A Must for Christmas: A Darling Cove Novella

by Deborah Garland

  A Must for Christmas

  A Darling Cove Novella

  Deborah Garland

  Contents

  Also by Deborah Garland

  Praise for Darling Cove

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  @2018 by Deborah Garland

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover Design and Interior Format by The Killion Group, Inc.

  Also by Deborah Garland

  Darling Cove Series

  Must Love Fashion

  Must Have Faith

  Must Be Crazy

  Praise for Darling Cove

  Praise for Must Love Fashion

  “4 Stars. Must Love Fashion follows the fantastic journey of two strangers discovering that their growing attraction to one another may be the season’s hottest new arrival.”

  ~ RT Book Reviews

  * * *

  “A strong start to a promising new romance series.”

  ~Kirkus Reviews

  * * *

  “Enchanting characters and witty banter make this debut and first in a new series a sure bet.”

  ~ Library Journal

  * * *

  “4 Stars! Overall, a fun contemporary story, with wonderful supporting characters that readers will want to return to for more installments in this series.”

  ~ InD’tale Magazine: 4 Stars!

  * * *

  “This is such an engrossing story, I couldn’t put it down.”

  ~ A Cozy Booknook

  * * *

  “I felt like I was there at Prada with Andrew and Gwen.”

  ~ A Book Lover’s Emporium Book Blog

  * * *

  “The story really grabs the reader’s attention from the get-go.”

  ~ The Indie Express Blog

  Praise for Must Have Faith

  "A charming, engaging second-chance romance."

  ~Kirkus Reviews

  * * *

  "A must-read for anyone who has ever hoped for a second chance with the one who got away."

  ~ Library Journal

  * * *

  "4 Stars! A fun and entertaining read!"

  ~ InD'tale Magazine

  * * *

  "If you read Must Love Fashion you will definitely want to click this one."

  ~ A Book Lover's Emporium Book Blog

  * * *

  "If you are looking for a heartfelt tale riddled with the feels, then look no further this one is sure to put the squeeze on your heart!!”

  ~Red's Romance Reviews

  * * *

  "I really enjoyed Must Have Faith with its sensational storyline, the sexy and charming hero, the beguiling and endearing heroine, and the off the charts romance."

  ~ Liz's Reading Life

  * * *

  "I highly recommend this sweet and swoony second chance romance with a punch!"

  ~The Genre Minx Book Reviews

  Early Praise for Must Be Crazy

  “Heartfelt and emotional, sexy and sweet. You’d be crazy to miss out on this story.”

  ~ NYT Bestselling Author Donna Alward

  For Greg and Faith.

  Two wonderful people who became my

  imaginary friends and wouldn’t go home.

  Chapter 1

  Darling Cove, the North Fork of Long Island

  December 22, 11:30 PM EST

  Faith Mallory stepped gingerly through her living room toward the Christmas tree. Its twinkling lights reflected off the bay window where just beyond, Darling Cove waited for the first snowfall of the season. Located about seventy miles east of Manhattan, the North Fork wine hamlet often got walloped.

  In her hands was a small gift for her husband. It was nothing fancy. Just a coffee mug. World’s Greatest Dad.

  Greg technically wasn’t a dad yet. Faith was due to give birth in T-30 days. He was going to be a great dad, though. There was no question in her mind. The proof? His own father, Martin Mallory, was a great man. If Faith knew one thing about Greg, he worshipped his dad and wanted to be like him in every way.

  It was why Greg had become a police officer.

  Faith sucked in a breath. It still touched her that Greg had retired from the job he loved to go with her to London when she’d been named the new CNN Bureau Chief. It had been a blessing she hated that job. The minute a sonogram showed two little heartbeats, walking away was easy.

  There had been no doubt in her mind at the time that Greg would have loved to come home and raise his children in Darling Cove. While Martin had been supportive of Greg’s choice to move across an ocean to be with her, Faith loved giving her father-in-law the gift of their return as well.

  Even if it had put her back where she started a year ago, executive producing an overnight news show.

  At a small table set up next to the tree, Faith organized the few remaining gifts to be wrapped. She planned to finish the following day or the next. The Mallory family was expected for Christmas in a few days, and she wanted everything perfect. She yawned and decided to call it a night. The babies grew heavier every day, slowing her down.

  Plenty of other presents lay patiently under the tree. Their shiny wrapping paper gave the tree an extra sparkle. Many of the gifts were for Greg’s goddaughter, Ellie. He’d been so touched when his sister Gwen and her husband, Andrew, gave him that honor. Several were for Julian—the new step-son of Skye, Greg’s other sister. New, because Skye and Edward Mendelsohn were just married. That day. Seven-year-old Julian was the cutest, sweetest little boy. Faith loved that her sons now had an older boy cousin to grow up with and look out for them.

