A Christmas Collection: Four Sweet Holiday Romances Read online

  Jacob winced. “But she looks—”

  “Her father had blond hair, like you. That’s all.” Kendra rubbed her hands together, holding her breath that Jacob would take her word for it. That he would leave, thinking there was nothing tying them together. Seeing him was already causing her pain. She couldn’t live through it a second time if he came back into her life, only to leave again.

  Jacob huffed and shrugged. “Okay. I’ll believe you.”

  Relief pooled in her stomach. He wasn’t going to push it. Thank heavens. Now, maybe he’d go away.

  Chapter 2

  Jacob stared at Kendra. Even now, with her in faded jeans and an oversized coat, she took his breath away. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun, tendrils falling to the sides of her face. Just looking at her brought back all the old feelings. He shoved his hands into his coat pockets and suppressed them. He knew that ship had sailed. The bridge had burned. All the clichés applied. He and Kendra were never getting back together. “So, what are you doing these days?”

  Her gaze skittered around, landing on everything but him. “I’m just working at the dollar store.”

  He peeked into her living room window. The little girl sat cross-legged in front of the television. Everything about her screamed she was his, from her pointed nose that looked just like his mother’s, to her ears that stuck out a little too much, like he saw in the mirror each morning. He didn’t know why Kendra was lying about it, but he was going to find out the truth. He cleared his throat. “That’s nice.”

  “It’s a job.”

  The girl jumped up and ran into the other room, out of his line of sight. A longing surged inside him and he craned his neck to see if he could catch another glimpse of her.

  “Well,” Kendra said, wringing her hands. “I’d better go inside. Thank you for the ride.”

  “Mind if I come in?” The words just popped out. He couldn’t stop them.

  Kendra looked like she’d been asked to dip her toes in blood. “Uh…”

  “I’d love to catch up.”

  She swallowed and looked around the yard. “I guess...”

  “Great.” He knew she didn’t want him there. But he wanted to see the girl. Possibly his child. He reeled with the thought that he might have a daughter.

  A little girl who didn’t even know who he was. His throat tightened. His own father had left when he was young. He’d spent years hating him for it. Was that how his daughter would grow up? Filled with hate for him? The thought made him sick.

  Kendra opened the door and led him inside. The living room was warm, and he slipped out of his leather coat.

  Kendra took it and hung it on a hook on the wall. She motioned to the couch. “Have a seat. I need to go find Aria. It’s too quiet.”

  She exited the room and Jacob sat down, taking in everything. He’d never been inside this place. It looked pretty much like one would imagine an old farmhand’s house from the twenties would look like. Wood floors, plaster walls and hand-me-down furniture. A small, plastic tree stood in the corner, decorated with ornaments. No presents were under. A Dora the Explorer radio sat on the coffee table. It was the kind with a microphone attached, and he wondered if the girl ever sang in it.

  Kendra came back in the room, carrying the girl, who had red lips and a sucker in one hand. “Aria got into the Halloween candy. I swear, that stash will never deplete.”

  Looking at her face full on, in the light of the living room, Jacob had no doubt. This was his daughter. And Kendra was lying about it.

  Why?

  What had happened? Why hadn’t she told him she was pregnant? He would have stayed. He would have been there to support her. Married her. They’d be a family now. But instead, she turned a cold shoulder to him.

  Rejected him.

  Kendra sat on the farthest possible spot away from him on the couch, her butt so close to the edge, it looked like she’d fall off any second. Aria squirmed and Kendra let her down. The little girl stared at Jacob, then extended her sucker. “Do you want a lick?”

  Stunned, Jacob recoiled from the wet, sticky candy she offered. Kendra laughed, a beautiful, musical sound. A rush of memories surged in his mind, and he had to force back the swell of emotions that followed.

  Kendra’s laugh. It had inspired his first hit song, “The Way She Laughs.” He hadn’t heard her laugh in almost six years. And now he was sitting only a couple of feet from the woman he’d loved with all his heart. The woman who broke him.

