Harlequin Holiday Collection

by Leslie Kelly

  She’d asked herself that, but it annoyed her coming from him. “This job could take me right to the top. I can’t refuse the first thing they’ve asked me to do.”

  His gaze assessed her. “Fine. Kristie can stay with me.”

  “No, I’ll take Kristie along.” She swallowed. Just say it. “But I wanted to ask you something. Your grandmother said you fixed the roof on the cottage. I’m sure that must have cost something for materials, and I want to pay you.”

  He looked just as offended by that as she’d thought he would. “You don’t owe me a thing,” he said flatly.

  “But the roofing materials—”

  “We always have stuff like that around the inn for repairs. We don’t want money for doing a neighbor a good turn.”

  Her frustration probably didn’t make sense, but she felt it anyway. “But I wasn’t even here then. And after the way my parents let the place deteriorate, I’d think you’d be glad to see it fall down.”

  “I knew you’d want the cottage someday.”

  “How?” She wanted to shout at him. “How did you know?”

  He shrugged. “I knew. People don’t change all that much. You always loved this place, even though your folks didn’t. I knew you could never sell it.”

  Now was clearly the moment to tell him that she was doing just that. Unfortunately the words seemed lodged in her throat, unwilling to come out.

  As little as she wanted to acknowledge it, she knew why.

  She didn’t want to lose what they had. It could never be anything but friendship, but she didn’t want to risk it.

  Kristie appeared in the doorway, still in her pajamas.

  “Kristie, what are you doing? I said to get dressed.”

  “I don’t want to go. I want to stay with David.”

  “You can’t.” She glanced at her watch. This had taken more time than it should, and she was already late.

  “She can stay with me.” David smiled. “No problem.”

  No problem for him. For her, it was just one more reason to feel grateful to him. And one more reason to feel guilty.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “The wise man built his house upon the rock,” Kristie sang as she patted sand onto her sandcastle.

  David grinned. “We just have sand to build on here.”

  Kristie glanced toward the cottage. “Do the houses fall down, then?” Her small face was serious.

  “Not your house,” he assured her. He patted the sandcastle. “The tide will take this away, but your house is structurally sound. That means it’s strong inside, even if we did need to do a little painting to make it look nice.”

  His thoughts slipped to Ally, as they had a tendency to do too often. When he’d seen her dressed in her power suit instead of her jeans and sweatshirt, every hair in place, she’d been a different person—smart, ambitious, determined.

  But that brittle sophistication was on the surface, wasn’t it? Underneath, where it counted, Ally was sound.

  Kristie scraped at the sand with a shell. “I wish we didn’t ever have to go away from here.”

  I wish that, too, sugar, David thought. But he couldn’t say it.

  “Your momma told me you don’t want to have your operation,” he said carefully. “But it sure would be nice if next time you come, we could play sandpiper tag.”

  Kristie looked up, intrigued. “What’s sandpiper tag?”

  “Your momma and I used to play that.” He saw Ally running, laughing, happy. He pointed to a row of sandpipers strutting along the wet sand. “It’s like tag, but you can’t tap someone without running between the sandpipers first.”

  “I can’t do that.” She frowned at her brace.

  “After you have your operation, you will.” Please, God.

  “But if I’m well—” She paused, digging her fingers into the sand. “If I’m better, Mommy will go to work all the time.”

  He hesitated, aware that Ally probably wouldn’t appreciate his interference. But the child deserved someone to listen.

  “I guess maybe she’ll have to, so she can earn money to take care of you. She’ll still spend a lot of time with you.”

  Kristie shook her head, her silky blond hair obscuring her expression. “She’ll work all the time, like Daddy. I heard her one time. She told him he was doing it to stay away from me.”

  “Oh, honey.” His heart hurt for them. “That’s not true for your momma. She loves you more than anything.”

  Her lower lip came out. “Maybe that’s why Mommy wants me to have the operation. So she can go to work every day instead of staying with me.”

  He took her sandy hand in a firm grip. “Now, that’s just plain silly. Your momma wants you to have that operation so you can be better. So you can run and play and have fun. I know that as well as I know that the tide’s gonna come in.”

  Kristie looked up at him, fear and hope battling in her blue eyes. “You sure?”

  “Positive.” He made it just as strong as he could, relieved when hope won out in her expression.

  He’d talk to Ally. He’d help her understand Kristie’s fears. They’d find a solution to make both of them happy.

  To make all three of them happy.

  Chapter Fifteen

  If Allison’s mind whirled any faster, she wouldn’t be able to drive. She crossed the bridge onto the island, trying to think this through rationally. The firm actually wanted her to start her new job two days after Christmas.

  Her initial reaction had been that it was impossible, but that wasn’t an option. Needing someone in the office immediately, her future boss had made it clear: She started, or the job went to someone else.

  So she had no choice. She’d have to put the cottage on the market tomorrow, if she could find a Realtor open. Get a nanny for Kristie—

  Kristie would not be happy. She’d remind Allison of her promise to stay on the island until the time of the surgery. Somehow, Allison would have to make her daughter understand. This job would secure their future.

