Page 27 of A Winter's Miracle

Violet’s face fell, and she stared down at the folders before her as though they could offer her some explanation.

Smith shook the box of pasta again and shifted his eyes toward Anna. Anna’s heart dropped into her stomach. The intensity in the air between them made every hair on her body stand on end.

Was it true what Violet said? Was Smith anything like Dean? They didn’t look similar, that was for sure. And their personalities seemed worlds apart.

But Violet was seeing what she wanted to see.

“I’d better get back,” Smith said, stepping toward the hall. As he twisted around, he paused, gazed down at the floor, and then dropped to retrieve a small piece of paper. “I think you dropped this, Anna.” He swished it through the air and placed it delicately on Anna’s palm.

Anna’s heart thudded. On the paper was a phone number. She closed her hand around it as though it were a precious thing. And when she glanced back up, Smith was gone.

In his carrier, Adam wailed and kicked his feet. Already, Violet fled the kitchen table to retrieve a bottle of breast milk and feed him. Anna’s heart pounded so loud that she could hardly hear the baby’s cries.

Hours later, long after the rest of The Copperfield House was asleep and Adam had long since closed his eyes, Anna retrieved the slip of paper from the inside of her book, placed it on the center of her desk, and considered what to do.

If she chickened out, Smith would take that as a sign she didn’t like him. He would move on, and she would continue her course of new motherhood. That would be that. But the idea that Smith wouldn’t look at her like she’d hung the moon and the stars—made her heart sink.

If she did text Smith, what then? It was risky, especially with Violet in The Copperfield House. Maybe she could contact him and tell him she wanted to be friends for the time being. She could explain everything.

Then again, wasn’t she being sort of presumptuous, thinking that Smith wanted anything romantic? Maybe he just wanted to be friends. More than that, maybe the slip of paper didn’t have his number on it at all!

Anna chuckled to herself, imagining texting some random person—the real owner of the phone number. Maybe it was one of James’s high school friends. Maybe it was someone Laura had met in college.

Thinking “what the heck,” Anna typed in the number and wrote:

Hey. It’s Anna.

Almost immediately, the number read it and responded.

Meet on the back porch? I’ll grab two beers.

Anna thought she was going to fall to her knees with fear. With shaky hands, she did her makeup, checked and re-checked herself in the mirror, ensured Adam was warm enough, then raised his carrier from the ground to heave it downstairs. She would have to get used to bringing the baby everywhere she went. She was his home.

Smith was seated on the enclosed porch with two bottles of beer on the table before him. He hadn’t turned on the light, and the moon's reflection glowed over them, giving him a dark profile. Anna’s mouth was dry with fear. Wordlessly, Smith uncapped her beer and handed it over to her, then clinked his with hers.

This was Anna's first beer since she’d found out she was pregnant. It was smooth and nutty and refreshing, and she drank too much of it in a single gulp. When she placed the beer back on the table, she followed Smith’s gaze to Adam, who remained asleep.

“I hope you don’t mind that I brought him.”

Smith’s eyes caught the light of the moon. “Why would I mind?”

Anna’s heart was warm. She took another sip of beer and smiled.

“I wasn’t sure you were going to text me,” Smith said.

“I wasn’t sure if I was going to either.”

Smith laughed gently. In the silence that followed, Anna’s brain whirred. What was she supposed to say? Was she here to flirt with him? She should have thought this through.

“You know,” Smith said, turning to watch the waves roll up along the beach, “I’ve enjoyed being here a lot more than I thought I would.”

“Me too,” Anna said.

Smith arched his eyebrow. “This wasn’t always home for you.” He said it as though he already knew.

Anna took another swig of beer. She tried not to remember Dean’s face, how he’d gazed at her on the other side of the table and asked her to be his wife.

“It’s new,” Anna explained. “But I fell in love with it quickly. And now, it’s Adam’s first home. I think we’re here to stay.”

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