Page 20 of Holiday Promise

Max pouted. “But?—”

“It’s fine, Max. We’ll find something fun to do. Let your dad get his work done.” Melody beckoned Max toward him.

“Melody?” Blake stood. Her name tasted bitter in his mouth but calling her by her first name would’ve hurt more. “A word?”

She glanced at him and it wasn’t hard to see the worry in her eyes. She didn’t want to be left alone with him. He couldn’t blame her. The last time they’d been alone, he’d pushed her away from him—he’d scared her off.

Melody didn’t have to be worried about him trying to win her back. He knew that wasn’t a possibility. She deserved to have thefreedoms she wanted. He should’ve never allowed himself to get close to her. Thomas had been right to advise against it.

Lately, speaking with Thomas had also been difficult. It was clear his assistant liked to flirt with Melody, and it made Blake completely sick to his stomach. But Melody didn’t belong to him and technically she didn’t work with Thomas, so he couldn’t ask that they remain professional.

Melody ushered Max out of the office and shut the door behind her. “What is it you needed to speak about?” Her voice was quiet, timid almost. He thought he might have heard a hint of hope beneath it, but that was reaching. She didn’t want anything to do with him.

He stood, pressing his hands onto his desk. “I’ve been considering the way things have been going lately and I want to make a few changes.”

Her eyes widened. She looked like she was frozen to the door she leaned against. “You do?” she whispered.

“Yes. Max seems to be doing so much better with me at home more.”

Color flooded her cheeks, and she looked away. “Yes, he has.”

“I wanted to discuss with you the possibility of continuing the current arrangement. Obviously, I’ll have to take more trips back to the city than I have since the start of December, but I want to increase the time I work from home—for Max’s sake.”

Her eyes darted to meet his briefly, then away. “I think that’s a wonderful idea.”

He nodded sharply. “I do, too. I’ll notify Thomas and when I have a schedule written up, I’ll be sure to give it to you.”

Melody nodded. “Is that all?”

He wanted to tell her no. He wanted to march across the room and tell her he couldn’t get her out of his head—that this was no way for a man to live.

“Yes, you may go.” His voice sounded foreign even to him. Those were the only words that he could push past his lips. There would be no winning her back. With how hard it was to see her every day and not be able to be with her, he knew it would only get harder if he tried winning her back only for it to blow up in his face.

Blake heldMax’s hand as they walked down the street after visiting the pastry shop to get their hot chocolate.

A thin, brown mustache lined the top of Max’s mouth, making Blake smile. When he looked up at his dad he frowned. “What’s the matter? Do you miss Melody?”

Blake stiffened. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that his son noticed the changes that were occurring between himself and Melody. Max had always been observant. Still, Blake couldn’t let his son catch him off guard. “Why would I miss her? I see her every day.”

In the most childlike way possible, Max gave his father a look that indicated that’s not what he meant. “I know you like her, Dad.”

“You like her too,” Blake accused.

Max sighed. “You like her more. I saw it. You’re… happier.”

Blake’s chest constricted to the point it cut off the airflow to his lungs. “Yes. I like her,” he said softly. “But that doesn’t always mean things work out the way we want them to. Sometimes wishes are just meant to stay wishes. Sometimes they don’t come true. But that doesn’t mean that I love you any less. And it doesn’t mean that Miss Metcalf loves you any less, either. No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you.”

Max frowned, slowing his steps. Then he turned his face upward and stared hard at his father. “I know that.”

“Good.”

“And Melody will be there for me, too.”

Blake’s heart broke for his son. One day Melody wouldn’t be needed any longer. She would move on to take care of another family. She might get married. And that thought alone only added to the ache Blake couldn’t make go away.

Max peered at his father with an intensity that was more mature than his son had been known to give. “If you like her, then you should kiss her.”

Blake shook his head. “It’s not as simple as that, bud.”