  A few gifts Faith hadn’t wrapped herself snagged her eye; all had labels scratched out in Greg’s handwriting. Carefully, she bent over to pick one up and touched the label. Mommy.

  A quick glance confirmed the rest were addressed the same way. In one breath she was choked with emotion because Greg had lost his own mother. The other breath, however, zipped past her lips in a hiss. The small hints that she quit her job to be a full-time mom were not dropped so much as they were chucked at her, like small rocks skimming on the surface of smooth water. Causing ripples and upsetting the calm, easy life Faith wanted.

  She and Greg had endured enough drama.

  For the past six months, Faith had been waging an internal battle with herself about what to do once these little guys came along. From her purse she slid out her wallet. Hidden in one of the slots was a business card from an executive at another news network.

  The card represented the exciting opportunity that knocked a couple of months ago. Faith opened the door, but she hadn’t dragged it inside. Yet. She also kept that offer a secret. With so much going on—her baby shower, Skye’s wedding, Christmas—there’d been no good time to tell Greg she’d been considering leaving CNN for good after almost fifteen years. When she’d practiced her words, she turned into an emotional bucket of goop.

  She and Greg were both on vacation the week between Christmas and New Year’s, and Faith knew it was the last ten days they would have together. Alone. For a very long time. She planned to mention it then. There would
be plenty of time to consider everything carefully.

  Feeling confident in her decision to wait, she put the card back in her wallet. When she reached across the work table and turned off the lamp, it plunged the room into darkness, except for the colorful lights on the tree and the white bulbs outside their front window. They’d been in that house together for a couple of months only. Greg had purchased it on his own, five years earlier. It had been a perfect bachelor pad and would have made a great newlywed starter home.

  Leave it to Greg Mallory to make not one but two wedding night babies. The man was a beast!

  When they returned from London, they’d lived with Martin for a few months while a contractor tore off their roof to give them a second floor with three bedrooms and two more bathrooms.

  Greg’s childhood home quickly turned into a Mallory compound when Skye lost everything in a fire. Then Gwen and Andrew had a flea mishap, causing them to shack up there as well. It was hectic, but Faith, who was an only child, loved it. While she was thrilled with her newly renovated home now, she missed the hustle and bustle of a full house.

  “Okay, okay,” she groaned and pressed down on her hip, where one of her babies loved to kick. “Yes, yes. It’ll be all hustle and bustle here soon too.”

  Faith scanned the tree one more time, but the sound of footsteps turned her around, and her eyes settled hungrily on the handsome man walking toward her in sleep pants and nothing else. The only man she ever loved. Even if he was infuriatingly stuck in the past when women stayed home and took care of the kids. It was hard to blame him, since both his mother and Faith’s own mother had been housewives.

  “Some night, huh?” Greg bent over to unplug the Christmas tree lights.

  “It could be,” she playfully answered and tugged at him so he wouldn’t notice that she messed with his gifts.

  Ever the worry-wart, each night he checked the tree to make sure nothing was amiss, but her fingernails brushing against his bare chest caught his attention.

  It was a body she’d wanted since she figured out how a man could make a woman feel. She developed a girly crush on Greg when she was ten and by the time she was eighteen, Faith had fallen madly and deeply in love with him.

  Her lifelong dream had come true this spring when after waiting what felt like a lifetime, she and Greg were finally married in London. It’d been the happiest day of Faith’s life, even though the ceremony was just her and Greg. That was her own fault. They’d had a big, fancy, talk-of-the-town wedding planned ten years earlier, but she ran off two days before.

  Water under the bridge.

  All the Mallory children were now married, making Martin probably the happiest man in Darling Cove. Faith had held back a choke of tears, watching Skye dance with her father earlier that day. Sadly, Faith’s own father had passed away before seeing her married to Greg and would never meet the two baby boys in her belly, waiting to wreak havoc on their lives. Greg’s mother would never get to meet the boys either. She’d missed all her kids’ weddings, having passed away almost twenty years ago.

  Greg motioned to the staircase. “Ready for bed?”

  “Bed, yes.” Faith ran her hands along his broad chest. “Sleep, no.”

  Greg closed his hand around her wrist as her fingers slipped into the waistband of his sleep pants. “I’m not sure we should still be doing this.”

  With one hand immobilized, she used the other to hook around his neck. She pushed up on her toes to kiss her husband. That he didn’t protest. His mouth closed over hers, while his tongue pushed inside.

  God, she loved the way he kissed her. It still made her body tingle. They’d been apart for ten years, but when Greg kissed her last winter, Faith had come back to life. With a vengeance. She got a taste of that man again and couldn’t let go.

  “Seriously,” Greg panted heavily as she stroked him.

  “Just one more time,” she whispered against his neck. Or thirty.

  He took her hand away and curled it in his own. He leaned his forehead against hers. “Don’t take this the wrong way. You’re so big at this point, I’m afraid to get on top of you.”“Hey!” She was big; he wasn’t exaggerating, and she couldn’t really argue.

