Christmas Miracle: A Family by Dianne Drake Read Free Book Online Page B

cellphone also jingled its Beethoven sonata. “Hello,” she said, on her way to the front door.
    “It’s me. I didn’t want to alarm you so after I knocked I called to tell you that I’m here with my things.”
    He was moving in tonight? Suddenly the thing she wanted, and dreaded, was happening, and she was a nervous wreck.
    “Why now?” she said in wobbly greeting when she pulled open the door.
    “Why not now?”
    “Because I thought you’d move in once Tyler was released from the hospital.”
    “But I’m not working now, not on call, so I thought this was as good a time as any. Unless you don’t want me yet, then I can…”
    “What? Sleep in your car outside my house?”
    Grinning, he looked almost as innocent as a young schoolboy. “Or bunk at the hospital in one of the on-call rooms until you’re ready for us.”
    Why was it that just one smile was all it took and she was done for? “You don’t have to spend your night in an on-call room.”
    “Then I can move in here, or is it back to the car?”
    Now he was teasing her. She could see it in his eyes, in the way he couldn’t keep a straight face even though he tried. Her old feelings were pummeling her now, and she had to duck her head to hide her feelings from James. Because what she could read in his eyes, he could read in hers. That’s what had connected them initially. One look, she saw his soul. And he saw hers. “In here. I probably should send you back to the car, though,” she said, trying to sound grumpy.
    “Then I’ll be right back.” After dropping a duffle bag on the entry hall floor, he headed back out to his car then returned almost immediately with a couple of suitcases. “This is all I’ve got. Didn’t bring any of the things with me from my apartment when I came here. Just a few clothes and some medical journals.”
    “What about Tyler’s things?”
    James shook his head. “Shelly didn’t leave anything for him. I bought him a few clothes to wear, but I haven’t had time to do much shopping for him yet. And he wasn’t exactly easy to take to the department store the one time I did try. Let’s just say that he was too exuberant with his opinion and we were kicked out within twenty minutes.”
    “Maybe I’ll take him shopping when he’s up to it. If that’s OK with you.”
    “Oh, it’s OK. I’d be grateful.”
    So there it was. One minute into the arrangement, resolve already flying away. She was getting involved. But it was with Tyler. Not James. That’s what she had to tell herself. It was for Tyler .
    Fallon stepped back as James walked fully into her house then she shut the door behind him. “You can have the spare room until Tyler moves in. It’s down the hall, near the back. Bathroom is…well, you know where that is. And when Tyler’s here you can have the couch in the living room, or there’s one in the den. It’s not as large, but you can shut the door and have your privacy. Take your pick. I’m upstairs, by the way, and there’s no reason for you to come up there. My office is behind the stairs on this floor, so while you’re here, it’s your responsibility to see that Tyler stays out.” She sounded like a cranky landlady all of a sudden, and it was all she could to do bite back a smile. Truth was, she’d rehearsed those words a few times. Out loud. Trying to sound churlish when she said them. She’d succeeded and she was a little proud of herself for it…proud that a little of that resolve was flying back through the window.
    “Shall I have security bars installed at the bottom of the stairway?” James teased. “And another on your bedroom door?”
    OK, so maybe she hadn’t sounded as churlish as she’d wanted to. Resolve flying back out again. Then, to make matters worse, he didn’t even try biting back his smile. It was broad, and so infectious Fallon glanced away so he wouldn’t see the corners of her lips turning up. He always did that, always cured her disagreeable moods with a