Page 38 of Christmas Secrets

Lucerne was surprised. “Does Darro know?”

“It’s none of my brother’s business,” she shot back. Then she ran her fingers through her long blonde hair. “I’m sorry, Lucerne, I didn’t mean to be rude. I haven’t told Darro because I know how he will react. It’s nothing serious at this point, but I can’t say I haven’t thought about it. Are ye going to tell him?” she asked warily.

Lucerne shook her head. “Not if ye don’t want me to. Ye can talk to me anytime ye like, Ainsley. I will keep yer confidence. It’s up to ye to tell him whatever personal business ye want him to know. But he might surprise ye. He realizes ye aren’t a child anymore.”

“Uh huh. And we both know how far that will go if I should decide to stay in Boston after school. He will be hopping mad about it.”

Lucerne chuckled. “He loves ye very much, so ye might be right. But he will also know that its yer decision whether he likes it or not.”

“Yeah...well...I’d rather skip over the hopping mad part and go straight to acceptance,” she replied with a grimace.

Lucerne grinned. “On that we can agree. I’m headed up to feed Lachlan, I just wanted to make sure ye were okay.” She turned and headed towards the door.

“Lachlan? Ye aren’t settling fer little Darro?”

Lucerne stopped at the door, her eyes twinkling. “Nay, we both want him to have a name and two Darro’s in the household at the same time would be confusing.”

Ainsly rolled her eyes. “Makes ye wonder why people bother to keep the same name fer several generations,” she drawled.

Lucerne chuckled. “Tradition.” Then she was surprised to find herself suddenly enveloped in a hug.

“Thanks, fer caring, Lucerne.” The hug was quick and Ainsley blushed slightly as she stepped back.

“I’m always here, talk to me anytime,” Lucerne replied softly. Then she let herself out and closed the door behind her.

As she made her way to the nursery off the master bedroom, she considered Ainsley’s words about Dal. He did have a reputation with women, that was true. Most playboys just hadn’t met the right woman yet. Dal had seemed so intent on Ainsley that she wondered if he’d actually fallen in love with her? It appeared to her that Ainsleywasinterested, but didn’t trust Dal. If so, they were off to a rocky start. Time would tell, she decided.

Inside the bedroom she could hear the baby fussing from his crib. She walked over and picked him up. “Hiya, Lachlan,” she crooned softly.

Lachlan quieted immediately, the blue eyes so like his father’s peering up at her. He was only a few weeks old, but was already responding to her voice and touch.

“Mama loves ye,” she crooned as she took him to her rocking chair. As she rocked and fed her baby, Lucerne basked in the Christmas spirit all around her from the small twinkling Christmas tree in the corner to the snowman stuffy sitting near the crib. It was a stuffie that her mother had given her years ago. She closed her eyes and sang softly, feeling the love of her mother and family in her heart.

Rhonda had loved Christmas and so did she.

Chapter 10

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