Read Online Risking It All for Love (A Christmas in Snow Valley Romance) by Kimberley Montpetit - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Kimberley Montpetit
Ads: Link
deep blue eyes. “So sweet . . . and so sassy,”
he murmured.
“I heard that,” I said, one hand on my hip.
“I meant for you to hear that.”
I shivered, and knew it wasn’t just from the twenty-three degree
temperature.
Five Facts I Learned about James Douglas That Night.
1. He was a star wrestler in high school. (And had the shoulders to
prove it.) An injury stopped his rise to stardom as All-Star when he was a senior.
2. He had a sweet tooth just like me. (Without knowing exactly how it
happened, I suddenly owed him cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting on
Saturday for the winter carnival sleigh ride.)
3. One of the reasons he quit medical school was squeamishness over
the blood—and an answer to prayer.
4. His father had been in the Air Force and they moved a lot during
his growing up years. He’d even spent a year during middle school outside New
Orleans in Houma. (Suddenly we were comparing Louisiana stories about
alligators in the backyard and beignets dripping with powdered sugar,
and jazz bands.)
5. His mother taught him to play the piano. Like really well.
“I have the concerto version of Chopsticks in my repertoire.”
“That sounds like a parlor trick,” I’d told him. “I’d like to hear
that sometime. During Sunday School. I dare you.”
“Maybe I’ll indulge your curiosity one of these Sabbath mornings.”
I’d shrugged as if I didn’t care. “If I ever go back.”
His face grew serious. “We have a community full of people who
care about you,” he said quietly. “As much as you make fun of them, they love
you and miss you. It’s a family.”
I couldn’t answer that, although I wanted to know why he thought
he was such a smarty-pants and knew anything about me. Instead, I just bit my
lip.
My family had taken off almost as soon as we arrived to get a good
listening spot on the square, and I ended up alone with James. I had a sneaking
suspicion my mother planned that.
So James and I circled the square while we talked, missing Santa’s—I
mean someone who looked an awfully lot like Doc Taggart—rendition of ‘Twas
the Night Before Christmas, and drinking so much hot chocolate to stay warm
I was about to run screaming for a bathroom by the time the crowd broke up and
headed to their cars.
Amber and Joanie ran up to us,
shouting and laughing while my parents and Catherine ran right behind the girls
to catch up to them. We said our goodbyes and James Douglas tipped his hat as I
left with my nieces clinging to me. I refrained from looking back over my
shoulder.
All the way home in the car, I stared out the window, thinking about
his eyes, his kind voice, and the fact that he hadn’t made a single move on
me—despite the definite attraction going on between us.
Chapter Ten
I saw
James Douglas from afar when I got roped into attending the Polar Express with
Catherine and the girls. We passed him on the train ride as he sat next to some
other girl. Someone who looked much too young for him.
A flash of jealousy went through me.
I tossed it off with a jerk of my head, gritting my teeth. Even if
I was having moments of anger, we weren’t dating. We hardly knew each other. I
had no claim on James Douglas. I didn’t want to claim him. We were undeniably
too different.
Why would I entertain the notion of dating a man who wanted to be
a pastor? All that scripture reading and spiritual piousness—after God
had deserted me! And how could a pastor have a relationship with a ballerina
living in New Orleans anyway?
It was ludicrous. It wouldn’t work past five minutes. The idea was
completely delusional.
Except James Douglas was anything but truly pious. I’d always
assumed people who wanted to be ministers were born with their nose in the New
Testament, good works their only hobby, and giving sermons because they liked
to hear themselves talk.
Maybe I had the wrong impression.
James Douglas teased me. Laughed at me. Grew up in the surf on the
San Diego
he murmured.
“I heard that,” I said, one hand on my hip.
“I meant for you to hear that.”
I shivered, and knew it wasn’t just from the twenty-three degree
temperature.
Five Facts I Learned about James Douglas That Night.
1. He was a star wrestler in high school. (And had the shoulders to
prove it.) An injury stopped his rise to stardom as All-Star when he was a senior.
2. He had a sweet tooth just like me. (Without knowing exactly how it
happened, I suddenly owed him cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting on
Saturday for the winter carnival sleigh ride.)
3. One of the reasons he quit medical school was squeamishness over
the blood—and an answer to prayer.
4. His father had been in the Air Force and they moved a lot during
his growing up years. He’d even spent a year during middle school outside New
Orleans in Houma. (Suddenly we were comparing Louisiana stories about
alligators in the backyard and beignets dripping with powdered sugar,
and jazz bands.)
5. His mother taught him to play the piano. Like really well.
“I have the concerto version of Chopsticks in my repertoire.”
“That sounds like a parlor trick,” I’d told him. “I’d like to hear
that sometime. During Sunday School. I dare you.”
“Maybe I’ll indulge your curiosity one of these Sabbath mornings.”
I’d shrugged as if I didn’t care. “If I ever go back.”
His face grew serious. “We have a community full of people who
care about you,” he said quietly. “As much as you make fun of them, they love
you and miss you. It’s a family.”
I couldn’t answer that, although I wanted to know why he thought
he was such a smarty-pants and knew anything about me. Instead, I just bit my
lip.
My family had taken off almost as soon as we arrived to get a good
listening spot on the square, and I ended up alone with James. I had a sneaking
suspicion my mother planned that.
So James and I circled the square while we talked, missing Santa’s—I
mean someone who looked an awfully lot like Doc Taggart—rendition of ‘Twas
the Night Before Christmas, and drinking so much hot chocolate to stay warm
I was about to run screaming for a bathroom by the time the crowd broke up and
headed to their cars.
Amber and Joanie ran up to us,
shouting and laughing while my parents and Catherine ran right behind the girls
to catch up to them. We said our goodbyes and James Douglas tipped his hat as I
left with my nieces clinging to me. I refrained from looking back over my
shoulder.
All the way home in the car, I stared out the window, thinking about
his eyes, his kind voice, and the fact that he hadn’t made a single move on
me—despite the definite attraction going on between us.
Chapter Ten
I saw
James Douglas from afar when I got roped into attending the Polar Express with
Catherine and the girls. We passed him on the train ride as he sat next to some
other girl. Someone who looked much too young for him.
A flash of jealousy went through me.
I tossed it off with a jerk of my head, gritting my teeth. Even if
I was having moments of anger, we weren’t dating. We hardly knew each other. I
had no claim on James Douglas. I didn’t want to claim him. We were undeniably
too different.
Why would I entertain the notion of dating a man who wanted to be
a pastor? All that scripture reading and spiritual piousness—after God
had deserted me! And how could a pastor have a relationship with a ballerina
living in New Orleans anyway?
It was ludicrous. It wouldn’t work past five minutes. The idea was
completely delusional.
Except James Douglas was anything but truly pious. I’d always
assumed people who wanted to be ministers were born with their nose in the New
Testament, good works their only hobby, and giving sermons because they liked
to hear themselves talk.
Maybe I had the wrong impression.
James Douglas teased me. Laughed at me. Grew up in the surf on the
San Diego
Similar Books
