Jingle Bell Blessings ; Family by Design by Bonnie K. Winn

Author:Bonnie K. Winn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-09-21T15:13:43+00:00

* * *

J.C. stared after his departing patient. Well, her daughter, actually. Not that he’d forgotten a detail about Lillian.

Or Maddie. Refreshing. The one word summed her up completely. From the sprinkle of freckles on her smooth skin to the strawberry-blond wisps of hair that escaped from her bouncy ponytail. His gut reaction to her had come out of nowhere. That door had been closed since his ex-wife’s betrayal. Now with everything else in his life...

The intercom in his office buzzed. “Dr. M?”

“I’m here, Didi.”

“School’s on the phone.”

He sighed. His nine-year-old niece, Chrissy, wasn’t adjusting well after the deaths of her parents. It had been a blow out of the blue. His sister, Fran, and brother-in-law, Jay, had been asleep when carbon monoxide had leaked out of the furnace. Chrissy, their only child, had been at a friend’s pajama party for the night.

“Dr. M?” Didi called again.

“Yeah, I’ll get it.” Reluctantly he picked up the phone.

“Doctor Mueller?”

J.C. readily recognized the principal’s voice. They’d spoken often since the tragedy. “Yes, David?”

“You need to pick up Chrissy.”

Frowning, he checked his watch. It was only eleven in the morning. “Now?”

“There’s been another... incident.”

Chrissy, once a model child and student, had been acting out. “Surely she doesn’t need to come home this early in the day.”

“Afraid so, J.C.” The principal dropped the formalities. “She started a fight with two other girls. One is in tears, the other had to go home because we couldn’t calm her down. J.C., you’re going to have to figure out how to get Chrissy back under control.”

J.C. rubbed his forehead, feeling the onset of now near-constant pain. He’d easily diagnosed himself. Stress-induced migraines. Losing his only sibling had been a devastating blow. He and his older sister had always been close. She’d been the one always looking out for him, the one who had comforted him when they’d lost first their father, then not long afterward their mother. And she’d kept him propped up during his divorce. Without her...

Fran had been his pillar. Illogically, he wanted to speak to her, so she could tell him how to deal with Chrissy.

Opening the day’s schedule on his laptop, J.C. saw that he could steal an hour by switching one consultation. After asking Didi to make the arrangements, he drove quickly to the nearby school.

Chrissy sat in one of the chairs in the office, her arms crossed, her expression mute. But her posture and body spoke for her. Sulky. From the top of her head to the tips of her crossed feet.

She didn’t meet his gaze while he talked with the secretary and checked Chrissy out of school. But once in the hallway, her footsteps dragged.

J.C. couldn’t be mad. Under her rebellious expression was a hurt little girl overwhelmed by pain and loss. He placed one hand on her shoulder as they walked side-by-side, both silent as they approached the car.

Chrissy pulled off her backpack and flung it on the floor. Along with the clicking of seat belts being fastened in place, they were the only sounds until he turned the key in the ignition.

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