“Uh huh.” She dove into the meal as if she was, in fact, starving. “You never told me you could cook like this! It’s amazing!”

“You never asked, and I’m glad you like it.” After lighting the candles on the table, he sat down across from her. “Anyway, since you can’t live here, I bought a place in the city.”

“What place did you buy?” she asked, astounded.

“The one that was for sale up the street from your dad’s. I looked at it on Sunday when you were at work, I offered this morning and they accepted. I’m meeting with a Realtor after Christmas to list this place.”

She sat back in her chair to stare at him. “Just like that?”

“I knew you’d want to be close to your dad and to work.”

“Won’t you need to maintain a residence in Virginia?”

Implied but not stated was if he became a senator. “John took care of that. He left me the cabin. That’s why they wanted me to come today.”

Her eyes went soft with emotion. “Nick… That’s wonderful. You love it there.”

“I was so surprised and delighted.” He reached for her hand and brought it to his lips.

“How’s Graham doing?”

“Better. They let him go home today when his blood pressure returned to normal.”

“That’s good.”

“I feel sorry for them. They’ve got a long road ahead of them coming to terms with all of this. And the media is clamoring for info about John’s illegitimate son.”

“They should just come clean at this point.”

“I think that’s the plan. Laine wanted me to tell you how very sorry she is for lying to you about Thomas. She said she panicked when she saw you had his photo.”

“It’s in the past now. I’m over it.”

When they finished eating, Nick picked up their wine glasses and led her to the sofa. “John had so many secrets. Hell, I had no idea until today when the lawyer was doling out his millions how insanely wealthy the sale of his business made him. There were a lot of secrets, but he loved his father. So much. Despite everything. He loved him.”

“I can understand that. There’s not much my father could do to change how I feel about him.”

“You’re lucky to have him.”

“And I know it.”

He studied the face that had become so essential to him. “What’re we going to do, Sam?”

“Well, tonight we’re going to decorate that tree.” She glanced at the tree and then down at the gifts under it. “What’s all that?”

“One for every year we missed.”

Smiling, she shifted to straddle him. “That’s so incredibly sweet.”

He pulled her in close.