One Snowy Night Before Christmas by Pamela Fryer Read Free Book Online Page A

keeping
you up. I forgot you worked tonight. You must be exhausted.”
    She stood up with him and caught his hand. “Tom.”
    He stopped mid-reach.
    “Thank you for tonight. It’s been a long time since I’ve
talked about it. I’m sorry that I’m the wrong person to help you convince Amy
she’ll have a good Christmas this year.”
    He lost himself in those vivid, emerald eyes. “I’m sorry I’m
one of those people who tried to convince you to see Christmas their way.”
    She held his gaze, her eyes moving only to drift to his
mouth, then back. He was so tired and punchy he almost considered kissing her.
Inside, he knew it was wrong, and trying it would probably get both him and Amy
thrown out into the snow. For once, he listened to himself.
    “Are you going to be all right?” he asked her. “A lot of
people get depressed around Christmas.”
    She offered him a sleepy smile that slipped between his ribs
and squeezed at his heart. “Don’t worry. I’m fine.”
    He settled, hoping his relief wasn’t too obvious. “And you
don’t worry, I’m not going to clean you out while you sleep.”
    She laughed and took the mugs from him. “Tomorrow, if you
and my TV are still here”—she gave a wink—“I’ll make French Toast for
breakfast. Then we’ll drag your heap over to MacPherson’s Garage. Nurse Brenda
was very adamant about my coming back to the hospital by ten.”
    She placed the mugs in the sink and shut out the kitchen
light. He followed her upstairs and they paused outside the two bedroom doors.
The girl who had seemed so strong and capable suddenly appeared petite and
frail. She gazed up into his eyes, her own wide and youthful. The ivory sconces
on the wall cast her in a flattering light. Not a single blemish marred her flawless
complexion. She was a true beauty, elegant without a hint of makeup.
    “If I know my daughter”— which I honestly don’t —“she’ll
want to come with you. Mind if we tag along?”
    “I don’t mind at all,” she said softly. “Good night.”
    She closed her bedroom door, leaving Tom standing alone in a
cloud of heated arousal he hadn’t felt in a long time.
    * * *
    Jessie was exhausted, yet she still drifted on the edge of
sleep. She couldn’t get Tom’s forlorn image out of her mind. When she finally
did sleep, he filled her dreams as well. The lonely, handsome man with a
stranger for a child had already fixed himself into her heart in a place that
had been empty for a long time.
    She’d set her clock for eight, but awoke closer to seven.
Though still groggy, she couldn’t convince herself back to sleep. Instead, she
rose and showered so she could get an early start on breakfast.
    Jessie was surprised to find Amy downstairs, kneeling in
front of the sliding glass window in the living room. A sheen of condensation
glistened like silver beads on the glass. She’d wiped a circle with her hand
and was staring out at the crystalline morning. She turned around when she
heard Jessie come down.
    “They’re looking for Santa.”
    “Who is, honey?” Jessie knelt beside her and looked outside.
At group of deer stood at the edge of the woods, pawing for grass beneath the
snow. Jessie didn’t have the heart to tell Amy this condominium complex sat
adjacent to a protected wildlife refuge that stretched for miles, and she often
saw deer from her windows.
    Bucks, actually, Jessie realized. All males that hadn’t yet
dropped their antlers. Exactly eight of them. How strange, there wasn’t a doe
or fawn among them.
    “Those are Santa’s reindeer?” Jessie could hardly believe
she said that. It wasn’t like her to entertain Christmas absurdity, even with a
child. She swallowed past a strange discomfort that lodged in her throat by
playing along.
    “Mmm-hmm.” The little girl traced her finger along the
fogged glass, pointing. “That one is Prancer, that one is Dancer, there’s
Comet, and Cupid.”
    “There’s Vixen, Blitzen, Donner and Dasher over