Her Holiday Family by Ruth Logan Herne

Author:Ruth Logan Herne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-09-16T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Go time.

Max and Bert Conroy had run a preliminary light test midafternoon. They’d held their breaths, thrown the switch and the world did not implode. Then.

Now, if they got the same result tonight, when the village and shoreline blinked on around five-thirty, he’d breathe a whole lot easier. And if nothing major went awry in the next six weeks?

Max might consider doing this again next year.

“I made you coffee.” Tina clamped a lid on his to-go cup, then slipped into her heavy coat. “Two sugars, two creams.”

“I like having my own personal barista. I could get used to this.” He smiled across the top of the cup and when she rolled her eyes at him, he glanced around. “Where’s yours?”

“No time, I’ll get one later. You’ve got to be—”

“Here.” Max took a sip of the coffee, then handed her the plastic travel mug. “We’ll share.”

“We will not.”

He made a face at her. “You’ll have supper with me, but you won’t share my coffee? That’s ridiculous, Tina.”

“I’m simply abiding by our nonfraternizing rules. So should you.”

“I believe I already cited the impossibility of that. And besides—” he waited until she looked up “—the army saw to it that my skill set is breaking rules. Which brings us back to the ‘all’s fair in love and war’ discussion.”

“I’m not discussing any such thing,” she chided. “And we need to get over to the town square, ASAP. Once Reverend Smith is done with the prayer service, you’ve got to be ready to hit the switch. You can’t be late. You’re, like, the vice-president in charge of Christmas lights, a VIP around here during the holiday season.”

“I’m not going without you. And don’t worry, I’ve got it covered. Make your coffee. It only takes a minute.”

“Which is about what you have,” she grumbled, but she brewed a quick cup, fixed it and snapped a lid on tight. “Okay. We’re good to go.”

He held the door open, locked it behind her, then let her precede him down the front steps.

The street and the white-frosted green milled with people. Old, young, tall and small, the diversity made this lighting ceremony a wide-ranging event. He reached out and grabbed Tina’s free hand when he descended the steps, then tugged her around the back way, behind the church. “This gains us some serious leverage because fighting through that crowd would mean talking to folks, and we’re skating close on time as is.” They moved across the back church parking lot, through the lower end of the cemetery, then into the park square opposite Seth’s house. “Done, with ninety seconds to spare.”

“Not bad.” She sipped her coffee and smiled up at him. “I’m impressed, soldier.”

He started to smile, but Ray and Mary Sawyer approached from one side, with Sherrie and her husband, Jim, behind them. From the other side of the street, Seth and Gianna worked their way across the green with Charlie and Jenny. Seth carried Bella, bundled from head to toe in a bright pink fleece snowsuit with teddy-bear ears.

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