Miss Kane's Christmas by Caroline Mickelson Read Free Book Online

daughter look so happy. So carefree. So much like normal children. Carol Kane would make the perfect nanny. She was, he suddenly realized, exactly what they needed in their lives.
    Carol stood next to the SUV, motioning for him to get in the passenger side. “Hurry up, Mr. Hanson. We don’t want to keep Santa Claus waiting. This is his busy season after all.”
    Ben felt suddenly energized. Focused. The solution was obvious. All he had to do was help Carol get over her ridiculous obsession with Christmas.

Chapter Six
    The Indian Village Mall parking lot was overflowing with cars. It took six trips through the entire lot to finally find a spot. Carol tried to ignore Ben’s grumbling as she held his car door open for him. He was Beyond Bah Humbug personified. She seriously doubted he’d had any trouble coming up with the title for his book.
    Her mood improved greatly as they neared the mall entrance. Christmas music blared from the speakers and the outside of the building was bedecked in festive green and red trim with silver giant bells. When they entered the three story atrium area she stopped short. “Oh, look, kids, it’s just like home.”
    Hillary and Patrick, each with one mitten clad hand in hers, glanced up at her, matching quizzical expressions on their faces.
    “For Santa, I mean. It must feel so like home for Santa,” she quickly corrected herself. She ignored Ben’s eyes on her. His watchful gaze was disconcerting. Had she given herself away? No, of course not. If he didn’t believe in Santa, then he would never believe that Santa had a daughter.
    She and the children circled the North Pole display several times, oohing and aahing over the toy workshop. Fourteen elves carved, chiseled and hammered away at wooden toys. Fourteen. Ha. Fourteen hundred was more like it, and even with that number they were barely hitting their quota on time. It also struck her as funny that the workshop area was so neat and orderly. This close to the twenty-fifth the elves would be ankle deep in scraps of wrapping paper and ribbons. Wading through the chaotic workroom invariably meant she’d find scotch tape on the bottoms of her shoes. She smiled.
    “I like it too,” Hillary beamed. “Thank you for bringing us, Miss Kane.”
    Carol smiled down at her. She loved the joyful sparkle in Hillary’s eyes. This was what Christmas was truly about. Now she just needed to get Mr. Humbug to wake up and recognize it. To her surprise, she realized just how much she liked Ben Hanson. He was handsome, intelligent, kind and, if you didn’t count his bias against seasonal joy, he was a wonderful father.
    “Oh, and thank you too, Daddy,” Hillary added.
    Ben shook his head. “Trust me, the idea was all Miss Kane’s.”
    Carol glanced over at him. If he’d had the use of both arms she had no doubt he’d have them crossed over his chest in a sulky protest.
    “So, are we ready to meet Santa?” she asked the children.
    A delighted chorus of yeses was exactly the response she’d hoped for. “Let’s go then. The line starts over there.” She pointed to the end of a line that started at the entrance to the North Pole and snaked around the side of the display where animated penguins skated around an igloo. She quickly counted the people in line ahead of them as they took their position at the end. Only thirteen families in front of them. Not bad for this time of year.
    “Good God, Carol, there has to be at least ten families ahead of us.” Ben ran his good hand through his hair. She tried to ignore how roguishly attractive he looked with tousled hair. His churlish attitude, on the other hand, was comparatively much easier for her to disregard.
    “Thirteen, actually.”
    He groaned.
    She turned and looked up into his brown eyes. “You have something more important to do this morning than spend time with your children?” Her tone, although challenging, stopped just short of rude. “Your book won’t be out in time for this