Single Dad's Christmas Miracle

by Susan Meier

  He broke the kiss. “Let’s finish the snowman and surprise the kids.”

  She nodded. Pieces of her broken heart began to knit together.

  He bent to pick up her second snowball. With a grunt, he lifted it and put it on the first snowball. “You think you could have lifted that alone?”

  She shook her head. “No. Not alone.” And maybe that’s what life was all about. Realizing you couldn’t do the heavy lifting alone.

  “Want some hot chocolate?”

  He grinned at her. “Yeah. But we’ve got one more layer of snowman. Then we have to find him a hat...and some eyes. Maybe some twigs for arms.”

  “You’ve done this before.”

  “Everybody’s done this before.”

  Maybe everybody had, but it was the first time she’d shared something with a man, something that though not intimate was personal. She tucked the memory away. She was still scared. She was still vulnerable. She knew she could—would—make huge mistakes that might send him running, but today he was hers.

  That afternoon, she shooed him out of the kitchen so she could make dinner. All the cooking lessons her father had given her came rolling back. Except this time, her fear didn’t resurrect. Clark was right. If her father came here, if he tried to blackmail her, or even have her arrested for stealing his car, she would deal with it. Actually, as soon as she got the money for tutoring Jack, she would give her dad a certified check and make him sign a paper saying that was a total payoff of her debt to him.

  She smiled. Now that Clark had her thinking logically, she was thinking very logically.

  While her pork chops baked she raced into her bedroom and began a search for attorneys. She intended to pay her dad the money for the car, but she didn’t want to be afraid anymore. She needed to get him to sign something. So he’d never have anything to hold over her head again.

  Twenty minutes later she returned to the kitchen to check on her scalloped potatoes and pork chops. The entire room smelled divine. Like a home. Her home. She set the table by the French doors so they could watch the snow fall. She found candles and dimmed the lights so the snowfall would be even prettier. More romantic.

  When Clark walked into the kitchen and saw the candles, he stopped. “Wow.”

  Nerves invaded her. “You don’t like it?”

  His gaze ambled to hers. “I think it’s very romantic.”

  “That was the look I was going for.”

  “You’re okay with this?”

  She laughed. “First you push. Now you’re pulling back.”

  “I’m not pulling back. I just want to make sure I’m not pushing too much.”

  “You’re not.”

  But when they were on the couch in the den that night, watching an old movie, and his arm slid across the sofa, over to her shoulders, warmth tingled through her along with a shiver of fear. He was so special. He deserved a wonderful love in his life and she knew...she just knew that she’d screw this up somehow if they went too fast.

  Using his arm around her shoulders, he pulled her closer, snuggled her against him. The dual reactions of fear and need spiraled through her. The temptation was strong to lay her head on his shoulder, close her eyes, just enjoy this.

  Why shouldn’t she? She might eventually ruin everything, but tonight he was hers.

  She sucked in a quick breath, let her head lean to the right an inch, two inches, three inches...

  “Dad!”

  Clark bolted up. “Did you just hear Jack?”

  She jerked away. “Yes!”

  He popped into the room, Teagan on his heels. “Gramma says she’s sorry but she forgot about some Christmas cookie thing she has tomorrow.”

  Clark jumped up off the sofa. Althea slid to the far end before she also rose.

  “Cookie thing?”

  “I think she said it’s an exchange.” He grinned. “But she said we can come back next weekend.”

  “Next weekend is Christmas.”

  Jack laughed. “I think she knows.”

  Clark tossed her an apologetic look before he put his hands on the kids’ shoulders and herded them toward the door. “It’s late. You guys had a busy day. Time for bed.”

  When they were gone, Althea fell to the sofa, grateful for the reprieve. But deep down inside, she admitted she might have been lucky tonight. She wasn’t ready for what her body seemed to want with Clark.

  Still, she and Clark lived together. One of these nights he’d kiss her again, hold her again...

