The Bachelor’s Christmas Bride by Victoria Pade Read Free Book Online Page A

couldn’t stand the thought that he might get thrown away, so I brought him here with me and put him in the cubby for safekeeping.”
    She checked out the old toy, saying as she did, “Poor Poppy, I never sucked my thumb, but I chewed off bothof his ears, he lost an eye and his nose, and my mom had to sew the holes. His tail is gone, and his seams split and had to be fixed more times than I can remember—he’s kind of a mess.”
    â€œHe looks well loved,” Dag decreed, and Shannon appreciated that that was the perspective he took when she knew that Wes would have been impatient with her sentimentality over it.
    But Dag even waited while she hugged it for a moment before she set it down and took the last few items out of the cubby.
    â€œLove notes,” she confided as if they were a deep, dark secret. “This was from the summer I was ten—I was at camp just before I came to see Gramma and I had a sizzling romance with one of the boys there….”
    â€œHow sizzling could it have been at ten?”
    â€œHot, hot, hot!” Shannon said with a laugh. “He sat next to me on movie night and held my hand when the lights went out. And look at these notes—he thought I had nice teeth. And my woven pot holder was the best in the whole class. And he liked my eyes because they match! How much more sizzling do you want it?”
    â€œOh, yeah, it doesn’t get better than that!” Dag agreed facetiously. “This cubby-thing is a treasure trove.”
    â€œAh, but it looks like that’s it,” Shannon complained after poking her head into the cubby to make sure. “Now the place is all yours.”
    Which struck her with a sudden, unexpected sadness that made her think that maybe she had a few more attachments to her grandmother’s house than she’d originally thought.
    But it was done and she knew from the way Dag had talked about his plans for the remodel that he loved the place, so she comforted herself with that—and by pettingher old stuffed dog the way she had when she’d needed solace as a kid.
    â€œI’ll get a box for this stuff,” Dag suggested then, as if he knew she could use a minute alone with her things, with the cubby, with the house. She was grateful for that, and once he’d gotten to his feet and left the room, she swiveled around to take one last glance at it.
    The wallpaper was gaudy and overwhelming but she still had fond memories of being here with her grandmother on those few visits, of the fact that despite not spending much time here, it had still felt like an extension of home.
    â€œI think he’ll take good care of your house, though, Gramma,” she whispered as if her grandmother might be listening.
    Then Dag came back with a cardboard box.
    â€œIt must be late—it’s starting to get dark,” Shannon said with a glance out the window as she accepted the box from Dag. “We should probably be going.”
    â€œProbably,” Dag confirmed, holding out a hand to help her to her feet once everything was in the box.
    She could have stood without aid but she didn’t want to offend him by refusing, so she accepted the hand up.
    â€œThanks,” she said, wishing she wasn’t quite so aware of how big and strong and warm his hand was. And how well hers fit into it.
    But wishing didn’t make that awareness go away and as soon as she could, she took her hand back. Somehow regretting it when she had—another of those crazy blips, she decided.
    Dag seemed completely oblivious to the odd effects he could have on her and once she was on her own again, he bent over and picked up the box. He tucked itneatly under one arm and motioned for her to lead the way out.
    â€œI have a favor to ask you,” Shannon said as they went back downstairs.
    â€œSure,” Dag responded without hesitation as he set the box from upstairs on top of the two boxes of things he’d been