The Veteran's Holiday Home by Lee Tobin McClain

Author:Lee Tobin McClain
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-07-12T21:08:01+00:00

* * *

Back at school on Monday, Ashley didn’t have time to ponder the emotional visit she’d had with Jason and his family. When she finally emerged from her office at the end of the day, she leaned back against the door in mock exhaustion that wasn’t entirely faked. “I thought the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas were supposed to be festive and fun,” she said to Mrs. Henry.

“Not around here.” Mrs. Henry rolled her chair back from her computer. “How’d it go with Flip’s parents?”

“I think I talked them into leaving him in school.” The boy’s mother had called to say she wanted Flip to drop out so he could get into a training program for truckers that had opened up in their area. It had been tough to convince her that her son would be better off with a high school diploma and that he would have career opportunities afterward.

Mrs. Henry took a phone call and Ashley sank down into one of the office chairs to look through her mail. Not only was she tired from the day, but now that the rush had stopped, she felt how emotionally drained she was.

Telling her mother-in-law about the miscarriage had been a mixed bag. It had been a relief to talk to another woman who’d experienced the same thing, but she hadn’t wanted to admit it had happened during the car accident. Hadn’t wanted to admit her own culpability and face her mother-in-law’s anger and pain.

Letting the woman think that the whole thing had been an act of nature, as her own miscarriages had been, was deceitful, and Ashley didn’t feel great about it.

Still, the chance to talk about it, cry about it, with the person who would have been the baby’s grandmother had relieved some of her bottled-up feelings.

She tossed the advertisements for educational products and stacked a couple of envelopes to deal with later.

Jason had been so kind at his parents’ house, so sensitive to her feelings as they’d driven home.

So wonderful to kiss.

She tried to tell herself she shouldn’t focus on that; she should focus on the school. Flip’s mother’s phone call had served as a reminder about how important it was to offer the boys strong career paths after graduation. That meant that Ashley needed to direct her attention to building up the Young Soldiers program, not to her own foolish romantic dreams.

But the way she’d felt in Jason’s arms... He was so strong, yet so tender. She longed to feel that strength and tenderness again, with her whole heart.

She’d just stood when Jason walked into the office.

That square jaw with the slight stubble, the muscles that bulged in his arms, the attentive way he looked at her... She straightened and took a breath. She needed to behave like an adult in charge of a school, not a teenager with a crush.

But it was next to impossible. Titan was with him, and Jason was using his cane today, which she now knew meant he was having a rough time with pain.

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