A Family This Christmas by Sue MacKay Read Free Book Online Page B

body.
    ‘Dad?’ Andrew sounded worried.
    Three strides and he stood between the beds. Bending down, he scooped first Marcus then Andrew into his arms for a family hug. The scent of small boys filtered up his nose, warming him deep inside. ‘I love you guys so much,’ he whispered around the lump suddenly clogging his throat. How long since he’d last told them? These days he did more telling off than offering endearments. Something he really needed to work on.
    Wriggle, wriggle. The boys slipped down and climbed back into bed. ‘We love you, too.’
    ‘Do you think Jenny’s got anyone to love her?’ asked Andrew.
    Not if that desolation that tripped into her eyes at unexpected moments was anything to go by. ‘I’m sure she has,’ he lied. ‘But it’s not something you can ask her.’
    ‘Why not?’ The inevitable question hung between them all.
    How to shut this down without upsetting the boys? ‘When you don’t know someone very well you can’t ask a question like that. It’s personal.’
That goes for you, too, Cam.
As Andrew’s mouth opened Cam held up his hand. ‘Wait. You don’t want to make Jenny unhappy, and asking who loves her might make her very sad if there isn’t anyone special.’
    ‘We make her happy. She laughs with us.’
    ‘You’re right. She does that a lot when she’s with you.’ But not as much with him. Which might be a good thing. Too much laughter between them might lead to complications neither of them needed. He had his life mapped out: get these two through to adulthood as unscathed as possible. That meant focusing entirely on their needs and not his own.
    Huh? What needs do I have anyway? I have food, warmth, shelter. I’ve a job that provides all those and helps towards keeping me sane. I’m the father of the greatest, coolest, funniest two kids ever born. It would be greedy to want more.
    But when he stepped into the lounge and spied Jenny in the big old rocking chair Grandma had left him, the question repeated in his head.
Do I have other needs?
Loneliness surfaced, knocking the breath from his lungs. Strange because he was usually surrounded by people. But when was the last time he’d told anyone his dreams? Or made plans to go on a holiday with another adult to share everything with?
    At the moment there was no one around to discuss decisions with about what to buy the boys for Christmas, or whether to apply for a partnership in the medical centre. Cam grimaced. Some people would tell him he was lucky not having to take on board another person’s ideas.
    Glancing at Jenny, he wondered what it was about her that stirred up these pointless emotions and questions. Her chin rested on her gently rising and falling sternum, her eyes were firmly shut, those long, slim hands lying in her lap: the picture of abandonment. She’d finally succumbed to the exhaustion plaguing her all evening, which she’d been fighting with the tenacity of a bull terrier.
    The sound of a small snore reached him. He grinned. She even sounded like a bull terrier. Kind of cute.
    Smack. His palm banged his forehead. Cute? His boys were cute. Not this woman, who’d be gone within a day or two.
    He might know next to nothing about Jenny Bostosk, but only a blind man wouldn’t see that she moved on all the time. It was there in her eyes as they roved the horizon, in her short, sharp movements as if her body couldn’t handle staying in one place for very long.
    Which was just as well. Despite inviting Jenny into his home, he was not getting involved. It had taken a long time to get over Margaret dumping him. Even now he could feel the disbelief that had slammed through him when she’d announced she was leaving him and the boys. So, no, cute as Jenny was, he wasn’t getting involved.
    As his eyes scoped over her it dawned on him that at this very moment she was completely, and unusually, still. Her mind had obviously closed up shop for the night. Bet that didn’t happen often.
    Jenny needed to