A Guardian Till Christmas
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Danielle Thorne
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Chapter One
Kylee Spokes adjusted her designer sunglasses, stepped out of the taxi and broke off the heel of her shoe. She gasped as pain shot to her ankle—but it was more for the high heel. The driver fetched her bags from the trunk while she picked up the heel and limped into the browning grass of her sister’s front yard, relieved she’d brought a spare pair.
“Have a good day!” the driver called.
Kylee waved as he drove off, imagining him laughing at her for singing to the radio when a favorite song from high school played. That’d been almost two decades ago, which made it an oldie now. She shuddered at the thought.
Lugging her suitcases behind her, she hobbled up a sidewalk dotted with autumn leaves and colored chalk graffiti. “What a mess,” she mumbled as she eyeballed the small single-story cottage that had belonged to her sister, Mia, and her husband, Chip. For a fleeting moment, Kylee felt a tug of emotion over being home, then she remembered they were gone and this was only a temporary stay. But her life as she knew it was over.
The small spark of contentment faded like the lawn. There was an upside-down riding toy at the bottom of the porch stairs and a suspicious-looking handprint on the railing. Kylee whimpered, looked down at her wool skirt and slid out of her suit jacket. The turquoise silk cami underneath it had cost less and would clean up easier. She took a deep breath and braced herself for adorability and the noise, mess and guilt complex that came with it.
The doorknob turned easily, and she left her luggage on the small square porch and walked inside.
“Mom, I’m here!” she called.
She kicked off her other high heel and looked around. The open living and kitchen space was empty. It was quiet down the narrow hall, too. Curious, Kylee dropped her purse and sunglasses on the narrow island, noting there were no dishes in the sink. Her stomach shrank at the sign that Mia was no longer around, and their mother kept things shipshape now.
The front bedroom was a cracker box that only had room for a computer desk and a small sofa. Kylee pushed open the bathroom door and saw plastic toy boats overturned in the bottom of the tub.
The next room belonged to the twins. Henry’s cars were all over the floor, and Annabelle’s stuffed animals were piled on the bottom twin bunk. There were no children in here. That left Mia’s bedroom.
Kylee couldn’t bring herself to look inside, knowing it was crammed with her late sister’s things. Mom had asked her to sort them out when she found time because she hadn’t been able to do it. Post-funeral duties. Kylee frowned. That, on top of figuring out what to do with a set of twins she was now in charge of. How had it already been three months?
She pushed open the back screen door. The warm Georgia sky looked royal blue over trees that had shed half of their orange-and-red leaves for November. Her mother was nowhere in sight, but there were little legs draped over one of the hammocks in the yard. The other hammock was full, too, but as motionless as a mummy.
Kylee tiptoed over to the skinny legs stained with red clay and green bruises. “Boo!” she shouted playfully.
Henry and Annabelle shrieked and sat up, then erupted into gales of laughter. “Aunt Kylee?” Henry blustered, as if he wasn’t sure he recognized her.
Ignoring the stab of guilt for not being here since the funeral, Kylee wrapped her arms around the kids just as the other hammock spun like a centrifuge, and a big, heavy body fell out and hit the ground.
“Hey!” cried the familiar-looking man lying in the grass.
She didn’t know whether to gasp or burst into laughter along with the children. Kylee let go of her niece and nephew and straightened.
The man scrambled to his feet like he was going to karate chop somebody with his thick arms then stopped. “Oh, hey, you’re...”
Kylee cocked her head. It was Evan Hollister, Mia and Chip’s friend, acting like a guard dog. Besides vague recognition from perhaps the funeral, she’d seen pictures of him and knew that they thought he was great. “I didn’t mean to startle you. Where’s my mother?”
The man crossed two muscled arms over his chest. “You’re Kylee.” He stood his ground like she was an invader. “I’m Evan Hollister. We met at the funeral service.”
“That’s right,” said Kylee, pretending she remembered that day when really it was all a nightmarish haze of tears and guilt. “You’re helping with the twins. You’re Chip’s best friend.”
“Was,” Evan stated in a stoic tone.
