A Midnight Clear Read Free Page B

focused on Aiden as she talked.
    “I’ll bet you do. Does Aiden help?”
    She shook her head. “No, I use a babysitter a lot during the holidays.” She looked down at her hands, her guilt palpable.
    “The tree lighting sounds like fun,” he said, just to make conversation.
    She nodded. “We do other fun things. The Episcopal choir puts on an annual concert on Christmas Eve, which is worth attending. And of course every one of the churches in town puts on a children’s Christmas play. You know, Doc Cooper and his wife organized the play at Christ Episcopal for years and years. I just heard that Lillian Bray has volunteered to organize it this year. But a lot of the parents aren’t very happy about that. You wouldn’t, by any chance, have experience in that department, would you?”
    He cleared his throat. “Uh, no. And besides, I’m Catholic and I’ll be on call Christmas Eve.”
    “Doc Cooper was on call too. Of course, his wife was there to back him up.”
    Clever. Was she flirting, or just trying to figure out his marital status? “I don’t have a wife.”
    That brought a giggle. “I figured as much. And”—she turned and faced him, her eyes smiling in the pale winter sunlight—“I ought to warn you. Every church woman in the county of any denomination is going to consider it her God-given duty to match you up with someone.”
    No, not flirting after all. “Me? I’m a Yankee from Boston. I got the feeling everyone in town thinks I’m a liberal carpetbagger and I should go back home, which, of course, I’ll likely do when my commitment to the National Health Service Corps is fulfilled. It’s usually a two-year commitment.” He played up his accent as he spoke.
    “Give people time. They’ll come around. And I’m telling you that you are not immune, just because you come from up north and aren’t planning on staying for more than two years. The matchmakers of Last Chance target newcomers. They have this idea that if they can match you up with someone, you’ll stay longer. It’s their way of keeping young people from moving away to the city. So I’m warning you. Watch out for Miriam Randall and her niece, Savannah. People say that they have a knack for matching people up, but I think they’re just a couple of meddling busybodies.”
    “I take it that you’ve been a victim of their meddling?”
    She frowned. “Well, no. Of course not. I mean, I’m divorced.”
    “Oh. Divorced people are immune, then?”
    “Uh, well, no. But, you know, I’m not going to find a soul mate. I mean, there’s Aiden.”
    “And?”
    She blinked at him. “You know, Doctor Crawford, I do appreciate that you think Aiden is precocious, and that I’m just like any other single mom. But the truth is the truth. Aiden is a special needs child. What man in his right mind would want to marry into something like that?”
    *  *  *
    On Sunday night, Teri collapsed in front of the TV with a glass of red wine. Aiden was down for the night, and she planned to indulge herself by watching the TNT movie version of A Christmas Carol . The one with Patrick Stewart. She hoped it would put her in the holiday spirit.
    She loved Christmas. But her business added so much stress that work could ruin the mood. And, of course, Christmas wasn’t exactly Aiden’s favorite time of year. Sometimes, for example, Teri fervently wished that every Salvation Army bell would miraculously go silent, just to spare Aiden. He hated the sound of bells.
    She had just put her feet up when her cell phone rang. She muted the TV and answered. Her sister Meredith was on the line. “Hey, Merry, what’s up?”
    There was an awkward beat of silence before Merry spoke. “Momma asked me to call you.”
    “Oh?”
    More hesitation. “Uh, well, you see Brad, Julie, Laura, Momma, and me, we all had a talk, and we think it might be best if you and Aiden didn’t come home for Christmas this year.”
    Teri sat there for at least half a minute, saying