  Kendra pulled Aria’s arm back. “Honey, he doesn’t want to lick your sucker.”

  Jacob smiled weakly at the young girl. “No, thank you.”

  “Okay.” Her gaze had already returned to the cartoon on the television.

  Kendra leaned over and kissed the top of her daughter’s head. It looked like she did it without thinking, which made the gesture even sweeter.

  Jacob had so many questions, he wasn’t sure where to begin. “So, you’re still living here? In Highland Falls?” He winced, another dumb question out of his mouth.

  Kendra nodded, not looking at him. “Yes.”

  “And what does your daughter do while you’re working?”

  “She goes to kindergarten during the day. My mother takes care of her after school.”

  “Does your mother still live out by the truck stop?”

  Kendra shook her head. “No, she moved to a small apartment by the elementary. It works out great because she can walk and pick up Aria after school gets out.”

  “She still doesn’t drive?”

  “No.” Kendra shoved her hands in her pockets.

  “What kinds of things does Aria like?”

  Kendra pointed to the television. “Dora the Explorer.”

  He smiled at that. “I used to like that show, too. In fact, when I was young, I saw the Dora underwear in the store. I cried because my mom wouldn’t buy them for me.”

  “Why wouldn’t she buy them for you?”

  “They were little girl panties.”

  “Oh.” Kendra smiled, but it was strained.

  Jacob didn’t want to leave, but the conversation was waning. He wanted to get to know his daughter. He knew nothing about her. “What does she want for Christmas?”

  Kendra sighed and blew a strand of hair from her face. “I wish I knew. She won’t tell me. She thinks if she tells me her secret Christmas wish, it won’t come true.” Kendra lowered her voice and looked at Aria, who was now absorbed in the show. “She doesn’t realize that it can’t come true unless I know what it is.”

  He slowly nodded. “Maybe I can help with that.”

  “How?”

  “Maybe I can get her to tell me.”

  “You?” Kendra made a face. “How are you going to do that?”

  His mouth popped open in mock surprise. “What? I’m persuasive. You don’t think I can do it?”

  “No.”

  “I bet I could get it out of her, if I spent enough time with her.”

  Kendra pinched her lips together. “Too bad you probably are leaving soon. What, with your crazy lifestyle.”

  “I took the rest of the month off. It’s been too long. I want to have Christmas in Highland Falls.”

  “You’re not on tour or anything?”

  “The tour starts in January.”

  “Well, I’m sure your mother wants you to spend that time with her.”

  Yeah, Kendra was right. His mother has been asking him to come visit her. Begging, really. She would not be happy if he spent his vacation with Kendra. But he couldn’t get the possibility of Aria being his daughter out of his mind. “Yes,” he said simply.

  “I guess you’d better leave, then.”

  Kendra looked so hopeful, it was like a slap in the face. A cold glass of water doused on him. Kendra didn’t want him there. And he knew if she had any say in it, he wouldn’t be seeing her or her daughter again this trip.

  Jacob slowly nodded and stood, his chest constricting. “You’re right. I should probab
ly leave.”

  Relief came over Kendra’s face as the wrinkles on her forehead smoothed over. She smiled. “Well, good night. Thanks again for helping me get home.”

  “What will you do with your car?”

  “I’ll call Henry. He’ll give it a tow and fix it for me.” She ran a hand over her hair. “I just hope it doesn’t take long to fix.”

  Jacob knew Kendra didn’t want him around, but he couldn’t help it. “If you need a ride tomorrow…”

  Kendra shook her head. “No. I’ll be fine. You go spend time with your mother. She will be so glad to see you.”

  And that was her final shut down. Jacob took one last look at Aria, then grabbed his coat from the hook. He stared at Kendra, his words sticking in his throat. This might be the last chance he had to get the truth out of her. His last chance to get her to confess. Desperation shot through him, and he took a step toward Kendra. “Are you absolutely sure she’s not mine?”

