Page 14 of Claiming the Shifter’s Heart (The Macconwood Pack Tales #16)

“ Y ou slept with him!” Sam squealed.

“Oh my God, Sam. Be quiet!” Della hissed.

Her friend was such a loudmouth sometimes. She snorted and shook her head, continuing to fold clothes as she did. It was such a relief, having her own washer and dryer now. The way Sean and Janie were constantly dirtying their things, it was like a dream come true.

“Ooh, Michael just texted. He should be back in a bit to take us to the tree lot and drop you off to work, you know, since you left your car there so you could bang your big bad Wolf,” Samantha snarked.

She wiggled her eyebrows up and down and looked at Della expectantly.

“What?”

“Is he big?”

“I’m not discussing this with you?—”

“Come on! If you can’t dick-scuss this with me, who then? See what I did there? Dick-scuss!”

She clutched her stomach and laughed out loud at her own joke, while Della silently prayed for patience.

Della walked through the house, Sam on her heels, dropping off clothes in the kids’ rooms and finally, her own.

“It was just one night. I am sure a Wolf like him does that kind of thing all the time,” Della said, trying to downplay what was without a doubt the best sex she had ever had.

“No way! Wolves are loyal when it is the one,” Sam said.

“But that’s just it, he’s not my one, and I am not his!” Della whispered emphatically.

“Come on Della. I know you don’t sleep with every guy who asks. He is special—” she started.

“Sam, I can’t afford for any man to be special. The kids come first.”

“Oh, honey, you can take care of your kids and still believe in love,” she murmured sympathetically.

“He does not love me, Sam. And I don’t love him. I barely know him,” Della said, grateful Samantha could not hear the tremor in her voice.

“Fine. Just answer me this, do you hear Puccini when he kisses you?” Sam asked.

“Um, I hate to tell you this, Samantha, but some of us don’t listen to opera,” Della said with a snort.

“Ugh. Fine. If not Puccini, then what?”

“What what ?”

“What music do you hear when you’re with Kristoff?”

Della closed her eyes. How the heck did Sam know that?

“This is dumb,” she started.

“No, it’s urgent. Tell me!”

“Fine. So, the first time we, um, kissed, I kind of heard Rick Astley.”

Samantha’s jaw dropped open.

“Rick. Astley. The singer of the eighties nightmare that won’t go away Never Gonna Give You Up ? That Rick Astley?”

“Shut up! He is an icon, I’ll have you know,” Della defended her music choices.

Samantha doubled over with laughter this time, clutching her stomach as she wheezed.

“Stop making fun, heifer,” Della snapped.

“I’m not, I promise. This is perfect!”

Della tossed a pair of socks at her and gave her a dirty look as she started gathering her Elf costume.

“Sam? Della? Should I get Maya and the babies in their coats now?” Aunt Eileen shouted from the kitchen.

“Um, yeah, thank you. I just have to change,” Della replied.

“We’ll be right there Aunt Eileen, we’re just having a dick-scussion!” Samantha said, and Della slapped a hand over the woman’s mouth.

“A what?” the older woman shouted back.

“Nothing! Go ahead and get the kids in their coats, thanks,” Della replied, shaking her head at Sam.

“What? It slipped! OMG—that’s what he said!”

Samantha followed Della into her bedroom, shaking with laughter. Della just snorted.

“Good Lord, I can’t believe it, Sam. Your inner child is a twelve year old boy!”

“Yeah, well, this twelve year old boy wants partial credit for getting you two together. After all, it was my lingerie that did it!”

T wenty minutes later, Della arrived at Manning Farms an hour early for her shift along with Aunt Eileen, Samantha, Michael, his daughter Maya, Sean, and Janie. She didn’t know how she got so lucky to be adopted into this wonderful family, but she was grateful.

They’d readily welcomed Della and her children with open arms from the very first day she’d arrived in Maccon City. Ever since, they’d gone out of their way to include her and the kids in every family adventure they had.

Della’s own family had never treated her kindly. In fact, many of the Crows she knew seemed devoid of emotion, and made her feel like there was something wrong with her for being so needy for attention whenever she’d craved hugs or praises as both child and adult.

Della had always been a hugger. She feared her children would grow up without love, like she did. But that was a momentary panic.

Della loved her children with all her heart. She hugged and kissed them at every opportunity and told them constantly how important and special they were to her.

Some children didn’t like affection, but hers did. Thank the Lord. It didn’t hurt at all that Janie and Sean seemed to love being cuddled by their mama.

Della grinned as she followed the kids as they darted from one tree to the next in one of the cut your own fields. Manning Farms was truly a winter wonderland, and this was perfect.

She and Samantha already planned for the kids to help with her tree decorating tonight while Della worked, and tomorrow afternoon, they would tackle theirs. She would bring their Christmas tree home on the top of her car tonight.

“Ooh! Mommy, I like this one!” Sean said, stopping in front of a whopper of a tree.

“Um, I don’t think we can fit that one in the car, Buddy,” she said, smiling at her boy.

Maya had already picked one for their house and Michael was cutting it down with a handsaw—the only kind allowed on any of the Manning Farms lots.

Made sense. No one wanted a chainsaw massacre at Christmas time, and Della had already seen a number of accidents with these during her stint there as First Elf.

