Page 67 of The Christmas Eve Delivery

He stormed through the snow up to the front of the library.

“I think it’s fairly obvious what I’m doing,” I said. “The real question here is, what the hell are you doing in Brookdale?”

He reached out and took the once festive Christmas decorations from me.

“I’m here for you,” he said. “It’s entirely too cold. You should be inside.”

“For once, I have to agree with that man,” Evie said.

“Since you’re here, you might as well make yourself useful,” I said as I pointed up to a row of oversized Christmas ornaments that were just beyond reach.

I was too cold to acknowledge the twisting in my insides. I brushed it off as the baby was being annoyed with me. Miles was here, and I needed his help. I would worry about the rest of it later—like when I was inside and could feel my toes.

Miles set down the sodden mass he had taken from my arms and used his considerable height and arm length to pull down the last three decorative elements.

Evie grabbed everything from him and headed inside. I followed her and picked up everything I could from the ground.

“We had to cancel the festival at the last minute because of the stupid storm that’s coming in,” I told Miles as I brushed past him and stepped into the foyer.

“Is that what you were doing?”

“Yes, that’s what we were doing. That doesn’t explain what you are doing.” I pointed at him. “Why are you out driving around in another snowstorm? I thought you were supposed to be smarter than this,” I sneered.

“It seems that fate wants me in Brookdale every time there’s a snowstorm.”

“Well, fate has a very sick sense of humor,” I said. “I suppose you need a place to stay?”

“Look, Lydia, I came back for you.”

“No, Miles. You came back so that you could make yourself feel better about something. The last time, you wanted me to say that the baby wasn’t yours. What do you want me to say this time?”

“I know the baby’s mine,” he said.

I paused and slowly turned to look at him. “What did you say?”

“I know the baby is mine. I was being stupid before,” he admitted.

“You can say that again,” Evie announced as she came to take the rest of the garbage from me.

Miles closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath. “I admit it. I’ve made mistakes, but I don’t want you to be one of them.”

My insides flipped. I pressed the heel of my palm into my side.

“You might be a little too late for that one, Carlisle,” Evie said.

“Look, I know we got off on the wrong foot…” Miles lifted his hand toward Evie.

“You came into this town and acted like it was some kind of good idea that you were saving us from ourselves. I don’t think so.” She turned on her heel and went into the library to get rid of the rest of the trash.

Evie had never liked him, and I didn’t think she was about to change her mind now.

I reached out and grabbed his forearm. I tugged on him. “Fine, come on, let’s go back to the inn. We can discuss things there. I want to get home before I have to wade through too much snow.”

“I can drive,” he said.

I laughed. “No, thank you. I’m not going to let you drive me on slippery, icy roads, endangering everybody.”

“Fine, I’ll walk you back to the inn, and then I’ll come back for the car.”

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