A Merry Little Christmas: 1225 Christmas Tree Lane / 5-B Poppy Lane. Debbie Macomber

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СКАЧАТЬ He doubted anyone believed that, but he liked black bean soup and so did Rosie.

      By New Year’s, the kids would be heading back to school, and he and Rosie would be alone again. Zach had to admit he missed his children. Without them, the house seemed too quiet.

      “What can I do?” Allison asked, reaching for an apron.

      Zach smiled at his daughter’s eagerness to help. She was an intelligent, considerate young woman, and one day she’d make a fine attorney. In her first year of law school, Allison had gotten top grades. Zach was proud of her.

      “Dinner won’t be ready for a while, but if you want to make the salad you can.”

      “Sure.” She went over to the refrigerator, collecting the lettuce, tomatoes and other vegetables.

      Normally, Zach would’ve sat down in front of the television at this point. He and Rosie both enjoyed football and had spent many a lazy Sunday afternoon watching the Seattle Seahawks. At first she hadn’t understood much about football, but she was a fast learner. Before long, she knew the players’ names and positions and understood the game. Spending Sunday afternoons with his wife was fun.

      Anson joined him at the breakfast bar, pulling out a stool and sitting down.

      “So how does it feel to be back home?” Zach asked him. Anson wore jeans and an army sweatshirt, and his hair was shorn. Very different from his high school days when his hair straggled to his shoulders and he wore a long black raincoat. The difference between then and now was striking.

      “I talked to my mother,” Anson said. He looked down as if to hide his reaction.

      “You’re welcome to invite her for dinner, if you’d like,” Rosie offered.

      Zach wasn’t keen to spend Christmas Eve with Cherry Butler, but he certainly wouldn’t refuse to entertain her.

      “Thanks, Mrs. Cox, but Mom has other plans. She’s got a new…friend.” Anson’s tongue seemed to trip over the word. “She’s sure it’s love this time and wants to be with him.”

      “You’ll have a chance to see her while you’re on leave,” Rosie said reassuringly.

      “I probably will.”

      Zach noticed that Anson didn’t sound all that confident.

      Rosie started into the dining room and paused in the doorway—underneath the mistletoe. Zach couldn’t have planned this better had he tried. He’d hung it there earlier and now, taking advantage of the opportunity, he slipped out of his chair and hurried toward his wife.

      Rosie gave him an odd look as if she didn’t understand what he was doing.

      “You’re standing under the mistletoe,” he told her.

      Surprised, Rosie immediately looked up.

      Taking her in his arms, he kissed her deeply, and with an exaggerated flourish bent her backward over his arm. He might be middle-aged, but he wasn’t dead yet and he loved his wife.

      Anson and Allison hooted and cheered, but he didn’t need any encouragement.

      “Zach.” Rosie was breathless by the time he released her.

      So was he.

      She planted her hand over her heart as though to slow its beat.

      Zach winked at his son, who’d just joined them.

      “I remember when we never used to see you and Mom kiss,” Eddie reminded them.

      Disbelief on his face, Anson looked from Allison to Eddie.

      “My parents were divorced for a while,” Allison explained. “I’m sure I told you.”

      “You did, but…it’s hard to believe, seeing them now.”

      Eddie pulled out a stool on Anson’s other side and propped his elbows on the counter. “It wasn’t a good year for our family, but it all turned out okay in the end.”

      Anson shook his head incredulously.

      “It was a long time ago,” Eddie said.

      “Not that long,” Rosie countered.

      “What happened?” Anson asked. “I mean, if you don’t mind talking about it.”

      “Basically the divorce just didn’t work out for us,” Zach teased, his eyes meeting Rosie’s. That had been a difficult period in their marriage, but, as Eddie had said, it’d all turned out in the end, due in large part to…

      “The judge…Well, she…” Rosie looked at her husband. “You tell them.”

      “It was Judge Lockhart. That was her name back then. She’s Judge Griffin now. I think she could see that the divorce was a mistake for us, but she didn’t have any grounds for denying it the way she did with another couple we heard about.”

      “Actually, I don’t think either of us would have accepted a denial. At the time, we were pretty much at loggerheads.”

      That was putting it mildly, Zach thought, but kept quiet. No point in mentioning it.

      “Mom and Dad wanted joint custody of Allison and me,” Eddie said. “If Judge Olivia okayed their parenting plan, it meant Allison and I would’ve had to change houses every few days. Three days with Dad, four days with Mom—that sort of thing.”

      “They would’ve stayed in the same school district,” Rosie added. She closed the refrigerator and leaned against the kitchen counter, facing the three of them, all sitting at the breakfast bar. “Zach got an apartment a few miles from the house.”

      “Judge Olivia told Mom and Dad they weren’t the ones who needed a stable life,” Allison went on to tell him. “Eddie and I were. The judge didn’t want us changing residences every few days, so she gave us the family home. Mom and Dad had to move in and out.”

      “In other words,” Eddie said, “when Dad was with us, Mom stayed at his apartment, and vice versa.”

      “Zach and I weren’t too keen on this plan,” Rosie inserted.

      Anson grinned. “But apparently it worked.”

      Zach had to agree. “I remember the night Allison and Eddie brought us together, arranging for us to have a romantic dinner here at the house.”

      “Our parents needed our help,” Eddie said, smiling at his sister. “Actually, that was Allison’s idea and it was a good one.”

      “It was indeed.” Zach reached across the counter to take Rosie’s hand. He raised it to his lips and kissed her fingers. “And I’m very grateful.”

      “I am, too,” Rosie whispered.

      “We owe the judge a big debt of thanks,” Allison said.

      “And I owe you one,” Anson said in a low voice, his СКАЧАТЬ