Daddy by Christmas / Christmas Magic on the Mountain. Patricia Thayer
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blessings. “I’d be honored to come by.”
Chapter Five
HE had to be crazy to have suggested cooking Thanksgiving dinner here.
Jarrett stood back and watched as half a dozen women scurried around his kitchen. He’d told himself earlier that he wasn’t going to hang around, but they’d showed up at dawn, ready and eager to begin the baking and cooking.
He had to admit that the place was filled with wonderful aromas. The one disappointment was that Mia wasn’t there. It was crazy of him even to think about her at all. She was pregnant, and her life was going in one direction while he needed only to think about one thing—the computer-chip-factory project. And getting out of the jail of his crummy apartment.
Nola walked over to him. “You have a wonderful kitchen, Jarrett. Every modern convenience a woman could ever want. Seems such a waste that you don’t have someone to share this with.”
Jarrett smiled, but ignored her comment. “I’m glad you like it.”
“Just so you know, we’ll clean up everything. You won’t even know we were here.”
“I’m not worried. I have a cleaning service.”
“Well, just the same. The place will be spotless when we leave.”
Just then his phone rang. He grabbed the extension in the office. It was his brother. “Hi, Trace. Happy Thanksgiving.”
“Same to you,” Trace echoed. “I’ve been given orders to call you and see if you changed your mind about coming to dinner today.”
Kira couldn’t stand for him to be alone. “I appreciate the invitation, bro, but I seem to have a place to go. A few of the tenants have asked me to share the meal with them.”
There was a long silence. “You better be careful, no telling what they might put in your food.”
“Very funny. I do have a few friends. Besides, the tenants and I are getting along fine.”
“Well, that’s good.”
He didn’t want to talk about any apartment troubles. “I take it Kira is fixing dinner today.”
“It’ll be just us since Jody and Nathan have gone to be with Ben at the army base.”
Jarrett remembered Kira’s student who’d gotten pregnant in high school. Jody had had the child and Ben had joined the military, but he’d stayed in touch. The couple had gotten married this past summer.
Suddenly the doorbell rang. “I’ve got to go, Trace. Tell everyone happy Thanksgiving.”
After replacing the phone, Jarrett walked across the great room and into the entry. He pulled open the door to find Mia and several other people standing on his porch.
He frowned. “What are you doing out of bed?”
“I’m allowed out now. Some,” she added stubbornly. “I just have to stay off my feet as much as possible.”
He took her by the arm and led her to the sofa, followed by the other dozen or so tenants. “Why did you come here? We’re going to bring the food back to the community room.” He folded his arms. “You aren’t supposed to do anything.”
She nodded. I know, but there’s a problem at the community room. It’s flooded.”
Jarrett cursed. He didn’t need another thing that he had to pay for. “How bad?”
Joe spoke up. “I shut off the main valve, but there’s about an inch of water on the floor.”
Jarrett murmured some choice words as he turned back to Mia.
She suddenly looked unsure. “We didn’t know what to do, so we came here.”
Nola walked into the room. “Mia, what’s wrong? Is it the baby?”
“No, I’m fine, but the community room is flooded.” Mia looked back at Jarrett. “We have no place to have our dinner.”
Every eye turned toward him. He had no choice. “Well, since everyone is here, I guess it’ll be at my house.”
Cheers filled the room, then everyone scattered to do their chores. He pulled out his phone and punched in the McKane Ranch number, wondering how he’d gotten into this situation. He glanced at Mia Saunders, those big blue eyes staring back at him. A sudden stirring in his gut told him he was headed for disaster if he wasn’t careful. Hell, he’d never been careful in his life.
His brother answered the phone.
“Hey, Trace. Why don’t you load up Kira and Jenna and come here? It seems I’m having Thanksgiving at my house.”
Two hours later, Mia was still sitting on the large sofa in Jarrett’s great room. Although it wasn’t her taste, the place was decorated well. A lot of chrome-and-glass tables and black leather furniture filled the room. The most beautiful feature was the huge wall of windows and the French door that led to the deck and the wooded area at the back of the house. Although the trees were bare and a dusting of snow covered the ground, she could picture it in the spring with green trees and wildflowers along the hillside.
She turned toward the open-concept kitchen, looking over the breakfast bar to see rows of espresso-colored cabinets, and marble counter tops. The commercial-size stainless-steel appliances looked as though they were getting a rare workout today.
The dining room was on the other side, the long table already set up for the meal, along with several card tables scattered around to accommodate all the people coming today. Mia didn’t even want to count them. All she knew was that her brother and sister-in-law wouldn’t be at any table. These people were her family now. She rubbed her stomach. Hers and her baby’s.
“Are you okay?”
She glanced up to see Jarrett standing beside the sofa. “I’m fine. Really. Thank you for having us today.”
“There wasn’t a choice, and you know it.”
“It’s still very generous that you let us use your home.”
He shrugged. “I also get a home-cooked meal.”
“You have family. And I bet you could get someone to cook for you pretty easily.”
His dark gaze held hers. “I’m pretty selective in choosing my friends.” His mouth crooked upward in a sexy smile. “Also who cooks for me.”
“Well, you’ve got some pretty good cooks in your kitchen right now.”
“I’m glad about that, because I’m getting hungry just smelling all the wonderful aromas.” He sat down across from her. “If your cookies are any indication, I’d say you know your way around a kitchen, too.”
The man was too handsome and, when he wanted to be, charming. She scooted to the edge of the sofa. “Could you direct me to the bathroom, please?”
“Of course.” He helped her up, but didn’t release his hold on her arm. They were walking toward the hall when the doorbell rang.
She looked at him. “I thought everyone was here.”
Jarrett pulled open the door to a young couple with a little girl. She recognized them from church.
“Happy Thanksgiving, Unca Jay,” the girl cried as she ran inside.
He scooped her into his arms. “Happy Thanksgiving to you too, Jenna. I’m glad you could come today. Welcome, Kira, Trace.”
They all exchanged greetings.
Jenna kept her hold on her uncle. “Mama said it must be a really special day because we never get invited to your house. She’s really happy because family should be together.”
“Jenna,” her mother warned.
“Well,