  Something flashed over Kendra’s features. Fear? Determination? Maybe both? He couldn’t tell. She squared her shoulders. “I’m sure, Jacob.”

  She was either a very good liar, or she didn’t believe Aria was his. But he couldn’t let it go. Not when the evidence was written all over Aria’s face.

  He swallowed and shrugged into his coat. He didn’t want to force anyone to take a DNA test. But it might come to that. Because he was not going to walk away from his daughter.

  He nodded. “Have a good night.”

  He left, giving Kendra what she wanted. At least, temporarily.

  Chapter 3

  The curtain fell back in place as Kendra turned around, unwilling to watch Jacob’s taillights any longer. Her heart raced and she could barely catch her breath. Her head was still reeling that Jacob was here in Highland Falls.

  She’d known this day would arrive, but she’d honestly thought it would be years in the future. He was a huge country music star. On tour and constantly appearing on television. She thought his schedule would be too crazy to allow him to come back to the small town.

  Aria held out her empty lollipop stick. “Can I have another?”

  “No.” Kendra took the trash from her daughter. “We’re late eating dinner, sweetie. Let’s go make something yummy for your tummy.”

  “Hotdogs?”

  Kendra frowned. “Mommy’s tired of hotdogs. How about hamburger casserole?” At least she could sneak in some vegetables.

  Aria wrinkled her nose. “I want a hotdog.”

  Kendra didn’t want to make a casserole that her daughter would just pick at, and then toss in the trash. It was hard to make dinner for just the two of them. Especially when her daughter was so picky. She sighed, too tired and emotionally spent to fight this battle tonight. “All right. Hotdogs.”

  “Yay!” Aria clapped her hands together.

  Kendra stuck a pan under the faucet. It was a small thing to make her daughter happy. And she would go to bed with a full stomach.

  Unlike herself. She was tied up in too many knots to eat. Seeing Jacob again had stressed her out. It had brought back too many memories.

  Her hands shook as she finished boiling the hotdogs. She served them with applesauce, which she knew her daughter would eat.

  After dinner, she let Aria get out the coloring books. “Don’t peel the paper off the crayons, Aria.”

  Her daughter nodded. “Okay.” She started scribbling on her picture.

  Kendra picked up the phone and called Henry. He answered on the third ring.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, Henry. It’s Kendra.”

  “Kendra. How’s that little munchkin of yours?”

  “She’s fine. But my car isn’t faring as well.”

  “You know,” Henry said, his low voice coming through the line. “I got a call from Jake Mitchell a minute ago. He said your timing belt had gone, and it blew your water pump. I have a tow truck out there right now.”

  Jacob called? She was so shocked, she was speechless.

  Henry continued. “He’s even taken care of the bill for you, but I have to admit, there are four cars in front of yours, so it will be a few days before I can look at it.”

  Her throat closed. “A few days?” Shelly would freak out. She was the manager of the dollar store, and on her good days she was crabby. On her bad days, she made Cruella De Vil look nice. “Are you sure you can’t get it in sooner?”

  “I’m sorry, I can’t. But Jake said he’d loan you his car services. He even left his number for you.” He rattled off Jacob’s number, and Kendra had no choice but to write it down. She didn’t know anyone who could loan her a car or give her a ride. Her mother didn’t drive, and she’d spent the last six years desperately trying to make it on her own.

  Sure, she knew other people in the community, but she wasn’t close enough with any of them to ask for something like that. And Highland Falls had no public transportation. She would bet all her lucky pennies that no one in the town had heard of Uber.

  She cleared her throat so she didn’t sound like a frog. “Thanks, Henry.”

  “You bet. I’ll call you when your car is done.”

  “Okay.”

  She hung up and stared at her cell. Jacob paid for her car to be fixed? Why would he do that? And why was he offering to drive her to work? She pressed her lips together. Jacob didn’t owe her anything. She was fine on her own. She didn’t need his charity. The urge to call him right now and chew him out surfaced, but she shoved it away.

