“Keely?”
“Hmm?”
A moment of silence passed, and then came a very small, very sad sigh. “Do you think my mom misses me?”
Even knowing this conversation was coming, Keely still felt a pang of dread. What if her words instilled fear rather than calm? “Of course she misses you.”
“Do you think she’s lonely without me?”
“Your mother loves you,” Keely said truthfully, if somewhat evasively. “We’ll visit her next month. In the meantime you can write to her.”
Although Juliette would eventually be able to see her daughter weekly, she wasn’t allowed visitations during the first month of her incarceration.
The holiday season was going to be difficult for Felicity. Since her father had signed over custody before her birth, Juliette was the only parent the child had ever known. Keely was determined to give her sweet cousin the best Christmas of her life. It wouldn’t take away Felicity’s pain or sense of loss, but it would certainly offer her a lovely distraction.
“I know having your mom gone is really hard, but I’m here for you now, and always.”
Choking out a sob, Felicity flung herself into Keely’s arms.
With a fierceness that grabbed her by the throat, she pulled the child close and once again silently promised to make this Christmas season one the girl would remember for years to come. “Oh, sweetie, I’m going to take really good care of you, I promise.”
Felicity clung for several, long seconds. Keely gently rocked the child back and forth. Once she felt Felicity relax, she eased her back onto the bed. It was hard not to look at her without seeing Juliette. Mother and daughter had the same cornflower-blue eyes, attractive dimples and exotic tilt to their features.
“Will you read to me before I go to sleep?”
“I would love that.” Keely sorted through the stack of books she’d placed on the bedside table this afternoon.
“Do we want one of the American Girls, or should I read from—” she picked up the book at the bottom of the pile “—My Friend Flicka?”
Keely couldn’t help smiling as one of the mysteries from earlier in the evening was now solved. You can call me Flicka, Felicity had told Ethan.
Her dimples flashing prettily, the child pointed to the book in Keely’s hand. “That one, please.”
“My Friend Flicka it is.” Still smiling, Keely opened the book and began reading about a boy and his horse. Her mind was only partly on the words, mostly on Felicity.
She was a sweet child with an inherently kind nature. Not too many years in the future, she would steal young boys’ hearts without even trying. Keely only hoped Felicity’s life took a happier route than Juliette’s.
Now that she was Felicity’s legal guardian, Keely would ensure that her little cousin made wise choices. Keely would start the process by loving her, and creating a stable home and, of course, raising her in the church. Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
With the verse from Proverbs convicting her, she turned the page and continued reading. By the time she made it to the end of the first chapter, Felicity was sound asleep.
Keely spent the rest of the night on the phone clearing her calendar and ensuring that her managers were okay running the restaurant a few more days without her. Then she texted her brother and asked him to check in periodically during the afternoon and evening shifts. With his ski shop, the Slippery Slope, next door to the restaurant, it shouldn’t be a problem.
The next morning, Keely woke feeling better about her role as a surrogate mother to her cousin’s daughter. Maybe, just maybe, she’d get it right with Felicity.
Please, Lord, let it be so.
* * *
Just after sunrise, the child herself came into the kitchen when Keely was sipping her first cup of coffee for the day.
“Hey there.” She set her steaming mug on the counter. “I was just about to run upstairs and check on you.”
Rubbing at her eyes, Felicity smiled around a jaw-cracking yawn. “I’m hungry.”
Which answered Keely’s next question. Obviously, the child was feeling better this morning. “How do pancakes sound?”
“Yummy.”
While Keely mixed up the batter, she and Felicity discussed their favorite foods, which led to the popular chocolate-versus-vanilla debate. Chocolate won, of course.
She made a mental note to stop by her best friend’s brand-new chocolate shop with Felicity in tow. If they went in one afternoon this week, perhaps her cousin could meet Olivia’s twin daughters, Megan and Molly, who were Felicity’s same age and attended Village Green Elementary. It was an excellent way to help the child make new friends in a safe, comfortable environment.
By the time Keely set a full plate in front of her, she knew she’d made the right decision to keep Felicity home for the day.
She was just about to dig into her own stack of pancakes when a knock sounded on the back door.
Thinking she knew exactly who was standing outside her house, Keely chewed on her bottom lip. She wasn’t sure she was ready to face Ethan again, not before she’d consumed at least two more cups of coffee. The animosity between them she could handle. It was familiar, comfortable, but this sudden getting along, even if only for a child’s sake? Well, that confused and intimidated her.
Another knock came, louder and more insistent.
“Aren’t you going to see who it is?”
The question spurred Keely into action. “Be right back.”
She felt a catch in her throat when she opened the door to a very different man than the one she’d interacted with last night. He’d ditched the casual T-shirt, jeans and—sadly—the scruff. He now wore a pair of dark blue dress pants and a crisp white button-down. He was also rocking a beat-up leather jacket and aviator sunglasses.
Keely sucked in a breath, wondering why her pulse sped up whenever the man came within five feet of her.
Not much got to her. In truth, very little got to her. But a clean-shaven Ethan Scott decked out in professional attire and really cool shades?
Oh yeah, that got to her.
* * *
Ethan removed his sunglasses, only to realize his mistake the moment his unhindered gaze connected with Keely’s. He should have called instead of coming over to check on Flicka in person. Too late to change his mind now. He was tethered to the spot by a pair of sea-green eyes.
Why had he never noticed how long and full Keely’s lashes were? How had he missed the flawlessness of her complexion?
He tried to look away. He really tried. But then the doctor in him took over and he noted the tiny lines of stress around her mouth, the purple smudges beneath her eyes.
She’d had a rough night.
“Is Flicka still experiencing stomach pains?”
“No, she’s fine. She’s—”
“Dr. Ethan, Dr. Ethan, you’re here!”
Charmed by the enthusiastic greeting, he peered around Keely and smiled at the girl. She was smaller than he’d calculated, skinnier, too, but utterly adorable as she frantically waved a hand over her head.
“Hey, Flicka.”
He’d barely shifted around Keely when the little girl launched herself at him. He caught her and held her close for one beat, two, then slowly set her back on her feet and studied her more closely.