“Yes, he mentioned you a few times,” Kylee replied. “I’m sorry. Chip Maxwell was like a brother to me.”
“As he should have been.”
Kylee threw daggers with her stare to cover the pang his words caused. She hadn’t been close to her brother-in-law because working as a creative director for a big social media company in New York hadn’t allowed them to get to know each other well. “Is my mom here?” she repeated.
“She comes over before dinnertime,” Evan said as if she should know.
“Aunt Kylee,” whispered Annabelle.
Kylee looked down to find her niece hanging on her leg and peering up at her with her brilliant blue eyes. “What’s the matter, princess?”
“I’m hungry.”
“Have you had lunch?” She looked back at Evan. “If my mother’s not here, who’s minding the children?”
“I am.” He frowned. “And they’ve had lunch. It’s almost dinnertime.”
Kylee glanced at her watch and realized four-year-olds probably didn’t do late lunches. She turned to Annabelle. “Baby, come inside, Auntie Kylee will give you the treats she brought you from New York.”
Annabelle shot Evan a grin, but he gave her a stern look. “Go wash up inside, and we’ll have reading time first.”
“Yay!” cried the little girl. “Henry, it’s time for candy!”
Kylee didn’t miss Evan’s frown.
“Good,” said the dark blond little boy who matched his sister. He dangled his chin over the edge of the hammock. “I hate rest time.”
“It’s good for you,” said Evan. “But it’s over. Now, books.”
“Okay,” Annabelle surrendered in an agreeable tone.
Kylee raised her brows in surprise. “You don’t want candy?”
“Yes.” The little girl stole a look at Evan.
“After reading time,” Evan countered, ending the discussion.
Kylee started it right back up. “We’ll have books and candy,” she announced, and both children dashed toward the house. She turned to Evan. “Mom informed me you’d be helping out. Thanks for keeping an eye on them, but I’m here now. You can go.”
Evan took three steps and stopped short of Kylee’s toes. “We’re on chapter three of Charlotte’s Web. I’ll hang around until after your mother gets here like I always do.”
“You do this every day?” Kylee wondered if the burly, gray-eyed man was a librarian.
“I’ve taken over for your mother,” Evan informed her. “She asked me to help with days, and she sleeps over at night.”
“Well, I’m here now until I take them to New York.” Kylee tried to cover her confusion by looking confident. When had Evan Hollister been made guardian of Mia’s children?
“I’m also the twins’ godfather,” he reminded her.
“I’m their aunt, and the children have been left to me because my mom thinks she’s too old to parent again.” Kylee lifted her chin.
“Your mother has fibromyalgia.”
“There are nannies, and she’s stronger than you think,” she responded.
Evan gave her a penetrating stare. “Henry and Annabelle need family, not nannies, and your mom has been ordered to take it easy. That’s why I’ve stepped in.”
Was Mom worse? Why hadn’t she asked for help? “I’m family,” she said at last. “And I plan to accept permanent guardianship of the children as Mia requested in her will. I just needed some time before I could come down and deal with it.”
“Evan,” shrieked Annabelle from the back door. “We’re ready to read the spider book.”
Evan gave Kylee a parting smirk and brushed past her.
She prickled at the contact, then pulled up her hair, feeling the tiny hairs on her nape beginning to frizz in the Georgia humidity. The back door slammed shut, and she realized her niece and nephew had forgotten her. “I am family,” she muttered again, although she didn’t feel like it. In fact, thanks to Evan, she was the one who felt like the intruder.
Mrs. Spokes’s voice was a welcome sound when she traipsed into the house and called, “Evan! I’m here!”
He sighed with relief. Reading to the kids was his favorite activity, but today had been uncomfortable because Mia’s older sister was in the next room. Evan tried to pretend the cultured, attractive woman wasn’t listening to his character voices, but it was hard. How someone like her could be related to the Spokes family he didn’t understand, and why she took after her elegant, brown-eyed mother when she was nothing like her was a mystery. She’d insisted on giving the twins their candy first, and it’d taken a half hour to get them to calm down enough to read to them.
