Silent Night, Star-Lit Night (Second Chance at Star Inn)(18)

“I’ll wrap them and put them in the fridge.”

“That would be great.”

“Mia.”

She’d started for the stairs. “No more talk, Jed. My head’s spinning.”

“One question.”

She didn’t want to answer queries about anything, but she turned because he was a good man. A good person. “One.”

“Was Daniel faithful to you?”

The question came unexpectedly, which meant she couldn’t shield her emotions. Her heart beat faster, harder. Her throat clenched. She brought a hand up as if to stop the question, but it was too late because it had already been asked.

“Mia.”

She couldn’t bear the sorrowed knowledge in Jed’s eyes.

How could he know?

He couldn’t. No one knew, and that’s because she’d been putting on a good front and a happy face for a very long time. For as long as she could remember, actually.

He moved forward, as if to console.

She didn’t want or need consolation. She wanted—

She didn’t know what she wanted. She’d been wondering that for so long, second-guessing everything. But she realized one thing clearly.

She wasn’t ready to have a heart-to-heart with Jed or anyone else about Daniel’s philandering, because if she stayed quiet and ignored the whole thing maybe it wouldn’t hurt quite so much. And maybe her own choices wouldn’t feel quite so weak and subservient.

She hurried up the stairs as quick as her lumbering body would allow, let herself into her room, and sank onto the bed.

The baby writhed, as if upset, or was she transposing her emotions onto an innocent baby?

She lay back, allowing her daughter more room, and didn’t try to stem the tears.

A soft knock sounded at her door. “Mia, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

What could she say?

Nothing. And she refused to collapse in a bundle of tears in front of anyone, even Jed. She stayed silent, wishing she could turn back time . . . but then realizing what a wondrous thing was happening inside her. A baby, a new chance. A new day. If she didn’t blow it.

She held her breath, waiting for Jed to walk away, and when she heard the click of his door a minute later she breathed . . . and cried all over again.





Chapter Eight

December 21, Star Inn, Heywood, Oregon

He’d blown it, big-time.

Why had he pried? Why had he pushed at night, when she was already tired and worn? And when she was stuck here, with him? Had he tried to trap her or was he just stupid?

Stupid, he decided.

Sleep eluded him for a long time. When he woke up the next morning, the snow had slowed considerably. He got up, hurried out of bed, grabbed a shower and clean clothes from the suitcases he’d dragged to the inn the day before, then went downstairs. Mia’s door had been left open, and her bed was made.

Had she slept at all?

Guilt ran roughshod over him.

Lorrie looked up as he entered the dining room. “Is Mia down here?”

“About an hour ago. She grabbed coffee and headed back to the shelter,” Lorrie told him. “Angel and I are doing up lunch food for the folks over there, but the weather’s breaking today, and I say good riddance. This kind of thing has the town all up in arms.”

“The storm and the power loss.” He nodded, sympathetic. “It’s a mess, all right.”

“Well, storms come and go around here, but they’re not easily stomached on Christmas week, let me tell you. We’ve got celebrations planned every night. The thought of canceling them was driving folks batty, but if they’re right”—she nodded toward the current Central Oregon weather report on the television screen—“we should be back on track by mid-day tomorrow.”

“That’s good news.” Once the roads were cleared, he and Mia could get on the road, but the enigma of her words bothered him. This sweet town was awash in Christmas planning, and yet two small hearts weren’t welcome in anyone’s home. How could that be?

Angel came into the room with fresh coffee and a to-go cup just then. “I expected you’d like this to-go?”

“Yes, ma’am. Did Mia make it over there all right?”

“I texted Reggie asking that very thing, because if ever there was a young mother with the weight of the world on her shoulders it’s Mia. Reggie texted back that she’d arrived and was reading stories to the Barringer kids, one after the other.”

Mia had a sacrificial nature and an eager-to-please personality.

Daniel had taken advantage of that.

Jed didn’t know why. He didn’t care about the why of the situation, because once he read that pain in her face last night all he wanted to do was fix it. If Daniel was around, he’d pummel him for being a self-serving jerk. But he wasn’t around, which meant putting Mia’s needs first. When she started talking to him again, that is.

“Now, I’ve interfered in the past,” Angel went on. A cluster of holiday-themed bracelets jangled as she fixed the coffee. “And I’ve paid the price now and again for moving too quickly.”

Did she know how badly he’d messed up last night? She couldn’t, but then again, Angel was a pretty smart lady. “You’re saying be patient.”