A Mommy for the Holidays

Nathan Cooper’s daughter wants only one thing for Christmas—a new mommy. Caring for six-year-old Katie is the widowed builder’s priority, and he doesn’t want to risk more heartache for either of them. Yet when interior designer Alyssa McCall comes to town on a temporary assignment, both he and Katie are charmed. Working together to finish the new recreation center, Alyssa and Nathan form a connection, though Alyssa worries that she can’t be the mother Katie deserves. But with one little girl—and her handsome daddy—determined to prove her wrong, this could be a Christmas to remember.

“You wanna spend time with me?”

His devastatingly handsome smile returned. “I’d like the opportunity. Why is it you seem so surprised by that?”

“Because…” Had a man ever taken the time to get to know her? What if Nathan found her lacking as other men had? The thought he might be disappointed in what he discovered had her faltering with her response.

“Alyssa…” he prodded gently.

She sighed deeply. “Because I’m not perfect.”

“And you think I am?” he replied with a husky chuckle. “Far from,” he admitted. “Just ask my brothers.”

“It’s not that simple,” she said.

“Nothing in life is simple,” he told her. “I’ve learned that the hard way. When my wife died, I forgot how to breathe. How to feel. I put on a brave face for my daughter, but inside I was filled with a never-ending numbness.” He glanced her way. “And then you came into our life. I can’t explain it, but when I’m around you I feel like I can breathe again.”

KAT BROOKES is an award-winning author and past Romance Writers of America Golden Heart® Award finalist. She is married to her childhood sweetheart and has been blessed with two beautiful daughters. She loves writing stories that can both make you smile and touch your heart. Kat is represented by Michelle Grajkowski with 3 Seas Literary Agency. Read more about Kat and her upcoming releases at katbrookes.com. Email her at katbrookes@comcast.net. Facebook: Kat Brookes.

His Holiday Matchmaker

Kat Brookes

www.millsandboon.co.uk

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

—2 Corinthians 9:8

In memory of my mother-in-law, who went home to the Lord this past Christmas. You were more than a mother-in-law to me. You were my second mother. I thank you for giving me the wonderful man I am married to. You will be missed more than you could ever know.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

About the Author

Title Page

Bible Verse

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Epilogue

Dear Reader

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

“Daddy! Daddy!”

“Cupcake!” Nathan Cooper replied with a grin as he swung his six-year-old daughter, Katie, up into the air.

She burst into a fit of girlish giggles. “I’m not a cupcake.”

“Sure you are,” he said as he lowered her to the ground. Reaching out, he ruffled her unruly curls. “Look at all this chocolate frosting.”

“That’s my hair,” she said with another giggle, flashing him a smile that reminded him so much of her mother it hurt. So much of Isabel lived on in their daughter. Her dark eyes. Those long brown curls. That determined chin.

Nathan tamped down the memories of his late wife that threatened to surface. Forcing his focus solely on the tiny heart-shaped face looking up at him so adoringly, he playfully pinched his daughter’s lightly freckled cheek. “And I suppose these aren’t sprinkles?”

“No, silly. They’re freckles!” She pulled away with another giggle and ran back to the porch. “Watch what I can do, Daddy.”

He smiled as she dipped a large bubble wand into the bright yellow tray that sat on the sun-warmed porch steps and then spun in a slow circle, her motion creating a long, iridescent bubble. To be so carefree, he thought with an inner sigh.

The door to the small, ranch-style house creaked open, drawing his gaze that way.

“Nathan,” Mildred Timmons greeted with a warm smile. A smiling, robust woman in her midsixties, Mildred had been a Godsend to him after losing both his wife and his parents in the storm two years before.

He’d been a couple of towns away, working on a construction project with his brothers, when the F4 tornado touched down, leaving a path of destruction across several Texas counties. The near mile-wide twister had swept across the northernmost part of Braxton, ripping down power lines, damaging buildings and taking the lives of those he loved in a few short minutes.

“You’re done early,” she said, wiping her hands on the apron she had tied about her rounded waist.

“Not really. I have a break before I have to get back to the site. Thought I’d take Katie into town for a hot dog. That is, unless she’s already eaten dinner.”

“You’re in luck. She hasn’t. We were gonna make some fish sticks and fries, but I’m sure she’d rather be having dinner with her daddy. You two haven’t gotten to share many meals together lately.”

He nodded with a frown. As co-owner of Cooper Construction, a business he’d started with his brother Carter five years earlier, he’d had his hands full dealing with the reconstruction needs left behind in the area by the tornado that struck two Decembers ago.

