Free A Midnight Clear by Hope Ramsay Page A

holiday.
    Teri rolled her eyes. It was rude, she knew, but really. “It would be terrific if the people in this town would just mind their own business.”
    “It would be. But it’s not going to happen.” Savannah smiled. “So Lillian thinks you should stay away from the town square, huh? That’s kind of sad, really. She can’t even be grateful to the doctor who paid attention to her.”
    “I guess that is kind of sad,” Teri said.
    “And what about you? How do you feel about the new doc?”
    Teri gave Savannah a sober stare. Savannah and her aunt Miriam had a reputation for handing out infallible romantic advice. So there was no way she was going to spill her heart.
    Savannah’s smile warmed and reached all the way to her eyes this time. “I know this is scary for you, Teri. But, honey, I’m going to give you just a little bit of advice. You should examine your heart and do what it tells you to do. And besides, you have to admit that it’s kind of exciting to have a man like Doc Crawford send you flowers.”
    Teri let go of a completely pathetic sigh. “You won’t believe this, but I’ve never gotten flowers before.”
    “Of course you haven’t. Who sends flowers to a florist?”
    “Right. And his note was—well, he kind of hit me right where my doubts are.”
    “Of course he did. He strikes me as a smart and kind man. I suppose he became a doctor because of what happened to him as a kid. In my opinion, he’s got a terrific bedside manner.”
    “You mean his cancer?”
    “Oh, is that what it was? I didn’t know. I just knew that he’d been sick as a child.”
    “He lost his leg.”
    “You’re kidding me? Really? He doesn’t even limp.”
    “He’s got a prosthesis. Below the knee.”
    “Well, I reckon if he’s setting up clandestine midnight meetings with you, then you must know him better than a lot of folks in this town.” There was a mischievous glimmer in Savannah Randall’s eye.
    “Savannah, quit. It’s embarrassing. Every darn person who’s come through the door today has wanted to know what I’m going to do.”
    “What are you going to do?”
    “Stay home.” She said it clearly and succinctly. She hadn’t even known that the decision was made. But that amused sparkle in Savannah’s eye had turned the tide. Everyone in town wanted her to risk her heart on a guy who was practically a stranger. A guy who wanted her to allow her son to make a fool of himself in front of the whole town. The more people who expressed interest in her decision, the easier her decision became. She had to keep Aiden away. The angels weren’t going to visit the little town of Last Chance. She had to protect him from that disappointment or he’d pitch one of his fits. She wasn’t going to let that happen just because she had the hots for Tom Crawford.
    That old adage about “nothing ventured, nothing gained” could be turned around on its ear. Nothing ventured, nothing lost was equally as true. And she was not about to lose her head over Aiden’s angel fantasies. As for her heart—well, she didn’t want to lose that either.

AIDEN SPEAKS
    I played the Prelude and Fugue in F from Book II of J. S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier three times before dinner and four times after dinner. Mom made roasted chicken, which is white. We had white potatoes, but they weren’t mashed. Mom took all the brown stuff off them. We had cauliflower, which is white.
    I hung up a stocking with a snowman on it. Mom will put stuff in it tonight and then pretend that someone else did it. That’s a lie. I don’t like it when Mom lies.
    At nine forty-seven, Mom said, “It’s time for bed.”
    I said, “It’s still one hundred and thirty-three minutes before midnight.”
    Mom said, “It’s your bedtime.”
    I said, “But we need to be at the town square at midnight.”
    Mom didn’t say anything for about thirty seconds. Then she said, “We are not going to the town square.”
    This made my chest feel funny. My