LITMIR.BIZ

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family, friends—a place to belong. Her first Christmas in Cedar Cove had given her all that. And this, her second one, was a celebration of the first.

      Christmas Eve. It was a night for remembering and rejoicing in two birthdays, wasn’t it?

       Chapter One

       A year ago

      Even though she was listening to Christmas carols on her iPod, Mary Jo Wyse could hear her brothers arguing. How could she not? Individually, the three of them had voices that were usually described as booming; together they sounded like an entire football stadium full of fans. All three worked as mechanics in the family-owned car repair business and stood well over six feet. Their size alone was intimidating. Add to that their voices, and they’d put the fear of God into the most hardened criminal.

      “It’s nearly Christmas,” Linc was saying. He was the oldest and, if possible, loudest of the bunch.

      “Mary Jo said he’d call her before now,” Mel said.

      Ned, her youngest brother, remained suspiciously quiet. He was the sensitive one. Translated, that meant he’d apologize after he broke David Rhodes’s fingers for getting his little sister pregnant and then abandoning her.

      “We’ve got to do something,” Linc insisted.

      The determination in his voice gave her pause. Mary Jo’s situation was complicated enough without the involvement of her loving but meddlesome older brothers. However, it wasn’t their fault that she was about to have a baby and the father was nowhere in sight.

      “I say we find David Rhodes and string him up until he agrees to marry our sister.”

      Mary Jo gasped. She couldn’t help it. Knowing Linc, he’d have no qualms about doing exactly that.

      “I think we should, too—if only we knew where he was,” she heard Mel say.

      Unable to sit still any longer, Mary Jo tore off her earphones and burst out of her bedroom. She marched into the living room, where her brothers stood around the Christmas tree, beers in hand, as its lights blinked cheerfully. Ever since their parents had been killed in a car accident six years earlier, her older brothers had considered themselves her guardians. Which was ridiculous, since she was over twenty-one. Twenty-three, to be precise. She hadn’t been legally of age at the time of their deaths, but her brothers seemed to forget she was now an adult.

      All four of them still lived in the family home. Mel and Ned were currently seeing women, but neither relationship seemed all that serious. Linc had recently broken up with someone. Mary Jo was the only one eager to leave, chafing as she did at her brothers’ attempts to decree how she should live her life.

      Admittedly she’d made a mess of things; she couldn’t deny it. But she was trying to deal with the consequences, to act like the adult she was. Yes, she’d made a massive error in judgment, falling for an attractive older man and doing what came all too naturally. And no, she didn’t need her brothers’ assistance.

      “Would you guys mind your own business,” she demanded, hands on her hips. At five-three she stared up at her brothers, who towered above her.

      She probably looked a sight, although at the moment her appearance was the least of her problems. She was dressed in her old flannel nightgown, the one with the Christmas angels on it, her belly stretched out so far it looked like she’d swallowed a giant snow globe. Her long dark hair fell in tangles, and her feet were bare.

      Linc frowned back at her. “You’re our sister and that makes you our business.”

      “We’re worried about you,” Ned said, speaking for the first time. “You’re gonna have that baby any day.”

      “I don’t know nothin’ about birthing no babies,” Mel added in a falsetto voice.

      If he was trying to add humor to the situation, Mary Jo wasn’t amused. She glared at him angrily. “You don’t have to worry about delivering my baby. This child is my concern and mine alone.”

      “No, he isn’t.”

      From the very minute she’d tearfully announced her pregnancy four months ago, her brothers had decided the baby was a boy. For some reason, the alternative never seemed to occur to them, no matter how often she suggested it.

      “You’re depriving this baby of his father,” Linc said stubbornly. It was a lament he’d voiced a hundred times over the past months. “A baby needs a father.”

      “I agree,” Mary Jo told him. “However, I haven’t seen David in weeks.”

      Mel stepped forward, his disapproval obvious. “What about Christmas? Didn’t he tell you he’d be in touch before Christmas?”

      “He did.” But then David Rhodes had made a lot of promises, none of which he’d kept. “He said he’d be visiting his family in the area.”

      “Where?” Ned asked.

      “Cedar Cove,” she supplied and wondered if she should’ve told her three hotheaded brothers that much.

      “Let’s go there and find him,” Linc said.

      Mary Jo held up both hands. “Don’t be crazy!”

      “Crazy,” Linc echoed with a snort of indignation. “I refuse to let you have this baby alone.”

      “I’m not alone,” Mary Jo said. She gestured toward them. “I have the three of you, don’t I?”

      Her brothers went pale before her eyes. “You … you want us in the delivery room?” Mel asked in weak tones. He swallowed visibly. “You’re joking, right?”

      Mary Jo had delayed registering for birthing classes because David had promised to attend them with her. Only he hadn’t managed to show up for the first session or the one after that or the following one, either. Giving up on him, Mary Jo had begun a session that week—a lot later in the pregnancy than she should have. She’d gone by herself and left the class in tears. Although she’d considered asking Ned if he’d be her birthing partner, she hadn’t found the courage to do it yet. And she wasn’t sure he’d be the best choice, anyway. Her other options were her girlfriends Casey and Chloe; however, Casey was terrified by the idea and Chloe, married last year, was expecting her own baby.

      “Right.” She struggled to maintain her composure. “That was a joke.”

      They released a collective sigh.

      “You’re distracting us from what’s important here.” Obviously, Linc wasn’t going to be put off. “I want to talk to David Rhodes, just him and me, man to man.” He clenched his hands at his sides.

      “And when Linc’s finished, I want a turn,” Mel said, plowing his fist into his open palm.

      Mary Jo rolled her eyes. She’d defended David to her brothers countless times. She’d defended him to Casey and Chloe—the only other people who knew David was her baby’s father. Casey worked with her at the insurance company in Seattle, so she’d met David, since he’d come to their office for meetings every few weeks, representing corporate headquarters in California. David had charmed just about everybody—with the possible exception of Casey.

      He’d always had such good excuses for missing the birthing classes, and she’d believed him. It was easy to do because she so badly wanted to trust him. He claimed to love her and while the pregnancy certainly hadn’t been planned, he’d seemed genuinely pleased when she’d told him. There were a few legal and financial matters that needed to be cleared up, he’d explained, but as soon as they were dealt with, he’d marry her.

      For a number of months Mary Jo had convinced her brothers that David’s intentions were honorable. Now, though, she had to resign herself to the fact that David wasn’t willing or able to marry her. She realized she didn’t know as much about him as she should. Granted, he was

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