A Cold Creek Christmas Surprise by Raeanne Thayne

Author:Raeanne Thayne [Thayne, Raeanne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Contemporary
ISBN: 9780373657810
Google: ubg9AQAAQBAJ
Amazon: 0373657811
Goodreads: 18050577
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

“I’ve never seen so much snow,” Sarah exclaimed on Christmas Eve morning. It created a vast white sea—wave after wave, engulfing fence lines, shrubs, anything in its path. Across the way, snow had piled clear to the eaves of an outbuilding.

“The snowdrifts make it look a lot worse than it is,” Destry said, with far more experience than an eleven-year-old girl ought to have.

“Do you think your father is okay out there?”

Destry looked surprised at the question, as if it had never occurred to her before. “Sure. Why wouldn’t he be?”

Sarah could think of a dozen reasons. Frostbite. A fall from the tractor. A sudden howling avalanche. She shivered, not wanting to think about any of them.

“You must not have blizzards in San Diego,” Destry guessed.

Sarah gave a rough laugh. “No. It’s never snowed there in my memory, and I’ve been there since I was just a little girl. I think I read once it’s snowed like five times in a hundred-fifty years. If we get more than a half inch of rain in twenty-four hours, people go into full-fledged panic mode.”

“I love big storms like this, especially at Christmas,” Destry said, expertly flipping a pancake just right.

The girl was amazing. Sarah knew fellow teachers who weren’t as self-sufficient in the kitchen as this eleven-year-old girl.

“Why is that?” she asked.

“Seems like my dad takes a little more time to have fun, you know? We go sledding and ride the snowmobiles and have snowball fights. I like it when he can relax a little more.”

Her expression grew a little sad. “Of course, this year won’t be quite the same without Aunt Caidy. She and Ben won’t be back until after New Year’s Day.”

“You’ll still have a great Christmas. I’m sure of it.” Sarah tried for a cheerful tone.

“Yeah. You’re probably right. It’s going to be different, that’s all. We always spend Christmas Eve with just us and then we’ll get together with the cousins for lunch tomorrow on Christmas. You’ll like everybody, I promise. You already met Gabi and Trace, yesterday.”

She nodded. “And Taft. He was one of the paramedics who took me to the hospital after my fall.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, Becca and Laura are super nice and they have the cutest kids ever. Alex and Maya are Taft and Laura’s two. Alex can be a little stinker but even when he drives everybody crazy, we can’t help smiling at him. That’s just the way he is. And Maya is so sweet. She has Down syndrome, but that doesn’t stop her chasing after Alex for a second.”

“They sound adorable.”

“They are. And then Trace and Becca had a baby earlier this year. William Frank, after my grandpa. Little Will. He has these big fat cheeks you just want to smooch all over. We all fight to hold him.”

It sounded wonderful and warm and perfect. She fought down an aching wave of envy for this girl who knew exactly where she fit into the world, who was surrounded by people who cared about her.

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