Read Online Merry Christmas (Mills & Boon Vintage 90s Modern) by Emma Darcy - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Emma Darcy
Ads: Link
Nick’s mind and the idea of marrying her had slipped into limbo. His thoughts were constantly revolving around the woman sitting opposite him.
Having shot him her warning, Kimberly persisted on the subject with her real mother. “I bet she didn’t want you with her.”
“You’re right,” came the ready concession. “She made me feel like leftover baggage from her marriage to my father. The last straw for her was my getting pregnant at sixteen. She called me a lot of nasty names but none of them was true.” Her expression softened. “I loved your father, Kimberly. He was the only one.”
The warm feeling in her voice curled around Nick’s heart and squeezed it. An irrational jealousy burned his mind. The guy who’d let her down didn’t deserve being loved and cherished. He’d had something precious and wasted it. Something in Nick fiercely rebelled at that man being the only one in Merry’s life.
Merry... Damn it! The name had an insidious attraction. Nick silently vowed not to use it. It might give Kimberly a happy sense of being linked to her real father, which was fair enough, but Nick instinctively recoiled from using his special name for her. Meredith, he thought, forcefully stamping on the strong appeal of Merry .
“What happened?” Kimberly’s question snapped Nick’s attention back to her. She was frowning, looking puzzled, worrying over her mother. “I mean...he shouldn’t have left you. How could he? Especially when you were going to have his baby.”
No wool pulled over Kimberly’s eyes, Nick thought with approval. She’d gone straight to the crux of the matter. It would do Meredith good to see the past from a less rosy-eyed, emotional perspective.
“Sometimes things happen that we have no control over, Kimberly.”
The rueful reply twisted him up again. “What things?” he demanded, more harshly than he meant to. His insides writhed with embarrassment. Meredith Palmer’s personal past was none of his business. It was okay for Kimberly to ask about it but he should be keeping his mouth shut.
Those soul-tugging green eyes fastened on his and he had the weird sensation they were drawing on his mind, looking for an answer that would make sense to him.
“He was twenty-two,” she said quietly. “When he found out I was only sixteen, he thought he should wait until I was older. We parted on the understanding of contacting each other at Christmas each year.”
“But when you found out you were having me, didn’t you tell him?” Kimberly queried. “Wasn’t that more important than waiting for the next Christmas?”
Nick felt a sense of release as Meredith Palmer turned her gaze to his niece. It was like a cobweb of tingling threads being withdrawn. So conscious was he of the extraordinary effect, he barely heard her reply.
“I tried. Circumstances had changed for him. He’d gone overseas and I had no way of making contact.”
“What about when the next Christmas came?” Kimberly pressed. “Did he write?”
A wistful shake of the head. “Not to my knowledge. If he wrote, the letter went astray.”
Kimberly was visibly distressed by the tragic outcome of that possibility. She searched for a way around it. There was none, yet the pleading for some other resolution was in her voice as she cried, “He didn’t ever come back to you?”
It was wrong for him not to. So obviously, hurtfully wrong. Kimberly needed some mitigation for his abandonment of her mother. It was all too plain to Nick that to her young, trusting mind, a love such as Meredith had described, should have an answer. He should have come. But that emotional certainty didn’t change anything. It only raised a tension that tore at all of them.
Meredith Palmer summoned a wry smile in an effort to dissipate it. “Time moves on and people move on, Kimberly. They meet other people.”
The philosophical reply didn’t satisfy. Nick found it too tolerant and forgiving. Kimberly heaved another sigh, this one of
Having shot him her warning, Kimberly persisted on the subject with her real mother. “I bet she didn’t want you with her.”
“You’re right,” came the ready concession. “She made me feel like leftover baggage from her marriage to my father. The last straw for her was my getting pregnant at sixteen. She called me a lot of nasty names but none of them was true.” Her expression softened. “I loved your father, Kimberly. He was the only one.”
The warm feeling in her voice curled around Nick’s heart and squeezed it. An irrational jealousy burned his mind. The guy who’d let her down didn’t deserve being loved and cherished. He’d had something precious and wasted it. Something in Nick fiercely rebelled at that man being the only one in Merry’s life.
Merry... Damn it! The name had an insidious attraction. Nick silently vowed not to use it. It might give Kimberly a happy sense of being linked to her real father, which was fair enough, but Nick instinctively recoiled from using his special name for her. Meredith, he thought, forcefully stamping on the strong appeal of Merry .
“What happened?” Kimberly’s question snapped Nick’s attention back to her. She was frowning, looking puzzled, worrying over her mother. “I mean...he shouldn’t have left you. How could he? Especially when you were going to have his baby.”
No wool pulled over Kimberly’s eyes, Nick thought with approval. She’d gone straight to the crux of the matter. It would do Meredith good to see the past from a less rosy-eyed, emotional perspective.
“Sometimes things happen that we have no control over, Kimberly.”
The rueful reply twisted him up again. “What things?” he demanded, more harshly than he meant to. His insides writhed with embarrassment. Meredith Palmer’s personal past was none of his business. It was okay for Kimberly to ask about it but he should be keeping his mouth shut.
Those soul-tugging green eyes fastened on his and he had the weird sensation they were drawing on his mind, looking for an answer that would make sense to him.
“He was twenty-two,” she said quietly. “When he found out I was only sixteen, he thought he should wait until I was older. We parted on the understanding of contacting each other at Christmas each year.”
“But when you found out you were having me, didn’t you tell him?” Kimberly queried. “Wasn’t that more important than waiting for the next Christmas?”
Nick felt a sense of release as Meredith Palmer turned her gaze to his niece. It was like a cobweb of tingling threads being withdrawn. So conscious was he of the extraordinary effect, he barely heard her reply.
“I tried. Circumstances had changed for him. He’d gone overseas and I had no way of making contact.”
“What about when the next Christmas came?” Kimberly pressed. “Did he write?”
A wistful shake of the head. “Not to my knowledge. If he wrote, the letter went astray.”
Kimberly was visibly distressed by the tragic outcome of that possibility. She searched for a way around it. There was none, yet the pleading for some other resolution was in her voice as she cried, “He didn’t ever come back to you?”
It was wrong for him not to. So obviously, hurtfully wrong. Kimberly needed some mitigation for his abandonment of her mother. It was all too plain to Nick that to her young, trusting mind, a love such as Meredith had described, should have an answer. He should have come. But that emotional certainty didn’t change anything. It only raised a tension that tore at all of them.
Meredith Palmer summoned a wry smile in an effort to dissipate it. “Time moves on and people move on, Kimberly. They meet other people.”
The philosophical reply didn’t satisfy. Nick found it too tolerant and forgiving. Kimberly heaved another sigh, this one of
Similar Books
