A Soldier for Christmas by Jillian Hart Read Free Book Online Page B

Her words were kind, but strangled. He could see the sadness in her honest blue eyes.
    He definitely had to know what had hurt her so much. What had that Joe McKaslin done to her? He thought of all the things that went wrong in the world, in relationships, between two people, that caused that much hurt. Hated to think of her exposed to anything like that. “Why? Why can’t you date me?”
    “I told you right up front. I have a no-dating policy—”
    “And I’m asking why. What happened to you?”
    “Life. Just like it happens to everyone else.” She lifted her chin, as if determined to hold back her secrets and onto what she felt was private. “Surely you’ve seen enough of life to know what I’m talking about.”
    “I have.” He pushed aside too many images of the world he’d seen up close. Images so far removed from the safe streets of this little college town and luxury unimagined in some of the places he’d been. But young or old, rich or poor, Christian or not, here or in some desperate country, life happened, and there was no stopping the pain that came right along with the living. “This has to do with Joe.”
    She took a step back, then another, as if wanting distance. “He’s at the Mountain View Cemetery. He’s buried there.”
    “I—I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
    “Now you do.” Kelly’s chest clogged tight, as if she were buried under a mountain of snow instead of the pieces of her broken dreams.
    She left him standing there, in the middle of the sunswept sidewalk, with life teeming all around him. Students from campus were pacing the sidewalks now that the shops were open. People fresh from church were looking for a place to have lunch and discuss the service. Young mothers pushing strollers and young married couples holding hands, their backpacks heavy on their shoulders as they sought out places to sip coffee and study.
    Life swirled all around him, and yet he seemed darker than the shadows.
    Kelly felt the same shadows in her soul, and she kept on going, woodenly forcing one foot in front of the other until she’d reached the end of the block. When she turned the corner, he was out of her sight.
    But, strangely, not out of her heart. She could feel him there, like the shadows.
    And the light.
     

    Okay, that wasn’t the answer I expected, Mitch thought, still troubled hours later as he helped clear the dishes from the table. He hadn’t forgotten the look in Kelly’s eyes—not one of grieving as would be expected—but of hopelessness.
    He heard the waltzing rhythm of his mom’s gait in the kitchen behind him. As he gathered up a stack of dinner plates, he tried to put his thoughts aside. His mother could probably sense that he was thinking about a woman, possibly daughter-in-law material. “Don’t even think about asking.”
    “Why? What was I going to ask?” Barbara Dalton paused in the archway and planted a hand on her hip, but the gleam in her eye clearly said, “Fine, I’ll just ask later.” “Come out onto the deck. Your father is setting up the ice cream maker.”
    “This’ll only take a minute.” Like he was going to leave the dishes for his mom to do. “Go help Dad. Go on.”
    “Who do you think you are, giving orders?” She hefted the stack out of his hands—she was stronger than she looked. “You might be part of an elite force, Sergeant, but in this house you’re still my boy and you’ll do as I say.”
    “Yes, ma’am.” He liked it when she pulled rank. He loaded up another pile of serving bowls and joined her in the kitchen, where she was stacking the plates in the dishwasher.
    “I love my brooch, Mitch.” She beamed as she worked. “Wherever did you find it?”
    “A little shop near the university.”
    “You did good.” She studied at him as he went in search of the plastic containers she stored leftovers in. “So, is she a nice girl?”
    “What makes you think there is one?”
    “Mother’s intuition.”
    “Either way, that’s