Exception (55 page)

She giggled and allowed a lazy smile to run the length of her lips. “As a matter of fact I do,” she teased in a flirtatious voice. They stared at each other in silence for a while. When one of his brows slowly rose in challenge, she continued with the same tone. “They have really huge lenses.”

He looked at her, giggling carefree and unguarded, and his heart filled with joy. “Funny. Really, really funny, Ems.” His laugher belted through the room and mixed with her giggles as he lightly tickled her feet, making her squeak and pull them back from him. Her girlish giggles morphed into a roaring laugher. “And my lenses are really huge.”

Pulling her feet back to him, he pressed his new favorite spot, turning her laugher into soft moans. He kept working her feet for a few more minutes and, before he released them, he planted a soft kiss in each instep.

He moved to the head of the bed and lay next to her. Lying side by side, he smoothed her hair away from her eyes and continued stroking it, for the longest time.

“Thank you for the massage. It was the best I’ve ever had.” Her voice was only a whisper, but being so close to each other, he could hear her perfectly, even through the music that was still playing.

“It really was my pleasure, one I hope to have many more times,” he admitted, in the same whispery voice she’d used. Holding her gaze, his gentle, loving fingers stroked her face twice from temple to jaw. “Thank you for everything you did for my family today. It meant a lot to me.”

She lifted her hand to cover his and held it. Turning her face slightly to the side, she kissed his palm before turning to face him again. “I would do just about anything for you, Tay. You must know that.”

He smiled at her and kissed her nose. Without any warning, thoughts of whether she’d mind if he kissed her lips at that moment entered her mind, catching her by surprise. The thought scared and thrilled her at the same time.

He turned on his back and pulled her to his chest, where she rested her head and placed a hand on his firm abdomen. Clasping a protective hand over hers, he kissed her hair and whispered “Ditto,” against it, as both gave in to sleep.

W
ITH OVER
twenty people on their Christmas Eve dinner guest list, and Charlotte wanting to be close to home because of baby Alice, their festivities were relocated to Old Joe’s. Every relative and loved one of each member of their little family was invited to the celebration and gift exchange happening that night.

The day was long, and the task of turning the rustic restaurant into a cozy winter wonderland was extremely tiring but, at six thirty when Emily and Taylor went back home to shower and change, they had the best feeling of “mission accomplished.”

An hour later, they returned to the restaurant, flanked by Gabriel and Tara. Taylor was dressed casually in dark jeans with a moss-green sweater under his leather jacket, while Emily looked breathtaking in a knee length emerald-green dress with black pumps and matching coat.

Both brothers narrowed their eyes at the sight of Jude standing alone under the falling snow in front of the restaurant. Approaching him, they saw that inside the restaurant, Penelope was talking animatedly with her parents. Jude was awestruck, in the way he always was whenever he looked at her, and took deep breaths, calming his heart.

“We’ve already seen you, so you better get your ass in there.” Taylor’s voice sounded behind the boy’s back.

In spite of their tragic first meeting, Taylor had grown to really like Jude. He was good to his sister, which was something he appreciated. However, he knew that it was his brotherly obligation to give his little sister’s boyfriend a hard time, mostly to see what he was made of.

Jude turned his head to see both Taylor and Gabriel standing behind him. Tara and Emily were carefully navigating the frosted floor in high heels further back, deep in conversation. With a ghost of a smile on his lips, he turned his head back to the window and motioned with his chin. “I was just looking at her. She looks happy doesn’t she?”

Taylor moved next to him and draped an arm around his shoulder, making a funny face at his brother. “I think our little brother here has got it bad, Gabe.”

“Yeah, you’re one to talk.” Gabe smirked. “Am I wrong, or did I walk in on some major cuddling back at
your
place?”

“Shut it or I’ll do it for you, asshat,” Taylor muttered under his breath, releasing Jude to strike a playful blow at his brother.

The three of them were laughing when the girls reached them. “Enough with the bro-mance, I’m freezing. Can we go in or what?” Tara said, pulling her boyfriend by the hand towards the restaurant door.

Still laughing, they all went inside to exchange greetings and merry christmas wishes with a bunch of family members. With the exception of Toby’s family, the entire group was familiar to Emily. With her hand proudly tucked on the crook of Taylor’s arm, she introduced him and his family to everyone and was pleased to see that Johanna, Simon, Tina and Rick had gotten along with incredible ease.

Leaving her best friend to talk hockey with his brother and Toby’s younger brother, Lucas, Emily joined Charlotte, who was playing with her baby at one of the tables close by. Sitting side by side, the two sisters looked around the room and saw everything they’d always wanted. They were surrounded by a real family, a huge family, who loved and cared for them. They didn’t need to say anything or even look at each other to know they shared the same thoughts.

