Read Online Come Home For Christmas by Susanne Matthews - Free Book Online Page A

to the wire basket her mother used to use to collect them. All but three of the eggs were white.
    “Thanks. You’ve got red hens?”
    “Yeah. I bought them off Harvey Anderson three months ago and believe me I wish I hadn’t.”
    “What do you mean? Aren’t white eggs the same as brown ones?”
    “They are, but I had the dickens of a time convincing Leah that just because the brown hen gave brown eggs, it didn’t mean the brown cow would give her chocolate milk. I walked into the barn a couple of days after collecting the brown eggs for the first time to hear her giving Bessie, our Guernsey, holy hell for holding out on her.”
    Krista burst out laughing. “She didn’t.”
    “She did, but don’t remind her because I’m not sure I have her convinced.” He popped the last of the cookie in his mouth. “Delicious—even better than I remembered. I’ll go up and get the Christmas boxes. Where do you want them?”
    “Where do you want to put the tree?”
    “How about in front of the window, like your mom used to do?”
    “That would be nice, but since the television isn’t in there anymore, could we get two—a smaller one for the den?”
    “Sounds good, so do you want the boxes in the den or the living room?”
    “Put them in the living room, and we can go from there.”
    ***
    Ethan placed the last of the boxes of Christmas decorations on the living room floor. He heard voices from the kitchen. Krista was probably getting lunch ready. The soup she’d made smelled delicious, and she’d promised grilled ham and cheese sandwiches to go with it. There would be cookies for dessert.
    From the way she’d reacted to his touch, he was certain Nitchkov had hit her. Why hadn’t she charged him? If she had, it would’ve made the news. A lot of abused women didn’t come forward because they felt they were somehow to blame, something their lousy husbands had probably told him. While he’d never seen it, he’d be willing to bet his dad had taken his fist to his mom. He’d never hit him, but his abuse had been more insidious. Bruises healed, but the pain inflicted by cruel words and actions cut even deeper. If he ever saw Nitchkov up close and personal, he’d punch the bastard’s lights out.
    Since Krista hadn’t mentioned the note he’d placed in the box, he assumed she hadn’t read it yet. The sooner she did, the better things would be. The will and the other legal documents had to be discussed. Once she accepted his offer for restitution for the ranch, he could begin to make things right between the two of them. If she rejected either of his offers, he wasn’t sure what he was going to do. One thing was certain, he wasn’t going to give up this time.
    “Daddy, come and eat,” Leah yelled. “Krista said we have to eat before we open any of the boxes.”
    “Coming.” He needed to get into Schneider’s as soon as he could and visit that angel because he planned to amend Leah’s Christmas wish.
    Two hours later, he sat on the sofa in the den untangling mini-lights and testing them as he did. Bing Crosby crooned “White Christmas” and for the first time in years, all was right in his world. Krista’s gold macaroni wreath, paper plate Santa, and handprint tree had been given places of honor, and tomorrow they’d hang her construction paper lamb and clothes peg reindeer in the tree.
    Earlier, there’d been an emotional moment when Krista opened the box of nutcrackers. She’d fought tears as she’d carefully unwrapped each one, dutifully explaining its history, including how the soldier had been broken. Right now, Leah was lying on the rug in front of the fireplace looking through the book on nutcrackers he’d given Krista one Christmas. It had always been kept with her collection and he’d boxed it up accordingly.
    “Are those lights safe?” Krista asked, coming into the room. “I don’t know when they were used last.”
    “These are only a couple of years old. I replaced them when Leah was