head-shaking and pointing.
Finally, Will nodded and turned back to Marshall. “If you want, Chloe and me can put up your Christmas tree.”
He blinked at the unexpected offer and cast a glance at Andie, who looked just as astonished as he felt.
“We put all the ornaments on ours all by ourselves. Only, our mom had to put the high ones on,” the boy added. “Then we had to move some ornaments up more because our cat, Mrs. Finnegan, tries to knock them off. She’s a rascal.”
“You don’t have a cat, do you?” Chloe asked, meeting his gaze despite the lingering nervousness that threaded through her voice.
“No. No pets here.”
“Okay. Then we can put the ornaments right on the bottom,” Will said.
“I can make snowflakes,” his sister offered. “And Willie is really good at paper chains.”
“I am,” the boy said with no trace of false modesty. “I can use scissors all by myself.”
Marshall didn’t know quite what to say to their magnanimous offer. He hadn’t particularly missed having a Christmas tree, though he had loved that ugly little thing in the desert years ago that had somehow made him more homesick than he would have believed.
Most years it had never seemed worth the energy and effort, especially when he always worked extra shifts over the holidays so the guys with families could have more time off with their kids. Anyway, his mother decorated her place like a glitter cannon exploded in there, and Wyn and Katrina always had, too. If he ever felt the need for a little infusion of Christmas spirit, he figured he only needed to stop in at one of their places.
It wasn’t worth the trouble now, really. A little holiday cheer wasn’t going to be enough to lift him out of the misery of sitting around on his ass for the next few weeks.
“Do you even have a Christmas tree? A fake one or a real one?” Will said. “We could go get one, if you don’t. I saw, like, a million of them by the store where we buy food for our dog.”
“Our mom might have to put it up, like she did ours,” Chloe said after a minute. “We don’t know how to plug in the lights and stuff.”
Andrea, who had been watching this interchange silently, finally spoke. “Kids, let’s not get carried away. Sheriff Bailey might not even want a Christmas tree.”
He was about to agree with her until he happened to glance at Chloe and Will and saw the eagerness on both of their faces.
They wanted to do something nice for him. It was a sweet and generous offer and it seemed rude to turn that away.
“My sister might have a tree out in the shed,” he said after a minute. “But I thought you all were heading to a party.”
“Oh yeah,” Will said. “I can’t believe we forgot the party!”
“Could we do it tomorrow?” Chloe asked.
They both looked at their mother. “I can text Wyn and ask if she’s got an artificial tree tucked away somewhere here or if she took it to Boise with her. If she doesn’t have one, I’m sure I can find somebody who has an extra they’re not using this year.”
At this particular juncture of his life, he couldn’t contemplate owning one Christmas tree, let alone having a spare sitting around.
“As long as Sheriff Bailey doesn’t mind.”
He had no choice, really, but to shrug. “I guess it would be okay.”
“Yay!” Will jumped up and down and Chloe beamed, as if he had just offered to take them to Disneyland instead of merely agreeing to let them do something nice for him.
“We can go home and work on the snowflakes and paper chains tonight before the party and bring them back here tomorrow,” the girl offered.
“Thanks.”
He supposed that meant he would have to have a couple little kids underfoot for a while the next day. The prospect wasn’t as unpleasant as it should have been.
He frowned. He had never much liked kids and couldn’t see that changing now, when he was thirty-four years old.
“Maybe you could make some snowflakes,” Chloe suggested. “You can’t do anything else while you have a broken leg.”
Andrea tried and failed to hide her wince. “I’m sure Sheriff Bailey has plenty to do without worrying about cutting out paper snowflakes, honey.”
Like what? See how many puzzles he could guess right on Wheel of Fortune or if he could win Final Jeopardy?
That sounded about as pathetic as he felt right about now, so he opted to keep his mouth shut.
“Your dinner just needs to be popped into the microwave when you’re ready,” Andrea informed him. “Is there anything else I can do for you before we leave?”
“I think I’m good. You’ve done more than enough already. I’m not sure the guilt trip Wynona laid on you really required you to decorate my house for the holidays.”
She opened her eyes a little wider. Hers were green like Chloe’s but the soft green of unfurled leaves in spring. “What guilt trip would that be?” she asked, trying to look innocent.
He was a hardened law enforcement officer and knew when someone was innocent and when they weren’t. “I grew up in the same house with Wyn. I know just how adept she can be at emotional blackmail.”
She chewed on her lip, watching her kids as they discussed their decorating plans between them. “If you would rather the children didn’t put up a Christmas tree, I can talk to them later and explain things to them. Don’t feel obligated, really. They’ll be fine. This time of year, they’re easily distracted.”
Marshall knew that’s exactly what he should do—just tell her he didn’t want a Christmas tree.
It had been really sweet of them to make the offer—especially Chloe, who was obviously still nervous around him. If the little girl was willing to do the work to get over her fear, he couldn’t refuse her the opportunity.
“It’s fine. I have to stare at these same walls for the next few weeks, so I guess a little holiday spirit would at least brighten the place up for me.”
Andrea’s relieved smile sent a weird little shaft of warmth through his chest. “That’s very kind of you. Thanks. I never want to discourage my children from doing nice things for others, especially when they come up with the idea on their own.”
“Glad I could be of service,” he said, unable to keep the dry note from his voice.
“Don’t worry about the tree,” she added. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Are you sure? I was planning to trudge up the Mount Solace trail in the snow later so I could cut one down.”
She made a face. “Ha-ha. I’m sure I can find one.”
Andrea
