Married for Christmas (Willow Park) Read Online Free PDF Page B

relieved they’d fallen back into casual friendliness
again.
    No use to get nervous about sharing a bed with Daniel quite
yet. Or get excited about it.
    It was still a month away.
    Daniel would be starting his job and moving to Willow Park
next week. She wouldn’t move until after the wedding.
    They went into the airy master bedroom. It wasn’t huge, but
it was much bigger than was normally found in a house of this age, and it also had
an updated attached bathroom. She couldn’t help but shiver in delight at the
big window and window seat against the far wall.
    “My grandma’s furniture would look great in here, if that’s
all right with you.”
    “Yeah. It’s nicer than what I have. I can just sleep on a
mattress until we get your stuff out here.”
    They both stared for a minute at the wall where the bed
would be placed.
    Jessica tried to smother the jittery excitement that arose once
again at the thought of going to bed with Daniel.
    To distract herself, she gestured toward one corner. “Bear’s
bed could go there.”
    The nature of the silence that followed made her shoulders
stiffen. “Right?” she asked, glancing back at Daniel.
    “The dog really sleeps in the bedroom?”
    “Of course. And her name is Bear.”
    “Wouldn’t she be just as happy sleeping downstairs?”
    “No. She wouldn’t be happy at all.” All of her soft,
trembling feelings vanished completely in a rush of anxious indignation. “She’s
slept in the bedroom all her life. I’m not going to send her downstairs. She
wouldn’t understand. She’d probably howl and scratch at the bedroom door to get
in.”
    Daniel sighed. “I told you that you shouldn’t spoil that dog.”
    “What are you talking about? This is hardly an ethical
issue. She’s a dog, and she’s perfectly well behaved. I’m not going to banish
her from the bedroom. I’ll sleep in another room if I have to.”
    Daniel’s family had never had pets. His mother hadn’t liked
them. So he’d never grown up with a dog as a part of the family the way she
had. But it didn’t make sense to Jessica. He had the warmest heart when it came
to people. She couldn’t understand why he didn’t love her sweet dog.
    When he didn’t reply, she added, “She’s been with me for
five years. I’m not going to send her away at this point. It would really hurt
her feelings.”
    “You know dogs don’t have feelings to hurt, right?”
    She almost choked on her outrage. “You close the door on her
face and then tell me she doesn’t have feelings to hurt.”
    He was starting to get a little annoyed, probably thinking
she was overreacting about something absolutely absurd.
    But she saw him take a deep breath, obviously suppressing
his initial reaction. “Fine,” he said, gravel in his tone. He rubbed a hand
over his thick hair. “She can sleep on her bed in here.”
    Jessica opened her mouth to reply but shut it again
immediately.
    “She does always sleep on her own bed, right?” He’d
obviously picked up some sort of nuance in her silent response.
    “Most of the time.” She casually walked to the window and
looked out on the wide expanse of backyard and the large shed. It was
definitely getting to be winter, with gray skies and chilly wind. No hint of
snow yet, though.
    Suddenly, he put his hand on her shoulder and swung her
around. “Jessica?”
    “I told you. She’s usually sleeps on her bed.”
    “And the times she doesn’t?”
    She cleared her throat. “Sometimes she gets hot. Then she
goes to the hardwood floor. It’s cooler.”
    “Uh huh.”
    They stared at each other for a long moment.
    “The dog is not going to sleep on the bed with us.”
    “Her name is Bear.”
    “She’s not going to sleep on the bed with us. She’s huge.”
    “She’s not that big. Don’t be mean.”
    “ Mean ? She’s almost as big as you are.”
    “She usually sleeps on her own bed.”
    “She’s going to sleep on her bed all the time now. I’m going
to have to put my foot