Christmas in Eternity Springs by Emily March Page B

thought, as his cheeks grew warm. Was he blushing? Was he a submariner or a schoolgirl? He’d been to the flesh pits of the Orient. Hell, he’d sampled the flesh pits of the Orient. Now a little old lady was making him blush in the aisle of his father-in-law’s suburban Washington bookstore? Dorothy, you’re not in Kansas anymore.
    â€œUm, no, ma’am.”
    â€œWell, you should. I imagine even a big, good-looking fella like yourself can learn a few new tricks.”
    â€œUh. Yes. Well. Excuse me, I’ll go check for your book.” Jax beat a hasty retreat to the stockroom. By noon, Hardcastle’s had burned through its entire stock of Mallory Hart’s newest novel and he’d fielded seven … seven! … come-ons from strangers of both sexes. It even outsold The Christmas Angel Waiting Room, which was flying out the door due to the promo blitz for the upcoming animated movie based on the story.
    Fighting the traffic home at the end of a very long day, he muttered, “If one more person asks me if I’m a cover model, I swear I’ll kick a kitten.”
    As uncomfortable as the situation made him, it at least served as a temporary distraction from his worries, and he didn’t have an opportunity to brood further until the drive home.
    Nicholas wasn’t improving. If anything, since Jax’s return he seemed to be regressing.
    Their trip from Eternity Springs to San Diego and on to Seattle had gone well, and Jax had high hopes as they settled into their new reality. In hindsight, his first mistake had been agreeing to spend even one night in the Hardcastle home. Once Linda Hardcastle saw her grandson returned to the bedroom where he’d lived ever since his mother’s death, she’d wanted him to stay put. Jax had had a helluva time prying him away, but in that at least he’d stood his ground and moved the boy to an apartment. He might be the world’s most insecure dad, but he knew in his bones how important it was for him and his son to begin to forge a family. They’d never do that as long as they were both living beneath Brian and Linda’s roof.
    Not that Jax didn’t appreciate the help the Hardcastles continued to give him with Nicholas. He owed them big-time. If they hadn’t stepped up when the navy had refused Jax’s discharge request, Jax didn’t know what he would have done. They truly loved the boy and, heaven knows, that was important.
    But Jax was Nicholas’s father. He needed to be his father—a decision-maker, an authority figure, a disciplinarian. Wresting that job away from Brian was proving to be a challenge. It’d be so much easier to manage if Jax didn’t second-guess everything where Nicholas was concerned.
    The fact that he was so dependent on Brian didn’t help matters at all. With any luck, he’d get good news about the job with Boeing soon. They’d led him to believe he’d hear by the end of the month, and the salary they floated would go a long way toward allowing him to snip some of the more uncomfortable strings.
    Who knows? If the job panned out, maybe he’d be able to buy a house.
    Jax had that dream for Nicholas. Not a big, fourteen-room mansion filled with leather and crystal and brocade draperies. He wanted a basketball goal on the garage. He wanted a house that a kid could run through. He wanted a sidewalk where Nicholas could ride his bike.
    And maybe someday in the not too distant future, a backyard for a dog.
    â€œHey, nothing wrong with positive thinking,” he murmured aloud as he accelerated onto the interstate.
    Then, upon realizing what he’d said, Jax lifted his lips in a wry smile. The image of pretty little Claire Branham drifted through his mind—and not for the first time. He found he liked fantasizing about his chance encounter with the shopkeeper from Eternity Springs.
    Wonder what she thought about cover models?
    His cell phone