A Boy's Christmas Wish by Patricia Johns

Author:Patricia Johns
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-12-21T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

BETH’S HEART FLUTTERED in her chest as she walked the three blocks home. There had been something between them in that moment when Danny caught her eye—a charged connection that was nothing like the sizzle they’d shared five years ago. This was different...deeper, less demanding, but most definitely there.

Would he have kissed her again had Luke not interrupted them? They’d already done this once, and they’d both acknowledged that it wasn’t going to work. She couldn’t be the woman he wanted, and she couldn’t trust him. Yet, despite all those excellent reasons to keep their distance, they’d still been caught in a moment when she’d expected him to kiss her again. The question was, would she have allowed him?

“Of course not,” she said aloud. She and Danny were very clear on where things stood. Nothing had changed, except they were obviously still attracted to each other. Which was normal, wasn’t it?

She was trying to make this logical, because she needed it to be logical. She had a baby on the way, a heartbroken father, a grandmother with dementia... It was all she could handle right now, and her conflicting feelings for Danny were just too much. The baby shifted in her belly, and she sighed. She had her priorities right here—her daughter.

When Beth got home, she found Granny asleep in her chair in the living room, an infomercial playing on TV. Beth got herself a bowl of soup and a sandwich, and after she had finished eating and cleaning up, there was a knock on the front door. Beth went back into the living room—Granny didn’t even stir; her soft snoring continued. Beth tugged her sweater closer around her and answered the door.

Linda stood on the step, her straightened, ash-blond hair ruffling in the winter wind. She wore a green parka and white leather gloves, and while this house used to be her home, she no longer belonged here. She looked foreign. Uncomfortable. Beth had to curb the urge to simply slam the door shut again.

This was supposed to be over, but there she stood—Linda, in the flesh.

“Hello,” Beth said curtly.

“My goodness...look at you.” Linda smiled tentatively. “Your dad told me about the baby, of course, but... Hello, Beth.”

It was the exact response that Beth expected from her image-concerned ex-stepmother. Linda was an expert on proprieties, including when babies should be entering the scene. Beth had landed on the wrong side of decency—at least in Linda’s view.

“Yes, definitely pregnant,” Beth said with a cool smile. “You dodged out in time. No reflection on you at all.”

Linda’s smile slipped. “I suppose congratulations are in order.”

“Thank you.” Beth knew the proper responses just as well as her stepmother did, and they could do this all day. But it was cold, and Beth tugged her sweater a bit closer.

“Uh—is your father around?” Linda asked.

“No, he’s out.” Job hunting, most likely, but Beth wouldn’t tell her that. Let her assume that Rick had a new lineup of eligible women after him. That would serve Linda right.

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