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As he listened to his sister talk about her family, Blake found the temptation was strong to immediately agree to join them for Thanksgiving. But he knew better than to make an impulsive decision when his family was involved. Seeing them again would open a door he wasn’t sure he wanted to walk through.
“Do you think you’ll be able to come?” Selena said after a few more minutes of conversation. “I’d really love to see you and meet Amelia.”
Blake dragged a hand down his face. “I’m not sure. Julia has invited us to join them.”
“Well, if you don’t come for Thanksgiving, maybe you can come for Christmas.”
That was a solid no. There was no way he wanted Amelia to spend Christmas with his family. For some reason, he wanted to be in Serenity to celebrate that holiday. Hopefully with Charli and her family.
So, if the choice was between Christmas or Thanksgiving, he definitely would go for Thanksgiving. The other plus to going for Thanksgiving was that it couldn’t be a long visit. They could fly there on Wednesday and leave on Saturday or Sunday.
“I’ll let you know,” he said, refusing to make a commitment either way right then.
“Thank you for calling, Blake. I know that you probably weren’t thrilled to talk to me, so I really appreciate you being willing to have a conversation. I hope I’ll get a chance to see you soon.”
After he said goodbye, Blake slumped down on the couch, confused by the fact that he was actually considering Selena’s request. There was no reason for him to want to spend time with his family.
He hadn’t felt like he’d been missing anything over the past twelve years of not having them in his life. He’d thought more of Charli and Jackson and his family than he had of his own. And he’d certainly never imagined the day he’d be able to introduce Amelia to them.
So now he had a decision to make. Would accepting Selena’s invitation be opening the door for more stuff that he wouldn’t be interested in? Would he be able to back away from them if he wasn’t happy with how things went?
He hoped that Selena really was true to her word. In the past, she had been the best of the worst, and it seemed like maybe that was still the case.
A glance at the clock showed that it was almost nine-thirty. He’d been preparing to call Charli when his aunt’s name had popped up on his phone screen, and now he needed to talk to her more than ever.
He’d spoken to Charli each evening since the night they’d taken the girls ice skating, and it had been wonderful. The conversations had been so much like the ones they’d had years earlier at the start of forming a relationship, and he was no longer trying to contain his hope.
When she’d asked him not to hurt her again, hope had flared brightly, and he hadn’t wanted to squash it. Instead, Blake had wanted to shout it from the rooftops.
However, he had accepted that if this was going to work, he had to go at the speed Charli was most comfortable with. So far, she’d asked to wait until after Thanksgiving to share the news with their families. It meant a few more days of just phone calls, but he was okay with that.
He couldn’t fault Charli for her caution, but he planned to take every opportunity she offered him to prove that he was worth her taking a risk. Even if it was just showing her through words during their conversations how much he cared for her. Soon enough—hopefully—he’d be able to show her in other ways without worrying about raising people’s suspicions.
Thinking of Charli made him smile, and since he was still within the hour that they reserved for talking, Blake tapped on her contact info, placing a call to someone he actually wanted to talk to.
When Charli answered, the warmth of her greeting washed over him, fanning the flames of his hope to greater heights.
“I’m sorry I’m late.” He relaxed back into the couch, stretching his legs out in front of him. “Julia called to let me know that Selena had contacted her to share the news that my dad had had a heart attack.”
“What?” Charli sounded shocked. “Is he okay?”
“Depends on who you ask. Selena said Dad was very uptight about the restrictions and life changes the doctor told him he needed to make, so he fired him. He seems to feel he’s fine and doesn’t need to listen to anyone else.”
“Sounds like a bit of a nightmare patient.”
“Not a bit, he’s just a straight up nightmare. He’s been a nightmare in a lot of ways to a lot of people.” Including him.
“Is he going to take it easy at all?”
“I don’t know,” Blake said. “I’m not sure that’s a concept he understands, so I kind of doubt it. Selena asked if Amelia and I would come for Thanksgiving.”
There was a long stretch of silence before Charli said, “Are you going to go?”
He wondered what had given her pause, since they hadn’t planned to spend Thanksgiving together. Julia hadn’t asked, so much as demanded, that Blake and Amelia come to their home for Thanksgiving dinner.
“I’m not sure, but I’m considering it. I let Selena know that if we did come, there would be some boundaries in place, particularly where Amelia is concerned.”
“Was she agreeable to that?”
