“So that’s why my mother came in yesterday.” Max made a face of realization. “Earl was sick.”
“And you know your mother. She said it was fine because your brothers took care of keeping Charlie company while she was here, but I could tell she was torn.”
“Luke and Seth aren’t exactly nursing material.” Max respected his older brothers, two decorated county sheriff’s deputies, but nursing care wasn’t their forte.
“He needs company more than care right now,” Tina answered. “And your mom needs to get out now and again. Catch her breath. You know.”
Max didn’t know any such thing. His mother was the most dedicated and loving person he’d ever met. The thought of her wanting to leave Charlie’s side seemed alien. “I expect she’d rather be with Dad. Just in case.”
The uncertainty in Tina’s expression said he might know tools but he’d just flunked Women 101. And that was somewhat surprising, because Max thought he knew women fairly well. But maybe not Kirkwood Lake women.
Despite Earl’s help that afternoon, by the time they locked the doors at five o’clock, there were still three lawn mowers, two leaf blowers, two power-washers and two log-splitters awaiting repair.
Earl held his knit cap in his hand, sheepish. “I shoulda knowed I wasn’t gonna get to all those with Charlie gone, Max. I can come in early tomorrow and help.” He slapped a hand to his head, then shook his head. “No, I’m wrong, Mavis is havin’ some eye thing done tomorrow mornin’ and I promised to drive her. If she breaks the appointment who knows how long it will take to get another. And she’d have my head for puttin’ her off.”
“Oh, those women,” Tina muttered, just out of Earl’s range of hearing.
Max fought a smile and sent Earl off. “I’ll stay late, see what I can do. Thanks for today, though, Earl. It was great working with you.”
“Same here.” Earl made his way to the door, paused, thought, then continued as if he’d never stopped at all. Tina watched him go before she faced Max.
“Do you want me to stay and help? If you show me what to do, I might be able to take some of the pressure off you.”
Assessing the number of tools and the variety of fixes, Max wished that were true, but— “It would take me longer to train you tonight than it would to fix them myself, but I appreciate the offer, Tina. And working with Earl today gave me a refresher course in small-engine repair.” He pointed to a stack of thin books alongside the bench. “I’ve got manuals for each of the models from the internet.” He shrugged, pulled on one of his dad’s sweatshirts from the rack behind the workroom bench and waved her on. “I’ll be fine. Not like I haven’t pulled double duty in my time.”
“If you’re sure?”
“I am. I’ll call Mom, tell her I’m running late. It’s all good.”
“All right. I’ll open in the morning, so if you need to sleep in, go ahead. I’ll have things covered.”
“Thanks. I just might do that.” He wouldn’t, but he appreciated the offer, just the same. In fact, looking at the work spread out before him, he wasn’t sure he’d make it home at all, but that was okay. Jenny and Charlie Campbell had rocked him to sleep at night, held him through a phase of unrelenting nightmares and ran him from town to town as he tore up soccer fields across the county. Staying up late to help them out?
Not a big deal at all.
Copyright © 2014 by Ruth M. Blodgett
ISBN-13: 9781460344149
Yuletide Baby
Copyright © 2014 by Deb Kastner
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com
Looking for more inspirational reads?
Enjoy another three-book bundle of uplifting romances from Love Inspired authors.
Available now at one great price!
www.Harlequin.com
www.Facebook.com/LoveInspiredbooks
www.Twitter.com/LoveInspiredbks
You believe hearts can heal. Love Inspired stories show that faith, forgiveness and hope have the power to lift spirits and change lives—always.
Six new titles available every month.
www.Harlequin.com
www.Facebook.com/LoveInspiredbooks
www.Twitter.com/LoveInspiredbks
ISBN-13: 9781460349014
Copyright © 2014 Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:
Her Montana Christmas
Copyright © 2014 by Harlequin Books S.A.
A Rancher for Christmas
Copyright © 2014 by Brenda Minton
An Amish Christmas Journey
Copyright © 2014 by Patricia MacDonald
Yuletide Baby
Copyright © 2014 by Deb Kastner
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com
Love Inspired December 2014 - Box Set 1 of 2: A Rancher for ChristmasHer Montana ChristmasAn Amish Christmas JourneyYuletide Baby Page 79