Christmas in Eternity Springs Read Free Page A

kitchen table in her absence.
    She pulled a bottle of ibuprofen from a cabinet and tossed two into her mouth, chasing the pills with a full glass of water. She set down the empty glass and focused on the delivery envelope. Focused on her name and address. Did her best to ignore the name of the law firm in the upper left-hand corner of the label.
    â€œDo it,” she muttered to herself. “Just do it. Get it over with.”
    Heart pounding, her mouth sandpaper dry, she picked up the envelope, pulled the tab, and looked inside. A black binder clip secured a stack of papers over an inch thick. She took a deep breath and yanked the paperwork from the envelope.
    The check fell onto her table printed side down. Claire flipped it over and read the amount. She stumbled back against the wall. “Sweet baby Jesus in a manger.”
    Her knees buckled and she melted onto her kitchen floor.
    *   *   *
    As the sun began to dip below a craggy mountain peak to the west, Jax Lancaster pushed open the gate to the hot springs pools at Angel’s Rest Healing Center and Spa. He turned away from a section of the small park where families congregated and chose an isolated pool that offered a great view of the spectacular orange and gold rays framing a purple mountain. Jax appreciated sunrises and sunsets in a way that only a man who’d gone months at a time for years in a row without seeing them could do. He pulled his U.S. Navy T-shirt over his head and tossed it aside before easing his aching body into the steaming waters of the mineral springs.
    As welcome warmth seeped into his bones, Jax exhaled a heavy sigh and tried to relax and enjoy the view. Ten days of nonstop travel had taken its toll on his body. Eighteen months of constant worry about his son had worn upon his soul.
    The fact that he was dead broke and out of work didn’t help matters. Divorce and a custody battle had eaten up his savings, and then ten days ago, he’d walked away from a career he’d loved. He didn’t regret the decision. He’d had no choice. Bottom line was Nicholas needed his father.
    Whether the boy recognized it or not.
    The gate hinges squeaked again and Jax glanced toward the sound. He gave the redheaded woman with a short but sexy pair of legs a quick once-over as she stepped into the pool area. Very nice, he thought. He’d always had a thing for redheads. She wore a black swimsuit cover-up and carried a long beach towel in shades of red and green draped over her left shoulder. In her right hand, she carried a large tote bag with a cartoon character on the side. Rudolph? In July?
    When she turned toward the families, he returned his attention to the sunset and his troubles. He’d checked his e-mail after arriving at the resort, but the good news he’d hoped to find waiting for him had not materialized. Jax tried not to brood about the goose egg in his job-offer in-box. He needed to give it some time. Seattle was a big, fast-growing city with a hot economy. Something would come along. Hadn’t he been told by more than one potential employer to reach out to them again after his discharge was official? In the meantime, well, he had an offer on the table that would pay the basic bills, didn’t he?
    Never mind that he’d almost rather panhandle on the streets than work for his ex-father-in-law’s chain of independent bookstores.
    Jax sank farther into the water and rolled his shoulders. If he had to work for Lara’s dad in order to put a roof over Nicholas’s head, keep Cheerios in his breakfast bowl, and ensure that the checks to the child psychologist didn’t bounce, then that’s what he’d do. The boy came first.
    An explosion of laughter erupted from the other side of the park. Jax tried to remember the last time he’d laughed like that. Before the accident, certainly.
    The accident. What a mild term for such a life-altering event.
    Spying movement in his