Free Beach Blanket Santa (Holiday Brides Series) by Ginny Baird Page B

Now, if he could just locate that
huge piece of driftwood he’d spotted when he and Sarah had been here earlier
today…
    Matt trudged through the sludgy sand, his heart light. So
yeah, the beach roads were crappy. Impassable, in fact. In many ways, that was
the best Christmas gift he’d ever had. Out of the blue, life had delivered him
a second chance with Sarah. A woman from his past who could very well become a
permanent fixture in his future. Sarah was beautiful and funny and kind, just
the sort of person he’d always imagined himself winding up with. Him and a big
bustling passel of kids.
    Matt stopped walking, shocked at his own thoughts. Had he
just considered making babies with Sarah? Yeah, he had, he thought, feeling his
lips tug into a broad grin. Not that he was accustomed to getting ahead of
himself, but Matt couldn’t help but wonder what that might be like. Just him
and Sarah—and their big happy brood— all adorning the family
Christmas tree with homemade decorations. Matt recalled how much fun it had
been sitting around the kitchen table, making those crafts with his sisters and
brother Robert. He’d even enjoyed working with his nieces last Christmas when
they’d taught him how to fashion Christmas stars from pieces of tinfoil with
little holes poked in them to let through the light. While he didn’t have
ornament hooks from which to hang them, he had fishing wire to use as a handy
substitution. Yes sir, his plan was going to work out fine. All he had to hope
was that the tide hadn’t washed out his special surprise.

 

 
 
    Chapter Seven

 
    Sarah awakened early and stretched in bed. She didn’t know
what had caused her to rise before seven o’clock. Generally, she slept until eight.
Then suddenly she remembered. Of course! Today was Christmas Day! But what did
that matter, really? How much could she expect at a beach house on the rugged
North Carolina coast? She’d never partaken much in Christmas, anyway. And here
she was, stuck with a man who’d never even expected her to be here. And was
much less prepared to make the holiday special for her, besides. Sarah unfolded
the simple poem she’d composed for Matt, hoping it wasn’t desperately inane.
All she’d longed to do was give him something of her heart. She’d wanted to say
thank you and had thought for a brief moment that this was a good way to start.
Now, looking down at her uneven scrawl, she doubted her instincts. What if he
thought her a fool, or worse yet—questioned her iambic pentameter?
Sarah’s poetry had never been in perfect rhythm, but at least it was concise
and summarized what she wanted to say.
    After Matt had sent her to bed, she’d stayed up an extra
hour trying hard to fashion its lines. He’d been so kind, and all she meant to
say was thank you. Thanks for being the
kind of guy I’d always believed was in this world. Since Sarah had been a
little girl, she’d been putting words together. Sometimes clumsily; at others,
in a neatly arrayed fashion. Her English teachers had told her she had talent,
though she’d refused in many ways to believe it. What was important to her more
than anything was reaching the people she felt driven to write for. Since
coming here, Matt had become one of those people.
    Sarah folded over the page, deciding that she’d have to give
it to him. Most especially because what they had might not last. And, in the
end, she thought with a heavy heart, it was destined not to.

 
    Matt put on the finishing touches, feeling exhausted. He’d
work hard all night to ensure everything would come off right. Since he was
committed to protecting the environment, he hadn’t been about to insult a
flourishing pine. Instead, he’d selected found driftwood as the perfect
stand-in “Charlie Brown” yuletide tree. With the summer deck lights strung
around it, it looked almost festive. The tinfoil ornaments he’d fashioned
thanks to his nieces’ help had been a boon. Just last season, he’d