Free A Daughter for Christmas by Margaret Daley

backed out of the driveway, his look brushed over her—as though he’d physically touched her. Her throbbing pulse coursed through her. His clean, freshscent surrounded her, vividly making her aware of the man sitting only a foot from her.
    â€œFrom what I’ve seen, you’re a great mother. You care for your children and want what’s best whatever that is. You’re willing to try homeschooling to help your daughter. That’ll be a time commitment for you.”
    â€œBefore I married Lawrence, I took a few classes toward being a teacher. I always wanted to be one. I guess I’ll find out how well I would have been. If it works for Taylor, I’ll consider doing it for Will and Sam. They’ll be starting kindergarten next year.” She grinned. “But I appreciate your vote of confidence.”
    â€œI’m pretty good at science. If you need any help there, I can help.”
    â€œThanks. I may take you up on that once we get into the classes with Kevin.”
    â€œCall me if you get frustrated.”
    â€œI’m good at math and English. I think I’ve got that covered. Jordan and her sister-in-law do a history class together. They said Taylor can join them.”
    â€œSounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought and got everything covered.”
    She drew in a deep, composing breath. “Then why do I feel like I’m out of my comfort zone?”
    â€œBecause you are,” he said with a laugh. “You aren’t a teacher and have never homeschooled so it will be scary at first.”
    As he drove into a parking space near where her Lexus was, she couldn’t shake the feeling this man understood her. The loneliness she’d felt these past few years after Lawrence died dimmed some.
    She put her hand on her handle, twisted toward him and said, “Thank you. You don’t know how much I appreciate the help today.”
    â€œYou’re welcome.” He switched off his engine while directing his full attention to her.
    Looking into his eyes, the color of sun-kissed grass, she swallowed hard, a link between them strengthened in that moment. When she first met Lawrence, she’d connected with him. The realization she was experiencing the same sensation excited her and yet scared her, too. As she got out of the car and closed the car door, she peered down at the wedding ring on her hand. Skirting the back of his Mustang, she twirled the band on her finger, part of her feeling guilty as though her thoughts betrayed her husband’s memory.
    â€œSee you this evening,” Max said when she passed him in the parking lot.
    She gave him a smile, full of gratitude and something else. Interest? Her last expression stayed in Max’s mind all the way up to his office. Seeing the struggles that Rachel was going through with Taylor sobered him. Rachel was a good mother. How could he do a better job? And what was going to happen when Taylor discovered he was her biological father? Would she hate him? The same could be said about Rachel. How would she take the news?
    When he’d seen both Taylor and Rachel in the office hallway earlier, he hadn’t planned on asking her and the children to dinner. But the invitation had tumbled from his mouth before he could stop it. Rachel’s nearness affected him in ways that he hadn’t anticipated. Alicia had never been that caring or warm. He’d had little of that in his marriage and being around Rachel illustrated what he had missed.
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    â€œMom, do I have to? We’ve been working for three straight hours. I’ve got to have a break.” Taylor threwdown her pencil on the paper and pushed back her chair.
    â€œWe stop when you have finished that row of problems. You only have three more to go.” Rachel moved closer to her daughter and pointed toward the pre-algebra on the workbook page. “You had a break before you started this math. We’ve only been working on it