“How did we manage to go from needing Mjölnir to this?” Emily asked, reaching to hold her sister’s hand.

“You tell me,” Charlotte replied with a smile. “You did this, Emmy. The only people I brought to the mix were Chuck and the baby. Everyone else . . . was you.”

The two sisters, who’d shared so much suffering in the past, stared at one another with tears of joy in their matching eyes. “I wish Lewis and Nana could be here.”

“Who says they’re not? Nana is probably there with Mamma and Tina, and the little brat . . . ”

“He’s talking hockey with Tay,” Emily finished her sister’s sentence. And after receiving a wink, she continued, “You think they were behind this? I mean, they left us and then managed to find us a large, weird, crazy mismatched family of orphans where we could fit in?”

“I think so, sissy. Loving and nuts, just like them.” Charlotte’s lips turned upward in a broad smile. “Now, changing subjects, I was thinking we could go out on the twenty-sixth for some last-minute sale shopping before you leave for Toronto with the Carters.”

Emily stared at her sister with a confused expression. “You know I’m not going, Charlie. I’m staying here with you and this little princess.” Her voice had that gooey tone people used when talking to babies.

Moving her daughter out of her Emily’s reach, Charlotte looked at her sister like she had grown a second head. Her right eyebrow was so high it nearly reached her hairline; then her eyes narrowed, seeing Emily’s eye roll.

“Hell to the no! You better stop this shit, get excited and think about what you’ll pack or I’m gonna go Thor on you,
Millie
.” There was a stubborn undertone to her voice that was characteristic of Charlotte, as she continued, “You are my baby sister and it’s my job to tell you when you’re being stupid. So listen carefully . . .
STUPID
,” she said very slowly, as if it was to a child. “You want to be there. The man obviously wants you there, and even his whole family drove here to convince you to go, so fucking go there.”

“You shouldn’t curse in front of the baby and I can’t leave you,
Lottie
.”

The stubbornness and sadness in her little sister’s tone made Charlotte’s nostrils widen with a sharp inhale. “First of all, my baby, so shut up.” As she continued, her voice was softer, and filled with the undiluted love she felt for her sister. “Secondly, I know you think you have to stay here with me because we did that for you when you needed it. But you don’t, not anymore. You stayed with me every day during this nightmare, now I’ve got my husband and my baby, things are good, and it’s time you live your life.”

“But . . . ”

Charlotte closed her eyes and shook her head in frustration. When she opened them again and was composed enough to put on a smile, she kissed her sister’s cheek. “No buts. You’re going, that’s that. So stop whining and let’s talk clothes.” Knowing better than to fight with her sister, Emily consented, and with joy overflowing from her heart she accepted her sister’s suggestions about what to pack.

The night went on with great conversation, delicious food and piles of presents. By far, the person with the most gifts was Alice, who’d received over thirty presents and was practically the most spoiled newborn in town. Emily had also received a fair share of gifts but, without a doubt, her favorites were the locket necklace and the tickets to a Chickenfoot concert she got from Taylor. In return, he received the entire Whitesnake record collection in vinyl and tickets to an upcoming Leafs versus Rangers game.

As soon as the present part of the evening was over with, people scattered again. Gabe and Tara handled the music, and then the men enjoyed endless games of pool and darts and the women gossiped. All of the young couples cuddled and engaged in endless displays of affection as they talked and played around with each other. Alice was passed from arm to arm, charming people with her baby laugh, until she eventually nested in her mother’s arms and fell asleep.

And for the duration of that wonderful night, time didn’t seem to pass in the loving nuttiness of their crazy family.

On December twenty-sixth, Emily opened her eyes, realizing how surreal her life had become.

For starters, she had finally experienced the real holidays people talk so much about. Secondly, during their Christmas morning breakfast, her sister had told her she and her family were moving from California to New York City in the next few weeks. And thirdly, and most importantly, she was waking up in Taylor’s arms yet again.

They were lying on their sides facing each other. His arms surrounded her, one below her neck as a makeshift pillow and the other draped around her midsection. Her own arms were squeezed between them with her palms pressed against his naked chest. Their faces were inches apart, and she studied the lines of the face she knew so well in a totally different way. He’d always been extremely handsome, but sleeping he was simply breathtaking.

His relaxed features made him look years younger. His long brown lashes rested on his pale skin, making them seem even longer, and through his beautiful, slightly parted lips he took deep breaths that nearly hypnotized Emily.