Free 'Tis the Season by Judith Arnold

about her, her haunted house and how she’d wound up with his kids on a Tuesday night.
    â€œWe could deal you in,” Brett offered.
    Still smiling, she shook her head. “Really, Mr…” She gazed questioningly at Evan. Apparently she’d forgotten his name.
    â€œEvan Myers.”
    â€œEvan Myers,” she echoed. “I should be going. You’re busy here and I’ve got things to do, too. I only wanted to make sure your children got home safely.”
    â€œI want to make sure you get home safely. Let me drive you.” He immediately felt less addled. Driving her home was the right thing to do, and it would give him a few minutes alone with her, an opportunity to find out exactly what had occurred at her house.
    â€œI can walk,” she insisted, rising from the chair. “It’s just through the woods.”
    â€œNo, I’ll drive you.” He caught Murphy’s eye.
    Murphy motioned with his head toward the door. “Go ahead. We’ll stand guard over the monsters until you get back.”
    Evan sent Murphy a grateful nod. Murphy was the father of twins a year older than Billy. They were a pair of hellions—which, of course, meant that Billy and Gracie idolized them. If Murphy could handle his own children, he could surely handle Billy and Gracie for the brief time it would take Evan to drive Filomena to her place.
    He led her through the mudroom door and into the garage, where he turned on the light so she could see her way around the bicycles and skateboards, the roller skates and hockey sticks, the Velcro dartboard, the footballs, the soccer balls, the whiffle balls and the basketballs that cluttered the perimeter. He admitted to going a bit overboard when it came to supplying his kids with sports gear. But athletic equipment was his business, after all.
    Filomena said nothing as she took in the abundance of jock stuff. He opened the passenger door of his Saab for her, then closed it behind her once she was settled in the seat. After pressing the switch to raise the garage door, he got in behind the wheel and revved the engine.
    Now that he had her alone, he wasn’t sure how to start a conversation. Ordinarily, he had no trouble talking to women, even women he found attractive. He didn’t date much—he had neither the time nor the energy—but when he did, he never felt particularly out of his depth.
    He felt way out of his depth with this woman. She wasn’t glamorous or sophisticated, at least not that he could tell. Yet there was something about her, something in the contours of her smile, in the alluring darkness of her eyes. Something that could make Gracie fear her as a witch one minute and cuddle in the curve of her arms the next. Something that entranced Evan.
    â€œYou’ll have to tell me where you live,” he reminded her as he backed out of the driveway.
    â€œPoplar Ridge Road.”
    â€œAnd your house is just the other side of the woods from ours?” He tried to work out the geography in his mind. Poplar Ridge Road wound in a big curve a distance from his own street.
    â€œAs the crow flies,” she said. Her voice was like velvet, soft but textured. “You really shouldn’t have abandoned your card game. I could have cut right back through the woods and been home in ten minutes.”
    I wanted to abandon my card game , he almost said. He turned left at the foot of the driveway, stealing a glimpse of her as he scanned the road for traffic. She wasn’t looking at him, and just as well. He wasn’t at his best right now. His jaw was scratchy with an end-of-the-day growth of beard, and his hair was probably mussed from his having charged through the house in a mad state when he’d discovered the kids were missing. He’d changed clothes as soon as he’d gotten home from work, trading his tailored business attire for faded jeans, an old V-neck sweater and sneakers. The night was chilly, but