“I wanna say hi back,” she insisted. “I asked Tara if we could bring them carrots for Christmas but she said we had to ask you first.”
“You can absolutely bring Pepper and Rupert carrots for Christmas.” And then Jace decided to play dirty. “I was just trying to talk your sister into bringing all of you out to the farm for Christmas as our guests, since y’all are out of heat.” He placed extra emphasis, figuring part of her objection would be money.
Ginny’s eyes got huge. “Tara! Oh can we can we can we? Ohpleaseohpleaseohplease!”
“Yeah, Tara,” Austin added, “we could help with stuff at the farm.”
“Sure,” Jace said, getting into the idea. “I could teach you how to drive the wagon.”
“For real?”
“Sure.”
“That’d be awesome!”
“It’s settled, then. These two will work for their keep. We need a couple of elves around the place.” Jace made a show of checking Ginny’s ears for points.
Tara’s expression only got stiffer. “I really appreciate it, but—”
Ginny’s face crumpled and Jace could tell she was about to cry. He scooped her up and pressed his cheek to hers. “C’mon. How can you say no to this face?”
Tara’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t play fair,” she murmured.
“He doesn’t,” Livia agreed. “I’m sorry to say, he learned that from me. But seriously, we’d love to have you. Having some kids around will get Mom off our backs for not having given her grandchildren yet.”
“Well, I...” She trailed off, looking from Ginny to Austin before closing her eyes. Jace knew she was going to cave. “Thank you. We appreciate it.”
“Hooray!”
Jace put Ginny down and the kids launched into some kind of complicated victory dance.
Tara just shook her head, a reluctant smile twitching at the corners of her mouth. “Did you actually want coffee, or were you only here to railroad me?”
“Oh coffee, absolutely,” Jace said.
He and Livia gave their orders and headed for a table. “Thanks for backing me up.”
“No girl, my ass,” she said. “How long will it take you to move your stuff out of the apartment?”
Jace maintained an innocent expression. “Not long. And I’m just spreading the Christmas spirit.”
“You’re spreading something.” Livia laid a hand over his. “It’s a nice thing you’re doing. But be careful. Those kids have been through a lot.”
So had Tara. And Jace was willing to bet nobody had been thinking about helping her.
Chapter 4
The old Victorian farmhouse glinted like a jewel in the night as Tara pulled up. Lights and garland twined the rails, followed the eaves. The whole place looked like a post card.
What must it be like to live out here in all of this?
And they’d be spending Christmas here? Tara didn’t know whether to jump for joy or run away. The generosity of Jace and his family would certainly keep them warm this holiday and give all three of them cherished memories. But what happened next year when things were back to whatever version of normal she managed for Austin and Ginny? Nothing she could do could possibly live up to all of this.
A figure came down the porch steps. Livia. A blend of relief and disappointment trickled through Tara as she got out of the RAV. She wasn’t quite ready to face Jace again. She felt far too off balance around him, and that wasn’t a comfortable state for Tara. “I wasn’t sure where to park.”
“Where you are is fine. The apartment’s down here.” Livia led her down a path to a smaller barn out past the one that housed Pepper and Rupert.
“Y’all really know how to do Christmas, don’t you?”