One Special Christmas by Irene Hannon

Author:Irene Hannon [Hannon, Irene]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488023781
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 1999-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

Eric listened to the murmur of voices as he restlessly roamed around Kate’s living room. He couldn’t distinguish the words, but he could guess what they were talking about. Sarah’s last remark had clearly embarrassed Kate. And probably upset her, as well. He suspected that she’d done everything she could to make Jack as real as possible for Sarah. But it was a hard thing to do when the little girl had no memory of him. To her he was only an image, like the characters in her storybooks, with no basis in reality. What she wanted was a real daddy—someone who could hold her hand and share her life. Kate was fighting a losing battle, Eric thought with a sigh. Sarah was too young to be comforted by stories of a father she had never known.

Eric wandered into the kitchen, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he glanced around. The room was small but homey, with several of Sarah’s drawings displayed on the refrigerator. The remains of a hardly touched dinner lay strewn next to the sink—macaroni and cheese, green beans, salad. Sarah must have started to feel badly before they ate more than a few bites.

His gaze swept over the eat-in counter that separated the living room and kitchen, taking in the pile of half-graded school papers, a copy of the church bulletin—and a loan statement at his elbow reflecting a balance of nearly six figures. Eric frowned and quickly glanced away. The latter was obviously private business. But he knew what the debt most likely represented: Jack’s medical bills—probably for the extended-care facility where he’d spent his last months. Eric had seen too many instances where insurance covered only certain expenses in situations like that, leaving the survivors deep in debt. He could make a reasonable guess at Kate’s salary, and he knew it would take her years to repay the loan. It just didn’t seem fair, he reflected, his frown deepening as his eyes strayed back to the statement. He could write a check for the entire amount and not even miss it. To Kate, it was obviously a fortune.

“She’s sleeping now.”

Eric’s gaze flew guiltily to hers and hot color stole up his neck. Kate glanced down at the counter, and a flush reddened her cheeks as she moved to gather up the papers, putting the statement at the bottom of the stack.

“Sorry. The place isn’t usually so cluttered.”

“I wasn’t looking, Kate. It was just lying there,” Eric said quietly. To pretend he hadn’t seen the piece of paper would be foolish.

She sighed and her hands stilled, but she kept her eyes averted. “I know.”

“For Jack’s care, I assume?”

She hesitated briefly, then nodded. “The health insurance covered a lot, and the life insurance helped—later. But the expenses piled up so quickly. The debt was absolutely staggering. It still is. And with nothing to show for it,” she added wearily, her voice catching in a way that tugged at his heart.

There was silence for a moment, and then she straightened her shoulders and looked up at him.

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.