A Daughter for Christmas Read Free

fingertips into his temple. Tomorrow night he would meet his daughter for the first time. A tight band about his chest threatened to squeeze the breath from him. He forced oxygen-rich air into his lungs. The realization that months of searching and planning had finally come to an end unnerved him more than patching up a soldier under enemy fire.
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    Pausing in the doorway of the den later that day, Rachel watched her two sons playing with their Legos. After several years of trying to have a child, she and Lawrence had ended up adopting Taylor. When their daughter was five, they started talking about adopting another child. They both wanted more children. They had begun the adoption process again when she’d become pregnant with twins.
    Sam was her creative child, diving right in and coming up with things as he went, while Will had to figure out everything before he started. They approached life from opposite ends, and yet they were so close. Their father’s unexpected death two and a half years ago hadn’t affected them. They had been too young to realize what had really happened to their dad.
    Not like Taylor. She’d been Daddy’s little girl and had dreamed of becoming a doctor just like her father. Now all she wanted to do was rebel against any authority, especially her mother and the school. It had gotten so bad that Rachel had told her sister she was going to look into homeschooling and she had. It might be just what Taylor needed to do better in her academics. Certainly, the status quo wasn’t working.
    The chimes of the doorbell echoed through the house. Rachel swung around and made her way to the foyer. It must be Dr. Nancy Baker. The Tallgrass Community College education professor was stopping by on her way home to give her some information on how to start homeschooling.
    Rachel opened the front door. The sight of a police officer who attended her church standing there with her daughter next to him stole her breath and greeting.
    â€œI found Taylor in the alley behind the arcade downtown, Rachel. It looks like she skipped school again.”
    â€œThe school hasn’t called me yet.”
    â€œI don’t think she was at the arcade long.”
    Rachel peered at Taylor, her head down, her arms and legs crossed, her mouth set in her usual frown. Her soft, short blond hair was now full of gel and sticking up all over. Heavy makeup, especially around her dark green eyes, covered up her olive complexion and made her face look pasty. This was not the way she’d looked when she’d left that morning.
    â€œThank you, Dan. I’ll call the school and let them know Taylor’s here.”
    Taylor pushed through the entrance and stomped toward the stairs. “I’m going to my room.”
    The sound of her pounding footsteps bombardedRachel with her child’s anger, always ready to erupt at a second’s notice. She sighed.
    â€œI’m sorry about this, Rachel. I know you’re worried.”
    â€œWas she with anyone else?”
    â€œNo, but I think she was getting ready to sneak into the arcade from the back door. I’m going back to check it out, make sure no other kids are there skipping school.” Dan tipped his hat and left.
    As the police officer descended the porch stairs, her new neighbor from across the street came up the sidewalk. Worry knitted his forehead, his mouth pressed into a firm line.
    â€œIs everything all right? I noticed the patrol car out front and was concerned something was wrong.” Max’s husky bass voice shivered down her spine. There was something about its sound that commanded a person’s attention.
    The appeal in his green-colored eyes touched her. For over two years since her husband’s death, the situation with her daughter had worsened until she didn’t know what to do anymore. “Taylor skipped school—again.”
    â€œAgain?” He planted himself in the doorway, his large presence