Read Online Granting Wishes by Deanna Felthauser - Free Book Online Page A

think about Jake being a love ‘em and leave ‘em kinda guy. With her new sister-in-law gone on her honeymoon, the extra workload was split between her and Chelsea. It didn’t seem like Chels minded either. For some reason, she’d been acting funny all week but Lilah hadn’t been able to get a word out of her about what was going on.
    Today was supposed to be her day off. In lieu of sleeping in, Lilah woke up before sunrise and ventured outside with her coffee and one of her momma’s leftover blueberry muffins. There was a chill in the air, making her thankful for the lavender, buttery soft sweater she had wrapped around her shoulders. Curling up on the porch swing, Lilah kicked her foot out, setting the swing into its rocking motion. She devoured the tender muffin and drank her steaming cup of coffee while she watched the sun rise over the horizon. The leaves and flowers were all in bloom. Soon though, they would begin planning for the busy holiday season. With it would bring cooler weather and her favorite time of year.
    It was always the busiest time of year for her at work. Holidays brought to light more people that needed that needed help. It also brought out more companies and individuals that wanted to donate to a worthy cause. In her office right now there were bags upon bags of handwritten requests for assistance that were waiting to be read. There was never enough time in the day to work through and keep up with the demand. It was time to hire a few people to help with the entire backlog and to keep them on track for the holidays.
    Holidays reminded her of the work they were trying to complete before the season began out at Kringle Farms. From Halloween on, they would be busy with tours of their pumpkin patch, hayrides and then of course, Thanksgiving would kick off the Christmas festivities that they were famous for. All the work needed to be completed before then. She had the itch to take a drive out there and see for herself how it was going. But when the need to go there changed to her need to see Jake, she shook her head and grabbed her coffee cup before going inside.
    Work…she had to work and forget about Jake and what had happened between them. If he wasn’t missing her, then she sure as hell wasn’t going to make a fool of herself by going to his farm and letting him see her heart ache.
    ***
    “You’re up early. How’s my baby girl this morning?” Noah Cane was a big, strapping man that was tough as nails. But when it came to his kids, especially his daughter, he was a big teddy bear.
    “ Good morning, Daddy. I’m about to go shower and get ready for work. We’ve got such a backlog of mail I’m itching to work on it. I hate the thought of not getting help to someone in time if something important is just sitting there.” Lilah got a coffee mug down for her father and fixed a cup just like he liked it. Milk and a hot cocoa mix stirred in. She hugged him tight before giving him his morning fix of caffeine.
    “Mmm, perfect. Thank you, sweetheart.” He took a deep gulp of the steaming cup before snatching a muffin and peeling the wrapper off the bottom. “I understand you want to take care of everyone, but you need some time for you too. You’ve been working so much we hardly ever see you lately.”
    “I’ll try to be home for dinner more, Daddy. Maybe I’ll start bringing some of the mail home with me each night until we get caught up. I’m thinking about hiring a few people to help. What do you think?” Lilah respected and valued his opinion more than anyone. There was nothing like a father-daughter bond.
    “I think it’s about damn time you decided to do that. I don’t have anything in particular to do today. How about your dear old dad comes to work with you, and help you read some of those wishes that need tending to?”
    Lilah grinned up at him and kissed his cheek. “I think that would be perfect, and I would appreciate it, Daddy. I’ll go get ready.” She took off before