LITMIR.BIZ

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wore like an anvil around his neck.

      Jade’s dress shoes clicked on the kitchen floor as she helped her daddy spread the white lacy tablecloth and set out three of Granny’s best BlueWillow place settings.

      After carefully positioning a knife and fork on top of paper napkins, she looked up. A small frown puckered her brow. “Where’s Sushi going to eat?”

      “Sushi?” Lindsey hesitated, a potholder in one hand. “I put her in the extra bedroom.”

      “Oh.” Turning back to her job, Jade said nothing more about the dog. The adults exchanged glances.

      Jesse mouthed, “Don’t ask me.”

      Jade seemed unmindful that she’d raised adult eyebrows with her concern for a dog she supposedly despised. Letting the subject drop, Lindsey returned to the task of getting the food on the table. In her peripheral vision, she caught the red flash of Jade’s plaid jumper and gleaming shoes.

      “You sure look pretty today,” she said.

      “Well, thank you, ma’am.” Jesse’s teasing voice had her spinning toward him. “You look pretty, too.”

      Jade burst into giggles. “Daddy! She meant me. I’m pretty.”

      On tiptoes, the little girl twirled in a circle.

      Jesse slapped a hand against one cheek in mock embarrassment. “Do you mean to tell me that I don’t look pretty?”

      Gap-tooth smile bigger than Dallas, Jade fell against him, hugging his legs. “You’re always pretty.”

      Lindsey had to concur, even though she’d never before seen Jesse in anything but work clothes. Seeing him in polished loafers, starched jeans, and a light blue dress shirt that drew attention to his silvery eyes took her breath away.

      Considering how decked-out the Slaters were, she was glad she’d taken the time to dress up a bit herself. Though her clothes were still casual, she’d chosen dark brown slacks instead of jeans and a mauve pullover sweater. And she’d put on earrings, something usually reserved for church. They were only small filigree crosses, but wearing them made her feel dressed-up.

      With a wry wince of remembrance, she glanced down. If only she’d exchanged her fluffy house shoes for a snazzy pair of slides…Ah, well, she was who she was. As Granny used to say, you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

      Delighted to have guests on Thanksgiving Day, she didn’t much care what anyone wore. Just having them here was enough.

      After sliding a fragrant pan of yeast rolls from the oven, she slathered on melted butter, and dumped the rolls into a cloth-covered basket.

      Without waiting to be told, Jesse put ice in the glasses and poured sweet tea from the pitcher Lindsey had already prepared.

      “What’s next?” he asked, coming to stand beside her at the counter. He brought with him the scent of a morning shower and a manly cologne that reminded Lindsey of an ocean breeze at sunrise.

      She, on the other hand, probably smelled like turkey and dressing with a lingering touch of pine.

      “I think we’re about ready.” She handed a bowl of cranberry sauce to Jade. “If you’ll put this beside the butter, your daddy and I will bring the hot stuff.”

      Jade took the bowl in both her small palms, carefully transferring the dish to the table. Jesse and Lindsey followed with the rest and settled into their places.

      The trio sat in a triangle with Jesse taking the head of the table and the two ladies on either side of him. Lindsey, out of long habit, stretched out a hand to each of them.

      Jade reacted instantly, placing her fingers atop Lindsey’s. After a brief, but noticeable interval, Jesse did the same, and then joined his other hand to his daughter’s.

      The moment Jesse’s hand touched hers, Lindsey recognized her error. She hoped with all her might that the Lord would forgive her, because she was having a hard time concentrating on the prayer with Jesse’s rough, masculine skin pressing against hers.

      Somehow she mumbled her way through, remembering to thank God for her many blessings during the past year, including the blessing of Jesse and Jade.

      Jesse tensed at the mention of his name. At the closing “amen,” he cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. Jade, on the other hand, beamed like the ray of sunshine she was.

      “Guess what?” she offered, with the usual scattered thought processes of a six-year-old. “I have a loose tooth.”

      “Let’s see.” Lindsey leaned forward, pretending great interest as Jade wiggled a loosening incisor. “Maybe it will fall out while you’re eating today.”

      Jade’s eyes widened in horror. “What if I swallow it?”

      The poor little child was afraid of everything.

      “Well, if you do,” Jesse said, helping himself to the sweet potato casserole, “it won’t hurt you.”

      “But I can’t swallow it. I have to show it to my teacher so she can put my name on the tooth chart.”

      Doing her best to suppress a laugh, Lindsey placed a hot roll on her plate and passed the basket to Jesse. His eyes twinkled with his own amused reaction. Swallowing the tooth wasn’t the problem. Jade was afraid of being left out, a perfectly healthy, normal worry for a first-grader.

      “I don’t think you’ll swallow the tooth, Jade, but if you do, the teacher will still put your name on the chart.”

      Green eyes blinked doubtfully. “How will she know?”

      “She can look at the new empty place in your mouth.”

      The little girl’s face lit up. She wiggled the tooth again. “Maybe it will come out today.”

      “We have corn on the cob. That’s been known to do the trick.”

      “Okay.” Jade reached eagerly for the corn Lindsey offered. “Eat one, Daddy.”

      Jesse quirked an eyebrow in teasing doubt. “I don’t know, Butterbean. Your old dad can’t afford to lose any of his teeth.”

      “Oh, Daddy.” She pushed the platter of steaming corn in his direction. “It’s good.”

      “Okay, then. I just hope you don’t have to go home with a toothless daddy.”

      Jade grinned around a huge bite of corn as her daddy filled his plate.

      “This all looks terrific, Lindsey.” Jesse added a hearty helping of turkey and dressing. “You’ve worked hard.”

      “Cooking was fun. I haven’t had a real Thanksgiving dinner since Gramps died.”

      He spread butter on the golden corn, his surprised attention focused on Lindsey. “Why not? Don’t you usually visit your family for holidays?”

      “Some holidays, but not this one. I can’t. Thanksgiving begins my peak season, and lots of families want their tree the weekend after Thanksgiving.”

      “Then your family should come here.”

      “Oh,” she gestured vaguely, then scooped up a bite of green bean casserole. “They’re all pretty busy with their own lives. Kim, my sister, is expecting a baby early next year. She’s in Colorado near her husband’s family so naturally, they have their holidays there.”

      Chewing the creamy casserole, Lindsey had to admit the food tasted incredible. Could she credit the home cooking? Or the company?

      Jesse absently handed Jade a napkin. With a sweet smile filled with yellow corn, she swiped at her buttery face.

      Having a child—and a man—at her dinner table gave Lindsey an unexpected sense of fulfillment.

      “What about your parents?” Jesse asked, coming right

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