Free Stuck On You (A Christmas Novella) by Rhonda Gibson

rearview mirror and waved. Did she miss him as much as he did her when they were apart?
    Morgan drove home, glancing at the shopping bags on the seat beside him. Two of Sheila’s books rested in one of those bags. Noel met him at the door. She’d been to one obedience class and proved she was the smartest one there, at least in Morgan’s eyes. “Hey, girl, it’s cold out there.” He laid his bags on the couch and gathered Noel’s leash from the hook beside the door. “Are you sure you want to go for a quick walk?”
    She answered by sitting down on his feet.
    Morgan laughed. “Okay.” He hooked the leash through the ring on her collar. “Come on then.” He zipped his coat and opened the door. It didn’t take them long to get back inside. Noel wasn’t a dog who liked the cold. She came in and burrowed under her favorite blanket.
    Morgan made a hot cup of coffee and sat back in his favorite chair in front of the fireplace to read Sheila’s manuscript. While the fire crackled, he read. A smile touched his lips. The story was both cute and taught a lesson. He liked it. His mind worked, and he thought of illustrations that he could put on each page. But he couldn’t allow himself to keep his original agreement with Sheila.
     
    “You want to go back on our agreement?” Sheila felt tears stinging her eyes as she grasped the phone receiver in her hand. “But—”
    Morgan interrupted her. “Look—maybe I shouldn’t have done this on the phone. Would it be okay if I come over there?”
    “No. My sister is still here, and she’s still sick.” The last thing she wanted Samantha to see was Morgan rejecting her story. She dropped into her office chair. A tear spilled down her cheek.
    “How about tomorrow at Carly’s in the mall?”
    What choice did she have? She could refuse. If he wasn’t going to allow her to use the Woodland characters, then why should she meet him again? Other than the fact that you love him?
    “Please, Sheila, I really want to talk to you about this, and it’s not coming out right over the phone.” Desperation filled his voice.
    “Okay. I’ll be there. What time?” She knew her voice sounded as frosty as the windowpanes looked, but she didn’t care.
    “Is nine in the morning too early?”
    “That will be fine.” More tears trailed down her cheek.
     
    Sheila made her way through the semi-quiet mall. Since it was just opening, a lot of people weren’t present. All the night before, she’d cried and tossed and turned, and now she felt like a rag doll with no energy.
    It wasn’t that she had just lost a story, but Sheila also felt as if she’d lost Morgan. She thought he’d fallen in love with her, just as she had with him. He’d never said so with words; but the look in his eyes, the way he touched her as much as possible when they were together, and the fact that he’d seemed generally interested in every aspect of her life, including the book he’d rejected the night before, led her to believe he cared for her.
    Had she wanted him to return her love so badly that she’d fabricated his emotions and actions to meet her purposes, much as she did the characters in her books?
     

Chapter 11
    Morgan walked into Carly’s feeling unsure. For the first time in his life, he worried things wouldn’t go the way he’d planned. What if he’d misread Sheila? So much depended on how this meeting went. Not just businesswise but personally, as well. His gaze found hers across the room. Her eyes appeared puffy, and the sparkle no longer filled them. Morgan felt like a heel. Why hadn’t he just asked her to meet him here yesterday instead of calling her first?
    In his excitement of illustrating the book, he’d blurted out that he wasn’t going to honor their original agreement. Now he had to patch things up. He ordered a strong cup of coffee before moving to the table where she sat. Would she agree to his new proposition? Morgan patted the manuscript. He prayed silently, asking the