  And though she wanted this, she wasn’t ready.

  CHAPTER TEN

  THE NEXT MORNING when Althea strolled into the kitchen and stopped at the counter to make her cup of coffee, Clark could see she was nervous. He’d felt the tension in her the night before. He’d felt her stiffen when he’d put his arm around her while they watched TV.

  But she also hadn’t run. She might have been nervous, unsure, but she’d laid her head on his shoulder—albeit only for ten seconds before the kids came home.

  “So, Grandma said that any night this week we could come back and stay over to make up for not being able to stay over last night.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  Teagan clapped her hands over her mouth, her big brown eyes growing even bigger.

  Clark smiled. “I’m surprised you’re happy to stay away from the house without me.”

  She grinned.

  Jack said, “She ate more cookies than she painted.”

  Althea joined them at the center island. “Your grandma makes painted cookies?”

  “Santas and Christmas trees—” Jack counted off on his fingers “—bells, sleds, churches, elves. They’re sugar cookie shapes and the paint is icing.”

  “I’ve made those.”

  Clark’s chest tightened. She’d probably made those for her dad’s diner. She was talking again, opening up, albeit slowly because she wanted what he wanted. A relationship.

  He watched her fuss over Teagan’s breakfast. She’d said she wasn’t innocent, that she’d had boyfriends. But he had a sense that none of her boyfriends had been dads...or older than she was. Having a relationship with him was probably different than anything she’d done before. And for a girl who had been abused, different was probably scary.

  He didn’t intend to run from this, but he also wouldn’t push her. This was as new for him as it was for her. They had plenty of time.

  “Well, I’m going upstairs to the office.” He turned and headed to the door, but on second thought, he stopped. “I only want to work until noon, so what do you say we go to town and get pizza for lunch again?”

  Teagan gasped and threw her hands across her mouth. Jack said, “All right!”

  Althea perked up. “Now, there’s a good reason for all of us to get out of our pajamas.”

  * * *

  Althea and Jack played video games until it was time to get dressed to go to lunch. She took Teagan into her room and they poked through the drawers to find something cute to wear out.

  “Did you keep the clip for your hair?”

  She nodded and raced to her dresser. She lifted a little Cinderella figurine and produced the sparkly red clip Althea had put in her hair a few days before.

  Her heart melted. Clark was doing the best job he could with these kids but from the way Teagan hid her clip, like a treasure she didn’t want stolen, she could tell Teagan would love to be more girly.

  “You know, while we’re in town for lunch, we could pick up a whole pack of clips for you.”

  She nodded eagerly.

  And maybe tonight she’d mention to Clark that they should take Teagan shopping for clothes, let her pick out some things. Right now she had nothing but T-shirts, sweaters and jeans in her closet. Maybe she’d like a dr
ess?

  With Teagan and Jack ready to go, Althea headed back to her room. She showered quickly and walked to her own closet. She rifled through hangers of sweaters and jeans, suddenly wishing she had something prettier, too. For the first time in her life, she wanted to dress up, look special, look feminine...not like the girlfriend of a guy who spent his life surfing. No bikini. No ripped jeans. No hoodies. She wanted to look pretty.

  But since she didn’t have anything but jeans, she found her neatest pair, slipped into a red sweater and hunted for the red clip that matched the one she’d given to Teagan.

  When she stepped out of the hall into the kitchen, Teagan grinned.

  She smiled at her. “We’re sort of twins now.”

  Clark’s face scrunched in confusion. “Why?”

  She pointed at her clip. “I have one. Teagan has one.”

  “Oh. That’s cool.” He feigned excitement for Teagan’s sake, and she suppressed a happy sigh. This was what she loved about him. He probably couldn’t give a flying fig about matching clips, but he knew it meant something to Teagan, so he made a big deal out of it.

  In a flurry of passing hats and finding mittens, they put on their outdoor clothes and headed to the garage and Clark’s SUV. He strapped Teagan into her seat as Jack buckled himself into the seat beside her. Althea took her place in the passenger’s seat beside Clark.

