Free Silver Christmas by Helen Scott Taylor Page A

reasonable,
inviting me to stay for Christmas."
    That drew a sad chuckle from him. "Not for
now. I mean for driving you away from your daughter in the first
place."
    He had her attention now. Her gaze sharpened
and she was suddenly alert.
    "I admit it, what you accused me of back
then. I tried to use Chloe to b— I mean, to keep you with me." He
couldn't say the word blackmail , although to his eternal
shame, that was the truth. He'd threatened to go to court for
custody and keep her from seeing Chloe if she didn't give up on her
idea of going to college. Since his father was a magistrate, he'd
been certain he'd win.
    In the end she'd thrown it all back in his
face by simply walking away and leaving him holding the baby.
    Jennifer sighed, turned away, and stared into
the fire. "I hate it when kids are used as bargaining chips in
relationship breakups. That's what happened to me when my parents
split. I probably overreacted to your ultimatum. I should have
deferred my courses for another year. If I'd stayed, I'm sure we
could have worked out a way to both be in Chloe's life."
    "I'm sorry." Owen's voice was rough with
regret. So much water under the bridge; rough white water full of
sharp rocks that had ripped them both to shreds.
    He didn't deserve her love, yet he had to ask
the question that played in the back of his mind constantly.
    "Do you think we could have made it work
between us if I'd been more reasonable?" Did you ever love
me?
    Jennifer shrugged. "Who knows."
    In other words, No, I didn't.
    • • •
    "Do you think we could have made it work between
us if I'd been more reasonable?" Owen's words kept playing over
in Jennifer's mind. His tone had been laden with subtext. Could he
possibly want them to try again?
    Jennifer went back over everything Owen had
said and done since she came back. One moment Jennifer decided,
yes; he wanted to try again. The next she was certain she must be
imagining things, reading more into his words than he'd intended.
Especially since she'd hardly seen him since that Sunday evening
when they put up the Christmas tree.
    Ever since then, he'd eaten breakfast early
before she came down and seemed to avoid being alone with her. When
they walked the dogs, it was always in a group with Chloe and
Marcus with his black Labrador, Peggy, or sometimes with Owen's
other cousin Jonathan and his partner, Vicky, and their two dogs,
one of which was another of Paddy's littermates.
    They'd had lunch at his sister Shelly's pub,
the Fat Goose, a couple of times during Christmas week with his
relatives, and Owen never sat next to her. She was having a
wonderful time doing things with Chloe and getting to know her
daughter better, but she missed her time alone, talking with
Owen.
    She missed the twinkle in his eyes, and his
smile that seemed to say so much. She glanced his way often, but
she never caught him looking at her now. Had the attraction between
them all been in her mind? Maybe he'd only ever wanted to make
friends so they could have a civilized relationship while dealing
with Chloe.
    Jennifer sat cross-legged on the floor by the
kitten box in the silence of the bathroom. The tiny felines were
now fully aware of their surroundings. The mischievous little
creatures scampered around exploring, their eyes bright with
curiosity, their ears pricked.
    Sixpence was still the smallest, yet
definitely not a runt. They were all cute, but the sixth kitten
would always hold a special place in Jennifer's heart because she
was Chloe and Owen's favorite—the one they wanted to keep. Somehow
she was already part of their family.
    Jennifer cradled a wriggling Sixpence between
her hands and held her at eye level, losing herself in the pleasure
of the moment with this tiny fur ball, trying to put her confused
feelings for Owen out of her mind.
    "Are you going to stay here, rascal?"
    "I hope so," Owen said from the doorway
behind her. He came into the bathroom and shut the door. "We had a
call come into the estate