Debbie Macomber - Falling for Christmas - A Cedar Cove Christmas / Call Me Mrs. Miracle

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DEBBIE MACOMBERis a number one New York Times bestselling author. Her recent books include 44 Cranberry Point, 50 Harbor Way, 6 Rainier Drive and Hannah’s List. She has become a leading voice in women’s fiction worldwide and her work has appeared on every major bestseller list. There are more than one hundred million copies of her books in print. For more information on Debbie and her books, visit www.DebbieMacomber.com .

Make time for friends. Make time for Debbie Macomber.

CEDAR COVE

16 LIGHTHOUSE ROAD

204 ROSEWOOD AVENUE

311 PELICAN COURT

44 CRANBERRY POINT

50 HARBOR WAY

6 RAINIER DRIVE

BLOSSOM STREET

THE SHOP ON BLOSSOM STREET

A GOOD YARN

OLD BOYFRIENDS

WEDNESDAYS AT FOUR

TWENTY WISHES

SUMMER ON BLOSSOM STREET

THURSDAYS AT EIGHT

HANNAH’S LIST

CHRISTMAS IN SEATTLE

To our dear friends

Rhett Palmer

and

Claudia Faye Johnson

plus

Beni

The cutest dog in the universe

“I can’t believe Grace is willing to do this on Christmas Eve,” Mary Jo said, slipping the frilly red dress over Noelle’s head. The one-year-old fussed, objecting to the fact that her face was momentarily covered.

“It’s Noelle’s birthday,” Mack reminded her.

Not that Mary Jo needed reminding…

“A year ago today you stepped off the foot ferry to Cedar Cove…”

“And met you,” she finished for him.

“At the library…”

“Because Grace thought I needed medical attention.”

“Which you did,” Mac continued, smiling at their exchange, “because you were about to give birth.”

“Only I didn’t know that at the time.”

“No one did.”

Noelle squealed.

“Except Noelle,” Mary Jo said. “Right, sweetie?” She nuzzled her daughter’s face. “Happy birthday, baby girl.”

“Ma Ma.”

“That’s right, sweetie. That’s me.”

“Ma Ma,” Noelle repeated and gleefully clapped her hands.

“Are my two girls ready to party?” Mack asked. He had his coat on and a big collection of birthday and Christmas gifts tied up in a large bag that made Mary Jo think of something Santa would haul around. “We don’t want to keep everyone waiting.”

Grace had invited half of Cedar Cove—or so it seemed to Mary Jo—to her Christmas Eve bash, which was also Noelle’s birthday party. All three of Mary Jo’s brothers planned to attend, which was only fitting since they’d lost out on the chance to welcome their niece into the world a year ago. Mary Jo still had to grin whenever she thought about her brothers racing around the county like Keystone Kops frantically searching for their missing sister.

Grace’s two daughters and their families would be at the ranch as well, along with Grace’s dear friend Olivia and Olivia’s husband, Jack. And Charlotte and Ben Rhodes were on the invitation list, too, as well they should be.

Then, of course, there were Mack’s parents, Roy and Corrie McAfee. His oldest sister, Gloria, had sent her regrets. She was a sheriff’s deputy and unfortunately she’d pulled the Christmas Eve shift. His other sister, Linnette, who lived in North Dakota, was a new mom herself and had mailed a gift Noelle had cheerfully ripped open that morning. It was a pull toy that made popping sounds with every step. Mack had laughed and promised revenge. Mary Jo could see a toy drum set in little Wade Mason’s future.

Oh, yes, this was going to be quite the party and one Mary Jo had never expected. But then, she hadn’t expected any of this. That day exactly a year ago—when she’d come from Seattle with the desperate, and misguided, idea of finding Noelle’s birth father—had changed her life.

What she’d found was love, friends, a home, a whole new family. Not that there was anything wrong with her old one, but the people of Cedar Cove had expanded her family above and beyond anything she could ever have dreamed of.

“I’ll get the car warmed up and then come back and help you and Noelle,” Mack said.

“Okay, darling.”

“Darling?” Mack’s eyebrows rose ever so slightly, giving him a sexy, enticing look. “I have to say I prefer that to the nickname the guys at the firehouse have for me.”

“And what’s that?”

“You think I’m going to tell you? Not on your life.”

“Loverboy?”

He laughed, shook his head and disappeared out the front door. Mack returned a couple of minutes later to carry Noelle to the car. “You ready?”

“Ready.”

Noelle, bundled up in her winter coat with the faux-fur hem and edging around the hood, raised her tiny arms up to Mack. Her daughter had reached out to Mack a year ago, too. And Mack had responded—to both of them.

Love, family, friends—a place to belong. Her first Christmas in Cedar Cove had given her all that. And this, her second one, was a celebration of the first.

Christmas Eve. It was a night for remembering and rejoicing in two birthdays, wasn’t it?

Even though she was listening to Christmas carols on her iPod, Mary Jo Wyse could hear her brothers arguing. How could she not? Individually, the three of them had voices that were usually described as booming; together they sounded like an entire football stadium full of fans. All three worked as mechanics in the family-owned car repair business and stood well over six feet. Their size alone was intimidating. Add to that their voices, and they’d put the fear of God into the most hardened criminal.

“It’s nearly Christmas,” Linc was saying. He was the oldest and, if possible, loudest of the bunch.

“Mary Jo said he’d call her before now,” Mel said.

Ned, her youngest brother, remained suspiciously quiet. He was the sensitive one. Translated, that meant he’d apologize after he broke David Rhodes’s fingers for getting his little sister pregnant and then abandoning her.

“We’ve got to do something,” Linc insisted.

The determination in his voice gave her pause. Mary Jo’s situation was complicated enough without the involvement of her loving but meddlesome older brothers. However, it wasn’t their fault that she was about to have a baby and the father was nowhere in sight.

“I say we find David Rhodes and string him up until he agrees to marry our sister.”

Mary Jo gasped. She couldn’t help it. Knowing Linc, he’d have no qualms about doing exactly that.

“I think we should, too—if only we knew where he was,” she heard Mel say.

Unable to sit still any longer, Mary Jo tore off her earphones and burst out of her bedroom. She marched into the living room, where her brothers stood around the Christmas tree, beers in hand, as its lights blinked cheerfully. Ever since their parents had been killed in a car accident six years earlier, her older brothers had considered themselves her guardians. Which was ridiculous, since she was over twenty-one. Twenty-three, to be precise. She hadn’t been legally of age at the time of their deaths, but her brothers seemed to forget she was now an adult.

All four of them still lived in the family home. Mel and Ned were currently seeing women, but neither relationship seemed all that serious. Linc had recently broken up with someone. Mary Jo was the only one eager to leave, chafing as she did at her brothers’ attempts to decree how she should live her life.