Harlequin Holiday Collection - Four Classic Seasonal Novellas

teasing of her own. “How will the dolphin expert explain that?”
    He shook his head in mock sorrow. “I don’t know. They might make me give back my degree.”
    “Degree?”
    He enjoyed her surprise. “Oceanography. Sorry, sugar. I know you had me pegged as a beach bum.”
    “I did not.” But the flush in her cheeks said differently. “I remember you talked about college that last Christmas.”
    He nodded, making the wide turn around the end of the island. They skimmed over the waves toward the sound.
    He remembered that last Christmas, too—especially the look on her mother’s face when she’d seen them walking along the beach, hand in hand. “You never came back. I was sorry.”
    “My mother always had other plans for Christmas.” She smoothed her hand along Kristie’s hair, ruffled by the wind. “And then—well, college, marriage…“
    “Life intervened,” he suggested.
    “I guess.” Her face tightened again. “I haven’t had much time for vacations. I’ve had to be practical.”
    Practical. It seemed a sad word in connection with the girl who’d danced along the beach, hair flowing in the wind.
    “Look.” He throttled back, letting the Spyhop idle on the waves. “There they are.” He pointed as first one, then another dolphin made a silver arc through the waves.
    “Oh.” Eyes shining, Kristie clasped her hands in awe.
    She should look that way more often. The child needed a sense of wonder to sustain her through the difficult times ahead. Didn’t Allison see that?
    He looked at Ally, and his heart seemed to stop at her expression. Ally needed to regain that sense of wonder, too, just as much as her daughter did.
    And if he thought all he wanted from Allison was friendship, he’d been kidding himself.

Chapter Eight
    Allison held her breath as the dolphins cartwheeled through the waves. How could she have forgotten that incredible sight?
    “They seem so—” she sought for words “—free.”
    David leaned on the rail next to her, letting the boat rock gently. “They are that. I remember you always loved them.”
    His voice was soft, recalling the past they’d shared. Somehow in the busy stressful years she’d forgotten that, but now it seemed to be here, waiting for her.
    “Look at that one, David.” Her daughter’s face was lit with wonder. “Do they live here always?”
    “They travel, but they always come back to us.”
    He bent close to Kristie as he began telling her some fanciful story about dolphins saving a shipwrecked sailor. Their faces wore identical looks of childlike innocence. Allison had felt that way, too, when she was Kristie’s age. A longing swept over her, powerful as a riptide, to feel that way again.
    No. Her rejection was almost panic-stricken. She couldn’t go back. She had to be practical. She had to take care of herself and Kristie, because no one else would.
    “Do you remember counting dolphins with me, Ally?” David’s smile invited her back into that world she’d left.
    “No.” That was a lie. She remembered. But she shouldn’t. “Is this what you’re doing with your oceanography degree?” She wielded the question like a weapon to push him away.
    He shrugged, refusing to take offense. “Maybe the degree helps me appreciate it more.”
    “You can’t build a career on appreciation. Or dreams.”
    “You can’t build a life without both.”
    He didn’t seem to expect a response to that. He just leaned on the railing next to Kristie, watching the dolphins, apparently content to let the day slip away with the tide.
    She should be telling him how improvident he was. Instead all she could think was how secure he seemed. “You’re happy, aren’t you?”
    The fine lines crinkled around his eyes. “Why not? I live in a place I love. A place my family has loved for generations. Gran says that Caldwells always come back to Caldwell Island, because this is where we belong.”
    Suddenly, Allison realized he wasn’t searching for anything, because he already had it all.
    “You’re a lucky man, David. You have everything you want.”
    Some emotion she couldn’t identify touched his eyes. “Nobody has that. Maybe someday.” He stretched, muscles flexing under his denim shirt. “Today, I’ll settle for this.” His gesture took in the sea, the dolphins, even her and Kristie.
    That sense of freedom she’d felt when she caught her first glimpse of the dolphins seized her again. Maybe today she could push away all the things she