The Secret Santa by Annette Mahon

Author:Annette Mahon [Mahon, Annette]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781477813775
Google: SozqoAEACAAJ
Amazon: B00ECD376K
Barnesnoble: B00ECD376K
Goodreads: 1675987
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Published: 2002-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

She couldn’t go anywhere these days without seeing Ben. He was at the restaurant every weekend, at church on Sunday morning, at the shopping center where she took the girls.

On Monday night, Mele went shopping for a Christmas tree with Aunty Deni and her mother. Since the café was closed on Mondays, they were making it into a family night, with all three women wandering the makeshift aisles looking for the perfect tree. Afterward, they would stop at the Dairy Queen for hot chocolate before taking their tree home to decorate.

As she turned a corner in the tree lot, there, not ten feet away, stood Ben Mendoza. Mele frowned. True, Malino was a small town, but this was getting beyond strange. Everywhere she went these days, there was Ben.

He wore a fleece-lined jacket, old faded jeans, and boots, and he looked every bit the ideal romantic cowboy.

Of course, Mele told herself, she was not interested in cowboys. Not even a little. She had firsthand knowledge of paniolos, and she knew they were not romantic. They were hard workers who smelled of sweat and livestock. And they were always on the edge of financial ruin.

That funny feeling in her chest was just a bit of indigestion from the chili Aunty Deni had served for dinner. Heartburn, she thought, then immediately frowned at the word.

Once again, she peered down the row of trees. Ben held a medium-sized tree out at arm’s length, his head bent down toward Mr. Jardine as they appeared to confer about the desirability of the particular tree.

This time there was no discounting the twinge in her chest as heartburn. It was her heart all right, but it was squeezing its approval of Ben. Not only could he be entertaining and endear himself to children, he was sympathetic and helpful to old men.

Mele stepped back, rejoining her mother and Aunty Deni in the next aisle. She was happy to see that they were heading in the direction away from where she’d seen Ben. She wanted some time to think.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t given the opportunity. Her mind and heart were in too much confusion for quick deliberation. The tree lot just wasn’t large enough to keep her separated from Ben for the amount of time she needed to come to any conclusions about what she felt.

“Why look who’s here!”

Aunty Deni’s cheerful exclamation warned Mele before she saw Ben again. But there he was, returning Aunty Deni’s hug.

“Hi.”

Mele knew her short greeting was less than appropriate, but her mind whirled with mixed signals whenever Ben was around. And he seemed to be around an awful lot. She was just grateful for Cindy’s stiff presence beside her. Otherwise, Ben might be tempted to greet her with a hug too.

Pushing herself to add more to her hello, Mele said the first thing that came to mind.

“So, what are you doing here?”

Everyone laughed and Mele felt a blush rise into her cheeks.

“He’s buying a Christmas tree, of course,” Aunty Deni said.

“Wouldn’t come looking for a Christmas turkey here,” Mr.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.