Page 46 of Doctor Holliday
“The baby was the miracle,” she argued. “Me delivering her was my job.”
“Maybe.” He looked up at her as she straddled him. “But if it hadn’t been for the baby, for Logan demanding I not call 911, for you coming to help, we wouldn’t have met.”
“And that’s your Christmas miracle?” she asked with a smirk.
“Qualifies.”
“Ruby’s lucky to have a dad like you.”
“She is.” He grinned.
“What will you do for dinner tomorrow?”
“Hot dogs.”
“Seriously?”
“Dead serious. Hot dogs. Chili sauce. Homemade French fries. Rube salts the fries when they come out of the fryer.”
“You’re for real?”
“Absolutely.”
“Know what I’m hearing?” She quirked an eyebrow and sank her teeth into her lip.
“Tell me.”
“You won’t have to work that hard tomorrow.” She leaned over to press a kiss to his forehead. “Therefore, you don’t need all that much sleep tonight.”
“Sounds like you have something in mind.”
“Oh, I do, Keaton Thatcher. I have a lot of somethings in mind.”
Keaton tipped his head up to meet her lips with his. They shared a deep, slow kiss before Lucy pulled away from him to meet his eyes.
“Interested?”
“Only if we can start right here by the Christmas tree.”
“Funny. That was one of the somethings I had in mind.”
Chapter 21
Sunday,February 11th
Lucy
The best thing about Sundays now was the NFL. While Lucy had been a lukewarm fan for years, she never paid that much attention to the games. Not like her mother did. But this season was different. Keaton and Ruby had been at her house with her and Callie for NFL Sundays since the week after Christmas. The first week, Lucy had fixed a big pot of chili for all of them. The second week, Keaton surprised her and fixed homemade vegetable soup. The following week, their girls surprised them with spaghetti. Lucy and Keaton were into the game and each other and while they noticed the girls had disappeared into the kitchen, they had been surprised later to be served with spaghetti dinners.
The playoff games were fun, but today had been a day of family and fun like Lucy hadn’t had since Christmas. Her family had gathered at her parents’ house for the Super Bowl. Keaton and Ruby included. Ruby had blended so easily into the family, it had shocked Lucy. And yet she knew it shouldn’t have.
Her parents loved the new TV, and after watching the Chiefs beat the 49ers, she got it. They had needed the new one. Her dad had even figured out the smart features and put the DVR away. Lucy had watched Kim closely in the beginning of the game, wondering if she had truly been successful with quitting smoking. But her sister didn’t sneak off to have a cigarette once. Now Lucy wanted to see if she could talk Marty into quitting, too.
Christmas with Ruby had been fun—taking Lucy back to the days when Callie was younger. Not necessarily the Santa Claus days, but the magic was different even for a young pre-teen than a girl ready to begin a whole new life away at college. Ruby had been thrilled when she opened her gift from Keaton. He and Alyssa had discussed it, and since Alyssa and Wade had gone the game console route, Keaton got Ruby a phone. Ruby might have rolled her eyes when Keaton started listing the rules for her phone usage, but she had thrown her arms around her dad and squealed with delight.
The four of them spent a lot of time together after Christmas. But Keaton and Lucy still dated. Often. By themselves. Lucy worried in the beginning that it would be hard for Ruby to make the transition, but she needn’t have. Callie helped Ruby with her homework. They ordered pizza often, and they liked movies. Callie knew without Lucy’s harping to keep an eye on what Ruby was watching.
Lucy had heard through the grapevine that Logan Klein had completed a therapy program and come back home. She talked to Alonso Love a few times about Logan. Each talk left her feeling a little sad. The girl had seen and done too much for her age, and Lucy felt likeshehad found the gold at the end of the rainbow.