Daddy by Christmas by Patricia Thayer Page B

He grabbed the extension in the office. It was his brother. “Hi, Trace. Happy Thanksgiving.”
    â€œSame to you,” Trace echoed. “I’ve been given orders to call you and see if you changed your mind about coming to dinner today.”
    Kira couldn’t stand for him to be alone. “I appreciate the invitation, bro, but I seem to have a place to go. A few of the tenants have asked me to share the meal with them.”
    There was a long silence. “You better be careful, no telling what they might put in your food.”
    â€œVery funny. I do have a few friends. Besides, the tenants and I are getting along fine.”
    â€œWell, that’s good.”
    He didn’t want to talk about any apartment troubles. “I take it Kira is fixing dinner today.”
    â€œIt’ll be just us since Jody and Nathan have gone to be with Ben at the army base.”
    Jarrett remembered Kira’s student who’d gotten pregnant in high school. Jody had had the child and Ben had joined the military, but he’d stayed in touch. The couple had gotten married this past summer.
    Suddenly the doorbell rang. “I’ve got to go, Trace. Tell everyone happy Thanksgiving.”
    After replacing the phone, Jarrett walked across the great room and into the entry. He pulled open the door to find Mia and several other people standing on his porch.
    He frowned. “What are you doing out of bed?”
    â€œI’m allowed out now. Some,” she added stubbornly. “I just have to stay off my feet as much as possible.”
    He took her by the arm and led her to the sofa, followed by the other dozen or so tenants. “Why did you come here? We’re going to bring the food back to the communityroom.” He folded his arms. “You aren’t supposed to do anything.”
    She nodded. I know, but there’s a problem at the community room. It’s flooded.”
    Jarrett cursed. He didn’t need another thing that he had to pay for. “How bad?”
    Joe spoke up. “I shut off the main valve, but there’s about an inch of water on the floor.”
    Jarrett murmured some choice words as he turned back to Mia.
    She suddenly looked unsure. “We didn’t know what to do, so we came here.”
    Nola walked into the room. “Mia, what’s wrong? Is it the baby?”
    â€œNo, I’m fine, but the community room is flooded.” Mia looked back at Jarrett. “We have no place to have our dinner.”
    Every eye turned toward him. He had no choice. “Well, since everyone is here, I guess it’ll be at my house.”
    Cheers filled the room, then everyone scattered to do their chores. He pulled out his phone and punched in the McKane Ranch number, wondering how he’d gotten into this situation. He glanced at Mia Saunders, those big blue eyes staring back at him. A sudden stirring in his gut told him he was headed for disaster if he wasn’t careful. Hell, he’d never been careful in his life.
    His brother answered the phone.
    â€œHey, Trace. Why don’t you load up Kira and Jenna and come here? It seems I’m having Thanksgiving at my house.”
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    Two hours later, Mia was still sitting on the large sofa in Jarrett’s great room. Although it wasn’t her taste, the place was decorated well. A lot of chrome-and-glass tables andblack leather furniture filled the room. The most beautiful feature was the huge wall of windows and the French door that led to the deck and the wooded area at the back of the house. Although the trees were bare and a dusting of snow covered the ground, she could picture it in the spring with green trees and wildflowers along the hillside.
    She turned toward the open-concept kitchen, looking over the breakfast bar to see rows of espresso-colored cabinets, and marble counter tops. The commercial-size stainless-steel appliances looked as though they were getting a rare workout today.
    The