  She had to tell someone else, too. David would be—what? Sad? Disappointed? Angry?

  She didn’t know. But as she pulled in next to his car, she knew she was about to find out.

  They were sitting at the table in the kitchen, playing a board game. She paused for a moment. They made a nice picture.

  “Mommy!” Kristie’s face lit up. “I beat David two times!”

  “That’s great, honey.” She put her bag down and took a deep breath. The moment was here, and she didn’t know how to say it.

  “Has something happened?” David read her too easily.

  “I have some news.” She took another breath. It didn’t help. “I talked to my new boss today. He wants me to start my job right away. Right after Christmas.”

  Kristie went from smiling to tearful in a second. “Mommy, no! You promised we’d stay here until my operation. I don’t want to go back.”

  “I know I promised, Kristie, but I have to do this. It’ll be okay. I’ll find someone really nice to stay with you.”

  “I don’t want someone nice. I want to stay here!” Kristie slid off her chair and lurched toward the other room. “I hate you!”

  “Kristie—” Allison started after her, her eyes swimming with tears. But David caught her hand.

  “Wait.”

  She tried to shake him off. “I have to go to her.”

  “There’s something you have to hear first.” His eyes were very serious. “Something Kristie told me today.”

  She stopped, held by his expression. “What?”

  Now David looked reluctant to speak. “She talked about why she doesn’t want to have the operation.”

  She seemed to feel his heart beating through his hand. He was going to say something she didn’t want to hear—she knew it.

  “Kristie said she doesn’t want to have the operation because if she’s well, you’ll leave her to go to work. She said that’s what her father did. He worked a lot, so he didn’t have to be aro
und her.”

  The words stabbed straight to her heart.

  Chapter Sixteen

  David didn’t want to cause her pain, but however it hurt, Ally had to know why Kristie was so opposed to the surgery.

  “I’m sorry.” His words were inadequate.

  “Why did she tell you? What did you say to her?”

  “I tried to reassure her that you love her, that’s all. We were talking about all the things she could do when you come back to the island after her operation.”

  “We won’t be back.”

  Now it was his turn to stare, stunned. “What?”

  Her face had lost all the softness it had acquired since she’d returned. “I’m selling the cottage. I can’t afford a vacation house, and our future is in Atlanta, not here.”

  He shook his head slowly, trying to take it in. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because I thought you wouldn’t help if you knew.”

  “Ally—” He didn’t know what to say to that. “You know that’s not true. We’re friends.”

  She rubbed her forehead, and for an instant he thought her eyes shimmered with tears. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I just couldn’t figure out how to tell you.”

  He tried to push away his own feelings long enough to figure out what she needed. “Look, are you sure this is what you really want? A job so demanding it will consume your life?”

  “It’s a good job,” she said, looking as stubborn as Kristie sometimes did.

  “Good for you and Kristie? Or good because it will bring in a high salary?”

  Her temper flared. “That’s not fair. I have a child to support. I can’t afford to work only when I want to. I need a real job.”

  This was probably not the moment to say that his job was real, even though it wasn’t as prestigious as the position that waited for her in Atlanta.

  “You don’t have to go back to the city for that. You could work in Beaufort and live right here in the cottage. Kristie could have friends around her and the kind of life you always said you wanted.”

  “I was twelve when I said that. I didn’t know anything.” Her mouth firmed. “I’ve learned, believe me. I can’t count on anyone else. I’ve made my plans, and I’ll follow them.”

  “Gran would say we’re not in charge of planning our own lives.”

  “Your grandmother is a lovely person, but I have to do what I think is best for my child.”

  With her face hard and determined and her voice brittle, she didn’t look anything like the girl he remembered.

  “All right, Ally.” He felt a flicker of anger. “But while you’re doing what you’ve planned, just be careful you don’t turn into the same kind of person your husband was.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Come on, Kristie. Help me put some ornaments on the tree.” Allison had run out on Christmas Eve to get a small tree, in spite of the fact that they’d be leaving soon, hoping that might make her daughter happy. It wasn’t working.

  “I want to go to David’s house.” Kristie shoved her lower lip out. “They invited us, remember?”

  “I know, but—” But what? She could hardly tell her daughter that she wasn’t sure of her welcome there. Or that she didn’t want to be confronted by David, challenging her decisions.

  I’m right. I know. I have to take care of my daughter.

  But David’s words kept coming back to her every moment that she wasn’t actively pushing them away. Are you sure you’re doing what’s right for Kristie? That was what his argument amounted to. Are you sure you aren’t turning into the same kind of person your husband was?

  Of course she wasn’t. Was she arguing with David or with God?

  You gave me this special child. Surely You expect me to take care of her as best I can.

  Turning into the same kind of person your husband was? Had she really begun measuring herself by Richard’s standards?

  She rejected that, a little panic-stricken. If she didn’t have the plans she’d been relying on, what did she have?

