Holiday Wishes Read Free Page B

She could smell smoke from the chimneys and the bursting scent of pine.
    Some might find it too settled; others would find it dull. But Faith had made it a home for herself and her daughter. She’d altered her life to suit her, and it fitted her well.
    No regrets, she promised with one last glance at her daughter’s window. No regrets at all.
    The wind picked up a bit as she walked. There’d be snow for Christmas. She could feel it. She’d look forward to that, not back any longer.
    “Still fond of walking?”

Chapter 3
    Had she known he’d find her? Perhaps she had. Perhaps she’d needed him to. “Some things don’t change,” she said simply as Jason fell into step beside her.
    “I’ve found that out in one afternoon.” He thought of the town that had stayed so much the same. And of his feelings for the woman beside him. “Where’s your daughter?”
    “She’s sleeping.”
    He was calmer than he’d been that afternoon, and determined to stay that way. “I didn’t ask you if you had other children.”
    “No.” He heard the wistfulness in her voice, just a sigh of it. “There’s only Clara.”
    “How did you pick the name?”
    She smiled. It was so like him to ask questions no one else would think of. “From the Nutcracker . I wanted her to be able to dream.” As she had. Dropping her hands in her pockets, she told herself they were simply two old friends walking through a quiet town. “Are you staying at the inn?”
    “Yeah.” Amused, Jason rubbed a hand over his chin. “Beantree took my bags up himself.”
    “Local boy makes good.” She turned to look at him. It was easier somehow, walking like this. Odd, she realized, she’d seen the boy when she’d looked at him the first time. Now she saw the man. His hair had darkened a bit but was still very blond. It was no longer unkempt, but cut in a carelessly attractive style that had it falling over his brow. His face was still thin, hollow at the cheeks in the way that had always fascinated her. And his mouth was still full, but there was a hardness around it that hadn’t been there once. “You did make good, didn’t you? You made everything you wanted happen.”
    “Most everything.” When his eyes met hers, she felt all the old longings come back. “What about you, Faith?”
    She shook her head, watching the sky as she walked. “I never wanted as much as you, Jason.”
    “Are you happy?”
    “If a person isn’t, it’s their own fault.”
    “That’s too simple.”
    “I haven’t seen the things you’ve seen. I haven’t had to deal with what you’ve had to deal with. I am simple, Jason. That was the problem, wasn’t it?”
    “No.” He turned her to face him and slid his hands up to her face. He wore no gloves, and his fingers warmed against her skin. “God, you haven’t changed.” As she stood very still he combed his fingers up through her hair, then down to where the tips brushed her shoulders. “I’ve thought about the way you look in the moonlight countless times. It was just like this.”
    “I’ve changed, Jason.” But her voice was breathless. “So have you.”
    “Some things don’t,” he reminded her, and gave in to the need.
    When his mouth touched hers, he knew that he’d come home. Everything he remembered, everything he thought he’d lost was his again. She was soft and smelled of springtime, even when snow dusted the ground around them. Her mouth was willing, even as it had been the first time he’d tasted it. He couldn’t explain, even to himself, that every other woman he’d held had been nothing but a shadow of his memory of her. Now she was real, wrapped in his arms and giving him everything he’d forgotten he could have.
    Just once, she promised herself as she melted against him. Just once more. How could she have known her life had such a void in it? She’d tried to close the door on the part of her life that included Jason, though she’d known it wasn’t possible. She’d tried to tell