Read Online House Divided by Jennifer Peel - Free Book Online Page B

playing fair at all. I hesitated to answer.
    “Oh please, oh please,” Caroline begged.
    They both gave me puppy dog looks.
    “Ok.”
    “Yay!” they both said a little too loudly.
    Everyone in the bank was looking at us
now. He set Caroline down, and she took my hand again. As we all walked out
together, I felt the stares.
    Brady directed me to his truck. It looked
fairly new. It was a charcoal gray Tundra, dual cab, four wheel drive. It was
nice, and it fit him. He opened the passenger side door for me and helped me
in. When our hands touched, I felt instantly warm and like all was right with
the world. This was a mistake, but before I could say anything, he shut the
door and helped Caroline in and buckled her into her booster seat behind me.
Brady got in the driver’s side and looked toward me. He seemed so happy.
    He pulled out his phone. “Just let me make
a quick phone call.”
    While he dialed, I contemplated just
getting out, but then I looked at that cute carrot top in the back.
    “Benjamin, change of plans,” I heard Brady
say. “I’m going to take Caroline with me to Birmingham.”
    I glared at him as soon as he said goodbye.
“You know where liars go, Brady Jackson.”
    He reached over and tugged on my hair.
“I’ll repent later.” He looked between me and Caroline. “Shopping and Santa
await ladies.”
    Why did he have to be so dang sweet?

Chapter Five
     
    Little Miss Caroline was a chatterbox all
the way to Birmingham. She recited all the things she was going to ask Santa
for, but number one on her list was a new baby brother or sister, but if Santa
couldn’t bring her a sibling, she would take a puppy.
    “Is your mommy pregnant?” I asked her.
    Her little head drooped. “No,” she said
sadly, but then she perked right back up. “But I sure want her to be!”
    Brady and I both laughed at her.
    To round off her Christmas wish list, she
wanted the new Aunt Calliope and Jane dolls. I was certain she would get those.
I made a mental note to call my office on Monday.
    When we arrived in Birmingham, Caroline
was starving, and I had to admit I was hungry too. I missed having Doris
at the house this morning. We ate at one of my favorite bakeries at the Summit. After lunch, we were off to see Santa. We didn’t know how long the line would be,
so we thought it best to start there. As we walked toward Santa, Caroline
walked between us, holding both our hands, and we swung her back and forth.
Several times Brady looked at me and smiled that country boy smile. He looked
so good. He had a strong jaw line and a five o’clock shadow going that made him
look masculine, and his blue eyes and long eyelashes did me in. In high school
he was cute, now he was beautiful. He also looked like he had grown taller. I
would say he was about 6’3”, and he had an athletic build that made his jeans
look oh so good. Not like I was looking. I also noticed he had a small limp.
I’m sure it was from his injury.
    Caroline squealed with delight each time
we swung her up, and she oft repeated, “Again, again!” We were happy to oblige,
but I think my arm would be sore the next day. Thankfully, the line to Santa
wasn’t too long. While in line, I had a surprise when the family ahead of me
recognized me; they had just purchased my new book.
    The mom turned and smiled nervously. “Are
you Elle Eaton?” she asked.
    I smiled happily. “Yes.”
    “She likes to be called Miss Ellie,” Caroline
informed her.
    I looked at both her and Brady. Brady gave
me a wicked grin and Caroline just smiled her toothless grin. How could I
disagree with that?
    “Yes, sugar.”
    The two little girls that belonged to the
young mother were visibly excited at the news. “Will you sign our book, Miss
Ellie?” they asked.
    I eagerly agreed.
    Both little girls asked me all sorts of questions.
Caroline told them about how she got to slide in her socks in my foyer. Brady
beamed at me. That didn’t happen often, but I loved it when it