  The unborn twins had taken over her five-feet-five, rather petite frame. Unlike her tall and elegant sister-in-law, Gwen, who only showed in the stomach area when she was pregnant, Faith was huge everywhere. And Skye, at four months pregnant, wore a body hugging lace wedding dress that made her look like a model.

  The Mallory’s were single-handedly creating a population explosion in their tiny North Fork town.

  “Faith…” Greg breathed into her neck and ran his large hand across her stomach. “Let’s go upstairs. We’ll figure something out.”

  She whispered, “I love you.”

  “I love you more,” he responded.

  “Not possible.” She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his chest. “Come on.” She lifted her nightgown and urged him toward the sofa. “It’ll be okay.”

  Greg moved her hair away from her shoulders and let the white cotton nightgown glide down to expose one of her swollen breasts. He took the tender lobe into his hand. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered right before his mouth closed around a hard nipple. His other hand roamed across her body and settled on her stomach. In his caveman voice, he proclaimed, “Me like.”

  Faith let a gurgle of laughter go as she eased against him. “That’s Tarzan.”

  “Same thing though, right?” He kissed the other breast over the fabric.

  Oh yes, it was so right. “Mmmm. Faith like too.”

  Greg easily got a little crazy during sex. She tugged down her nightgown on the opposite shoulder and exposed both breasts to distract him.

  After giving both of them warm and wet attention, he asked, “Can we go upstairs, Mrs. Mallory?”

  “Yes, Special Agent Mallory.” She watched his eyes light up, like they did every time she used his new FBI title. A twenty-year veteran cop, Greg wasn’t going to stay retired for long.

  Faith stood and turned toward the stairs when a cramp stabbed at her. Damn bladder. As the pain increased, it travelled to her lower back and quickly radiated through her body. How had it crept up so fast? She smiled to keep the pain from showing on her face. Greg was an overprotective monster.

  She’d been keeping the small jabs of pain and drops of blood from him. Her doctor assured her everything was fine, but she still had a month to go and feared Greg would urge her to start her maternity leave early, if he knew. Faith planned to spend every last minute doing the job she truly loved and would miss if she took that surprise offer. Change was a scary thing. The pain she’d been hiding reminded her, her world was about to be turned upside down. A new job or keeping up with an old one may turn her inside out as well.

  She bit her lip and doubled over. “Oh, damn it!” She held her stomach, feeling warm, wet liquid flow down her leg. Embarrassment soared through her. She couldn’t…hold it in.

  “Faith,” Greg called out to her from a few feet away. “What’s that?” He stared at the little puddle between her feet.

  How attractive was this? Peeing on herself. Greg would lose his erection for sure.

  “Nothing.” She hobbled to the downstairs bathroom and struggled to breathe past the hot, deep, radiating pain. “I just peed on myself. I’m fine. I’ll meet you upstairs.”

  These sharper pangs had been coming and going for the past two days. With all the excitement of Skye’s wedding, Faith pushed past the pain to be present for her sister-in-law.

  Greg slammed his hand against the wall, hitting all four light toggles at once. Every fixture on the first floor blazed bright.

  Her sight blurred like she’d been blinded with a laser. “Greg. I can see where I’m going.”

  “You’re bleeding.” He pointed. “Look.”

  She lifted her nightgown. Uh oh. Not just the usual trickle of blood she’d gotten used to these past few weeks, faint and pinkish in color
. Greg’s pale, frightened gaze settled on streaks of crimson red down both her legs.

  Chapter 2

  11:51 PM

  Greg clutched Faith to his side as he helped her to the bathroom. “Wait here. Do not move.” His cop voice took over.

  “It hurts.” Faith held her stomach.

  He raced up the stairs, taking the steps several at a time and cursing the decision to move the master bedroom to the second floor. His Goddamn phone was out of reach at a time when he didn’t want to take his hands off his wife.

  “Greg! It really hurts,” Faith cried from the lower floor, and he shivered at the sound of pain in her voice.

  He found his phone and yanked it off the charger, feeling the pins bend with the force of his hands. From his bureau, he pulled a pair of jeans and a sweater. Juggling everything against his chest, he fumbled with his phone to find Skye’s number. Her husband, Edward, would know what to do. His new brother-in-law was Darling Cove’s volunteer fire chief and responded to plenty of alarms for women in labor.

  Greg stopped for a moment. Fuck. He was interrupting…Skye and Edward’s wedding night. Holding the phone, he raced down the stairs. In the bathroom, Faith was on her knees, vomiting.

  “Oh, Babe.” He dropped down to his knees and held her hair. The long strands in his hands reminded him she was back to her old self and not trying to look like a bureau chief—a job she couldn’t get away from fast enough. Thank God, this wasn’t happening in London. “We have to go to the hospital.”