Lisa Carter - The Christmas Baby

Thanks to pregnancy hormones, she’d been weepy the day the email arrived. She’d given in to the growing desire to come home. To spend Christmas with those near and dear to her heart. But above all, to make a new life for her child.

And the kindergarten opening offered a small financial cushion to take the edge off her empty bank account. As she was learning, babies were expensive.

Charlie glanced at the mantel clock. “It’s the middle of the night in Europe, but we can call Mom and Dad first thing—”

“I’m not ready to tell them yet.” She fisted the hem of her vest.

“They deserve to know the truth.”

“Please, Charlie. A few more weeks.” She opened her palms on her lap. “Let me be the one to tell them.”

Single parenting would be the ultimate and final letdown of everything they once hoped and dreamed for her.

He sighed. “But in the meantime, what will you say to people in town?”

In Kiptohanock, everybody was always up in everybody else’s business.

She sniffed. “Why should I have to say anything?”

He frowned. “Their accent may be slow, but their minds aren’t. People in Kiptohanock can count. They know your husband’s been dead for three years. You don’t want people thinking the worst.”

“The worst?” She gestured at her belly. “You think this is the worst? Let me tell you about worst, little brother.”

“I’m thinking of your reputation, Anna.”

“By the time I was twenty-eight, I’d already suffered the worst day of my life. Holding the hand of my husband as he breathed his last breath.” Her lips twisted. “People need to mind their own business.”

“It’s not that simple, Anna.” He flexed his jaw. “And you know it.”

Evy touched Anna’s hand. “I don’t think you’re giving people enough credit. They will want to help.”

Like Ryan? Except for God, she’d felt alone for a long time. She wouldn’t have survived without His help. She believed in the deepest part of her being this baby was part of God’s plan for her.

“I have to do this, Charlie,” she whispered.

Her brother rose with a groan. “I guess I have no choice but to let you do this your way.”

Evy helped her off the couch. “Don’t forget how much we love you and want to be here for you, Anna.”

She hugged the petite woman who’d become the closest thing to a sister she’d ever known. Saying a quick goodbye before her resolve weakened, Anna lumbered out the door. And nearly fell off the wide-planked porch in disbelief.

Ankles crossed and arms folded, Ryan leaned against her car.

She had a hard time regaining her breath and not only because she walked the distance between the living room and veranda. “What’re you doing here?”

“You caught me by surprise before.” Behind the frames, his eyes flickered. “I wanted to apologize for walking away. Congratulations, Anna. You’ll be a wonderful mother.”

Sudden warmth flooded her chest. He had no idea how much his words meant.

“You asked me to trust you, Anna. So I do.” He ran his hand over his hair. “I don’t understand this situation at all, but I promise to never stop being your friend.”

Her throat constricted.

Pushing off from the car, he came forward to the bottom step. “Will you forgive me for being an idiot and give me another chance to be the friend you deserve?”

“I’d like that, Ryan.” Tears stung her eyes. “Very much.”

He gave her that crooked smile she remembered so well. Like a flash of lightning, momentarily sizzling her brain.

“I figured Charlie might need help unpacking your car.” He motioned to the packed-to-the-roof baby blue Beetle. “Looks like the day you headed off to college. Remember?”

She remembered.

A tender moment on a long-ago August morning when he helped pack her stuff into this same car. When she’d hoped for something more than friendship. But now? If he only understood how little of that girl remained.

“I’ve rented a small house on Quayside Lane.”

He shrugged. “Then I’ll follow and help you unpack.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“Or I won’t believe you’ve really forgiven me.” He cocked his head. “You don’t want me lying awake all night on your conscience, do you, Anna Banana?”

Her lips quirked.

No fair playing on his affectionate childhood nickname for her. Maybe this once, it wouldn’t hurt to let someone help carry the load. She glanced at the overloaded vehicle. Literally.

“If you want to.”

He laughed. “Perhaps the most begrudging acceptance I’ve ever heard.”

It wouldn’t do to become too dependent on anyone. Not even her dearest friend. “What I meant to say was thank you, Ryan. I’d appreciate your help.”

To show him her sincerity, she gave him a wide smile. But when she took hold of his hand to descend the steps, an unexpected tingle shot from his fingers to her elbow.

Ground level, she jerked free. Their gazes locked.

Something flamed in the blue-green depths of his eyes. “By the way, Anna, Merry Christmas.”

“Is it?” she rasped.

He broke eye contact long enough to push his glasses farther along the bridge of his nose. “I think, for the first time in a long while, it might just be a very merry Christmas.”

“Friends?” Something compelled her to add.

He scraped his hand over the beard stubble on his jaw. “Friends.”

Anna owed him the truth. Not everyone in Kiptohanock would understand her decision to carry this child. Would Ryan?

She exhaled, sending a puff of breath into the brisk air. “The baby is Mateo’s. Posthumously conceived. So a tiny part of the life we shared can live on.”

“I meant what I said. I’m here for you.” He swallowed. “For as long as you’ll let me.”

Good as his word, he wouldn’t let her down. Ryan Savage had never let her down. And somehow in the deep places of her heart, she knew he wouldn’t now.

He cleared his throat. “In fact, I’ve made some phone calls...”

She glanced at him.

“I’m going to be your own personal version of Santa. And I could use your help with an idea I have for Maria, Oscar and Zander.”

“Which means what?”

“I’m going to make it my mission to make this the best Kiptohanock Christmas ever.” He smiled, and her heart lurched. “For all of us.”

Chapter Three

Dusk fell as Ryan hauled the last box up the rickety, wooden steps into the run-down trailer. He placed the box on the peeling kitchen countertop. No wonder Anna hadn’t wanted her brother out here.

She raised her palm before he could speak. “It was cheap. It was furnished. It’s temporary and not any of your business.”

“You can’t stay here, Anna. The steps are an accident waiting to happen.”

She folded her arms. “I’ll be fine.”

“And that car you got as a high school graduation present is on its last legs. I can’t believe you drove from Texas in that bucket of bolts.”

“My car is fine.”

“You and I both know that at the crack of dawn, your brother is going to pay you a visit. And then he’s going to drag you out of here if he has to put you under house arrest—his house—to do it.”

In her defiant brown eyes, for a second he glimpsed the take-no-sass girl raised in a houseful of boys. “He can try.”

She wasn’t the only one who could do stubborn. “I’m fixing the steps, Anna.”

“I’ll fix the steps myself.”

He planted his hands on his hips. “Can you see your feet, Anna, much less crawl under the porch?”

She rocked back. Wrong thing to say to a pregnant woman.

“I didn’t mean that the way—” But she sidestepped his outstretched hand.