Special Delivery (Mountain Meadow Homecoming 1) by Laura Browning

checking out of the hospital and taking Noelle home, but he would have to get on Amanda fast. The chances he could talk her out of the story altogether were nil, but the picture? Maybe.
    Jake found his mouth dry as he turned off onto the quiet side street where his house was. Would she like it? The wood trim wasn’t to everyone’s taste. Would she be mad when she discovered he’d furnished a nursery? He and Tyler had set it up last night and had a blast doing it. He pulled into the drive and switched off the engine. He stole a glance at her, worried because she hadn’t said anything. She hated it.
    “Oh, Jake. What a beautiful house. It’s like something out of a Currier & Ives print. This is yours?”
    He grinned, heart lifting. “Yeah. I wanted something to feel like home. My parents sold our farm, and I figured it would be better to live in town anyway, so I used some of my savings to buy it.”
    When he glanced at her, a tear shimmered on the tip of her eyelash. “Holly? What’s wrong?”
    She wiped her eye and sniffed. “You’re so nice,” she choked out. “I wish…”
    Okay, nice was a little vanilla. He’d hoped for more. “What do you wish?”
    Her eyes softened. “I wish I’d met you a year ago.”
    Better. A lot better. He touched her cheek. “You know me now. A year ago I wasn’t even here. So what do you say we just start where we are?”
    Holly laughed. “Okay. Can we go in? I’d like to see the house before I have to nurse again.”
    “Right.” Jake swallowed.
    After carting in Noelle and all her paraphernalia, he began the tour of his pride and joy. Since Tyler was still at school, Jake showed her the room the boy had picked on the third floor with its dormer windows and a ceiling in line with the pitch of the roof. He saved her room and the nursery adjoining it for last. Jake didn’t tell her it was the master suite or that he had moved all his stuff into the room across the hall. He gauged her reaction as she walked into the room.
    “This is great…so airy, but are you sure? I love the curved bay window with the bench seat beneath, the king-size bed and the thick carpeting, but we’ll have to get a crib or something for Noelle.”
    Jake tapped his cap against the side of his leg as he crossed the room silently and opened the door to the nursery. “This room’s for her.” He held his breath while he waited for her reaction.
    She stopped dead in the doorway, her bewildered gaze swiveling to find him. “It’s a nursery. How…when…why?”
    He shifted his weight, not sure how to explain it to her. He spread his hands helplessly, then jammed them in his pockets. “You needed it. Think of it as a gift. Tyler and I set it up.”
    Holly took in the crib, the changing table, a chest of drawers, and a platform rocker with a stool, then brushed her fingers beneath eyes now welling with tears. “It’s beautiful, but Jake…it’s too much.”
    It wasn’t even close to what he would do for them, but he couldn’t say that. Way too soon. Instead, he swallowed and cupped his wide palm around Noelle’s head with its little pink cotton hat. Somehow, he needed to find a way to lighten the mood. There were too many emotions swirling around.
    “We could always pull out one of the dresser drawers in your room and bed her there if you’re determined, but I didn’t want my littlest guest to have any reason to complain. Think of it as Noelle’s first Christmas gift. I’m not creeping you out, am I?”
    Holly shook her head, seemingly at a loss for words, then stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks, Jake. I feel like I keep saying that.”
    He blinked, feeling a flush once again stain his cheekbones. What would she do if he turned his head, let their lips meet instead? “No problem. Uh…if you want to get settled in, I need to go to the station for a while. I figured we could go out to the Crawley place this evening and get your stuff. Evan, my friend who lives next door,