Free White Christmas by Tanya Stowe

and Tessa would be in Phoenix.
    They even discussed the possibility of him staying in White and spending more time with Nell. In the end, only one thing was clear to him. He wanted to stay close to Tessa and find out where this relationship was going.
    His cell phone rang. Thinking it was Nell, Chad jogged over to the front step to check it out. He didn’t recognize the number so he let it go to voice mail. Just as he finished rinsing and drying the car, Nell called.
    Sitting in the parking lot, waiting for her to lock up, he remembered the message and listened. His pulse started to pound and he let out a whoop. As soon as Nell slid into the car, he said, “Do you mind if I drop you at the house and run out to the ranch to see Tessa? There’s something I need to tell her.”
    “Of course.” And she smiled that sly little smile she saved for all her matchmaking efforts.
    He dropped her off and headed down the highway, whistling. As he went up the steps of the ranch’s wrap-around porch, he heard children laughing and squealing, and the sound of running feet. Smiling, he knocked.
    Tessa opened the door. As beautiful as she had looked last night, he thought he liked her best this way, her hair loose, with curls dancing around her face, a baby in her arms and another on her leg.
    Chad stomped on that thought before it carried him too far.
    “Hey!” she said, laughing with surprise. “What are you doing here?”
    “I have something to tell you. Can you spare me a moment?”
    “Sure. Ashley, can you take the baby?”
    The teenager poked her head around the door to say hi to Chad, and then held her arms out for the infant.
    Tessa slid her jacket off the hook by the door before she stepped outside. They walked around the corner of the porch to a wooden swing, facing the wide yard and the barn.
    “What’s so important you had to drive all the way out here?”
    “I got an offer to act as a consultant for the next year.”
    Her eyebrows rose. “From a firm in Phoenix?”
    He nodded and grasped her hand. “Isn’t it great? Not only that, if things work out with them, they have enough financial backing to get my feet on the path to the Senate.”
    “Whoa. That sounds a little too good to be true. Who is this corporation?”
    “Austin Enterprises.”
    Tessa let their joined hands sink to her lap. “Oh, Chad. That’s not so wonderful.”
    “What do you mean? Do you know something about them?”
    “I don’t think anyone knows anything about them. They try to fly under the radar, but Jake Austin has a nasty personal reputation and his company always seems to be standing right outside the trouble zone.”
    “Have they been investigated by CPR?”
    “No. There hasn’t been a reason, but I’m sure if we did, we’d find something immoral, if not illegal.”
    Chad sat back. “So you’re convicting them based on a feeling?”
    Tessa straightened and studied him. “Chad, ask yourself why Austin Enterprises needs a legislative consultant. As far as I can tell, they’ve been doing a fine job of taking care of themselves.”
    “Everyone knows I wouldn’t be involved in something that’s not above board.”
    “Maybe that’s the point. They need your sterling reputation to give some luster to their not-so-pretty one.”
    “I think I can take a few hits if it gets me to the Senate.”
    Tessa rose from the swing and turned to face him. “So the end justifies the means.”
    Chad came to his feet, too. “Tessa, all the things we talked about, all the things you know I can do when I reach Congress. I’ll have to make compromises to get there.”
    Stepping to the side, she put the swing between them. “Just how many compromises are you willing to make?”
    “It will be my job to make decisions, to take action,” he said in a tight voice. “Sometimes the greater good is more important than my own feelings. I’m willing to make that sacrifice.”
    Slowly, she shook her head. “I’m not. At the end of the day, when