A WEDDING FOR CHRISTMAS by Marie Ferrarella

Author:Marie Ferrarella
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-07-21T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

“PLEASE, MAMA, PLEAZZZE?” Ricky begged.

The little boy had been singing the same refrain, in varying intonations, off and on since the morning after Thanksgiving. That had been five days ago.

The plaintive supplications all revolved around getting Cris to go looking—and ultimately, of course, buying—a Christmas tree for the inn.

“Christmas is almost here,” Ricky pleaded, stressing the last word as he followed her around the kitchen the way he seemed to have been doing every day of late.

Even when one of his aunts or his grandfather managed to distract him with something for a short while, he always made his way back to her and picked up where he’d left off as if no time had gone by in between.

Ordinarily, Cris dearly loved Ricky’s company, even when she was busy preparing meals for the guests. She could multitask with the best of them.

But this morning she’d picked up her cell phone to discover a message that she’d been trying not to think about even as she was dreading it. Her former mother-in-law had called her to say they would be arriving sometime during the week.

When she’d attempted to return the call, she’d gotten the woman’s voice mail and heard a robotic voice informing her that the phone was off. There was no point in leaving a message—Marion MacDonald never returned messages—so Cris didn’t.

More fluttering butterflies in her stomach turning into oversize objects.

Why now? Cris couldn’t help wondering. The last time she’d seen the couple, Mike’s mother had made no effort to hide her anger at Cris for refusing what Marion had informed her was a “very generous offer.” The offer entailed Ricky and Cris moving into their home—a place that could only be referred to as a mansion.

They had assumed it was a done deal and were really taken aback when Cris had turned them down, saying her life was here at the inn. She’d gone on to tell the couple they were welcome to visit Ricky any time they wanted to.

That was almost a year ago, and except for the Christmas and birthday cards, both with sizable checks made out to the boy, she hadn’t heard a word.

Once again, even as she was enjoying the peace and quiet, she should have known it was too good to last.

Well, she’d find out what was going on soon enough, she told herself. She saw no reason to ruin Ricky’s joy in the approaching holidays just because of her own anxieties.

In a patient voice, Cris pointed out, “Christmas is more than thirty days away.”

Ricky climbed onto one of the stools that was pushed up right beside a worktable, so that his face was closer to hers. “But we gotta find the tree, bring it home and decorate it. That takes a whole bunch of time,” the little boy insisted. “All the big good ones will be gone if we don’t hurry up and buy one.”

“Then we’ll get a medium-sized good one,” she told him, slicing potatoes for her own recipe of potatoes au gratin.

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