A Stone Creek Christmas by Linda Lael Miller

Author:Linda Lael Miller
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2008-06-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

After leaving Stone Creek Ranch, the conversation with Brad draping her mind and heart like a lead net, Olivia stopped off at the clinic in town, just in case she might be needed.

She wasn’t, actually, and that was kind of deflating. As the on-call vet for the current twenty-four-hour time slot, she could be sent anywhere in the county, at any moment. But today all was quiet on the Western front, so to speak.

She headed for Ashley’s, fully intending to bite the mother bullet, but her sister’s silly yellow car, usually parked in the driveway at that time of morning after a routine run to the post office, was gone. Crews of local college kids, home on vacation, swarmed the snowy front yard, though, bedecking every shrub and window and eave with holiday lights.

Olivia was momentarily reminded of Snoopy and his decorated doghouse in the cartoon Christmas special she’d watched faithfully since she was three years old. The image cheered her a little.

“Commercial dog,” she muttered, though Ashley didn’t qualify for the term species-wise, waving to the light crew before pulling away from the curb again.

She ought to see if she could swing a haircut, she thought, cruising the slush-crusty main street of Stone Creek. Every street lamp and every store window was decorated, colored bulbs blinking the requisite bright red and green.

The Christmas-tree man had set up for business down by the supermarket—a new guy this year, she’d heard—and a plump Santa was already holding court in a spiffy-looking black sleigh with holly leaves and berries decorating its graceful lines. Its brass runners gleamed authentically, and eight life-size plastic reindeer had been hitched to the thing with a jingle-bell harness.

Olivia pulled into the lot—before she saw Tanner’s red truck parked among other vehicles. She should have noticed it, she thought—it was the only clean one. She shifted into reverse, but it was too late.

Tanner, delectable in jeans and a black leather jacket, caught sight of her and waved. His young daughter, she of the dramatic helicopter arrival, stood beside him, clapping mittened hands together to keep warm as she inspected a tall, lush tree.

Annoyed by her own reticence, Olivia sighed, pulled into one of the few remaining parking spots and shut off the Suburban.

“Hey,” Tanner said as she approached, working hard to smile.

Sophie was a very beautiful child—a Christmas angel in ordinary clothes. She probably looked just like her mother, the woman who had died so tragically, in Tanner’s arms, no less. The one he’d loved too much to ever forget, according to Brad.

While they were making love the day before, had Tanner been pretending Olivia was Katherine?

Olivia blushed. Amped up her smile.

“Olivia O’Ballivan,” Tanner said quietly, his eyes watchful, even a little pensive as he studied her face, “meet my daughter, Sophie.”

Sophie turned, smiled and put out a hand. “Hello,” she said. “Dad says you’re a veterinarian, and you took care of Butterpie. Thank you.”

Something melted, in a far and usually inaccessible corner of Olivia’s heart. “You’re welcome,” she answered brightly.

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.