The Beauty Charmed Santa by Shirley Jump

Author:Shirley Jump [Jump, Shirley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, humor, Contemporary, Relationships, Love, food, cooking, Boston, recipes, comedy, naughty, second, at, lovers, secret, Merry, holiday, christmas, elves, Santa, reunited, chance, child, Xmas, list, single, mall, mother
ISBN: 978-1-937776-46-6
Publisher: TKA Distribution
Published: 2014-02-28T05:00:00+00:00

Why did she keep getting sucked into Cole? He was like a dangerous whirlpool. Every time she got close to the edge, she lost her footing and before she knew it, she was drowning in that smile and those eyes and all those damned memories.

That was what a part of her—the masochistic side—held onto. The memories of her and him, back in the old days, when it had seemed like there was no other future but the one with Cole. The days when he’d promised her the moon and delivered the sun, when he’d made her feel beautiful and treasured, when he’d sworn he could never spend a second without her.

Until the day he got a call back from a casting agent and boom, Cole had one foot halfway to California. She’d stood there, wanting to scream at him that she was pregnant, but knowing if she did, that he would stay.

And hate her for the rest of his life.

He would have put on a smile and done all the right things, but Stephanie was sure that he would have chafed at the chains that came with a family. He’d told her once that he wasn’t a sit around the table and play checkers kind of guy. Maybe because he’d grown up in a family that hadn’t had any semblance of normalcy, or maybe he was right and he wasn’t cut out for the life that she lived.

Stephanie dropped her keys on the hall table, hung her winter coat on the back of the kitchen chair, then popped into the living room. "I’m home, Mom. Thanks for watching Joshua."

Helen smiled. "You know you never have to thank me. I love that boy more than life itself."

"You and me both." Stephanie smiled. Every day, she thanked God for the incredible gift of Joshua. He had brought her more happiness than she could ever imagine. "I’m going to go check on him."

"He’s supposed to be asleep." Her mother grinned. "But I think he’s just pretending so he can win some brownie points with Santa."

Stephanie headed upstairs, and paused outside the first room on the right. Her house was small—just a two-bedroom duplex, but every inch of it spoke to Joshua. The bright muddle of toys on the living room floor, the crayon drawings on the fridge, the scattering of stuffed animals that formed a multicolored trail from the hall to his bed. Inside his room, a Curious George nightlight cast the room in a soft golden glow, glinting off the collection of snowglobes flanking the far wall and kissing the top of Joshua’s head with a soft glow.

Joshua was nestled inside the thick NASCAR comforter that covered his race car bed. On his nightstand sat a glass of water and the familiar, well worn copy of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. Every time she saw him, her heart swelled, and she wondered what she had done so right to be blessed with such an amazing son.

"Hey, buddy," she said softly.

A grin curved across his face, but his eyes remained shut.

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