by Susan Meier
“Due in no small part to your daughter,” Rory said, desperately trying to make points with this guy, who still wasn’t over the fact that Rory had left Christmas Eve the year before. Never mind that he’d come back and proposed marriage to his daughter even though they’d only known each other a week. Nope. Dave still held a grudge. “She’s a wonderful mother. I couldn’t raise Finley without her.”
Stacy looked around. “Speaking of Shannon, where is she?”
He didn’t know. She’d been missing in action all morning and he wasn’t sure it was wise to tell her parents that. He hadn’t lost her. She was a grown woman, allowed to go Christmas shopping on her own if she chose, but somehow he didn’t think her dad would like that answer.
Still, he sucked in a breath, ready to say, “I’m not sure where she is,” when he saw Shannon get off the elevator and stride toward him.
The happy expression on her face hit him right in the heart. He couldn’t believe he’d almost walked away from her the year before.
She strode over, directly into his open arms. “Can I talk to you?”
He turned her to see that her parents were already there.
“Mom? Dad? You’re early.”
Her dad scowled. “Why, is that bad?”
“It’s not bad, Dad. It’s just that I have something to tell Rory.”
Her dad harrumphed. “You can tell him in front of us…unless there’s something wrong.”
“Nothing wrong,” Rory assured him, then prayed there wasn’t.
Shannon cleared her throat. “Okay, then—” She slid her arm around Rory again. “I’ve spent the morning with the adoption agency.” She turned in Rory’s arms. “Melissa Graham had her baby. She chose us as the parents.”
Rory’s heart stopped. As he grabbed Shannon and hugged her, he noticed Shannon’s parents’ faces fall in disbelief. “We get a baby?”
Her eyes glowed. “A boy.”
His breath stuttered out. “A boy.”
She hugged him again. “A baby. Our baby boy.”
The speakers above them began to play the hallelujah chorus. Shannon laughed. Rory bit back tears, not wanting Shannon’s dad to see him cry.
Pulling out of his embrace, Shannon said, “Who gets to tell Finley that she’s about to be a big sister?”
Rory turned her toward Santa’s throne. He put his arm around Stacy’s shoulders and tugged on Shannon’s dad’s arm. “Let’s tell her together.”
ISBN: 978-1-4592-8203-2
KISSES ON HER CHRISTMAS LIST
First North American Publication 2011
Copyright © 2011 by Linda Susan Meier
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*Babies in the Boardroom trilogy
