Yuletide Hearts by Ruth Logan Herne Read Free Book Online

misconstrued. She headed down to ground level, crossed the street, moved up the block and joined her father on the elongated roof covering the well-designed ranch house. Hank noted her presence with a welcome smile and nod.
    â€œReady?”
    Ready for roofing?
    Yes.
    For having Matt’s teasing smile, his easy manner, his firm jaw around every day?
    No way.
    But Callie had withstood basic training and a deployment in Iraq. She could handle this.
    She adopted a noncommittal look and started handing her father shingles, pushing thoughts of Matt aside, but with the steady pop of his nail gun keeping time with his whistling, she was mostly unsuccessful. Luckily no one knew that but her.
    Â 
    He’d be moving in tomorrow.
    Ignoring Matt’s light proved impossible as Callie helped Jake recognize consonant–vowel patterns for his language arts class. Her chair faced the front window, overlooking Cobbled Creek and the unshaded reminder of Matt’s existence.
    Change chairs, her conscience scolded.
    She could, she supposed, warm yellow light pouring from the uncurtained windows of the model home. But…
    â€œMom, can I help Matt this weekend?” Jake asked, pulling her attention away from cute guys and broken dreams, definitely in everyone’s best interest.
    â€œWe’ll all be working this weekend, as long as the weatherholds,” Hank told him. “Your mom has a couple of shifts at the diner—”
    â€œI switched them up with Gina,” Callie cut in.
    Hank eyed her, speculative.
    â€œI make more crewing and we have no guarantee on the weather this late in the game,” she explained to Hank, then turned her attention back to Jake’s word list. “Yup, short I words here, long I there. Perfect.”
    Jake beamed. “Mrs. Carmichael told me to picture them like puzzle pieces, looking for clues.”
    God bless Mrs. Carmichael, Callie breathed silently. Between Hannah Moore’s tutoring and Jake’s teachers, he’d come a long way academically, and since his ADD prognosis, his continued progress thrilled Callie. She knew strong middle school academics required a solid foundation now, and she’d worked extra hours to pay for his tutoring, his book club, his interactive educational games, anything it took to surround him with learning opportunities.
    So far, so good.
    She smiled, ruffled his hair, tried not to glance out the window and failed, then said, “Yes, you can help, but The General can’t be over there all the time, okay? We can’t have someone’s attention diverted when they’re on a rooftop.”
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œAnd I want to get those Christmas lights strung this weekend. Thanksgiving’s next week and I’d rather do it before we get big snows than after.”
    â€œThat’s a good idea,” Hank agreed. “If we use both ladders we can do it together and get it done in half the time.”
    â€œTrue.” The ladders were about the only thing not seized when Hank’s business bellied up. The bank had considered them household use instead of business inventory. “I want to finish scrubbing that side, too. Get rid of the mold.”
    â€œNot much sense if we don’t have time or the right temperature to paint,” Hank told her.
    â€œIt looks better when it’s clean.” Callie didn’t elaborate, butsomething about coming home to that worn facade weighed on her. Painting could wait until spring, but decorating for the holidays with the front of the house looking tired and worn…
    That didn’t sit right.
    â€œWhen can we get our Christmas tree?” Jake’s eagerness refused to be contained.
    Callie laughed and stood. She stretched and fought a yawn. “Let’s tackle Thanksgiving first, okay? And decorating the front of the house.”
    â€œCan we put up Shadow Jesus?”
    Hank exchanged a grin with Callie. He’d created a plywood Holy