“We’re in here,” Evan answered from the twins’ room.
“Nanna!” Annabelle forgot about Charlotte the spider and darted out. Henry flopped over and picked up a puzzle piece.
Evan followed Annabelle to the kitchen, where Mrs. Spokes gave them both a warm smile. A small grocery bag sat on the counter. “We were just finishing a chapter,” Evan explained.
“That’s wonderful.” Mrs. Spokes pointed at the bag. “Thank you, Evan. That’s less I have to do, not that I mind reading to them.” Her thin arm looked unsteady as she lifted a can of tuna out of the bag. “I’m going to try to do more than a can of soup tonight for these kids.”
“I’m sure they’ll appreciate it,” Evan assured her.
“Aunt Kylee brought us candy!” chirped Annabelle.
Mrs. Spokes set down the tuna. “She’s here?”
“Yes.” Annabelle grinned. She held up a hideous troll doll that lip-synched to Bluetooth music streams.
“Yes, she’s here,” agreed Evan. “She’s unpacking her things in the office.”
“Oh, wonderful. I’m so glad.” Mrs. Spokes sighed.
Evan couldn’t help but notice a glint of relief in her eyes and wondered if she realized her eldest daughter’s arrival had put a hiccup in the twins’ routine. Kylee was supposed to take over custody of the children, but she had no intention of raising them as Mia and Chip wished if she’d brought sweets and talking toys. Mia had been strict about how much candy the twins could eat, and Chip preferred toys that offered some type of STEM benefit.
Evan’s nerves twinged. He’d been right to talk to his lawyer, Martin Tanner, about whether or not he should consider petitioning for custody. He’d promised himself when he failed to save his friends that he would see their twins raised safely. But according to Mrs. Spokes, Kylee planned to take them to New York at Christmas unless he could stop her. “I’m not sure about the toys she brought,” he began, trying to be cryptic.
“Why not?”
He whirled around. Kylee stood behind him with Henry on her back. The boy tugged on one of her earrings tangled in her glossy, straight chocolate-brown hair. “Ow.” She winced.
“Kylee!” Mrs. Spokes opened her arms.
Evan watched Mia’s sister set down her nephew and pat her mother’s back in a stiff gesture. “Mom,” she muttered.
When they parted, Mrs. Spokes dragged her over to the groceries. “I brought fixings for tuna fish casserole. You can make that, right? Did you get settled?”
“I put my things in the office,” Kylee replied.
“Oh,” said Mrs. Spokes in a sudden halting voice. “I should have made up Mia and Chip’s bed for you. I’m sorry.”
Evan thought he saw Kylee shudder. “The sleeper sofa is fine,” she insisted.
Her mother looked at her doubtfully. “If you’re sure.”
“Here.” Kylee picked up the other ugly troll doll from the counter and handed it to Henry. He laughed and skipped away. “I haven’t made tuna casserole in a while, Mom,” she admitted with a wary glance at Evan.
He took the bait. “I can make it. I know going to the grocery store wore you out, Mrs. Spokes.”
The older lady waved him off. “Angie Coles showed me how to make an order on my phone, and they brought it to the car.”
“On your phone?” Evan repeated in surprise. Running into friends at Brook’s Grocery was his favorite part of going to the store, but he could understand why Mrs. Spokes would use a delivery service.
“It’s just easier,” Mrs. Spokes admitted. “Isn’t technology wonderful?”
“It is,” exclaimed Kylee. “Children’s toys are something else these days.” She shot Evan an indecipherable look before marching to the counter to pick up a bag of egg noodles and scan the back.
“It’s not that hard,” Mrs. Spokes encouraged her.
“I know it’s not,” declared Kylee. “I’m just refreshing my memory.”
“Just don’t walk away from the noodles while they’re boiling because the water goes away, remember?”
“I know, Mom.”
“Do you need help?” Evan couldn’t keep his amusement out of his voice. What girl from small town Lagrasse, Georgia, didn’t know how to boil a pot of noodles? Clearly, Miss Kylee Spokes.
“No, I do not,” Kylee responded curtly.
