something.”
Sue Ann simply nodded.
And Jenny smiled, clearly warming to the idea now. “So . . . you and Adam.”
But Sue Ann shushed her. “Keep it down—my kid’s in the next room. And I don’t plan on telling anyone about this—other than you. Because he and I agreed to just forget about it and move on.”
In response, however, Jenny gave her head a suspicious tilt. “Um, why would you do that ? I mean, if it was all incredible and magical. And Adam’s a great guy.”
Sue Ann just expelled a heavy breath. She hadn’t been looking for someone to play devil’s advocate; she’d just wanted Jenny to agree with whatever she said. And though she usually told Jenny everything, she couldn’t tell her the story of Adam’s divorce—she’d promised, after all. So she fudged a reply. “Sure, Adam’s nice and all. But do I really need to be trusting another man with my heart so soon, Jen?”
Yet Jenny merely shrugged. “Look, you’re gun-shy right now, which I totally get.” Jenny had been through an unpleasant divorce herself before her bad boy Prince Charming had come along, so Sue Ann had thought her friend would understand her caution.
“For good reason,” Sue Ann pointed out. “It’s just too soon. After the divorce.”
“But it was magical,” Jenny reminded her. As if she could have forgotten.
“Yeah,” Sue Ann confirmed, a bit sadly. “But I have plenty going on in my life without that kind of complication, you know? Especially now. I had enough to deal with already—getting settled, working toward my real estate license, making sure Sophie comes through this okay—and now on top of all that, I need to drastically increase my income, fast. Plus I’m trying to give Sophie a nice Christmas. So this is no time to bring a man into my life.”
No matter how good he made me feel.
No matter how much he might still be on my mind.
Six
It was a cold, clear winter day, with snow upon the ground.
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
J enny headed toward the living room, and she carried a tray of red mugs filled with hot chocolate, thick peppermint sticks jutting from each. She was still trying to get over all of Sue Ann’s news—wow, Jeff had married Ronni, and Sue Ann had slept with Adam Becker!—but she didn’t want to leave Mick and Sophie alone too long since her big, bad, sexy husband wasn’t always comfortable around kids and she didn’t want to make things awkward for either of them. Mick had had a terrible home life growing up, his childhood full of dark memories, so maybe he’d just sort of somehow blocked out the part of himself that could relate to being a child. Whatever the case, she figured he’d be in need of rescue by now.
So it caught her off guard to find the two down on the floor amid a string of glowing tree lights, Mick showing Sophie how to dangle them in front of Trouble as he batted his paw at them. “Now wiggle ’em a little,” Mick was saying. “He likes to chase things that move.”
Such a simple sight, yet it warmed Jenny’s heart. Partly because she knew how tough this particular Christmas was going to be on Sue Ann’s daughter, and she figured any little bit of fun would be a distraction from the less happy parts of the holiday season, even just playing with Trouble for a few minutes. But also because she’d never seen Mick look even remotely relaxed around Sophie or any other child. Maybe his comfort now came from the accumulated time he’d spent in her presence over the past couple of years, or maybe the cat and the lights simply provided the right tools to bring the two together in this moment.
But either way . . . well, the unexpected truth was, the scene before her was doing way more than just warming Jenny’s heart right now.
In fact . . . whoa. It literally stopped her in her tracks.
Because—good Lord—she wanted a baby with him.
She hadn’t seen this coming, not at all. Yet she couldn’t deny it. The simple moment had
Sue Ann simply nodded.
And Jenny smiled, clearly warming to the idea now. “So . . . you and Adam.”
But Sue Ann shushed her. “Keep it down—my kid’s in the next room. And I don’t plan on telling anyone about this—other than you. Because he and I agreed to just forget about it and move on.”
In response, however, Jenny gave her head a suspicious tilt. “Um, why would you do that ? I mean, if it was all incredible and magical. And Adam’s a great guy.”
Sue Ann just expelled a heavy breath. She hadn’t been looking for someone to play devil’s advocate; she’d just wanted Jenny to agree with whatever she said. And though she usually told Jenny everything, she couldn’t tell her the story of Adam’s divorce—she’d promised, after all. So she fudged a reply. “Sure, Adam’s nice and all. But do I really need to be trusting another man with my heart so soon, Jen?”
Yet Jenny merely shrugged. “Look, you’re gun-shy right now, which I totally get.” Jenny had been through an unpleasant divorce herself before her bad boy Prince Charming had come along, so Sue Ann had thought her friend would understand her caution.
“For good reason,” Sue Ann pointed out. “It’s just too soon. After the divorce.”
“But it was magical,” Jenny reminded her. As if she could have forgotten.
“Yeah,” Sue Ann confirmed, a bit sadly. “But I have plenty going on in my life without that kind of complication, you know? Especially now. I had enough to deal with already—getting settled, working toward my real estate license, making sure Sophie comes through this okay—and now on top of all that, I need to drastically increase my income, fast. Plus I’m trying to give Sophie a nice Christmas. So this is no time to bring a man into my life.”
No matter how good he made me feel.
No matter how much he might still be on my mind.
Six
It was a cold, clear winter day, with snow upon the ground.
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
J enny headed toward the living room, and she carried a tray of red mugs filled with hot chocolate, thick peppermint sticks jutting from each. She was still trying to get over all of Sue Ann’s news—wow, Jeff had married Ronni, and Sue Ann had slept with Adam Becker!—but she didn’t want to leave Mick and Sophie alone too long since her big, bad, sexy husband wasn’t always comfortable around kids and she didn’t want to make things awkward for either of them. Mick had had a terrible home life growing up, his childhood full of dark memories, so maybe he’d just sort of somehow blocked out the part of himself that could relate to being a child. Whatever the case, she figured he’d be in need of rescue by now.
So it caught her off guard to find the two down on the floor amid a string of glowing tree lights, Mick showing Sophie how to dangle them in front of Trouble as he batted his paw at them. “Now wiggle ’em a little,” Mick was saying. “He likes to chase things that move.”
Such a simple sight, yet it warmed Jenny’s heart. Partly because she knew how tough this particular Christmas was going to be on Sue Ann’s daughter, and she figured any little bit of fun would be a distraction from the less happy parts of the holiday season, even just playing with Trouble for a few minutes. But also because she’d never seen Mick look even remotely relaxed around Sophie or any other child. Maybe his comfort now came from the accumulated time he’d spent in her presence over the past couple of years, or maybe the cat and the lights simply provided the right tools to bring the two together in this moment.
But either way . . . well, the unexpected truth was, the scene before her was doing way more than just warming Jenny’s heart right now.
In fact . . . whoa. It literally stopped her in her tracks.
Because—good Lord—she wanted a baby with him.
She hadn’t seen this coming, not at all. Yet she couldn’t deny it. The simple moment had
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