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"You told me you weren't coming."

"Turns out, I finally met a son of a bitch more hardheaded than me," he grumbles, glancing at Jagger.

My eyes fill. I toss my arms around Jagger. "Thank you!"

Charlie wails from the back seat.

Jagger laughs against my hair. "Pretty sure someone's pissed you're hugging me instead of her."

I pull away and hurry to the back door. The second I open it, Charlie reaches for me with both arms, her little face red from outrage.

"Oh, baby." I unbuckle her and pull her against my chest. "Mama missed you so much!"

She immediately buries her face in my neck.

Daddy comes around the truck carrying a cardboard case packed with mason jars.

Mama's eyes widen. "Is that your cinnamon shine?"

He lifts one shoulder. "Wouldn't be Christmas without it."

Mama beams.

Jagger slips an arm around my waist, presses a kiss to my temple, and murmurs, "Merry Christmas, baby."

I look at my daddy holding my mama, Charlie clinging to me, and the man beside me who somehow made all of this happen. I've never felt happier. I reply, "Merry Christmas."

Jagger grins from ear to ear.

"How did you get him to come?" I ask.

Daddy grumbles, "He showed up at my place after sunset and wouldn't shut the hell up."

Jagger shrugs. "Persistence."

"Annoyance," Daddy corrects.

Jagger leans toward me. "You should have seen him threaten my life every time I hit a pothole when we went to the diner last night."

I laugh. Then I'm hugging him again, knowing in my heart one very important thing.

Jagger Cartwright is a keeper. And he's mine.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Jagger

Christmas Day

Something smacks me in the cheek.

I grunt and turn my head.

It happens again.

This time, tiny fingers grab my bottom lip.

I crack my eyes open. Charlie's sitting on Lainey's stomach, leaning over me, trying to fist my face.