Jonah said, shaking his head in wonder. “You never outgrow it.”

Leah smiled and Ben cleared his throat. One of Jonah’s eyebrows lifted but Ben ignored him. Leah’s amber gaze swung to him.

“I hope you don’t mind that we stopped by,” she said. “I told Olivia that when we finished making the pies, I’d take her to the Starlight for a hamburger and we decided we’d bring a treat over for the two of you on the way.”

“’Cause I worked so hard,” Olivia put in. “Two apple, one pumpkin and a cherry.”

Jonah swung Olivia down from his shoulder and as soon as her feet touched the floor, she bounced over to her father. “We brought you apple.”

Ben was still mulling over Leah’s words. He didn’t know if he minded that they were here. He remembered telling Leah where he kept a copy of his daily schedule in case she needed to get in touch with him. In an emergency. Maybe finding someone to eat an apple pie fresh from the oven was one of the emergencies on Leah’s list. He sighed.

Olivia felt it. “Are you tired, Daddy?”

They were all looking at him now. He forced a smile. “Nothing that a piece of apple pie won’t cure.”

“So, you’re risking—I mean eating—Thanksgiving dinner at Eli and Rachel’s this year, hmm?” Jonah said.

The truth was, Ben hadn’t even thought about Thanksgiving. He’d been too busy trying to finish his client’s library before they returned from their cruise in the Bahamas. “At least we’ll have pie.” He winked at Olivia.

His daughter turned to Leah. “Maybe you can help Aunt Rachel with the turkey.”

“Oh, sweetie…I won’t be with you on Thanksgiving.”

“Why not?” Olivia’s voice echoed around the spacious room.

Ben saw a shadow pass across Leah’s face, dimming the warm sparkle that he was used to seeing in her eyes. “Well, holidays are for families. I never spend holidays with the people I work for.”

But she didn’t have a family. Ben remembered her telling him that her mother had passed away. She hadn’t mentioned a father and he assumed there must have been a reason why.

“But you’re part of the family,” Olivia insisted and then turned pleading eyes to him to say something.

He wasn’t sure what to say. The bond that had quickly forged between Olivia and her new nanny concerned him. Leah was young and pretty, it was only a matter of time until she met someone and fell in love, got married and started a family of her own…and then she’d leave. Even though she was young, Leah was closer to a mother figure than Nanny Baker had been. Nanny B had loved Olivia but she had clear boundaries that defined her personal time and space. Since Leah had moved in with them, he hadn’t noticed her creating any of those boundaries. She was available to Olivia 24/7. Even when she was supposed to take an evening off for herself, she’d taken Olivia to Chestnut Grove Community Church for a children’s fun night instead.

Over the years, Mrs. Baker had taken the opportunity over the holidays to visit her own family, and as close as she and Olivia were, Olivia hadn’t protested at all.

“Daddy?”

He’d hesitated too long. Leah looked uncomfortable, Jonah looked incredulous and Olivia looked crestfallen.

“Chestnut Community is hosting a community Thanksgiving dinner and service this year, Leah,” Jonah interrupted cautiously.

Ben shot him an impatient look. For some reason, the thought of Leah spending the day elbow-to-elbow with strangers and eating sliced turkey off plastic plates didn’t sit well with him.

“You’re more than welcome to join us at Eli’s,” he said. “I know Rachel won’t mind, and my parents will want to meet you.”

As far as invitations went, it was everything that was polite and cordial, but Leah still felt as if a fissure had formed in her heart. It was obvious that Ben still didn’t approve of her. But for Olivia…

She glanced down at the little girl. She’d missed seven years of holidays and now God was giving her a gift. The opportunity to spend one with her daughter. Even as she yearned to say yes to Ben’s reluctant invitation, a niggling doubt settled in her heart.

What if Ben’s family saw the resemblance between her and Olivia?

When she’d taken Olivia to children’s night at the church on Wednesday, one of the women had assumed they were mother and daughter. Olivia had grinned widely at the mistake but Leah had felt a ripple of fear. She didn’t want anyone to put the idea in Ben’s head that maybe she and Olivia were related.

People see what they want to see.

One of her mother’s favorite sayings came back to her. No one knew anything about her past. They didn’t know she’d given a baby up for adoption. She was simply the woman hired to take care of Olivia. That’s what Ben’s family would see when they looked at her. She took a deep breath.

“I’d love to spend Thanksgiving with you.”

Before the words were even out of her mouth, Olivia’s arms were around her waist.