  Help me. Please, she prayed. Show me that the decisions I’ve made are right for us.

  The knock at the door came on the heels of her prayer, almost like an Amen.

  She opened it to find David standing on the porch. For a moment she could only stare at him. “David.”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “It’s Christmas Eve. You promised to spend it with us, remember?”

  “I don’t remember promising anything.”

  “Mommy, you did. You promised.” Kristie’s pout had vanished as she hobbled to the door. “We have to go to David’s. I want to put my sand dollar on his tree.”

  David smiled at her. “You go get it, okay?”

  “Okay.” She hurried toward the kitchen, eyes shining.

  David looked at Allison, and she felt a ridiculous longing to step forward into his arms and rest her head on his shoulder.

  “Well?”

  “I wasn’t sure you’d want us to come now.”

  He reached out, taking her hands in both of his. “Sugar, if that isn’t the silliest thing I ever heard, I don’t know what is.”

  His warmth flowed along her skin.

  “Come on,” he teased. “You know we’re friends, no matter where we are.”

  She did know that, didn’t she? “Okay. Christmas Eve with the Caldwells it is.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  The whole downstairs of the inn overflowed with Caldwells—sisters, brothers, cousins. And kids, running around, dodging between adults, filled with all the excitement of Christmas. His mother, Gran, and Miranda had filled countless trays with more food than anyone could possibly eat, but everyone who came through the door brought more. The air was filled with the mingled scents of pine, cookies, baked ham, roast turkey.

  David spotted Kristie in the living room near the tree. She wasn’t running, of course, but she seemed to be having a good time. Sammy, bless his good heart, was sitting on the rug playing a game with her.

  When David had lifted her up to hang her sand dollar on the tree, she’d put her arms around his neck and squeezed. He’d felt as if she was squeezing his heart.

  He’d managed to put himself in a position so he could see Ally wherever she moved. Right now she was helping his sister arrange cookies on a platter. Their heads were together, and they were laughing.

  In a few days she’d be gone. She and Kristie would go back out of his life as suddenly as they’d appeared, and he might never see them again.

  There’s nothing you can do, he told himself. Ally’s changed. She’s not the girl you remember.

  Had she changed? Maybe. Or maybe he was being a coward.

  He’d given her every reason she should stay on the island. Except the real one.

  Don’t go. Stay with me. I love you.

  He couldn’t say that to her. She hadn’t given him any indication that she would welcome it.

  Except for the kiss. That had been real.

  It wasn’t very practical of him, falling in love on the basis of one kiss.

  But it hadn’t just been one kiss—it had been a lifetime of knowing her.

  And she already thought he wasn’t very practical.

  His gaze found her again. Now she stood in the archway, chatting with his grandmother. As if she felt his gaze, she looked up at him. Her eyes, wide and startled, were the eyes of the girl he’d known.

  Ally was actually the one person who might understand if he came right out with what was in his heart. They’d always been able to speak to each other heart to heart, without worrying about what they should say or how it would sound.

  He’d tell her. He owed it to both of them to say it at least once before she left.

  He shoved away from the mantel he’d been leaning against. It shouldn’t be hard to detach her from Gran. Gran always had a sixth sense about things like that.

  He’d taken one step toward her when he heard a clatter, a crash, and a cry. He spun around, searching automaticall
y for Kristie.

  One of the running children had bumped into the Christmas tree. Kristie stood, hands pressed against her lips, eyes desolate. Her sand dollar lay shattered on the floor.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Allison would have recognized that cry anywhere. Kristie. She turned toward the living room, gaze searching for her daughter.

  She was all right. At least, she didn’t seem to be hurt. Allison hurried across the room toward the tree, weaving through the running children.

  David had reached Kristie first. He knelt next to her, drawing her into the circle of his arms. Allison was caught by the tender expression on his face and by the way her daughter leaned against him.

  She vaguely heard Miranda shepherding the other children into the dining room. The room grew quiet around them, and she moved closer to David and Kristie.

  “I know,” David’s soft drawl was even softer than usual. “I know how disappointed you are, sugar. It was a beautiful ornament, and you made it yourself.”

  Kristie sniffled. “You gave me the shell. I wanted it to be on your tree forever and ever, so you wouldn’t forget me.”

  Allison tried to swallow, but her throat wouldn’t work. David had been more of a father to Kristie in one week than Richard had in her whole life.

  “Honey, I couldn’t forget you.” David sounded as if he had trouble with his throat, too. “No matter how far away you go, I could never, ever, forget you. We’re friends for always. And I’ll find you another sand dollar. Promise.”

  Kristie wiped tears with the back of her hand. “It won’t be the same.” She looked down at the shattered shell.

  David held her closer. “You remember the story I told you about why we use the sand dollar for Christmas?”

  “Because it has the poinsettia on it.”

  “That’s right. But there’s something else I didn’t tell you.” He leaned over the broken shell, pointing. “See those five white things that came out of the shell?”