Read Online A Chesapeake Shores Christmas by Sherryl Woods - Free Book Online Page A

annoyed you.”
    “Why would it?” Mick lied. “I’m glad she can stand on her own two feet.”
    “Really?”
    “Well, of course I am.”
    “Then you’re more evolved than any of us suspected. Face it, Mick, you like having a finger in all these family pies. It makes you feel needed. How’s it going to work now that you’ve seen that Megan doesn’t need you?”
    Though Trace was clearly teasing, Mick was taken aback by the question just the same. Maybe he had counted on Megan needing his financial backing to make this project of hers come together. On some level, he’d probably thought it would be one more thing binding them together.
    He stood up abruptly. “I have to go.”
    Trace immediately looked guilty. “Hold on, Mick. We both know Megan’s coming back because she loves you. I never meant to suggest anything else.”
    “I know,” Mick told him. “Don’t worry about it. There’s just someplace I need to be.”
    He had no idea where that place was, but he needed a quiet spot where he could think. When he and Megan were married before, he’d held the financial reins on the relationship, and still she’d left him. She’d loved him even then, but she’d moved away.
    Now she was on this whole kick about being independent, doing her own thing on her own terms. Where did that leave him? For the first time since their reconciliation, Mick was genuinely uncertain about the future and a relationship that wasn’t on terms he understood. He didn’t like uncertainty. He didn’t like it one damn bit!
    He changed his mind about wanting to be alone. He needed to see Megan, get a few things straight. Megan had said something about stopping by Flowers on Main to see Bree, but when he got there, she’d already gone.
    “Dad, is something wrong?” Bree asked worriedly, clearly trying to gauge his odd mood.
    “I just need to see your mother, that’s all.”
    “Why? Has something happened?”
    He thought of the mess with Connor that was about to come to a head, the way Megan was striking out on her own. Not one blasted thing felt right. Just a few short weeks ago when she’d agreed to be his wife again, he’d been on top of the world. Now he had this feeling it was all slipping away.
    He sat down and turned a bleak look on Bree. “Did you and your mother make any decisions about the flowers today?”
    She frowned at the change of subject, but shook her head. “No, she said she wanted to think about it some more.”
    Mick’s heart sank. It was just as he’d feared. She was already having second thoughts.
    “She’s going to cancel the wedding,” he said eventually.
    Bree looked at him with dismay. “Why on earth would you say that? She didn’t even hint at such a thing to me. She’s thrilled about marrying you again.”
    Mick wasn’t buying it. “Just you wait and see.”
    “Is there something I don’t know?” Bree asked, looking bewildered. “I swear to you everything seemed fine when she was here. She was a little nervous about her loan application, but that’s all I noticed.”
    “Trust me, I know what I’m talking about,” Mick said direly.
    Bree gave him an impatient look. “If you actually believe what you’re saying, then why are you here with me? Find Mom and fix whatever it is you think is broken.”
    “Did your mother say where she was going?”
    “Back to the house, I think.”
    “Make me up one of those fancy bouquets of yours,” he told her. “No roses. Tulips, maybe. Pink ones if you have them.”
    Bree looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “Let me see what I have. I don’t get a lot of requests for pink tulips two days before Thanksgiving.”
    “Which is why your mother will think they’re special,” he said. “What about lily of the valley? She loves that.”
    “I may have a few sprigs left from the wedding bouquet I made the other day. I’ll see if they’re still fresh.”
    Mick nodded. “Good. Now hurry up. I don’t have a lot of time to waste.”
    He