Free Christmas in Magnolia Cove by Rachel Hanna

fair is the way I treated you back then, Madison. I was a cowardly, testosterone-fueled boy who had a lot of family issues. I was trying to hold on to Kim even though I knew she was bad for me. I did a lot of things then that I’m not proud of now,” he said looking sideways out the window.
     
    “We all have regrets, Wyatt.”
     
    “No, you don’t understand. I did drugs, drank too much, bullied a lot of kids, shoplifted… I was a mess,” he said shaking his head. “You were just caught up in my whirlwind of a life at the time.”
     
    “It’s okay, Wyatt…”
     
    “It’s not okay, Madison,” he said stepping forward to where he was positioned between her legs with his hands bracing the counter around her hips. She was thankful she had worn jeans and not a skirt that day. He was so close that she could feel his warm breath across her cheek. “If you will let me, I will make it up to you the best way I know how.”
     
    Breathless with anticipation of what she was sure would be a mind-blowing kiss, Madison said “And how will you do that?”
     
    “By making this place the most beautiful home in town,” he whispered into her ear before backing up and smiling.
     
     

Chapter 13
     
    The next week was full of activity with Madison closing on the property and Wyatt heading up a flurry of renovation tasks. The kitchen had been completely remodeled with new floor stain and paint. While Wyatt continued working on renovations, Madison started to focus on decorations. Best of all, she was finally able to remove the boot as long as she promised that she wouldn’t wear high heels for a couple of weeks. Petite at only five foot three inches tall, Madison hated feeling below everyone else. With Wyatt towering over her at over six feet tall, she was always craning her neck upward to look at him. And she liked to look at him a lot.
     
    “Madison, are you planning to decorate the outside of the house?” Wyatt asked as he walked up behind her. They had gotten more comfortable being around each other over the last week. She didn’t hold as much anger at him, and he seemed to be easing up a bit on carrying her around now that the boot was gone.
     
    “Of course. It’s Christmas!” she said with a grin.
     
    “You really love Christmas, don’t you?” he asked.
     
    “I adore it! What about you? What will you be doing this Christmas?” she asked.
     
    “Probably what I do every Christmas… Heating up a TV dinner and watching old westerns on TV,” he said looking down as he picked at a smudge on the living room wall.
     
    “Why don’t you celebrate with family?” she asked, feeling a curious sense of sadness for him.
     
    “I don’t really have any family, Madison,” he said.
     
    “You never told me where your Mom is, Wyatt. Did she pass away too?” Madison asked.
     
    Wyatt leaned against the stacked stone fireplace and crossed his arms across his muscular chest. She had noticed he did that when he was trying to protect his emotions.
     
    “My mother has early-onset dementia, Madison. She lives in an assisted living center just outside of town,” he said. Madison’s stomach churned at the thought of that possibly happening to her mother because of the Parkinson’s Disease. Even though that was not something that happened to everyone with Parkinson’s, it was a possibility.
     
    “Wyatt, I am so sorry. How long has she lived there?”
     
    “A little over a year. Being an only child, it was hard to watch my mother forget who I was. She was getting lost in her own house. One day, I found her sleeping in the shed behind the house because she left the house in the night. I just couldn’t take care of her the way she needed…” Madison walked closer and resisted the urge to embrace him. The emotion on his face was palpable. “I felt really guilty that I couldn’t just move in with her and take care of her, but I had to work…”
     
    “Your mother would never have wanted you to give up your