Free A Home for Christmas by Ann Vaughn

of arming and disarming with her and Cam before Cam went off to
bed.  She’d tried to argue with him over it but Riley had simply kissed
her brow and told her he wasn’t taking any chances with what had happened
earlier that day.  Given that, she kept quiet and concentrated on paying
attention to what he was telling them about it.  Now that Cam was in bed
and it was just the two of them, however, she decided it was time to address
it.
    “Riley…the security system –“
    He cut her off.  “Not up for
discussion.  I don’t want to worry about you when I’m not here.”
    “I understand, and I definitely appreciate it,
don’t get me wrong, but…”
    He pulled her close and kissed her.  “No
buts.  These security systems are part of what I do, so I’m not out a lot
of money, just cost of materials, which is my concern, not yours.  Got
it?”
    “But, Riley, I don’t…”
    He stopped her by pulling her to him and kissing
the ever-living daylights out of her.  Jenna curled a hand around the back
of his neck, burying her fingers in his short, razor cut hair, sighing when he
pulled her even closer.
    “I better go,” he murmured, his lips pressed against
her forehead.
    Jenna tightened her hold on him.  “I don’t
want you to,” she confessed.
    “I know…but with Cam down the hall…”
    She looked up at him, touched that he would think
of not wanting to upset Cam. 
    “Thank you for today…for everything,” she whispered.
    “My pleasure,” he said, making her smile. 
He said that a lot.  “Listen, before I go, I want to give you something to
think about.  My cousin, Lainey, is a family counselor, and she
specializes in helping children through a divorce.  I realize it’s been
five years, but with the way Wade was this morning and the things he’s done
lately…maybe Cam would benefit by seeing her. Would you let her talk to Cam?”
    Jenna took a step back from him, studying him. 
She was touched that he would care enough about her son to try to get help for
him.  She knew Lainey Riley to be a gentle, soft-spoken person and wasn’t
surprised that she specialized in helping children.
    “I would like that,” she told him.
    “OK, I’ll set it up.  This is just another
bump in the road, Jenna. It will all smooth out soon.”
    She looked up into his green eyes and wanted
nothing more than to believe he was right.

Chapter Seven
     
    After two and a half weeks of seeing Riley every
evening and all day on the weekends, Jenna knew she was hopelessly attached to
him.  Every evening when it was time for him to go, it was getting harder
and harder to say goodbye to him.  And as much as she loved her son, she
was becoming more and more frustrated that she and Riley only had a few stolen
moments alone.  All week at work, she began planning out a special weekend
for them.  She’d contacted the mother of one of Cam’s friends and arranged
to have him stay the night Friday and Saturday.  She wanted plenty of time
alone with Riley.  She’d even finished her houses early and went to the
mall to buy some special lingerie for the occasion.
    On Friday, she arranged to get home as soon as
Cam got out of school so that she could be there to get him ready and take him
to his friend Austin’s house before Riley came over.  She picked him up
from school and sent him to get his things together while she started preparing
the dinner she would fix for Riley tonight.  She’d just finished preparing
the vegetables when Cam began frantically calling for her.
    “MOM!!!!!  MOM!!!! Hurry!!!”
    She scrambled out of the kitchen into the living
room, thinking he was hurt.
    “What is it?  Are you OK?”
    “Riley’s on TV!”
    “What?”
    “Look, look!”
    She glanced at the screen, seeing a report of a
police stand-off at a local convenience store. 
    “How do you know Riley is there?” she asked,
already getting her phone out to text Riley.
    “They showed the SWAT team arriving and showed
Riley