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Chapter Thirty-Two
The outskirts of Charles Town came into view, and Melody glanced in the mirror to see that Michael’s head had lolled to the side. He was asleep. Maybe Reid wouldn’t want to bother with assembling her Christmas tree stand and wrestling the spruce into place when his son was so tired.
“He’ll wake up as soon as the truck stops. Guarantee it,” Reid whispered with a knowing smile.
Melody returned his smile and then turned her attention back out the window. The town was always beautiful, but there was just something about all of the old houses at Christmas time that made her feel warm inside. “What made you choose Charles Town?” she asked, quietly, turning her head so that he could hear.
Reid shrugged. “I have an aunt and uncle who live in Harper’s Ferry. They suggested it might be a good place for Michael and I to start over. I’ve always wanted to start my own rest
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A Christmas Melody Chapter Thirty-Three
“Reid is so cute!” Sarah whispered, taking another step closer to Melody.Looking over her shoulder to make sure Michael wasn’t paying attention, Melody’s eyes became darts. “Mother! Shhh!” she insisted. “Michael can hear you, you know.”“Oh, he’s not listening. Besides, he’d probably just assume I was talking about him. And he is a cutie, too. But that’s not who I was talking about.” Her voice went up at the end, and Melody crossed her arms again to keep from shaking her.“Mom! We are just friends,” Melody reminded her, trying to keep her voice even.“We’ll see,” Sarah said, a little twinkle in her eye. “I’m going to go check on the cookies.”Melody shook her head, reminding herself she should have known better than to bring Reid home with her just yet, espec
A Christmas Melody Chapter Thirty-Four
The message at church was another one about the significance of Christmas, and while Melody knew there were lots of people in the congregation who wanted and needed to hear about how important Jesus’ birth was to the fate of the world, Melody was ready for the Christmas season to be over. Had she been sitting in this very pew listening to a similar sermon two years ago, not realizing her life was about to change forever? Likely so. Once Christmas was over, things would begin to get back to normal, and she wouldn’t spend so much of her time trying to remember what life must have been like before her dad passed away.She’d seen Michael briefly before Sunday school and for a few moments before the service began. He had gotten up and left with the other children to attend children’s church when Pastor Kyle began his sermon. Now that the final invocation was over, most of the members would head over to another part of the building wher
A Christmas Melody Chapter Thirty-Five
Lunch was full of polite conversation. Mrs. Gregory asked if she had enjoyed her time at the Christmas tree farm, and Michael had told them all about the snowball fight, the caramel apples, and how Miss Melody had picked out a tiny tree for her big house, which kept everyone laughing, especially his friend, Hailey. Melody tried to focus on her lunch and stay attentive to what Michael was saying since he was the only reason she was still there. It was difficult to keep her mind from wandering. She should be sitting with her parents, not these people. Most of them were hardly even acquaintances, though she had known Mrs. Gregory her entire life.Sarah was sitting at a table on the other side of the room with some friends from her Bible study group. Melody knew most of the women’s names, but she didn’t know the two gentlemen, though she thought one of them was the husband of Sarah’s friend, Ann. The man sitting right next to her mother had
A Christmas Melody Chapter Thirty-Six
Rehearsal was scheduled to last an hour, but a few minutes before it was over, just before the children began to sing “Silent Night,” one of the deacons came into the sanctuary and pulled Mrs. Gregory aside. Her face went ashen, and she hastily nodded at him, looking at the children and then around the room. Her eyes fell on Melody.“Melody, sweetheart, I hate to trouble you, but Mr. Gregory is not feeling well at all. Brother James just came to get me to take him home. I know it’s a lot to ask, but could you please just get the kids started on “Silent Night”? Mrs. Watson will handle the music of course. And then… would you mind running Michael home?”The second part of the request was no problem at all; it was the first part that had left her mortified. Was Mrs. Gregory actually asking her to lead a song? Melody felt her face turning red. How could she say no to a woman who was rushing o
A Christmas Melody Chapter Thirty-Seven
The inside of Reid's house was just as impressive as the outside, and Melody couldn’t help but be awestruck at the new cherry wood floor and the refinished fireplace. “This place looks amazing,” she said as Reid followed her inside and closed the door behind them.“Thanks,” he said. “We’ve finished most of the downstairs, but the upstairs has a long way to go.”“My friend Olivia lived here when we were in high school. Have you met her? She still lives in town.” He shook his head, and she continued. “Anyway, the house looked much different then. I don’t think her parents knew much about taking care of old houses.”“Well, whoever lived here before us didn’t do a whole lot of repairs,” Reid agreed. “But the bones were still good, so most of what I’ve done is cosmetic.”“New floors, new
A Christmas Melody Chapter Thirty-Eight
Melody let Michael go and straightened her hair. “You ready to go put the ornaments on?” she asked, grinning at him.“Yep!” he replied, a genuine smile beaming from his face.“Great. Why don’t you put that away, and let’s go back into the living room?”Michael scurried off to put the picture away, and Melody worked her way off of the pirate ship. He was still in the closet when she stepped out into the hallway, nearly colliding with Reid. “Hey,” she said with a grin. “That pirate ship is very impressive.”“Oh, yeah, thanks,” he said, his hands shoved deep into his jeans pockets. “That was a little consolation prize for moving him across the country, leaving his grandparents and all of his friends behind.”Michael came flying out of his room and slipped past them, clearly no longer upset ab
A Christmas Melody Chapter Thirty-Nine
Reid took Melody's coat off of the hook and held it open so she could slip inside. His fingertips lightly brushed her shoulders, and despite the fact that she was fairly certain he was upset about the conversation she’d had with Michael earlier, she still felt tingles at his touch. He pulled the front door open, and she went through, thankful it wasn’t as cold as it had been recently.“Thanks for everything you did for Michael today,” Reid said as he walked with her across the porch and into the yard. “It really meant a lot to him.”“Thanks for asking me to stay,” she said, pulling her keys out of her coat pocket. “It was a lot of fun.”“It really was,” he agreed. “I think I might be vacuuming up tinsel for the next three months.”Melody giggled. “I think I might be finding it in my hair for the next three months
A Christmas Melody Chapter Forty
It turned out Reid had not been exaggerating about the parent pick up line, and even though Melody was there before 2:30, there had to be close to three dozen cars in front of her. She couldn’t understand why anyone would want to sit in this line for a half-hour or more, but then, here she was, like a lemming, her car in park, waiting to shift into gear and scoot up whenever anyone else nudged a bit forward. For the most part, the line was stationary, and she could have used the time to read the book she had brought with her or work on editing some photos on her iPad, but once she was sitting in the line, she found her mind wandering, and rather than making the most of her time, she reviewed the changes her life had taken over the last week and a half. Never in a million years would she have expected to be sitting outside of an elementary school waiting to pick up a precious child who—for some reason—had claimed her as his own.She cont
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