A Home for Christmas
Read A Home for Christmas Online
Authors: Ann Vaughn
A Home for Christmas
by
Ann Vaughn
This book is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or
are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or
persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Text copyright @2013 Ann Vaughn
All rights reserved
Cover art by Carey Abbott
Ebookcoverdesignsbycarey.com
As always, huge shout
out to The Editor ~ Shilpa. Thanks for all the above and beyond you do
for me. I know it adds to your workload, but I really appreciate it!!!!!
For Kym &
Rochelle, who say they love Riley the most! (Sorry, Colt). Y'all
made this one loads of fun to write!!!!
For Amanda: thanks
for helping with formatting, and playlists, and createspace and for being someone
to bounce things off of. I really appreciate it!!!!
For my Betas: Tess,
Abbey, Theresa, and Denise: thanks for taking time out of your schedules to
read for me and give me your feedback! I really appreciate it!!
To the Ultimate Queen
of Continuity and Detail: Denise V.F. What can I say? YOU
ROCK!!!!! I am so glad you answered my call for help that day. You
have made some extremely valuable blooper catches in these last two books for
me and I really appreciate it!!!
For the bloggers who
have helped get the word out for me: Tiffany at Everything Marie, Maggie at
Entirely Books, Chelsea at Amazeballs Book Blog, Diane at Di D's Books (who
brought attention to my books in the U.K.), Jenn at Jenn's Book Blog, D & T
at Sizzling Pages Romance Reviews, Kathy & Yamara at Panty Dropping Book
Blog, Lori at Red's Books, Lexi at Book Reviews by Lexi, Cajun Book Lover,
Christine at Hooked on Books, Book Lover Amber, Nicole at Busymomof3blog, and
Abby at Abby's Book Blog who designed my awesome book trailers. You
ladies are amazing! Thank you for your support of me and Indie authors
like me. We couldn't do this without you!!!
To my super, amazing,
I-can't-believe-I-lucked-into-getting-you PA Tabitha: what can I say? It
hasn't been a full week and already I'm wondering how in the world I did all of
this without your help!!!!!! I'm so glad Christine hooked us up!!!!!
And that brings me to
the Queen of Everything: Christine at Sinful Thoughts Book Blog. There
aren't enough words to thank you for all the help and guidance you have given
me these past few months. It's people like you who help restore faith in
the human spirit. You have given freely of your time and knowledge,
talked a frantic author off the ledge more than once, stayed up late trading
emoticons...you are just flat out awesome. Thank you doesn't seem strong
enough, but really, thank you for all the help you've given me!
And to the Hubs and
the Kiddos...all my love, yesterday, today, forever.
Also available by Ann Vaughn
Long Way Home
Finding Home
Stupid, stupid, stupid. That’s how Jenna
felt. She knew she shouldn’t have gone shopping on Black Friday, trying
to get one of those video game systems for her son. She hadn’t counted on
all the people who camped out all night long, snatching them all up before she
had a chance to even make it back to the electronics section. And what
did she have to show for it? No game system and as she was walking out of
the store, some punk kid snatched her purse.
A gang of kids rushed her and two elderly ladies
as they’d all emerged from the store, snatching all of their purses. So now,
she sat in the manager’s office with the two very shaken up grandmothers', who
were both quietly crying. They’d been offered food and drinks while they
waited for the police to take their statements. Jenna just wanted to be
able to use the phone, since her phone was in her purse. She needed to
call her mother so she could bring her spare car key to her because, of course,
her keys were in her purse as well.
“My wedding rings were in my purse,” the lady
next to her lamented, “I was taking them to have a stone reset.”
“My favorite pictures of my grandbabies are in
mine,” the other lady said.
Jenna pinched the bridge of her nose. There
really wasn’t anything irreplaceable in her purse. She just hated to have
to go through the hassle of cancelling credit cards, getting a new license and
all that fun stuff.
The door opened and Jenna looked up to see the
store manager come in, a huge smile on his face.
“Good news, ladies!” he announced. “A very Good
Samaritan chased down all three of the boys who grabbed your purses and I’m
happy to report he recovered all three.”
“Oh, thank God!” the lady next to her exclaimed.
“One guy ran down three teenagers?” Jenna asked,
surprised.
“From what I understand, this guy is a former Navy
SEAL…and he’s recently out, so he’s still in prime shape. I’m thinking
those kids never stood a chance.”
“So, we will get our purses back?” one of the
ladies asked.
“Yes, ma’am, as soon as the medics finish with
him. He got a little banged up in the takedowns. Nothing serious,
but they wanted to check him out. Then he'll come in with the police and
give you your purses. Bonus is that he got them in the next parking lot
before they had a chance to go through them so everything should still be in
them.”
