Winter Wishes by Fern Michaels

Author:Fern Michaels
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2017-09-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

“Don’t go back,” her son pleaded with Michael.

It was New Year’s Eve. After dinner, Jillian’s family had driven through fat, drifting snowflakes the few miles to Blue Moon Harbor Park. Fireworks were scheduled to start in ten minutes, at eight o’clock. Her parents had gone to find Samuel and his family, leaving Jillian alone with Cole and Michael. Tomorrow, Michael would fly back to Toronto.

“You don’t have to go back,” Cole continued. “I don’t want you to!”

Despite sharing her son’s feelings, Jillian said, “Honey, you know he has to. He has his job, his apartment, his family, his friends.” And girlfriends, no doubt.

While father tried to reason with son, she mused that she couldn’t imagine dating again. Not when Michael had gone and made her fall in love with him. Not, of course, that he’d intended to. But when you combined sexual chemistry, his unique blend of responsibility and a knack for having fun, the way he treated Cole, and oh, so many other things . . . well, she’d been powerless to resist. The capper had happened yesterday at the beach when he’d told Cole he loved him. Her heart had broken a little: in happiness for her son, in resignation to no longer being Cole’s sole parent, and in the pain of knowing that Michael would never say those words to her. He might be attracted to her, but it was only, as he’d said, the lure of the forbidden.

She tuned back in to the father-son conversation to hear Cole say, “Fine!” His dark eyes, so like his dad’s, glittered fiercely. “Go back! It’s not like I care anyhow!” He stalked off in the gently falling snow.

“Cole,” she called. “Where are you going?”

He didn’t glance back. “To watch the fireworks with Jordan’s family!”

Michael stared after his son, the tense lines of his face revealing his anguish.

“Sorry he’s being a brat,” she said. “He does care. That’s why he’s so upset.” They’d all been on edge today. Even the snow, a rare event that usually engendered excitement, hadn’t lifted anyone’s spirits.

Michael sighed. “I know.” Turning to her, he took a breath and squared his shoulders. “Here’s a question for you. Do you care?”

“C-care?” Her tongue stumbled over the word. What was he asking?

“Do you care if I go? I know my suddenly appearing in your lives was tough on you. It’s been hard for you to share Cole with me.”

She nodded, brushing damp flakes from her cheeks, still uncertain what he was getting at.

“I guess that’ll be easier if I go back to Toronto.”

If. He’d said if, not when. Michael was usually precise with language, so did this mean he was thinking of not leaving? No, she must be misunderstanding. He had so much waiting for him there. “From that perspective, I guess you’re right,” she admitted. Though it probably wasn’t wise to continue, she couldn’t stop. “But I’ll miss you. I’ve gotten used to the idea of the three of us as, well, family. Together, I mean. Not separated by more than half a continent.

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