Harlequin Holiday Collection - Four Classic Seasonal Novellas

through rationally. The firm actually wanted her to start her new job two days after Christmas.
    Her initial reaction had been that it was impossible, but that wasn’t an option. Needing someone in the office immediately, her future boss had made it clear: She started, or the job went to someone else.
    So she had no choice. She’d have to put the cottage on the market tomorrow, if she could find a Realtor open. Get a nanny for Kristie—
    Kristie would not be happy. She’d remind Allison of her promise to stay on the island until the time of the surgery. Somehow, Allison would have to make her daughter understand. This job would secure their future.
    She had to tell someone else, too. David would be—what? Sad? Disappointed? Angry?
    She didn’t know. But as she pulled in next to his car, she knew she was about to find out.
    They were sitting at the table in the kitchen, playing a board game. She paused for a moment. They made a nice picture.
    “Mommy!” Kristie’s face lit up. “I beat David two times!”
    “That’s great, honey.” She put her bag down and took a deep breath. The moment was here, and she didn’t know how to say it.
    “Has something happened?” David read her too easily.
    “I have some news.” She took another breath. It didn’t help. “I talked to my new boss today. He wants me to start my job right away. Right after Christmas.”
    Kristie went from smiling to tearful in a second. “Mommy, no! You promised we’d stay here until my operation. I don’t want to go back.”
    “I know I promised, Kristie, but I have to do this. It’ll be okay. I’ll find someone really nice to stay with you.”
    “I don’t want someone nice. I want to stay here!” Kristie slid off her chair and lurched toward the other room. “I hate you!”
    “Kristie—” Allison started after her, her eyes swimming with tears. But David caught her hand.
    “Wait.”
    She tried to shake him off. “I have to go to her.”
    “There’s something you have to hear first.” His eyes were very serious. “Something Kristie told me today.”
    She stopped, held by his expression. “What?”
    Now David looked reluctant to speak. “She talked about why she doesn’t want to have the operation.”
    She seemed to feel his heart beating through his hand. He was going to say something she didn’t want to hear—she knew it.
    “Kristie said she doesn’t want to have the operation because if she’s well, you’ll leave her to go to work. She said that’s what her father did. He worked a lot, so he didn’t have to be around her.”
    The words stabbed straight to her heart.

Chapter Sixteen
    David didn’t want to cause her pain, but however it hurt, Ally had to know why Kristie was so opposed to the surgery.
    “I’m sorry.” His words were inadequate.
    “Why did she tell you? What did you say to her?”
    “I tried to reassure her that you love her, that’s all. We were talking about all the things she could do when you come back to the island after her operation.”
    “We won’t be back.”
    Now it was his turn to stare, stunned. “What?”
    Her face had lost all the softness it had acquired since she’d returned. “I’m selling the cottage. I can’t afford a vacation house, and our future is in Atlanta, not here.”
    He shook his head slowly, trying to take it in. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
    “Because I thought you wouldn’t help if you knew.”
    “Ally—” He didn’t know what to say to that. “You know that’s not true. We’re friends.”
    She rubbed her forehead, and for an instant he thought her eyes shimmered with tears. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I just couldn’t figure out how to tell you.”
    He tried to push away his own feelings long enough to figure out what she needed. “Look, are you sure this is what you really want? A job so demanding it will consume your life?”
    “It’s a good job,” she said, looking as stubborn as Kristie sometimes did.
    “Good for you and Kristie? Or good because it will bring in a high salary?”
    Her temper flared. “That’s not fair. I have a child to support. I can’t afford to work only when I want to. I need a real job.”
    This was probably not the moment to say that his job was real, even though it wasn’t as prestigious as the position that waited for her in Atlanta.
    “You don’t have to go back to the city for that. You could work in Beaufort and live right here in the cottage. Kristie could have friends around