Jenna breathed a sigh of relief. Well, the
day wasn’t a total loss, then. Not having to make all those calls to
cancel her cards or to her mother to bring her keys to her was a huge
bonus.
Ten minutes later, the office door opened again
and a uniformed officer came in, followed by a man that quite frankly sucked
all the air from the room. He was tall, around six-two or six-three. He
wore black jogging pants, a blue hoodie and a baseball cap, turned
backward. There was a butterfly bandage above his right eye and on his
right cheekbone, indicating someone put up a fight. His eyes were a
bright, vivid green that were so beautiful they took Jenna’s breath away.
“Ladies, this is Riley Stanton."
“Thank you so much!” the lady next to Jenna said,
standing and embracing him.
“You’re welcome, ma’am,” he said. His voice
was rich and smooth as he embraced her, dimples showing in his cheeks.
“Yes, thank you,” Jenna said, offering her hand
to him after the second lady had also thanked him, “I’m sorry you got hurt, but
I really appreciate you getting our things back. You saved us all a ton
of hassle.”
Riley took her hand, his grip firm and warm.
Jenna was immediately aware of how big his hand was, and that his palm was
calloused, not smooth like someone who sat at a desk for a living.
“It was my pleasure. No one should have to
deal with cancelling credit cards on Black Friday.”
“Can I offer you a reward?” one of the other
ladies asked.
“Oh, no, ma’am. I don’t want
anything. I’m just glad I was there when it happened.”
“Well, at least give us your address,” the first
lady insisted, “I’d like to bring you a casserole for your troubles.”
“Oh, that’s all right, really, I…” he began but the
two older ladies were very insistent, and much to Jenna’s amusement at watching
him squirm, he soon gave in and recited his address for them.
Jenna wasn’t surprised to hear he lived in some
of the newer loft condos downtown. Springfield, Texas was a suburb of
Dallas and was one of the new, up and coming cities in the Metroplex. She
ran her own cleaning service and had several clients in his building so she
knew how nice it was. While Riley was still assuring the older ladies
that he really didn’t require a reward, Jenna thanked the store manager and
with a smile to Riley, headed out of the office. She hadn’t made it too
far before she heard her name being called. Stopping, she saw Riley
jogging toward her.
“Did you need something?” she asked.
“Just wondering if you wouldn’t mind having
breakfast with me,” he said, surprising her.
“Oh, um…”
“Come on, say yes. I hate eating alone, and
the store manager told me they are already sold out of what I came here for.”
Jenna let out a little half laugh. “Yeah,
they were already sold out of what I was here for, too. First and last
time I try to buy something on Black Friday, I assure you.”
“So? What do you say? Come to
breakfast with me?”
Jenna looked up into his green eyes and decided,
even though it was crazy and made absolutely no sense, to go ahead and take a
chance.
“OK, sure. I suppose it’s the least I can
do after you got my purse back for me.”
His smile was huge then, causing her heart to
skip a beat or two. He was handsome it was hard for her to concentrate.
She didn’t get a conceited vibe off of him, thankfully. Confident, but
not conceited.
“Want to leave your car here and ride with
me? I’ll bring you back here when we’re done.”
She studied him a moment, not sure if she should
really get into a vehicle with him, but then decided it would probably be all
right.
"I suppose you’re safe, being a former SEAL
and all,” she said with a wink.
“That store manager has a big mouth,” he
chuckled, leading her through the parking lot. When they approached the
back row of the parking lot and she saw his truck, she couldn’t help the laugh
that escaped.
Riley looked down at her and actually managed to
look slightly embarrassed.
“I’ll just say…it’s my brother’s truck, not
mine.”
That made Jenna laugh even harder. The
truck was a black Ford and it was what her son, Cam, would call a Monster
Truck. The wheels were huge, the tops of them even with her waist.
“Your brother’s truck?”
He clicked the unlock button and opened the door
for her, then pulled down a small stepladder for her.
“Yeah, he’s in Iraq right now so I promised I’d
take this out occasionally so it didn’t just sit in a garage the whole time he
was gone.”
“Your brother is in the Service?”
“All three of my brothers are.”
Jenna looked down at him with raised brows once
she was settled in the passenger seat.
“You have three brothers?”
“Three younger brothers,” he told her, then shut
her door and crossed over to the driver’s side. “This truck is my
youngest brother, Aaron’s. He’s a JAG lawyer. We’re all still in shock
over that. The one closest to my age, Jack, is a fighter pilot. And
Trevor just passed his BUDS training to be a SEAL.”
