Single Dad's Christmas Miracle

by Susan Meier

  Pain poured through her. She wanted to stay, too. More than anything she’d ever wanted. But she was broken. Ruined. And this family had just healed. She wouldn’t put them through living with her doubts and insecurities.

  She stooped in front of Teagan who stood on the third stair up. “I would like to stay, but I can’t. I have to go see my sister.” That was a bit of a lie, but not really. She’d see Missy before she left town.

  Teagan looked down at the stair below her. “But I want you to stay here.”

  “Sometimes people can’t stay. Sometimes people come into our lives when we need them, but they’re only here to do a job then they leave.”

  She peeked up. “Like an angel.”

  She laughed. She’d hardly call herself an angel. Still, if it made Teagan happy... “Yes. Like an angel. Now go to bed.”

  Teagan nodded and turned to go up the stairs. But she stopped suddenly and came back down, propelling herself into Althea’s arms. “I wub you.”

  Althea pressed her lips together. “I love you, too.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CLARK WOKE UP excited, happier than he’d been in years. It was Christmas Eve and he was in love. In love. Real love.

  He’d known there was something different, something special about Althea from the day he interviewed her. But he never would have realized that trusting her would lead him to face his fears. And the reward was the freedom to love her.

  He sleepily walked into the kitchen. Jack sat at the center island, eating a bowl of cereal and reading a book.

  A book.

  Dear God. Could that woman have had any more of a positive impact on them? He’d said he didn’t deserve her and maybe he didn’t. But he would spend the rest of his life loving her.

  He glanced longingly down the hall. Her door was closed, which meant she was still sleeping.

  “We should do something special for Althea.”

  Jack looked up. “Like what? We already got her a gift.”

  “I know, but maybe we should go out to dinner tonight?”

  Even as the words came out of his mouth they felt wrong. What was he doing inviting Jack and Teagan out on his first date with Althea? He couldn’t leave the kids with a sitter on Christmas Eve, but the day after Christmas he intended to take her out. Someplace special.

  Mrs. Alwine burst into the room from the garage entry. Unwrapping her scarf, she said, “What are you two doing up at six?”

  Jack said, “I was hungry.”

  Clark laughed. “I thought it was later.”

  “It’s still dark out!” She cast a quick glance at Jack’s cereal. “I was going to make apple pancakes.”

  Jack shoved his bowl away. “Make ’em.”

  Clark sat beside Jack as Teagan walked into the room, rubbing her eyes. “Hey, pumpkin.”

  Her hair in cockeyed pigtails, which, given their sloppiness, she’d probably done herself, she frowned and walked over to him. He lifted her into his lap. “It’s Christmas Eve! Little girls aren’t supposed to be grouchy on Christmas Eve. Althea’s gonna be mad at you.”

  “No, she’s not.”

  Clark froze. Jack’s head snapped up. Mrs. Alwine faced them with a gasp.

  “Teagan! You talked.”

  Jack high-fived her. “Way to go, Chai Tea.”

  Teagan snuggled into her dad’s shirt. “She doesn’t wuv us. She said she does but she doesn’t.”

  The sadness in her voice finally penetrated. “What? Are you talking about Althea?”

  She nodded.

  “Don’t be silly. She adores you.”

  “She weft.”

  The joy of hearing Teagan speak was quickly shoved aside by paralyzing fear. “What?” It was early. Way too early for Althea to have gone to the store. Plus, Teagan had just gotten up. How could she say Althea had left?

  “Did you have a bad dream?”

  She shook her head. Her cockeyed pigtails swung from side to side.

  Clark bounced her once on his lap. “Come on, now. You’re talking. You’re not going back to nods and frowns. Tell Daddy. Did you have a bad dream?”

  “She made my pigtails then told me she had to weave.”

  Clark froze. Took another look at the pigtails. Especially, the tightness of the brightly colored hair ties. They weren’t the handiwork of a three-year-old. They’d gone cockeyed from Teagan sleeping on them.

  He spun her around on his lap. “She left last night?”

  Teagan nodded.

  “Did she have her suitcases?”

  She nodded again.

  Clark’s heart fell to his feet. He plopped Teagan on the stool beside Jack and raced to her room.

  Neat as a pin, the bed had been made. The drapes drawn. The closet emptied. He spun to the dresser and saw the note leaning against the mirror.

  He grabbed it and ripped it open.

  “I’m sorry to leave like this. But with Jack’s studies completed and Mrs. Alwine back I realized I could go. My dad wants restitution for the car and thanks to you I can give it to him. But he’s a royal pain in the butt and if I stay, he’ll always hound us. I’ll never forget you guys.”

  * * *

  He threw the note on the bed, raised his gaze to the ceiling. He’d felt she was a little nervous the past few days, but he thought that was because everything was happening between them. So he’d given her space, distance, to work out how she was feeling.

  “Do you wuv her, Daddy?”

  He spun to face Teagan. Mrs. Alwine raced behind her and put her hands on Teagan’s little shoulders. “I’ll just take her to the kitchen and let her help me make pancakes.”

