Holiday Hearts Read Online Free PDF Page A

lift the rim to her lips for a taste. It was perfect, the moment her lips touched the edge of the mug she knew it would be. The cool whipped cream had already begun to melt in the steaming mug of cocoa. When she sipped the sweet hot-and-cold combo, the warmth slowly moved through her body increasing her temperature ever so slightly. For what seemed like the billionth time tonight she remembered her childhood and the holidays.  
    “It’s just right,” she said quietly.
    “Good.” Ian moved closer, settling next to her. When he’d come into the room he could see she was having second thoughts, trying to come up with reasons why she shouldn’t be there with him. His plan was to divide and conquer, but he couldn’t exactly ignore her concerns.
    Keysa was nothing if not practical. So when she’d mentioned leaving, reminding her of the hazardous weather conditions was his only defense. Before he had a chance to regroup, she got that far away look again—the one that suggested there was more to her apprehensiveness about being near him than she was willing to admit.
    “Do you know what movie this is?” he asked when he saw her staring at the television screen.
    “I do,” she said simply.
    “It’s one of my favorites.”
    “Really? That’s surprising,” she said after a little pause.
    “Why do you say that?”
    “Because you’re a man.” She shrugged.
    He chuckled. “Yeah, but last time I checked men liked movies too.”
    Moving a hand from her mug she waved at him as if to dismiss his words. “That’s not what I meant.”
    “Okay, explain.”
    “I just meant that guys don’t normally like holiday movies.  And if they do, they usually aren’t black and white movies.”
    “I don’t know what guys you’ve been hanging around with, but the best holiday movies are black and white. Now, take this one,” he said pointing at the screen. “ The Bishop’s Wife was such a hit that twenty years later, they did a remake called The Preacher’s Wife .”
    “Hmmm, I know,” Keysa said. As she took another sip of cocoa, high cheekbones arched just a bit higher as she swallowed and smiled. “So which one is your favorite? I mean, who do you like best as the angel, Cary Grant or Denzel Washington?”
    “That would probably be a toss-up. They were both classy in the role. But the real stars were the wives.”
    “True,” she nodded. “Whitney Houston did a good job.”
    “So you didn’t like Loretta Young?”
    She looked up at the screen at the scene where Cary Grant takes Loretta Young to lunch and she tells him she feels old. His response is that the only people who are old were born old, and she was born young. The way Loretta Young looks at Cary Grant is pretty much the way Keysa has secretly been looking at Ian. Even though she can’t see the way she looks at Ian, it just has that feeling. “No, I think Loretta Young portrayed the character Julia the best.”
    “See, there’s something to be said about old movies.”
    Keysa nodded. “I agree. There’s something that seems a bit more sincere that you just don’t see in movies today.”
    “You’re absolutely right. That’s why I have such a huge collection.”
    “Really? What else do you have?”
    “My prized possession is my Humphrey Bogart movie collection.”
    “Ooooh yeah,” she crooned. “ Casablanca .”
    She’d settled in, folded one leg under her and sat sideways so she could see the television and him.
    “There you go with the chick-flick first,” he chuckled turning so he could face her. “ The Maltese Falcon was the best.”
    “Speaking of actors from The Bishop’s Wife ,” Keysa said noting his frown because she ignored his comment about one of Bogart’s suspense pictures. “Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story is another favorite.  Oh, and Bachelor Mother , David Niven starred with Ginger Rogers. ” She nodded towards the television but kept looking at him.
    He noticed it in her eyes. If he’d