Free Sweet Christmas Kisses by Ginny Baird, Grace Greene, Donna Fasano, Helen Scott Taylor, Beate Boeker, Melinda Curtis, Denise Devine, Raine English, Aileen Fish, Patricia Forsythe, Mona Risk, Roxanne Rustand, Magdalena Scott, Kristin Wallace Page A

moving forward,” he murmured. Clearly, he’d heard the advice before.
    Christy nibbled on her bottom lip as Izzie’s innocent question echoed through her head.
    Will you watch over my daddy?
    “Listen, Aaron,” she said. “I’d like for you to call me.”
    Her request surprised him, that was obvious.
    “Y…you know,” she stammered softly, “if you want to, that is. If you need to talk, I mean.”
    Nervous energy had her scrambling in her purse for a pen and a scrap of paper. She scribbled down her number and slid it across the table toward him. “You probably already have my number, but…”
    He picked up the jagged-edged paper and studied it.
    “No strings attached or anything.” She licked her lips and attempted to smile. “Just one friend chatting with another.”
    “Just one friend chatting with another,” he whispered, not taking his eyes off the number she’d written down. Then his dark gaze was on her. “Are you serious? It’s really okay if I call?”
    His questions took her aback, and for a heartbeat or two, she wasn’t able to respond.
    “What I mean is,” he continued, “that construction paper marriage certificate isn’t making you feel, you know, responsible for me, is it?”
    Her anxiety flared and the too-close-for-comfort mention of their time in Ocean City caused the chuckle that erupted from her throat to sound a tad panicky. “Well—” she grinned, offering up her palms “—I can’t make-believe marry a man and not be there for him when he needs a friend, right?”
    For a tense moment, she wasn’t certain what he would say. But then he laughed, and she knew down to her bones that he really was pleased that she made the offer.

Chapter Eleven

     
    February rumbled across the state, bringing bitter temperatures and leaving everything covered in a thick blanket of snow. But Christy wasn’t bothered by the cold. Driving to and from work became an adventure; however, she’d always been a careful driver.
    Although Aaron had been traveling for nearly three weeks, he’d taken her offer of phone calls to heart and had called her every night. The topics of their conversations varied widely. She now knew he had a sister in California, and that his parents had retired to Florida. And she’d told him about her sister who was a proud stay-at-home-mom and lived in Chicago with her husband and two boys, her brother and his family who lived in Wilmington, and her quilting-fanatic mother and her golfing-fanatic father who lived in Georgia. He talked about his meals on the road, the memorable ones, anyway. And he always gave her a room update whenever he changed hotels. He always asked about the nurses at the hospital. She knew his meetings were going well and she even recognized the names of the people he worked with when he mentioned them now. Getting back to work had been wonderful for his state of mind.
    During the last few days, he’d even begun reminiscing about Izzie without becoming upset, and he had asked her questions about Danielle. During yesterday’s call, they had traded baby stories, which had progressed to funny toddler experiences, and both of them had ended up chuckling as they’d tried to one-up each other with new-parent craziness.
    When a parent lost a child, it was almost impossible to find someone who felt comfortable listening to the recounting of precious memories. Such talk made others feel awkward, so grieving parents kept their thoughts to themselves. But it was different between Aaron and Christy. Both of them knew what it was like. Both of them had both had crawled through the horrific trenches of grief and were trying to come out on the other side. Being able to talk about their kids was a relief, and Christy honestly looked forward to hearing the phone ring.
    As if her thoughts had conjured the real thing, her cell chirped, and seeing his name in the ID box filled her with happiness.
    “Hey,” she greeted.
    “Hi, ya,” he said. “So how was your