  She turned Teagan to go as Clark stared around the room feeling something akin to despair. She was worried about them. He got that. He could handle her dad. But he sensed she didn’t want him to.

  Confused, disheartened, he returned to the kitchen.

  At the center island Teagan was crying. “I want Alfeea.”

  He slumped on the stool beside her. “I want Althea, too.” His brain scrambled for answers. What had he done? Why had he decided to give her time and distance? He should have pushed her. He should have let her know what she meant to them.

  But, no. He’d had to be logical. And now he’d lost her.

  * * *

  Althea walked down the dark, silent Main Street of Newland. Cold air turned her breath to mist as she strode purposefully to the diner. She stopped at the door and squeezed her eyes shut, but popped them open again. This was something she had to do.

  Then she could go. Away from Missy. Away from Clark. Away so that people with normal lives didn’t have to be hurt.

  She pushed open the door and the bell sounded. The sweet scent of cinnamon rolls filled the air. Empty booths and tables sat silently in the semidark dining room. Christmas Eve. People would pour in for fresh cinnamon rolls around nine. Until then, he’d be alone.

  “Gimme a minute, early bird,” he called from the kitchen. When it came to his customers, he was Mr. Personality. That’s how she and Missy had known no one would believe them if they sought help. Who would possibly believe such a great guy, a solid business owner, hurt his wife and daughters?

  He walked out of the kitchen wiping his hands on a dishtowel. When he saw her he stopped and smiled. “Well, hey, baby girl. Merry Christmas.”

  The nickname went through her like a knife. She crushed the check in her pocket. Fear trembled through her, but she remembered that the check in her sweaty hand meant freedom. She took two steps to the counter.

  “So what do you want? Free pancakes? A dozen cinnamon rolls to impress your boyfriend?” He snorted a laugh. “Ain’t nothing comes free in this life. You pay like everybody else.”

  “I paid more than
everybody else.”

  His face scrunched in contempt. “Excuse me?”

  “What are you going to do? Hit me?”

  Before he could reply, she slapped the check on the counter. Every cent of money she had. “This is for the car.”

  His face brightened. “Well. Well. I see you do have some money after all.”

  She slid the receipt and release onto the counter and handed him a pen. “Sign this.”

  “What is it?”

  “It’s a receipt for the car. If you don’t sign it, I stop payment on the check.”

  Without a second’s hesitation, he leaned down and signed the receipt.

  She scooped it up and shoved it in her purse. “That’s it.” She sucked in a breath. This was it. Get him out of her life now or spend the rest of her life worried, running. “Seriously it. That’s what I was paid for tutoring Jack. I have no more money.”

  “Well, now, baby girl. Missy made something of herself and you’re the one with the college education. You can probably do twice what she did.”

  Anger rumbled up in the pit of her belly. Sharp and hot, it filled her blood, raced through her veins. He had every intention of using her!

  She looked at her dad. He was older than he had been, but that didn’t faze her as much as the fact that he was a man, picking on a girl—his own daughter. He wasn’t just scum. For the first time in her life she also saw he was a coward.

  “If you ever even try to contact me again, I will call the police.”

  He slapped the check against his palm. “Yeah. Sure. Fine.”

  “I’m serious.” Part of her wanted to yell. The other part was suspiciously calm. She walked around the counter, stood in front of him, feeling a power she’d never felt before. “When I file for a restraining order, I won’t just tell the police you beat us. I’ll air every piece of dirty linen this family has.”

  “Now, baby girl...”

  “Don’t baby girl me. I’ll tell the police how you threw bleach at us when we got out of reach of your fists. I’ll tell them that you broke my arm. I’ll tell them how you used to burn our clothes, blacken mom’s eyes, break her ribs and refuse to take her to the hospital.”

  He took a pace back.

  He was afraid. Not of her but of the truth.

  She could have said more. She could have said so much more. But he’d cost her Clark. He’d cost her the kids. Even confident that he’d never come near her again, she couldn’t go back to the family she’d come to love. She didn’t even know how to be in a normal family, forget about being a wife or mom.

  She strode out the diner door.

  Once again, she was alone on Christmas Eve.

  * * *

  Clark paced his office, waiting for an hour or so to pass so he could call Missy. He had absolutely no idea why Althea had felt she could or should leave...except that she was trying to protect him and his family from her father. It was skewed logic at best, but a man who’d spent three years refusing to get a DNA test for his daughter could understand. Sometimes fear of possibilities was so strong that a person couldn’t see the obvious.

  He walked to the window, saw the snowman and scrubbed his hand across his face. He remembered her determination to beat him in the snowball battle. He could see her butt in the air as she rolled the big snowball to make the middle of her snowman. He could feel her submission when he kissed her cold face.

  The wonder of it filled him again.

  He could not let her go.

  He would not let her go.

  The hell with waiting!

  He raced out of the room, grabbed his coat. “Mrs. Alwine! I’m leaving for a few hours. Can you watch the kids?”

  * * *

  Althea got in her car and headed out of town. But as the sun began to rise, pale beams hit the silvery tinsel that shivered in the light breeze and it winked at her.

  She blew out a relieved laugh. She’d done it. She’d faced her dad. She’d paid her debt like an honest woman and she’d faced her dad.

