Page 68 of The Christmas Eve Delivery

“Bye, Evie. We’re leaving!” I called out after her.

“You keep warm. Okay? Hey, Lydia, do you need me to come with you?” Evie asked.

“We’ll be fine. There is a long conversation I need to have with this man,” I said.

“Make yourself some hot chocolate as soon as you get in. You’re going to be chilled to the bone.”

“I’m already chilled to the bone,” I admitted. We had spent the morning putting up the decorations for the festival as the temperature dropped around us. And when the snow started falling and the temperatures grew even colder, we had to take down the decorations.

I began wading through the ankle-deep snow back toward the inn.

“Lydia, get in the car,” Miles demanded.

“I thought we talked about this. I’m walking.”

He fell in step right behind me.

I gasped as a sharp pain skittered across my abdomen. I flinched and curled in on myself.

Miles caught my elbow. “What’s the matter?”

I let out a long breath. “Nothing. Just the kid letting me know that they weren’t too pleased with all the work I did today. Maybe that car ride wouldn’t be such a bad idea.”

I felt out of breath. I hadn’t exerted myself putting up or taking down the decorations. The hardest part about all of that had been the cold. Maybe the baby was complaining about being too cold. But the baby had the best insulation in town. The baby had me keeping it warm.

I followed Miles back to the large SUV and climbed in after he opened the door for me. He was behind the wheel and helping me with the seat belt before I could finish getting buckled.

“I’ve got this,” I said.

“I know you do. I just want to help.”

“It’s kind of too late for that, don’t you think?”

His eyes locked with mine, and it felt like he was looking deep into my soul.

“Please don’t say that. It’s never too late.”

A shiver danced down my spine, followed by another tightening in my gut. I let out a loud moan.

“Are you okay?”

“Maybe this is really bad gas,” I said as I pressed into the side of my stomach and leaned over. “It’ll pass in a minute, I’m sure.”

Except I couldn’t remember having gas so bad it made me double over in pain. The drive to the inn was short. And even though I could have walked it, I was glad that Miles was available to drive. The cramping in my stomach seemed to get worse.

He parked the SUV and started to get out. I didn’t want to move.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, give me a minute,” I said.

And then whatever it was that had caused my discomfort simply eased away. I let out a tentative breath, and everything seemed okay. I unlatched my seat belt and led him up into the lobby.

“I don’t feel like checking you into a room. Just take a key. Okay?” I said as I waved at the front desk.

“Lydia,” he said.

I stopped and turned around. “Look, Mile.” I pressed my hand in the side of my abdomen as I began to feel that pressure again. “I don’t want to fight with you, and you are not staying with me. Not after everything we’ve been through. I can’t.”

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