“But Mommy, the roof is so high in the living room, and I really want it. Janie does too,” Sean said, and his lower lip quivered adorably.

Her heart squeezed as she looked down at her boy. NO was hard to hear, but sometimes, it was necessary.

Della squatted in front of him, aware of her Elf costume, and not wanting to bend over. She figured flashing her butt was not exactly the family friendly environment the farm was going for.

“Sean, I really want to get you that tree, but Mommy’s car is too small to hold it. How about we show Janie some others?”

He nodded, and ten minutes later, they found the perfect Douglas Fir. The only problem was cutting it down.

“I can do that for you,” a familiar voice said behind her.

Della’s eyes opened wide as she turned to find Kris standing in jeans and a flannel, holding his Santa suit, which was on a hanger inside a plastic garment bag, in one hand.

“Are you Santa?!” Sean asked the big man, his head tilted back so he could gaze at Kris.

“Sometimes, Bud. Here, can you make sure your Mom and sister stay behind this line here so I can cut this down safely for you?” Kris knelt as he spoke to Sean, drawing a line in the snow with his finger.

“Yes! I can do that!” Sean said exuberantly, pushing Della and Janie back behind the line.

“Hold this for me?” Kris asked, handing her the Santa suit.

“What are you doing?” she whisper-screamed the question.

“Cutting down your tree. Thanks, Sweet Girl,” he added when she took the hanger from him with numb fingers.

Della watched in complete and utter shock as Kris got down on the cold, hard ground and started cutting down a tree for her family. And the big man didn’t stop there.

Of course, he didn’t.

The big hairy Wolf insisted he carry it too!

“I could do that,” she muttered as Sean pulled Janie ahead of them.

Baby Janie was sitting in her wagon, buckled in place. It was the kind that fit two children, but her boy would rather pull the thing than sit in it.

“Sean, be careful,” Della called out.

“He’s a strong boy,” Kris said, and she swore she heard a note of pride in his voice as he watched her son and daughter move ahead of them.

Della’s heart squeezed, and she wondered if it was possible to pass out after hearing one seemingly nice compliment about her son?

God, was she being foolish?

Hope was contagious, and right now, it was spreading like wildfire through her veins as she watched Sean turn back and shout something at Kris who answered her son readily, and jogged over, tree in hand, to help the boy lift the wagon over a small snowy bump in the road.

Kris listened to everything her boy said about the snow and the tree with an appropriate amount of attention. He replied to her child’s curious little questions with honesty and patience, both of which her Crow could easily discern.

Kristoff was just a really good man. She’d seen him be kind to the children who visited him when he was taking pictures with them in his Santa costume.

But what did that mean for them? Was she special or was he simply polite to everyone? And was she a moron for even thinking about this?

Adults had sex all the time, right? She shouldn’t read too much into what had happened last night, or the things he’d said to her earlier that morning.

“I. Would. Do. Anything. For. You.”

His words echoed in her brain and her battered heart sputtered, desperate to believe in something. Desperate to believe in him.

Shit.

She had to be smarter this time around. Della could not afford to get involved. Her kids came first, and there was nothing more important.

Was she wrong for wanting to believe him?

“You alright?” he asked, stopping beside her, head canted as he looked at her with his stunning bottle-green eyes.

“Yep. Everything is fine,” she replied with a tight smile.

He nodded and kept pace beside her, touching her back now and then, taking her hand to help her over an icy patch, laughing and smiling, and just being awesome.

The jerk!

By the time they joined Samantha and her family a few minutes later, Della was practically panting.

“How you doin’?” Kris said, shaking Michael’s hand and nodding at Samantha and the rest of the group.

“We’re gonna get some cookies and meet you at the line for Santa!” Aunt Eileen called out. She and Maya started walking, the latter took over pulling the wagon with Sean safely buckled inside.

“Let me get this over to the guys to trim the base and prep the tree. I’ll get it tied up after shift, but I wanna get changed so the kids don’t have to wait long in the cold,” Kris said to Della.

“Okay. Um, I’ll see you there,” she said, watching him turn.

He nodded his face unreadable as he waited a moment before turning to walk off. Almost like he was reluctant to leave her.

“Kris?”

“Yeah?” he asked, turning back to face her.

“Thank you.”

“It’s a privilege and a pleasure, Sweet Girl,” he whispered, smiling at her before turning away once more.

Della stood watching him walk and dammit, she practically swooned.

“Good God, woman, that is one fine man,” Sam whispered, oblivious to Michael’s growling.

Or maybe not so oblivious since she turned and kissed him, patting his cheek as he followed Kris to where the trees were prepped for travel.

“You shouldn’t say things like that in front of him,” Della chided gently.

“Please, he knows no one holds a candle to him as far as I’m concerned. But for you? That big Viking Santa looks pretty perfect, Della. I have one question, though.”

“No, I am not telling you the size of his dick,” Della whispered.

“Not that,” Sam replied with a grin.

“Okay then, what?”

“Well, I was wondering if you like him as much as I think you do, and if he likes you like I definitely know he does after the way he’s been following you around for forty-five minutes through snow and mud like a puppy dog, then, what are you waiting for?”

Sam raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips before following after her mate. Normally, Della ignored her nosy neighbor’s commentaries, even though they were hilarious. But this time, Della wasn’t so sure that would work.

Because for the first time, Sam made a good point.