Chapter 53

fifty-three

PAUL

An hour later, everyone sat in front of the Christmas tree. Music filled the living room as we exchanged gifts, oohing and aahing as we unwrapped each present.

Alex had given Amy an enormous art set. For me, he'd found some gorgeous antique baking scales.

"And this is another gift for Amy." Alex walked around the tree and handed Amy a large rectangular box. "It's from Liam."

I frowned. If Liam had hidden the present in my truck, I would have seen it. But it definitely hadn't been there.

Alex sat beside me. "Liam dropped it off on his way to Boulder." He reached for another present and handed it to me. "This is for you."

A blush heated my face. I hadn't expected a gift from Liam. And maybe, after telling him I wanted some time for myself, I didn't deserve one.

Amy took a card out of an envelope. Her eyes skimmed across the words before she handed it to me. "Could you tell me what this says? "

Liam's handwriting was as controlled and steady as he was. I cleared my throat and read the message. "To Amy. Always reach for the stars. Lots of love, Liam."

Amy tore the wrapping paper off the present.

Her loud gasp made me wonder what was inside the box.

"It's a model of a spaceship," she cried. "I saw one just like it in town. Liam told me that one day I might be able to touch the stars. Can we make it now?"

I looked at the box. With more than two hundred pieces, it wasn't the type of model you moved between locations. "How about we leave it until tomorrow? We'll find somewhere special to make it."

Amy's smile disappeared. "I want to make it now."

"Paul's right," Alex said. "It would be easy to lose some of the pieces."

Amy studied the picture on the outside of the box and sighed. "I guess that's okay." She looked at the gift in my hands. "Are you going to open your present from Liam?"

I smiled, but my heart was racing. With hands that weren't quite steady, I peeled the tape off the wrapping paper.

"What is it?" Amy asked.

"It's an apron and a chef's hat." I opened the apron and showed Amy the embroidered logo.

"That's the same as the stickers we use on the cake boxes."

"It is. It's called a logo. It tells people who made their cake." I read Liam's note and smiled.

Amy leaned against my legs. "What does it say?"

"Happiness is knowing there's a cake in the oven."

Amy giggled. "Liam loves cake. Can we call him and say thank you for our presents? "

"I don't know if that's a good idea. He's spending the day with his dad."

"Please. Liam said we can talk to him whenever we want. He won't mind. We could ask him if he found our presents."

My fingertips traced the logo on the apron. Liam had put a lot of thought into choosing our presents. It would be rude not to tell him how much we liked them. "We'll call him later. Alex and Dylan still have some presents to unwrap."

Amy leaped into the air. "I know where they are." Like a missile finding its target, she zeroed in on the two gifts leaning against the trunk of the Christmas tree.

With two hands, she picked up the closest one. "This is for you, Uncle Alex. It isn't from Santa. It's from Uncle Paul and me. We made it 'specially for you."

"Thank you." He sniffed the wrapper before giving the box a quick shake. "It doesn't smell or sound like cake or cookies." His hands gently squeezed the side of the present. "And it's hard, like a big book."

Amy's gaze shot to me. "He nearly guessed," she whispered.

I held my finger to my lips. "Shh. It'll give the surprise away."

Alex leaned toward Amy. "Should I tear the paper off the present?"

Amy nodded. "But not too quick. You might?—"

I cleared my throat.

With eyes wide open, Amy slapped her hand over her mouth. "I nearly told you."

Alex grinned. "In that case, I'll be extra careful." With the speed of a snail, he took the tape off the wrapping paper .

Even Dylan looked as though he was falling asleep while Alex meticulously unwrapped his gift.

When he'd peeled the last piece of tape away, he stared at the album.

Amy wiggled closer. "We took lots of photos for you."

Alex turned to the first page and looked at me. "This is wonderful."

"It was a joint effort. Amy took most of the recent photos and we found the others in my albums. I wanted you to know about my childhood and the people who are important to us. We wrote captions under each photo so you'd know everyone."

"That's my mommy." Amy pointed to a picture of Christine. "Isn't she pretty?"

"She is. You look a lot like her."

"That's what Uncle Paul says. I want to be just like Mommy. Did you know she liked horses? One day I'm going to ride a horse."

"Lots of people in Sunrise Bay own horses," Alex said. "I bet we could find someone who'd let you ride their horse."

Amy's mouth dropped open. "Really?"

Alex nodded. "Even though it's winter, there's probably an indoor arena we could use."

"That would be amazing."

Amy's smile was so big that I wondered if it would ever go away. I handed Dylan his present. "I hope you like this."

Dylan ripped the paper off the box and grinned. "It's wonderful. How did you know I have a sweet tooth?"

"Jonathon mentioned that you like his candy." I was glad Dylan liked the cookies, fudge, and rock candy I'd carefully wrapped.

"We made the gingerbread men 'specially for you," Amy added. "The ‘S' on their tummies means you're special. "

Dylan hugged Amy and me. "They're lovely. Thank you."

" Now can we call Liam?" Amy asked.

I sighed. "Okay, but we'll only speak to him for a little while."

"Liam will be so surprised."

He might be surprised, but he wouldn't be as excited as Amy. She was jumping up and down so fast that I was getting dizzy.

Hopefully, his phone was turned on. Otherwise, we could be calling his number all afternoon.