One Snowy Night Before Christmas Read Online Free

felt her insides melting as she leaned back against
his chest.
    Under that striped cotton shirt and silly sweater vest Tom
Dunham was surprisingly hard-bodied. His arms tightened around her but still he
held her gently, almost politely, as though he hadn’t forgotten she was a
stranger and his touch hovered at the line of inappropriate.
    Still, his tenderness flowed into her with unmistakable,
undeniable force. She wished she had noticed if he wore a wedding ring. Somehow
she knew if she looked now, she would find he didn’t. Though she’d only just
met him, she sensed he was not the type of man to act this way if he was
married.
    She leaned away and looked into his face. The mirth
disappeared from his eyes and they turned serious, searching. He leaned closer,
studying her lips. Was he going to kiss her? Heavens, she hoped so. Was she
crazy? Maybe so, but she didn’t care. This night was a total disaster already.
    “It’s the season of joy. No more tears, all right?”
    She stiffened and pulled away. Christmas was nothing more
than the season of misery, and there were a lot of people who would agree.
“Right.” From the corner of her eye she noticed a dark figure standing in the
wide doorway to the examination room.
    “Jessie, I got the call on the radio.”
    Highway Patrolman Mike Andrews, her ex fiancé, watched them
with a guarded expression. Jessie’s stomach clenched with a new knot. Yep,
there’s my luck again . She wondered how much of that he’d witnessed.
    His wary glance skipped from her to Tom and back, a notch
more suspicious than it should be. “Everybody all right?”
    Obviously he’d seen all of it. Jessie shook herself, finally
reclaiming her courage. He has no right to judge.
    Taking a step back, she looked at Tom. “You should check on
Amy.”
    His expression dimmed and his hand slipped away from the
small of her back. “All right.” He glanced at Mike. “Excuse me.”
    She rubbed her arms, suddenly feeling cold. “I hit a man.”
    “Kid seems to think you ran over Santa.”
    Good old Mike and his spiteful habit of poking the bruise.
“Yeah, well…you and I both know he isn’t.”
    “I have to take a report.”
    “Of course.” She would show him that being dumped wouldn’t make
her crumble every time she saw him. She started out of the examination room.
Mike took her elbow, making her jump. He pulled her away from the waiting area.
    “Let me buy you a cup of coffee,” he said, forcing a
friendly smile. “No sense upsetting the little girl with this.”
    They drank bland coffee from a machine at the end of the
hall as Mike asked the necessary questions and recorded her answers. She
watched him as he wrote, wondering where his life had taken him since their
breakup. Though Welcome was a small town, she had seen him only once in the
last year, driving past in his patrol car. Probably because in all that time
she never went out for a beer, and pizza dinners always came home in a box.
Thank God no grisly traffic accidents had reunited them.
    His pen went still on the report and an uncomfortable
silence dragged.
    “So how’ve you been? Other than tonight, I mean.” He stared
at something on the wall, unable or just unwilling to meet her eyes.
    “Fine.” The question sounded suspiciously innocent, but she
wasn’t fooled. Let him feel guilty, the bastard. “You?”
    He paused. “Fine.” Mike swallowed. “I’m getting married in
the spring.”
    Before she could control it, her entire body went stiff.
Everything inside her screamed get up and walk away , but somehow she’d
lost control of her limbs.
    While she knew she should act like she didn’t care, her lips
were moving anyway. “Ellen?” Why was he telling her this? Did he want to
torture her? Oh yeah, I almost forgot. It’s Christmas, and I’m cursed to
eternal misery .
    “It’s Elaine.”
    “Oh, right.”
    It still hurt. Realizing that infuriated her. She had tried
so hard to convince herself she didn’t care.