Christmas in Texas Read Online Free PDF

dating Ryder Holland, and so there I was.”
    “Yes,” Kelly said, “there you were. Warm and willing. Always a
smart woman. Valedictorian of our class for a reason.”
    Capri moved restlessly, pulling her sheets over her huge
stomach. The babies kicked and she put a hand on them to try to calm them. They
stayed active almost all the time now, trying to claim space, she supposed.
“They would have gotten back together if I hadn’t jumped on Seagal.”
    “So?” Kelly laughed. “ If is the
biggest, most dramatic word in the English language. Anytime you hear someone
say if, hang on. There’s a story coming.”
    “It’s true. Not that I feel guilty about it. I just feel that I
never had Seagal in the first place.”
    “Because you didn’t date that long before he led you to the
altar.” Kelly nodded. “Everybody was amazed at how quick Seagal was to jump to
say ‘I do.’”
    “And then he said ‘I don’t.’” Capri frowned, remembering. “We
didn’t think things through before we got married.”
    Kelly leaned back in the toile chair, wagging a finger at
Capri. “He’s a man of action. You’re the thinker in the relationship. You want
to plan everything to death. Just for once in your life you let yourself get
swept, and now you want tooverthink it. You’re
going to have to accept that Seagal’s approach to dating was how you won a very
handsome husband. And now you’re having his twins. Nothing like sweet babies to
make a man love a woman even more.”
    She wasn’t sure love was what guided Seagal. “He’s been an
absolute general ever since he got back in the house. If he hadn’t needed to
make a run, you wouldn’t even be allowed in here.”
    “I bribed him.” Kelly grinned. “I told him I wanted to spend
time with Jack. So here I am.”
    “Jack isn’t here.”
    “Jack’s skulking around somewhere. He’s your bodyguard, for the
moment.” Kelly waved a languid hand. “Lying low, protecting his best friend’s
girl.”
    “This is ridiculous. Nothing’s going to happen to me!” Capri
leaned back against the pillows, annoyed. “I don’t appreciate Seagal taking over
my life like this. He’s going to hear about it, too.” If she had to lock him out
to convince him that no one was coming in and no one was going out—and that
included him—that was what she was going to do. “Go find Jack. Drag him off for
some alone time. Get him out of my bushes or out of my driveway. Seduce him, if
necessary. Please, for my sake.”
    Kelly considered this advice. “If I lure Jack away, Seagal will
never allow me to be his stand-in to help you. It was everything I could do to
convince him that you’d be fine with me sitting with you.”
    “Help me up. I’ll tell Jack there’s fresh apple pie in the
kitchen. Then the two of you can at least sit in the kitchen and chitchat
instead of you wilting at my bedside. How do you expect to lure him away from
Daisy if you’re not setting your lures out?”
    “I don’t know,” Kelly said, “I’m not much for baiting. Lie
down!” She glanced at the door, then got up. “I’ll go see if I can find Jack, if
you promise not to move. I’ll only be gone five minutes.”
    Capri warily settled back against the pillows. “If you find
him, stay gone as long as you want. Nothing can happen to me while I’m lying in
bed, for heaven’s sake. Don’t make me regret trusting you on this mission. I
need relief from Seagal in my life.”
    Kelly shot out of the room to find Jack. Capri grabbed the
phone from under her pillow and dialed her husband. “Seagal. It’s Capri.”
    “What’s wrong? Is everything all right? I can be home in five
minutes—”
    She sighed. “I don’t want Jack posted as lookout outside and
Kelly as sentry at my bedside. I want my house back. Can you understand
that?”
    “You’re on complete bed rest,” Seagal said, aggravatingly sure
of his stringent application of Dr. Blankenship’s orders. “You need help. We all
want to