Page 49 of Have a Bear-y Little Christmas

“Knock-knock!”

I jumped at the completely foreign voice and looked at the open door of our cabin. An absolutely beautiful woman stood there.

She was taller than me—not a surprise—and willowy, with a frame that spoke of either running or swimming or perhaps even dancing. Her hair was a series of long, intricate braids, half of them pulled up into a bun on top of her head and the rest cascading around her sculpted shoulders. Her eyes were green, but not the intense jade like Remy’s. They were dark, almost stormy with golden flecks.

Honestly, they looked a lot like Addy’s.

“There you are, bruh! Ya certainly took your sweet time getting up here, didn’t ya?”

“Hey there, Ana,” Remy said, looking a bit chagrined, and I was startled by the sudden thought that she could possibly be his girlfriend.

Neither Remy nor I had ever mentioned if we were single or not, because why would we? We were friends and nothing more. But even as I told myself that for possibly the umpteenth time, I couldn’t help the disappointment twisting in my gut.

“We ran into some traffic on the bridge. You know how it be sometimes.”

Remy’s slight accent had grown thicker. It was just enough to interrupt my possible mental spiral that I was thirsting over a taken man, and I was grateful for the reprieve.

“Ugh. Sure do. And is this your friend I heard about?”

She practically darted around him to offer her long, elegant hand to me. When I took it, I was surprised that she was just as warm as Remy was.

“So lovely to meet you. I’m Ana, Remington’s sister-in-law. And I do apologize, but I don’t believe I ever caught your name.”

“Jeannie.” His sister-in-law? Wow, was I far off base. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

“Wow, you’re pretty!” Max said.

Ana’s gaze went past me to my son, and the smile that took over her face nearly blinded me.

“Why, thank you, young sir! And just who might you be?”

“I’m Max. She’s my mama.” He said that last part while pointing to me, and my ego inflated a bit because he sounded so damn proud. “Addy and Eva are my friends.”

“I bet they are! Well, if you be lookin’ for more friends, I’ve got three little kiddos of my own who are itching to meet you.”

“They know about me?”

“A bit, yeah. When my brother here mentioned that he was bringing guests, word got around that there’d be a cool young man who was big on books as well as ice skating.”

“Honestly, mostly the books,” Max admitted in a way that was so incrediblyMax. “The ice skating is new.”

“Hey, if you’re not learning something new, you’re dying.”

Suddenly, that dazzling smile was turned on me. “Are you about to go on a tour of the place? It’s not the fanciest layout, but I like to think we got all the creature comforts you could possibly want.”

“Auntie Ana!” Eva and Addy barreled in through the door.

Without missing a beat, Ana knelt and put her arms around both girls, then stood up with the two of them at the same time like they weighed nothing. Man, was there something in the water around here that made everyone stupidly strong? Or was I just really weak?

“How are some of my favorite nieces doing? It’s been a right age since I last saw you. Did you run over here to come give me a big hug?”

“We like hugging you,” Eva said, and I knewjustenough about her to pick up that was her avoiding having to answer the question. She was clever, in her own quiet little way.

“We are very glad to see you here,” Addy said. “But we actually came to see if Max could come play.”

“Oh, can I?” Max asked, not quite jumping up and down, but going up onto his toes and then rocking back down on his heels. “Please, Mama? Can I,can I?”

“I…” I started, not quite sure if I should agree or not. I wanted him to have fun, but I wanted to have all my ducks in a row first. And I didn’t exactly want him to run around unsupervised, even if he was with Remy’s two daughters who knew the place.