Holiday Wishes by Nora Roberts Page A

to keep in touch with her, Jason.”
    So this was another fear she’d lived with, he realized. Maybe he deserved it. “You don’t trust me, do you?”
    â€œClara’s too important.” She let out a little sigh. “So are you.”
    â€œIf I told you I fell for her before I knew, would it make a difference?”
    She thought of the toboggan, of the way he’d looked when Clara had thrown her arms around his neck. “She needs all the love she can get. We all do. She’s so much like you, I—” She broke off when her eyes filled. “Damn, I don’t want to do this.” Impatient, she brushed tears away. “I’ll tell her tomorrow, Jason. On Christmas. You and I can work out the arrangements. I know you’re leaving soon, but if you could stay a few more days, give her some time, it would make it easier for all of us.”
    He rubbed at the tension at the back of his neck. “You never asked me for much of anything, did you?”
    She smiled. “I asked you for everything. We were both too young to realize it.”
    â€œYou always believed in magic, Faith.” He pulled a box out of his pocket. “It’s nearly midnight. Open it now.”
    â€œJason.” She pushed her hands through her hair. How could he think of presents now? “I don’t think this is the time.”
    â€œIt’s ten years past time.”
    When he thrust the box at her, she found herself gripping it with both hands. “I don’t have anything to give you.”
    He touched her face, almost hesitantly. “You’ve just given me a daughter.”
    Relief poured through her. Instead of bitterness, she heard gratitude. Love, never dimmed, shimmered in her eyes. “Jason—”
    â€œPlease, open it.”
    She pulled off the glossy red paper and revealed the black velvet box beneath. With fingers not quite steady, she opened it. The ring was a teardrop, frozen in place, glorious with the reflected lights from the tree.
    â€œPaul told me it was the best he had.”
    â€œYou bought this before you knew—”
    â€œYeah, before I knew I was going to ask the mother of my child to marry me. We’ll be legal, the three of us.” He took her hand and waited. “How about a second chance? I won’t let you down, Faith.”
    â€œYou never did.” Close to tears again, she reached out her hand to his cheek. “It wasn’t you, it wasn’t me; it was life. Oh, Jason, I want this. Understand, all I’ve ever really wanted was to be married to you, have a family with you.”
    â€œThen let me put the ring on.”
    â€œJason, it’s not just me. If it were I’d leave with you this instant. We’d go to Hong Kong, Siberia, Peking. Anywhere. But it’s not just me; I have to stay.”
    â€œIt’s not just you,” he repeated. He took the ring and tossed the box aside. “And
I
have to stay. Do you think I’d leave you again? Do you think I could leave what’s upstairs or the chance to have more that I can watch grow up? I’m not going anywhere.”
    â€œBut you said—Hong Kong.”
    â€œI quit.” When he grinned he felt the pressure of years melt away. “Today. That was one of the things I took care of this afternoon. I’m going to write a book.” He took her by the shoulders. “I’m out of a job, I’m living in a room at the inn and asking you to marry me.”
    The breath backed up in her lungs. Her heart was pounding. Yes, she’d always believed in magic. It was standing in front of her. “Ten years ago, I thought I loved you as much as it was possible to love. You were a boy. In the last few days I’ve learned that loving a man is something quite different.” She paused and saw the ring in his hand explode with the joyful lights on the tree. “If you’d asked me ten years ago, I’d have said