“Evan has to get to work anyway.” Mrs. Spokes shook a finger at him. “I don’t want you to be late at the station again because of us.”
“Station?” repeated Kylee.
“I’m a firefighter paramedic. Friday night shift.”
As if she’d heard it before, Kylee mumbled, “Oh, right.” Surely she knew that he’d been the first to arrive at the scene of Chip and Mia’s accident. Firefighter paramedics fought fires and handled medical emergencies. Sometimes, he reached a scene first.
Evan tried to act nonchalant, although he wanted to make the stupid tuna casserole and just be late. “They’d understand,” he assured Mrs. Spokes.
Kylee put her back to him, but Mrs. Spokes set a hand on his arm in a gentle touch. “Thank you for all you’re doing for us. We appreciate it, don’t we, Kylee?”
“Sure,” said Kylee without turning around.
Mrs. Spokes beamed like Kylee had sung his praises, and Evan couldn’t resist giving her a quick squeeze like he would hug his own mother. “I’m glad to do it. The twins are family.” He winked at her.
Mrs. Spokes grinned. “You’ll have your own brood someday. You just need to get those night shifts changed and quit sleeping through the weekends when you’re not with them. Enjoy yourself.”
Evan knew Mrs. Spokes was right. He couldn’t date on night shifts, not that he’d found anyone worth his time since Michelle had given up on him. Had it already been two years since they broke up? His heart twinged with the old hurt and disappointment. At this rate, he’d never have a family of his own. “It’s been my honor to help,” he told Mrs. Spokes. “They needed to be in their own home, and I am their godfather.”
“I agree.” Mrs. Spokes’s smile was faint, the pain of losing her youngest daughter just beneath the surface.
Evan glanced at Kylee. The woman was fumbling with a can opener as if she’d never held one before. “Well, their Aunt Kylee is responsible for them now, so we’re both off the hook for the day to day.”
“Not until it’s official,” interjected Kylee. “I’ll get that taken care of as soon as possible, but my lawyer said it could take up to eight weeks or more.”
“Hopefully it won’t take as long as it took you to get down here,” said Evan.
She spun about as if he’d insulted her. He’d meant no offense. It just came out wrong. “It’s not easy to leave a job just like that,” she retorted. “Some of us have commitments.”
“But you’re here now,” said Mrs. Spokes. “Mia and Chip loved and trusted you both, and I’m sure you’ll be wonderful influences on these children. I couldn’t rest easy with anyone else taking care of my grandbabies.”
“Don’t worry, Mom,” Kylee reassured her. “I’ll have everything in order in no time.”
Evan bristled as if she’d hinted that he was incapable. Everything was in order, as much as it could be for two young children who’d lost both their parents. They were just beginning to act like they understood. Sarcasm was on the tip of his tongue, but he resisted, saying, “I’ll get on to work now,” and headed for the door. He paused, realizing that tomorrow’s schedule was up in the air, the new life and routine he’d carved out the past few months in question. “So shall I come over in the mornings as usual or later in the afternoon?” he called to Mrs. Spokes from over his shoulder.
“Neither,” replied Kylee. “If I need you, I’ll call.”
She might as well have ripped off a bandage. Maybe he should give Martin a ring and ask what it would take to get custody of the twins for himself. “Actually, since I’m still on the books as the emergency contact, I’ll come over around Tuesday afternoon for reading time—and bring healthy snacks.” He offered Kylee a tight smile when she sent him a hard stare, and he wondered how the arrangement with the kids would work out now with her here until Christmas.
Bolting out of the door before she said anything else, he backed his SUV out of the driveway.
He’d thought of Annabelle and Henry as family before their parents had died. He couldn’t just turn them over to a... Well, their aunt was practically a stranger. She might be their legal guardian soon, but he wasn’t going to abandon them to someone who couldn’t be troubled to show up to her own sister’s wedding; someone who attended her funeral in dark trendy sunglasses and then left before the wake.
He made a note to call Martin that night and let him know what was going on. He needed to keep the twins safe. Because in reality, the reason they were orphans was his fault.