  Behind the steering wheel, he smiled at her. “Ready for pizza?”

  She nodded, smiling. Such wonderful, inconsequential talk. Like a real family. Like people who loved each other.

  It might be too soon to be in love, but it wasn’t too soon to behave like people who cared about each other. She was starved for it, intrigued by it, so enamored with the idea of being in love, being in a real family, acting like a normal person that her heart felt like it could explode.

  Now if she could just get past the damned fear.

  The drive to town took the usual twenty minutes. Clark got Teagan out of her seat. Althea made sure Jack was okay. They walked up the decorated street to the pizza place.

  Warmth greeted them as they stepped inside. The waitress remembered them. Jack ordered the pizza, making Clark laugh and Althea relax. All this might seem special to her, but it was normal for a family. Normal. And if she could relax, be herself, this could all be hers one day.

  They sipped their soda and chatted about Jack’s schoolwork for the twenty minutes it took for the pizza to bake. It arrived with a flourish. Napkins and paper plates were passed. Clark cut Teagan’s slice into tiny pieces. The waitress brought second sodas.

  Other customers finished eating and left. New customers arrived and filled the seats around them. They ate their pizza. Clark paid the bill, and they walked out onto the street.

  Althea didn’t want it to end. She wanted to walk up Main Street again, see the decorations with Clark and the kids, enjoy the brisk air, talk about nothing some more.

  “You know, Teagan’s hair looks great with the red clip, but there are lots of colors she could wear. In fact, if we got some hair ties, I could put her hair in pigtails tomorrow or a ponytail.”

  In Clark’s arms, Teagan gasped. Clark frowned. “Would you like some hair ties?”

  She nodded.

  He smiled. “I think most of the shops are closed today, but if Althea doesn’t mind, she could bring you back tomorrow and get them then.”

  She froze. He would let her take the kids to town...on her own? He’d made such great strides in letting go of his fear that Althea was bolstered by his success. If he could let go of his fears and accept that the kids needed breathing room, then surely she could put her fear about a relationship aside.

  “The drugstore’s open.”

  Clark and Althea glanced down at Jack.

  “It is?”

  “Yeah and it’s got the girly stuff in it.”

  Clark peeked over at her for confirmation.

  “Drugstores always have makeup and clips and hair ties.” She grinned. “Girly stuff. We could get her clips now.” Which would extend their trip, helping her adjust to the fact that she fit here. With this man. His kids. In their life.

  “Okay. Then let’s go to the drugstore.”

  The wind whipped up as they walked to the very end of Main Street. A brand-new brick building housed the popular chain store. Althea pulled her jacket hood up over her hair as they walked across the almost empty parking lot and the wind swirled around them.

  She held the door open for Clark, who still carried Teagan. Inside, they all stomped their feet on the mat in front of the door and removed their mittens.

  “Is there anything else we need while we’re here?”

  Althea glanced around. “Well, if you need soap or shampoo or hair spray,” she teased. “This is the place to get it.”

  They ambled up and down the aisles grabbing a few items like aspirin and foot powder.

  Clark shook his head. “I only ever shop at the grocery store. I’d forgotten there’s a whole world of products out here.”

  She laughed. “You really need to get out more.”

  The bell above the main door tinkled as another customer arrived. Clark picked up Q-tips and tossed them into the basket Jack had retrieved. He turned away from the shelf with a smile, but his smile suddenly froze and he stopped.

  Confused, Althea followed his gaze to the tall dark-haired man who had just entered.

  “Hey, Clark.”

  Clark stiffened. “Brice.”

  Brice? Althea’s eyebrows rose. The Brice?

  Her gaze flew to Clark. His face had hardened. His eyes had narrowed. His arms protectively hugged Teagan to him.

  Teagan.

