Harlequin Holiday Collection - Four Classic Seasonal Novellas

to try again.”
    She was talking to him as easily as she always had. Maybe that meant he could ask the question that was haunting his thoughts.
    “What about Kristie’s father? Doesn’t he help with her?”
    Her face tightened. “No.”
    He waited, sure there was more.
    “Everything always had to be perfect for Richard. His wife, his car, his apartment. When his daughter wasn’t…he walked away.” She looked at him, blue eyes direct. “Was that what you wanted to know?”

Chapter Six
    Maybe she’d been wrong to come back to the island. Allison unloaded groceries from the car, frowning. She’d thought this would be good for Kristie, but Kristie hadn’t responded.
    She longed to see her daughter running along the beach the way she used to, arms spread wide as if to take flight with the gulls. No classes, no dance or music lessons, no approved play dates with children from her mother’s social set. Just freedom.
    And David. She seemed to see two figures on the shining sand left by the ebb tide. Always the tanned gangly boy had encouraged, taught, shared the wonders of his world. How much credit was David’s for the happiness she’d found here?
    That was past. This was now. She hauled the remaining bag from the truck and slammed the lid. David had his life, such as it was. Peaceful, probably, but certainly lacking in ambition.
    And she had hers. She had to keep her eyes pinned on her goals. Sell the cottage. Get Kristie through her final surgery. Start the job that would make them independent.
    Repeating the words in her mind, she went into the cottage.
    She set groceries on the table, registering the sounds from the living room. David seemed to be using her absence to play a game with Kristie instead of getting on with the painting.
    She couldn’t complain, she supposed, since she wasn’t paying him. But still—
    She stopped in the doorway, her annoyance draining away.
    “Simon says, ‘Put your hand on your head,’” Kristie said importantly, doing the motion. “Sit on the floor.”
    David, smiling, sat down.
    “I caught you!” Kristie crowed. “I didn’t say ‘Simon says.’ You have to be it.”
    “Maybe your momma should,” he suggested.
    For a moment Allison’s throat was too tight to respond. Kristie, moving as if the heavy brace on her leg weighed nothing. Laughing as she hadn’t laughed in what seemed like months.
    “I’ll be it,” she managed finally. “Just let me put the cold things in the fridge first.” She turned away before either of them could see the tears in her eyes.
    “I’ll give you a hand.” David followed her to the kitchen. “Hope you don’t mind,” he said softly. “I didn’t let her do anything too lively.”
    “Mind?” She reached to him impulsively. “I’m grateful.”
    He caught her hand in a strong grasp that warmed her to her heart. “No need. She’s a great kid. Just like her momma.”
    She tried to ignore the way her heart thumped. Perhaps David’s low-key approach would be as good for Kristie as it had once been for her.
    “Mommy, guess what?” Kristie stood in the doorway, bracing herself with her hands. “David’s going to take us out on his boat tomorrow to look for dolphins. Isn’t that great?”
    Allison pulled her hand away from his, her gaze chilling. Maybe David was good for Kristie. But he had no right to make plans for her—for them—without talking to her first.

Chapter Seven
    David steered the Spyhop slowly into the channel. Kristie, life jacket bright over her navy jacket, bounced with excitement. Allison clasped her daughter, every tense line of her body saying she didn’t want to be here.
    “I’ve never run you aground before. I won’t today.”
    She turned a startled face to him. “I don’t think that.”
    “You grip that rail any tighter, you’re going to bend it.”
    “Not unless I’ve been eating my collard greens.”
    The unexpected response took him back to evenings when Allison had joined the Caldwells for supper. Gran had teased her to try things her own mother wouldn’t have served on her table.
    “Come to supper and you can have some.” He liked seeing her face relax at his teasing. Allison shouldn’t have to go through life tensed up as if waiting for a blow to fall.
    “When will we see the dolphins?” Kristie edged forward.
    “We’re headed for the sound on the other side of the island. The pod is usually there about now.”
    “And if not?” Allison smiled as she got in a little