  The fact was she needed the help. No matter how fiercely independent she wanted to be, she couldn’t walk the three miles into town and get Aria to kindergarten and herself in to work. She had to accept Jacob’s offer.

  She put Aria to bed before she gave in and called Jacob on the phone. Curling up on the couch, she dialed his number.

  He answered on the first ring. “Kendra?”

  His voice made her tongue stick to the roof of her mouth. She forced herself to speak. “Hi, Jacob.”

  “I’m glad you called. I figured you’d need a ride to work tomorrow.”

  “Yeah,” she said, unable to keep the sigh from her voice. “I do.”

  “It’s no problem. What time should I come get you?”

  “Aria has to be to school by eight. Can you come at quarter till?”

  “Of course. I’ll see you at seven forty-five.”

  Relief flowed through Kendra. “Thank you.”

  “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  She hung up the phone. What a day this had turned out to be. Jacob was back in town, and she would have to see him every day until her car was fixed. Christmas was a week away, and her daughter would be disappointed if she didn’t figure out what the little girl was hoping for.

  Happy freakin’ holidays.

  Chapter 4

  Jacob hung up the phone just as his mother, June, walked into the living room. It was odd to be back in his childhood home. The smells, the pictures on the wall, it was all so surreal. Like no time had passed at all since he’d left. Yet, it seemed as though the outside world had changed so much in those six years.

  “Who was that?” His mother carried a tray of Christmas cookies, setting them down on the coffee table. It looked like she’d been baking for the last three days.

  “Kendra.”

  His mother banged her knee on the tray and a few cookies spilled onto the carpet. “Oh!” She grabbed onto the coffee table.

  “You okay, Mom?”

  She nodded as she picked up the fallen treats. “Silly me. I’m so clumsy.” She placed a hand on her chest near her throat. “I’ll go throw these away.”

  “Did you hurt yourself?” He followed her into the kitchen.

  She tossed the cookies into the trash and turned to him, forcing a smile. “No, dear. I’m fine.” She paused, her gaze flicking to his cell phone. “Why were you talking to Kendra?”

  “Her car broke down. I helped her get home.” He paused, studying his mother. She’d always been a fragil
e person. He’d blamed it on his father leaving her when he was young. But he wanted to know something, and he couldn’t stop the words from coming out. “Why didn’t you tell me she had a child?”

  His mother flushed and she took a step toward him, putting her hand on his shoulder. “I didn’t want you to feel hurt. I knew you and she had just broken up. For you to find out she’d had another relationship so soon would have been painful for you.”

  That made sense. But couldn’t his mother see the resemblance in Aria? Didn’t she suspect? He almost asked her about it but noticed her fingers trembling. She was upset. He didn’t want to fluster her even more. “Come. Let’s go back into the living room. We can sit and catch up.”

  His mother smiled and the mood relaxed. “Yes. Let’s do. I’ve missed you so much.”

  “I know, Mother.” He pulled her to him in an embrace. “I’ve missed you, too.”

  “Did you see the town square all lit up for Christmas?”

  Jacob wondered if it looked any different from when he’d grown up. He doubted it. The same lights, the same decorations, weathered with age. “No, I haven’t been downtown yet.”

  His mother sat on the couch and patted the seat next to her. “Sit. It’s so good to have you home.”

  He obeyed. “What have you been up to lately?”

  His mother pointed to the tray. “Have a cookie.”

  He picked up a snickerdoodle, one of his favorites, and bit into it. He moaned with pleasure. “Just like you used to make them.”

  She smiled and smoothed her house dress. “I added a pinch of extra sugar. You always liked them with extra sugar.”

  “Has work been busy?” His mother worked at the local bookstore, Between the Pages, even though he’d taken care of her financially, so she didn’t need to work. She liked the bookstore, and it gave her something to do.

  She nodded. “It’s the season for shopping. We’ve had lots of people in.”

  “Good. I’m glad they’re thriving. There are a lot of bookstores struggling right now.”

  “We moved the children’s section to the back. Got more toys in. I think that’s helping.”