After the Christmas Party(25)

Although he hadn’t given it much conscious thought, he was carrying on in her footsteps right down to how he stored his Christmas goodies.

“Oh, my mother believed in the joy of giving all year long.” But the way Trinity said the words conveyed a very different message from the one Riley had meant.

Poor Trinity, not having similar holiday traditions. As crazy as his family was, his Christmas memories were all good ones, except for those first few following his father’s death when his mother had seemed lost and forlorn. Riley had vowed to give her back her Christmas mojo and he had. Their shopping and decorating spree the previous week was proof enough of that.

Trinity rubbed her hand across her forehead, sucked in a breath and stared into an electronics store window as if their display was the most fascinating thing she’d ever seen. For a brief moment he thought her eyes watered, but not a single tear fell so he might have been wrong.

But he doubted it.

“What about your father?”

She gave a low laugh. “I have no clue about my father’s thoughts on Christmas, or anything else for that matter. He left before I was born.”

That he could relate to on some levels, because although his father had lived in the same house he’d rarely been home. Except at Christmas.

He’d wanted to know more about Trinity and her comments had revealed more than any other statement that she’d ever made. Yet all it had really done was to pose more questions. Questions that he didn’t think walking in a shopping mall was the right time to ask. But someday he wanted to tear down the walls she hid behind.

“Well, Trinity Warren, this is your lucky year, because this Christmas is going to be your best ever.” He squeezed her hand, knowing if he’d brought joy back to his mother’s holidays he could do so to Trinity’s too. “I promise.”

“It’s really not a big deal.” But the no big deal had her voice choking a little beyond what she was able to hide. Maybe her eyes really had watered.

“Christmas is just another day,” she continued, protesting a little too much perhaps. “I usually volunteer to work. I really don’t mind and really don’t need a ‘best ever’ Christmas.”

In years past, he’d volunteered to work as well so that others with children could be at home with their loved ones. He imagined he’d do the same this Christmas Day, too. His family all understood that he could be called away from celebrations at any time, but fortunately he’d always been at the family get-together for at least most of the day.

He loved the craziness of his family under one roof, of kids running around everywhere, shaking packages, wanting to know what Uncle Riley had bought them this year, and his mother warning that he’d better not have bought them anything that was going to cause a ruckus in her house. And, of course, he always did.

“My mom cooks a big Christmas lunch. My whole family goes. And I do mean the whole family. There’s a bunch of us—aunts, uncles, my mother, two brothers and two sisters, and more nieces and nephews than I can count these days.” He smiled at the thought of his family. “It’s a bit of mayhem, but in a good way. Maybe you’d like to go with me?”

Her gaze cut to his and a panicky look shone in her eyes. “Why?”

Why? Good question because Trinity going with him would raise all kinds of questions and expectations in his family’s minds. He’d never brought a woman home for the holidays.

“Because I’d like to take you with me.” Despite whatever teasing and questions her presence triggered, he knew he’d never spoken truer words. “I want you to spend Christmas Day with me, to be there with me and my family, to see what Christmas is really like.”

Because no way could she go with him and not be enchanted with the holidays.

Her eyes definitely a little misty, she sucked in a deep breath. “Like I said, I’ll probably be working, so I shouldn’t make any plans. Thanks, though.”

That was a cop-out if he’d ever heard one. Why was she being so stubborn when he was offering to include her in his life? Something past girlfriends had begged for. He was offering to take Trinity to his most important family get-together, one he cherished and had never risked an outsider disrupting, and she was tossing it back in his face?

“But if you’re not working, you’ll go?” He resented having to push when she should be happy to be invited, but he wasn’t going to let her be vague with her answer. She’d wiggle out of going if he let her.

“I’ll be working.”

He arched his brow. If having to work was all that stood in the way of her going with him, he’d find a way to get someone else to work in her stead. Even if it meant slipping someone a nice fat Christmas bonus out of his own pocket. He wanted Trinity with him and, as crazy as it was, he’d do almost anything to ensure she was. She needed to experience the magic of Christmas and what better way than with his family?