Read Online The Kidnapped Christmas Bride (Taming of the Sheenans Book 3) by Jane Porter - Free Book Online

she broke off and bit down into her lip. “It’s been such a mess, hasn’t it?”
    Trey grimaced. “Still is.”
    “Yeah.” She glanced toward the phone, knowing she needed to make the call, knowing that the moment she made the call everything would change. Again.
    “What are you worried about?” Trey asked, still able to read her so well.
    Aware that TJ was listening intently, she picked her words with care. “I’m concerned Lawrence will have made some calls.”
    “I’m sure he has,” Trey said bluntly. “If the situation was reversed, I would have.”
    “I don’t think more…messy…is good for…anyone.” She glanced at TJ who was toying with his milk glass but his dark head was bent, and she knew he was taking it all in. “And I definitely don’t think it’s good for him.”
    TJ glanced up, and looked from her to Trey before returning his attention to the glass.
    “So what do you want to do?” Trey asked her, leaning against the burgundy vinyl, by all appearances comfortable and relaxed. But appearances were deceptive. This was Trey’s best defensive position. He was always relaxed before a fight.
    She clasped her coffee mug between her hands, warming them. “Avoid unnecessary drama.”
    “How do we do that?”
    She shot TJ another quick glance. “We have dinner. You go. I call. We wait for Lawrence to come.”
    “I just leave you here?”
    TJ’s shoulders hunched up. Her own insides churned. It took her a moment to reply. “I don’t know who will show up. I don’t know how all the pieces will come together. I do think it’ll be less—tense—if it’s just me and TJ here.”
    Trey’s jaw tightened. He looked away, out the front window onto the dark, mostly empty parking lot.
    He didn’t like the plan. He was wrestling with himself. It wasn’t his nature to walk away from those he loved. If left to him, he’d rather stay and get handcuffed and hauled away, than to drive away, leaving them behind.
    She nearly reached out to touch him but remembered herself at the last second. “I know you don’t want to,” she said quietly, fingers curling into her palm. “But it’s better. Better for him.”
    Trey glanced at TJ, and TJ looked up at that moment, to meet Trey’s gaze.
    Two Sheenans, cut from the very same fabric.
    Her jaw ached and her eyes burned. She wished she could protect them both, but that was impossible. So she had to do the next best thing, protect their relationship. They loved each other. They needed each other. And they hadn’t had enough time with each other.
    “I’ll go home and smooth things over,” she added. “We’ll let things settled down and then with a little luck and maybe some finessing, we can get you two together for Christmas, for a bit—”
    “What is a bit? An hour? Two?” He shook his head. “That’s not Christmas.”
    “It’s better than the alternative.”
    “But is this the future? That I’ll have to learn to be grateful for an hour with my son on Christmas?”
    “I hope not.”
    “Me, too.”
    They both watched TJ who was frowning into his milk, his forehead furrowed.
    Trey shifted then abruptly said, “I’ll leave as soon as we’re done eating.”
    She nodded, grateful. “Will you head to the Sheenan ranch?”
    “I don’t know. Depends on how things work out.”
    “I’m not pressing charges. Nobody will come after you—”
    “That’s not the point. I just can’t be there without you and TJ. There’s nothing for me in Marietta if I don’t have you.”
    “You’ve got your family—”
    “ You and TJ are my family. You’re the ones I love. Without you, there’s no point in sticking around—”
    “Can I go wash my hands?” TJ asked, interrupting, showing them his palms. “They’re sticky.”
    “I’ll take you,” McKenna said, sliding out from the bench.
    “I can do it myself,” TJ answered, climbing from the booth. “I’m in Kindergarten now.”
    She smiled a little. “Okay, but hurry. Dinner will be