Parker was having more success with stringing the popcorn now, and I was amused to note that he bit his bottom lip the same way Callie did when she was trying to focus. It was adorable, especially when Callie returned, took up her needle and thread, and immediately got the same expression on her face.
We worked without speaking for a while, stringing popcorn and listening to the Christmas carols Callie had put on. Then Parker spoke up. “Hey, look how long Mom’s is!”
Callie held up her three-foot-long string of popcorn.
I pretended to glare at her. “Nobody likes a show-off.”
Grinning, she threw a piece of popcorn across the table at me. Parker cheered when I caught it in my mouth and crunched it between my teeth. “Throw me one next, Mom.”
Callie smiled but shook her head, and I was fairly sure that some version of “boys will be boys” was running through her head.
The Christmas music was pleasant to listen to as we worked. I couldn’t recall the last time I’d listened to any on purpose. Every once in a while, Callie seemed to forget herself and started singing along. She had a lovely voice, low and throaty, but then she’d catch me watching her and she’d stop. I wanted her to be able to relax around me—but on the other hand, it was kind of flattering the way I could make her face flush and her eyes widen with just a glance.
I wanted to know more about their lives, which were so different from my own. “So what do you two usually do on the weekend when you’re not trimming the tree?”
“Work, usually,” Callie said. “This is my first day off in forever.”
“Your job makes you work seven days a week?”
“Jobs,” she said, emphasizing the plural. “And yeah, they keep me pretty busy. Tomorrow I only have one, just in the afternoon.” Wow. I couldn’t imagine raising a child by myself, let alone doing it while holding down two jobs.
“And what will Parker do while you’re at work?”
“He stays with a sitter.”
I raised an eyebrow as our eyes met. She nodded, confirming that it was the one who’d let Parker run off the other day. “What time do you have to be at work?”
“Two.”
“Have you two ever been to the Christmas Market?”
“Yes,” Parker said, going from a zero to sixty excitement level in mere seconds. “And we drank from a boot!”
“A what?”
“Every year they have a souvenir mug, and the year we went, it was in the shape of a boot,” Callie elaborated.
“It’s my favorite mug for hot chocolate,” Parker confirmed.
“Then how about we go together tomorrow morning? Maybe we can see about getting you another boot mug, so you’ll have a pair.”
Callie shook her head. “That’s very kind, but we’re fine. There’s lots to do—it’s he Sunday before Christmas, after all.”
“So what better day to go to the Christmas Market? Last chance for a year.”
She shook her head even as her son joined in. “Can we, Mom? Please? We can’t just have one boot mug, it’s gotta be a pair.” His eyes looked as big as his mother’s as he pleaded with her.
I widened my eyes and attempted to mimic Parker’s expression. “Pretty please?”
Callie rolled her eyes at me, but I saw her perfect pink lips twitch.
“Come on, Mom, it’ll be fun. We can just look around, we don’t have to buy anything.”
Callie’s face flushed at that, and I had a feeling she wished her son hadn’t brought up the subject of money. Maybe someday, she’d feel comfortable talking about those kinds of things in front of me—or with me. She was definitely someone I wanted to get to know better. A lot better.
“It’s not that,” she said. “ It’s just a busy weekend.”
“But I don’t even hardly remember going last time. I was just a little kid.”
That brought a smile to my lips. “I can’t remember the last time I went, either.”
Callie scanned our faces and let out a sigh. “This is my place, so why am I suddenly outvoted?” Parker broke into a big grin, sensing victory. “All right, we’ll go.”
Parker crowed in victory.
“It’s a date, then.” I winked and had the pleasure of seeing that tempting blush fill in her cheeks.
6
Callie
Five days before Christmas
“Did you know there were this many different kinds of candied nuts?” Mason inquired.
“No, I didn’t. They sure smell good, though.” So far, we’d barely made it through the first row of booths at the downtown Christmas market.
“Does this one have samples?” Parker wanted to know.
Mason’s head swiveled as he searched. Spotting a bowl, he scooped it up and offered it to Parker.
“Yum, cinnamon sugar,” my son said a moment later, his mouth full.
The day was crisp, but between the crowds, walking around, and the frequent treats to nibble on, I wasn’t feeling particularly cold. I wasn’t worried about Parker, either. He was bundled up tight, plus, he was racing back and forth, trying to see everything at once. That would keep him warm.
Still, by the time we found the first stall selling hot drinks, I was more than ready. So, apparently, was Parker.
“Hey, they’ve got the boot mugs!”
Mason had already gotten in line. “Time to get you a pair of boots, kiddo.” He was tall enough to see the sign over the crowd in front of us. “You can get it with tea, mulled wine, or hot chocolate.”
“Hot chocolate,” Parker said instantly.
Mason grinned down at him. “I figured. How about you, Callie?” His whiskey-colored eyes met mine, and something inside me warmed. It still felt surreal that this rich, handsome, successful man was spending his Sunday morning with us. Everything from his dark wool coat to his leather gloves screamed ‘he’s out of your league’ yet here he was. It was mind-bending.
“We’ll share,” I told him.
“You should each have your own.”
“But then we’d have three boots,” Parker pointed out. “We just need a pair.”
“Good point.”
“Besides, Mom and I like to share.”
That was apparently a good enough answer for Mason, but it made my heart do a funny little flip-flop. Parker believed that we shared things because we were a team—and we were. But it was also because money was so tight, and that was the part that made my heart ache. He was such a good boy—I wanted to give him everything he deserved and more, but I couldn’t. Hell, I couldn’t even give him what he wanted for Christmas.
When it was Mason’s turn, he ordered the two drinks plus three gigantic Bavarian pretzels, ignoring my insistence that we didn’t need all that. I offered to pay for our share, but Mason refused, which didn’t come as much of a surprise. He was quite wealthy, that was very obvious from his office and the diamond earrings, but that didn’t always equate to being generous. Obviously with him, it did.
Parker was thrilled with the pretzel Mason handed him. “This is as big as my head!”