Sealed with a Kiss: A Small Town Christmas Romance

Chapter 11

John's eyes snapped open. He lay perfectly still, trying to work out what had woken him. He glanced at his alarm clock and squinted at the neon green numbers. It was five-thirty. He had two guards on duty outside and another one inside. His hand reached for the panic alarm.

"Dad?" Bella's voice whispered across his room. "Are you awake?"

John relaxed as Bella tiptoed toward him.

"Dad?" She shook his shoulder and he pretended to snore. "Dad, it's Christmas morning. It's time to get up."

John opened one eye and peered at his daughter. Her curly brown hair was standing out at odd angles around her face. She was wearing her pajamas, the ones with blue cats that reminded her of Miss Snuggles.

"Do you know what the time is?"

Bella shook her head. "It doesn't matter. We're both awake so we could see what Santa left for us."

John looked closely at his daughter. "Have you already been downstairs?"

Bella ran her hands over the edge of his blanket. "I was only there for a little while. Mr. Daniels told me I had to go back to bed."

"What were you doing?"

"I thought I'd make it easier for us to find our presents. I sorted them into little piles."

John rubbed his eyes. "Uncle Grant wants to be here when we open our presents. He won't be awake yet."

"We could call him and wake him up. Uncle Grant won't mind."

John had a good idea that his brother would mind. "What if we choose one present each and then make breakfast? We'll call Uncle Grant at seven o'clock." His brother would still be sound asleep, but if John had to get up, it was only fair that his brother suffered the same fate.

"Can we call Rachel, too?"

John swung his legs over the side of the bed. "Rachel's spending time with her family today."

"But can I call her? Mrs. Daniels knows her number."

"Why do you want to speak to Rachel?"

Bella sat on John's bed while he looked for a sweatshirt. "I like Rachel. She's fun to be around and she teaches me really good things. I miss her."

"Rachel was never going to stay here forever, Bella."

"I know, but she's pretty and smart. She knows lots of amazing things."

John glanced at Bella.

"It's true. She told me that otters sleep holding hands with their friends, and that a baby spider is called a spiderling."

He smiled at the earnest expression on his daughter's face. "Rachel is smart, but she also has her own life. She came here to teach you, Bella, not spend Christmas with us."

Bella's mouth set in a stubborn line. "She's my friend."

"We'll talk about it later. Let's go and open a present."

Bella bounced off the bed and followed him downstairs. "Santa ate his cookies."

"Did Rudolph eat his carrot?"

"He ate most of his carrot. You can see his teeth marks in it."

John held Bella's hand as they walked through to the living room. The entire entrance was still smothered in glittery tinsel. It felt like they were walking through Santa's magic cave, especially with the Christmas music he could hear coming from the kitchen.