Read Online Christmas at Candlebark Farm by Michelle Douglas - Free Book Online Page B

‘Not really.’
    She waited. Nothing. ‘Parents?’
    â€˜Yeah, but they retired to the coast nearly three years ago now.’
    She digested that. Then stiffened. Tammy had died three years ago, hadn’t she? Luke and Tammy might no longer have lived together, but surely Luke’s parents would have stuck around to help Luke and Jason through such a terrible time?
    She swallowed. ‘Siblings?’
    â€˜An older brother—Evan. He married an English girl and emigrated.’
    â€˜So…none of you are close, then?’
    He glanced down at her. ‘We’re not at loggerheads or anything.’
    She’d never considered herself short, at five feet five inches, but Luke dwarfed her. She didn’t want to find that so deliciously appealing, but she did. She didn’t want to lean into him and gain strength from his mere presence, his very solidity.
    Liar!
    Well, okay…yes, she did. She wanted that a lot. But she didn’t want to want it.
    Don’t get too used to relying on this man, she warned herself. She couldn’t risk relying on anyone too much at present. She had to focus on her pregnancy and creating a wonderfullife for her baby. In eighteen months, two years—maybe then she’d be ready to let someone into their lives, but not yet.
    â€˜My mother called me her change of life baby.’
    Keira swung back in time to see him pass a hand through his hair. He smelt of dirt and grease and fresh-mown grass. Not one of those smells made her stomach churn, or had perspiration emerging as she tried to combat nausea. In fact she found herself kind of liking the way he smelled. It was refreshing after the heavy colognes of some of her friends in the city.
    â€˜I came along when she was forty-six and my father fifty-three. Evan was already grown up at twenty-four.’
    Wow! ‘It must’ve been hard, being the lone child among all those adults?’
    â€˜It was all right.’
    And that was when she saw it—as if he’d spoken the words out loud. Luke had felt like an intruder in his own family. She didn’t know what sixth sense had suddenly fired to life inside her, making her see him so clearly. She didn’t know what part of her could be so finely attuned to that same part of him, but her heart started to ache for the little boy he must once have been.
    No wonder he’d searched for love with Tammy when he was only nineteen.
    She slipped her arm though his and hugged it. He glanced down in surprise, but didn’t detach himself. ‘Thank you for helping me out today. You’ve saved me thousands of dollars and months of delay.’
    â€˜You saved yourself. You were the one who sensed something wasn’t right.’ His hands clenched. ‘I’m glad you did! I’m sorry you were almost taken advantage of like that.’
    Beneath her hand, the muscles in his arms tightened. She rubbed her hand up and down it to ease the tension, dug her fingers into the muscle to find the knots and loosen them. ‘It wasn’t your fault.’
    He scowled. ‘What a great opinion you’ll have of our country hospitality now.’
    He glanced down at her hands, and she realised she’d started a full-blown massage on his arm. She leapt away. ‘Sorry.’ She coughed to hide her confusion, shoved her hands into her back pockets. ‘Force of habit.’
    He didn’t move for a moment, but then one corner of his mouth kicked up. He lifted a shoulder. ‘There are worse habits to have.’
    Her heart jumped and jerked. Her knees wobbled. ‘I…um…my opinion of country hospitality could take an upward swing if you wouldn’t mind dropping in at the supermarket on our way home.’
    His smile faded.
    â€˜Don’t worry about it,’ she rushed on. Of course he had work he wanted to get to. ‘I can come back into town later.’
    He shrugged again, but his tension belied the