“Wow. That’s impressive. Your parents
must be really proud…and really strong to withstand all their sons being in the
military.”
“Well, not me any more,” he said, “and yeah, they
are strong and very proud.”
“Why aren’t you still in?” she asked.
“On our last mission, things went…wrong. We
lost a really good man. Our team leader was captured and tortured for
nearly twelve hours before we were able to rescue him. He allowed himself
to be taken so we could recover Zig’s body. After that, our whole unit
decided to walk away when our time was up. We opened our own private securities
company so that we can be in charge of what missions we take, as well as when
and how it will go down.”
Jenna was quiet a moment, letting his words sink
in. She couldn’t imagine the horrors that he had likely seen in the
course of his service.
“Do you miss it?”
He shrugged. “At times. But the money
is much better on the civilian side.”
He drove them to a local coffee shop that was in
the heart of the old part of downtown Springfield. As he parked, she
realized that she knew two of his brothers; it just hadn't hit her until then.
“You said your last name is Stanton, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Trevor Stanton was in my class. And Aaron
was in my Spanish class my senior year.”
“You grew up here?”
She nodded. “Born and raised.”
“Small world, huh?” he said, then got out and
came around to open her door. He held his hand out to her to help her
down from the enormous truck, then kept hold of it, much to her consternation,
as he led her inside.
“Riley Stanton, what in the world are you doing
in that monstrosity out there on my curb?” the owner, Mrs. Sheffield called
out.
“Hey, Mrs. S. I told Aaron I’d take her out
once a week so she wouldn’t get rusty.”
“I could hear you coming a mile away.”
“Can we sit where we want?” he asked, grabbing
two menus from the hostess station.
“Why do you even ask? Your table is
open. Go park it.”
“Yes, ma’am. Thank you.”
“And take that hat off in my place!” she yelled
at him.
He shook his head as he led Jenna to a table at
the back near the window. Jenna slid into her side of the booth, eyes
wide as Riley took his seat and actually did remove his baseball cap, running
his fingers through his…wow, blonde hair. It was so short she hadn’t really
been able to see the color. She’d been thinking it was brown like hers,
and in the back it kind of was, but the top was blonde.
“The owner bosses you around?” she asked,
surprised.
“Mrs. S was our next door neighbor when we were
growing up. Babysat us a lot.”
“She may deserve a medal for putting up with four
rambunctious boys, huh?”
He chuckled. “We weren’t that bad.”
“Trevor was,” Jenna countered.
“Well, yeah, I’ll give you that. He and
Aaron were spoiled.”
“Were they, now?”
“Mama’s boys, both of them. Got away with
murder because they were her babies. Jack and I couldn’t get away with
half the stunts Trevor and Aaron did.”
“Don’t you let him be telling you any lies,” Mrs.
Sheffield said, placing two glasses of water on the table for them. “He
and Jack got away with plenty, too. What is this?” she asked Riley,
cupping his chin in her hand to turn his face toward the light so she could see
the bandaged cuts on his face.
“He ran down three thugs who snatched my purse
along with two other ladies’ purses,” Jenna told her.
“Did you really?” the older lady asked.
“Yes, ma’am.”
She leaned down and kissed his cheek. “Such
a good boy. And who are you, young lady? You look familiar to me.”
“Jenna Blackwell,” Jenna told her.
She watched as recognition dawned on the older
lady’s face. “You run Maids to Go. That’s where I know you
from. Your TV commercials.”
“Yes, ma’am, that’s me.”
“I love your ads, they’re so cute. What can
I get you, sweetie?”
They gave her their orders and both watched her
walk into the kitchen, both holding back laughs. Jenna hadn’t come there
for years; not since before she was married. Sheffield’s was pretty much
a local's only place and she knew that her mother and her friends liked to come
there, so to avoid any uncomfortable situations, Jenna generally avoided it.
“So, you run a maids service?” Riley asked after
Mrs. Sheffield was gone.
“I’ve always been good at cleaning.”
“What made you decide to go into that?”
Jenna took a deep breath. This was the part
she hated; having to talk about herself. Normally, she didn’t, but there
was something about Riley that made her want to open up to him. Didn’t
hurt that he really was easy on the eyes, but more, she felt like he was
someone who would actually listen and care about what she had to say.
“When I found out that my husband was cheating on
me, I needed a way to support myself and my son so that I wouldn’t have to rely
on Wade any longer. Like I said, I’d always been a meticulous cleaner, so
I decided to start cleaning houses.”
“Wade Blackwell?” Riley asked, having picked up
on her ex’s name.
