His Christmas Bride. Dana Corbit

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СКАЧАТЬ turned to the minister. “Now, Reverend, you and Mrs. Boggs have met the Dentons. Can you give us an idea of what their needs are?”

      “You’ll need to start with the basics. Food, clothing and shelter. Lila and I are planning to meet with the family for breakfast tomorrow morning to find out the specifics. We wanted them to rest tonight.”

      Dylan nodded. “Would you mind if a few of us joined you so you could introduce us?”

      “That might be best,” Lila answered for her husband.

      “You should go, Dylan.” Matthew gestured toward him from the sofa. “This was your idea.”

      Dylan appeared surprised by his older brother’s suggestion, but he nodded. He was probably as used to Matthew assuming plans in his family as Jenna was with Caroline taking over organizational duties in theirs.

      “I would like to go.”

      He smiled that boyish Dylan smile that Jenna had missed while he’d been dodging her efforts to talk to him all evening. He hadn’t been mean exactly, unless treating her as if she was invisible counted as mean. She marveled at his compassion for the Dentons. She could only hope that one day he would send some of that kindness her way and finally forgive her.

      Jenna realized that she’d never thought to appreciate Dylan for the gift he was. She wished he would give her the chance to tell him how sorry she was for that and to show him she wasn’t the same selfish person he used to know. God had made sure of that change.

      “Who else would like to join us for breakfast?” Reverend Boggs asked as he took a seat next to his wife.

      Jenna’s mother spoke up. “Caroline should go.”

      Caroline was already shaking her head when Matthew offered a suggestion.

      “Jenna should go. She and Dylan are buddies, and they haven’t seen each other in a while.”

      Matthew probably thought he was helping his brother out by offering him an escape from their mothers’ matchmaking efforts, but Dylan looked like a man stuck between two unacceptable choices and hoping for a third.

      Jenna jumped in before he found one. “That sounds great. I’d love to have the chance to meet the Dentons.”

      She knew better than to look at Dylan because his gaze wouldn’t be tossing daisies at her. Dylan probably thought she’d only accepted Matthew’s suggestion to get the chance to spend time with him, but it was more than that. The Denton family’s story had touched her, too, and she wanted to reach out to them.

      “That’s fine,” Dylan said finally, but he didn’t look at her. Instead, he grabbed a legal pad out of the drawer in his mother’s roll-top desk.

      “We’ll know more tomorrow, but we can divide up the general areas now. Housing, furniture, clothing and food.” He wrote as he spoke. “If we split into teams, we’ll be able to accomplish more.”

      “They should be teams of two, one from each family,” Jenna said the moment the idea popped into her head. “I’ll work with Dylan.”

      “Wait.” Amy exchanged a glance with Trina before she turned back to Dylan. “I thought it might be nice if you worked with—”

      Caroline stood to interrupt. “I’d like to get the chance to spend time with my new brother-in-law.” She turned to Matthew. “Okay with you?”

      “Fine with me.”

      “I’ll work with Jenna, then.”

      Although Dylan’s tone might have been more enthusiastic if he’d just volunteered to clean Porta-Johns, Jenna was pleased to have won the point. He would probably raise eyebrows if he refused to work with her.

      Dylan teamed up the remaining family members, pairing his mother with Jenna’s mother, and Logan with Haley. Because the youngest Warren brother and the youngest Scott sister had been like oil and water together ever since they were in diapers, he assigned Lizzie to work with them to keep the peace. That complete, he started dividing the work.

      “I had planned to deal with food, but since I’m working with the premier shopper—” Dylan paused, glancing Jenna’s way “—we’ll take clothing, toiletries and Christmas gifts.”

      The minister stood and crossed the room to collect his coat. “Well, Dylan, it looks as if you have this under control. I’ll have to remember your organizational skills the next time we need a new committee leader at church.”

      Jenna agreed with the minister’s praise and would have said so, but the look Dylan sent her way made her keep her opinion to herself. Her plan of working on a team with him didn’t seem like such a great idea, after all. Did she really think forcing him to be with her would help her to restore their friendship?

      No, she’d gone about this the wrong way. Instead of approaching him slowly and letting him remember why they once were close, she’d forced her way into his space, reminding him of how selfish she’d always been. She’d wanted to prove to him she was different, and all she’d done was show him more of the same.

      What was she supposed to do now? Once again, she’d messed things up with Dylan, but she would just have to work within the uncomfortable situation she’d created. She’d committed to helping the Dentons, and she intended to follow through with her commitment. Maybe if Dylan saw that, he would eventually be able to forgive her, after all.

      Chapter Three

      Brad Denton looked as uncomfortable as a cowboy in a tuxedo as he took a seat next to his wife at Home Cooking Café the next morning. Well, Dylan could relate to his discomfort. As if it wasn’t awkward enough meeting the Dentons for the first time, Jenna was sitting next to him. He wished he could ignore her, but the coconut scent of her shampoo invaded his senses every time she turned her head, and the chime of her laughter filtered into his ears. If only his senses hadn’t picked today to become sharp enough to detect a noise in the next room or hear a butterfly fluttering its wings.

      He’d counted on her being a no-show this morning—like all the other times—but that hadn’t worked out for him, either. Why she’d picked this morning to come through on one of her commitments, he wasn’t sure. She wasn’t doing anything halfway, either. They’d barely made it to their seats, and she was already playing hostess, chatting with Lila Boggs and Kelly Denton.

      “Do you think we should send out a search party for the boys?” Reverend Boggs asked as he opened his menu.

      Brad glanced over his shoulder toward the restroom where Connor and Ryan had hurried before the hostess could seat them. He spoke conspiratorially to Dylan. “Two more minutes and we’re going in.”

      The men’s room door opened then, and the boys rushed out, saving the adults from that covert mission. The boys hurried across the room, looking like matching wind-up toys, not technically running—their mother had warned them not to—but close to it.

      As the twins scrambled into the two remaining seats at the long table, mischievous grins on their faces, Dylan’s thoughts cleared. He remembered why they were all working together in the first place: for the sake of these little boys. He’d only just met them, and already they inspired a fierce protectiveness in him.

      Dylan СКАЧАТЬ