"It sure sounds like it.” Hailey gave him a questioning look.
He held up both hands as if to say he had nothing to do with it.
“Well, let’s go see.” Hailey led the way.
The girls ran straight for the bay window in the living room and peered out into the dark, snowy night. “I don’t see any reindeer,” Paisley said.
Cole reached for the door, but Hailey stopped him. “We don’t know who it is.”
“City girl.” He smiled. “Only one person other than me knows the gate code.”
“Uh, no. Chase gave it to me on my first day.”
“That was the visitor code. I changed it right after you used it.” And then he opened the door.
“Ho ho ho.” In a full-on red velvet Santa suit—complete with fake beard, hat, and shiny black boots—A-list movie star Trevor Montgomery stood on the porch, hauling enormous bags stuffed with presents. “I’ve been searching this county from one end to the other, trying to find Paisley and Everly Leeson.” He glanced down at the girls who stood pressed together between Cole and Hailey. Santa tapped each nose. “And I think I finally found them.”
“You did.” Paisley spoke reverently.
“Well, come on in, Santa.” Cole stepped aside to let his dad in, surprised when three elves followed with even more velvet sacks.
“Is all that for us?” Paisley asked.
“Well, now, that depends. Has Cole been a good boy?”
“Oh, yes.” Paisley reached for his hand. “He’s very good.”
For half the year, Cole faced two-hundred-pound men who wanted to bash his head into the Plexiglass, but nothing had the power to knock him out more than the feel of that little hand in his.
“And what about Hailey Casselton?” his dad asked in his Santa voice. “Has she been good?”
The elves got busy, scattering around the house. One hooked a gigantic wreath on the door, another brought a pile of food into the kitchen, and the third emptied the sacks, placing professionally wrapped presents under the enormous tree.
“LaLee good,” Evvie said so quietly, so earnestly, that emotion tightened the skin around his dad’s eyes.
“Well, then, they get presents, too.” Santa walked deeper into the room and sat down in a big leather club chair. “All right, who’s first? Who’s going to tell me what they want for Christmas?”
“Me, me, me,” Paisley said.
“Come on, Sanna.” Evvie took off, her little bottom wiggling from side to side. “We gots Sanna cookies. Come on.”
Santa heaved himself out of the chair, shot Cole a giant smile, and took off after the girls.
Watching him go, Hailey shook her head. “I’ve never met a movie star, but in a million years, I never imagined meeting Trevor Montgomery this way.” She broke into a huge smile. “I love your dad.”
“Yeah, he’s pretty cool.”
“But the presents…” She shook her head. “We can’t give them all that. It’s too much.”
“They’ve already seen them.”
“We’ll have to rearrange it so they don’t notice. They’ll appreciate a few presents, but this many… I think we can drop some off at the shelter tomorrow and even save some for their birthdays. I don’t want to hurt your dad’s feelings, but this is overwhelming.”
“Yeah, we can do that.”
“Cole, LaLee,” Paisley called. “Come here.”
“Sanna eat cookies.” Evvie practically screeched it.