“Not in the way you probably mean,” she admitted softly, wishing they could just not have this conversation.
“Which is?”
“It’s not that I expected grand presents or anything, it just would have been nice to have had a little bit of normalcy during my childhood.”
Wow. She couldn’t believe she was saying the words out loud, that she was admitting that her life wasn’t perfect, because to make that admission just begged for someone to want to dig deeper.
For Riley to dig deeper.
She knew he would. So why hadn’t she shut this conversation down? Instead, if anything, she’d encouraged it.
His hold on her hand tightened then he let go, started working on the present again. “By normalcy, you mean like a Norman Rockwell painting?”
“Not really.” Normalcy, as in a Norman Rockwell painting? As in a mother and a father making a big deal over her, over having a brother or a sister to squabble with over who got to open the first gift. She hadn’t ever really thought of normalcy that way, but perhaps, if she had, that’s exactly how she would have envisioned an ideal childhood Christmas. “Maybe.”
“I should warn you, my family is very non-normal. Christmas with us is more along the lines of a madhouse. The whole bunch are touched in the head.”
She could hear the love in his voice and was honestly more than a little jealous. “Must run in the family.”
“Must do,” he agreed, holding up the wrapped gift for her inspection. “Voilà!”
“Nice.” Every angle was perfectly aligned and taped down. “Do I have to be a heart surgeon to achieve something similar?”
“Nope, just need a little patience and a whole lot of practice. Here.” He cut off a piece of paper and flattened it out on the floor, then placed the box in the middle. “Your turn.”
Trinity wrapped the remainder of her presents with Riley’s help. The packages weren’t as neat as the one he’d done alone, but by the last one she was impressed with the progress she’d made.
“Look!” she exclaimed as she ran the edge of the scissors over the length of ribbon, causing a perfect curl to form. “I did it!”
His eyes were warm, full of praise. “I knew you could.”
His faith in her was so evident, so real as to almost be palpable. “You did, didn’t you?”
“It was a no-brainer.”
When no one her entire life had believed in her, why did he? What did he see that no one else did? “Why’s that?”
“You’re a smart woman who can do anything you set your mind to.”
“Thank you, but you’re giving me more credit than I deserve.”
“I don’t think so. I just think you don’t give yourself enough credit. Not where a lot of things are concerned. You really are the most amazing woman, Trinity.”
Not knowing what to say to his comment, she made a show of surveying the assembly of presents. “I hope they like them.”
His gaze stayed on her rather than the presents. “They will. They aren’t picky. They’re used to dealing with me, remember?”
He was so close to perfect it wasn’t real. His family would see right away that they were from two different ends of the spectrum. A bubble of panic rose in her throat.
“What if they don’t like me?”
“They will like you. Weren’t you paying attention? They aren’t picky.” He grinned while he said the last and she knew he was attempting to ease her concerns. His easy smile and confidence did go a long way to dismantling her anxiety. The man’s constant good humor was contagious.
She slapped his arm playfully. He had such a way of making her feel better. “Shame on you, Riley.”
His eyes twinkled with merriment. “For?”
“Teasing me when I’m nervous about meeting your family.”
“No worries, princess. I know they are going to love you. Besides, turnabout is fair play and you can tease me when I meet your family.”
Which was yet another reason why she should have shut this conversation down a long time ago. She bit the inside of her bottom lip. “Won’t happen.”
His brow rose. “You don’t plan to keep me around long enough to have need to introduce me to your family?”
His tone was teasing, but a real question shone in his eyes.
“It’s not that. We both know you’ll be the one to get bored with me and walk away. Not vice versa.” She hated the thought of him doing so. If she’d felt a panic bubble before, she felt a panic volcano now. “If you think back, I told you that I don’t know my father, and my mother died a few years ago.” Right before she’d started dating Chase, actually. “There’s no family for me to introduce you to.”