  She hadn’t worn a hat because she wanted everyone to see the red clip in her dark brown hair—hair the exact color of Brice’s. She glanced at her eyes. Not whiskey-colored like Clark’s but dark brown like Brice’s.

  She stifled a groan.

  No wonder Clark worried. Teagan had Brice’s coloring.

  Thick, icy tension filled the space around them. Clark said nothing. Brice said nothing.

  “We’re just here for a few things,” Althea said, putting her hands on Jack’s shoulders and pulling him close to her. “So we need to get going.”

  Brice nodded. He nudged his head in the direction of the prescription counter. “I’m picking up something for my mom.”

  Not knowing what else to say, Althea said, “It was nice to see you,” before she shepherded Clark and the kids away from him.

  Clark didn’t say a word on the drive home. Neither did Althea. What could she say? “I see why you’re worried. Teagan looks just like him”?

  He might need to talk about it, but that seemed a cruel way to bring up the subject. And they certainly wouldn’t talk about it in front of the kids.

  When they got home, he locked himself away in his office. Althea entertained Teagan and Jack. At six, she reheated the leftovers from their dinner the night before. But when she knocked on his office door, Clark said he wasn’t hungry.

  He did come out two hours later to help get Teagan ready for bed.

  When she was bathed and in her pink princess pajamas, he read her the story about the bunny that had gotten lost in the woods. In the end of the book, when the daddy rabbit found the lost bunny, fed her soup, tucked her into bed and kissed her forehead telling her he’d never let anything happen to her, Teagan nestled into her pillow. Comforted. Happy.

  She could always depend on her daddy.

  With the story complete, Teagan’s pink bedroom grew quiet. Clark rose, tucked her into the covers, kissed her forehead and said, “I’ll never let anything happen to you.” He kissed her forehead again. “You can always depend on me.”

  Teagan smiled. Her eyelids lowered.

  Althe
a’s eyes filled with tears. Teagan’s favorite story wasn’t just a story that comforted her. It comforted Clark, too.

  As he passed the mirrored dresser, he picked up Teagan’s hairbrush.

  He stepped out of the room and closed the door.

  She caught his gaze.

  He sighed. “There’s enough hair in here that the lab I found should be able to get something usable for a DNA sample.”

  Her breathing stilled. “I thought you’d already done that.”

  He shook his head. “I was a little preoccupied.” He flicked his gaze to her again. “Happy.”

  “Oh.” She swallowed. Grasping for something to say, she said the first thing that popped into her head. “So how’d you get Brice’s DNA?”

  “I didn’t. I don’t want to know if she’s his. I’m going to find out if she’s mine. I’m sending my DNA.”

  He wouldn’t look at her. A wall of distance sat between them.

  She licked her dry lips. “And what’s going to happen if it comes back she isn’t your daughter?”

  He shrugged. “Haven’t figured that out yet.” He sucked in a breath. “But after seeing him today, happy or not, able to pretend or not, I realized I can’t put this off anymore. I have to know.”

  Without another word, he walked down the hall toward his bedroom. His shoulders hunched over, his steps slow, he looked like a man on his way to the gallows.

  Sympathy overwhelmed her. His wife had been the one to make the mistakes, but he was the one suffering.

  The mood the next morning was agonizing. Familiar silence permeated the room. She saw the package on Clark’s briefcase, noticed the lab name neatly printed on the front.

  Their gazes met as she sat down at the island with her cup of coffee.

  Breaking the unbearable quiet, she said, “So Jack’s going to be taking the tests today to see if he’s ready to move into the next semester.”

  Clark worked up a smile. “That’s great. Good luck, buddy.”

  Confident in the way only a twelve-year-old can be, Jack shrugged. “I’m going to ace this.”

  Clark chuckled. “Good.”

  The kitchen fell silent. Teagan munched on toast, grinning at Althea when she looked her way. She watched Clark’s gaze amble over to his little girl and watched pain skitter into his eyes.