  She wanted so much to tell Clark. She wanted to grab his shoulders and kiss his face and tell him she’d faced her demon just as she’d forced him to face his.

  And wouldn’t that be embarrassing? Because after she kissed him she’d have to admit that she didn’t have the normal life experience to be in a family. She hadn’t even had the common sense to realize they’d gone shopping for her the day before. Worse, she hadn’t had the common sense to take the kids shopping for a gift for their dad.

  Her life had been so screwed up there was no hope for her. And she wouldn’t tie him to her. After the holidays, he could walk out into the street and realize there was a whole world of women out there. And he’d find someone who wasn’t scarred. Someone who knew how to be a mom. Somebody really pretty, who’d make a good hostess.

  Her foot eased up on the gas pedal. Sadness trembled through her and she began to cry.

  Her life sucked and—damn it—she wasn’t spending another Christmas Eve alone.

  She swung her car down a street that would take her to her grandmother’s old house. She raced into the driveway, parking behind the humongous RV, and shoved the gearshift into Park.

  She didn’t consider the time. The kitchen lights were on. At least one of them was up. She pounded up the back porch steps and knocked on the door.

  When Missy opened it, she fell into her arms.

  “Hey. Hey!” Missy soothed. “What’s up?”

  “I talked to Dad.”

  “Oh.”

  “Damn it! I don’t care about that.”

  Missy pushed her out of their embrace. “That’s even better. It’s about time you shook off his hold.” She frowned. “So why are you crying?”

  “I left Clark.”

  “Oh, honey. Why?”

  “I fell in love with him and the kids...and the big dog.”

  “Oh. Oh.” She pulled her into the house. Lainie, Claire, Owen and Wyatt sat at a long black kitchen table. New cupboards had been installed. Granite countertops. Hardwood floors. And the wall that had once separated the kitchen from the rest of the house was gone.

  She took a few steps toward the huge living space. Leather sofas sat in front of a stone fireplace currently decorated with five red stockings. Thick area rugs defined conversation spaces with comfortable-looking chairs. A huge Christmas tree sat in front of a wall of windows on the far side of the room. Lights and shiny ornaments twinkled at her.

  She swallowed. “Wow.”

  Missy smiled at Wyatt. “We like it.”

  Her sister had everything she needed. Everything they’d both always wanted.

  Fresh tears threatened to erupt.

  Wyatt sprang from his seat. “Why don’t I make the French toast while you two go and have a chat?”

  “I don’t want a chat.” She wanted to be loved. She wanted to be able to love. Was that so much to ask?

  “Yeah, but maybe you need a chat,” Missy said, leading her toward the leather sofas just as someone knocked on the front door. “Now who the hell could that be?”

  Althea’s first thought was that it was their dad. But instead of fear racing through her or even anger, she merely felt tired. If he wanted her to tell him to take a hike one more time, she’d happily do so.

  Her shoulders straightened. “I’ve got this.”

  Missy said, “What?” and tried to catch her as she marched through the big room to the front door, but Althea was too fast for her.

  She reached the door, yanked it open and said, “What? You didn’t understand what I said this morning?”

  But it wasn’t her dad on the front porch. It was Clark, who simply frowned. “Actually, I didn’t.”

  Her heart about leaped out of her chest. “Clark.”

 
“Teagan talked.”

  The wonder in his voice made her smile. She’d felt that same wonder the night before for the little girl they both loved. “I know. She asked me to give her pigtails last night.” Her face reddened. Last night when she was sneaking out.

  He shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. “Why’d you go?”

  “I had to face my dad.”

  He reached inside the door and caught her arm. “Come on. If you want to face your dad, we’ll do it now. Together.”

  “I already talked to him.”

  “Sheesh, woman. Give me ten minutes to catch up. I wanted to go with you. To help you like you helped me.”

  “Oh.” Her pounding heart slowed. His being here was payback. “Well, thanks for the offer but I handled it.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. I just stood up to him.” And saying that made her feel strong again. She desperately wanted to share this with Clark, but as a mate...not some guy who thought he owed her. And she already knew she couldn’t be his mate. She didn’t know how. But she wouldn’t embarrass herself by telling him that. She straightened her shoulders. “I’m sure you’ve got better things to do on a Christmas Eve morning than stand on a cold porch.” Tears threatened again. She loved him. Loved him. Crazy dog. Adorable kids. Scruffy beard and all. If she didn’t soon get away from him she’d throw herself into his arms and beg. And she was done begging. What she really wanted, what she needed was somebody who could accept her as she was. She started to close the door. “So, Happy Christmas.”

  He shoved his foot in the door. “Wait!”

  She lifted her chin. “What?”

  “I know these past couple of weeks have meant something to you. Don’t you want to spend Christmas with me and the kids? Remember, we were making the perfect family Christmas?”

  An arrow hit her in the chest. “You have Mrs. Alwine back.”

  “And I pay her handsomely to make Christmas dinner. I want you with us.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t come back.”

  “Why not?”

  She shifted to close the door again. “I’ll be sharing Christmas with my family.”