Chapter Thirty-Eight

Melody let Michael go and straightened her hair. “You ready to go put the ornaments on?” she asked, grinning at him.

“Yep!” he replied, a genuine smile beaming from his face.

“Great. Why don’t you put that away, and let’s go back into the living room?”

Michael scurried off to put the picture away, and Melody worked her way off of the pirate ship. He was still in the closet when she stepped out into the hallway, nearly colliding with Reid. “Hey,” she said with a grin. “That pirate ship is very impressive.”

“Oh, yeah, thanks,” he said, his hands shoved deep into his jeans pockets. “That was a little consolation prize for moving him across the country, leaving his grandparents and all of his friends behind.”

Michael came flying out of his room and slipped past them, clearly no longer upset ab