“We’re working overtime to get the recreation center finished before Christmas Eve, but a few unexpected setbacks are pushing us down to the wire.” With so many people counting on him and his brothers to get the job done in time, the pressure was on. He couldn’t let the town down. Couldn’t let Isabel down. Not only did the town council plan to hold their annual community holiday festivities in the newly erected building, they had decided to dedicate the new rec center to the townsfolk that were lost in the storm. So while he hadn’t been there for Isabel when she’d needed him most, he was determined to do whatever it took to see to it the dedication took place as planned. That her memory lived on.

“I have faith in you boys,” Millie said. “You’ll make it in time.”

Faith—it was something he used to hold dear to his heart. That was before he’d lost those he loved in a violent, senseless storm.

“Just don’t stretch yourself too thin,” she warned, drawing Nathan from his troubled thoughts. “Katie needs you.”

And he needed her, too. But it was during this particular time of year he needed to bury himself in his work. Needed to forget about the future that had been so unfairly taken from him. From Katie.

“I might be a little late tonight,” he said, avoiding the issue of his demanding work schedule. “Will that be a problem?”

“Oh, goodness, no,” the older woman replied as her gaze followed the energetic six-year-old around the yard. “I love having Katie here with me. She’s such a breath of fresh air for an old woman like me.”

“You’re far from old,” he told her.

“Old enough,” Millie countered.

“You know, Millie, I don’t know what we would’ve done without you these past two years.”

“I could say the same thing about all of you,” she said, her voice catching. Her husband had been the only other tornado-related fatality in Braxton. He’d been out doing a check of the property’s fence line when the storm struck and he hadn’t been able to make it to shelter. “You boys, little Katie here, and Carter’s lovely wife and children have become my family. I just wish...” She looked his way, her expression doleful.

“Wish what?”

“That you would open yourself up to love again.”

He sighed. “Millie...”

“I know we’ve discussed this before,” she admitted. “But I can’t help it. I wanna see you meet a nice young lady like Carter did. Be happy again. You’re too young to spend the rest of your life alone.”

His brother was happy. No doubt about it. Audra and her two young children meant the world to Carter. But what if something happened to that perfect world he’d walked so willingly into? Like it had to his and Isabel’s?

“I’m not alone,” he said, fighting a frown. “I have Katie.” Though he’d nearly lost her, too, when his own perfect world came crashing down around him. Isabel had taken their young daughter out to his parents’ ranch to help put up their Christmas tree when the twister struck. Katie and his father had been pulled from the rubble and taken to the hospital. Katie survived. His father hadn’t, dying a day after his beloved wife and daughter-in-law.

“Have faith,” his father had said during his final moments in the hospital. “There is always hope beyond the storm.”

But was there really?

“Yes, you do,” Millie agreed with an empathetic smile. “All the more reason for you to start living again. Besides, Katie needs a woman in her life.”

“She already does. Two, in fact. She has you and Audra.” Turning, he whistled to get his daughter’s attention. “Park your bubble wand, Cupcake. Daddy’s taking you to Big Dog’s for dinner.”

“Big Dog’s!” she squealed in delight. “Yay!”

He turned back to Mildred. “Would you like to join us?”

“Thank you for the offer, but I have a hankering for fish sticks for dinner,” she told him with a kind smile. “You go spend some special time with your little girl.”

He nodded. “We’ll be back in an hour or so.” That said, he stepped from the porch. Scooping up his daughter, he carried the giggling little girl out to his truck.

He and Katie were fine just the way they were.

* * *

“Well, if it isn’t my two favorite customers.”

“Hey, Lizzie!” Katie said with a toothy grin.

“Hey, Katie,” the young waitress replied. “I see you roped your daddy into taking you out for dinner again.”

“She’s pretty good at wrangling me into doing her bidding,” Nathan admitted with a chuckle. Lizzie was a sweetheart who was loved by all. She had been waitressing at Big Dog’s ever since graduating from high school. “How’s school going?”

“It’s going,” she said. “A little challenging juggling work and my online classes, but I’m determined to get that degree before I’m too old to do anything with it.”

“You’re only twenty-four,” he reminded her.

“Sometimes it feels like I’m twice that.”

“You’ll manage,” he assured her with a nod.

“I wish I could be as certain as you are,” she replied. “It won’t be long before I’m working, taking online classes and squeezing in the required classes that have to be taken at school. My head is bound to be spinning soon.”

“Keep your eye on the goal,” he told her. “That meteorology degree you’re working toward will help save lives down the road.”

The worry left her face, replaced by a bright smile. “Thanks for the pep talk. Why don’t you go grab yourselves a table while I fetch a couple of menus?”

He looked to his daughter. “Where are we sitting today, Cupcake?” His daughter liked to pick a different one each time they came in.

“Over here,” she exclaimed, skipping to an empty table halfway across the room.

He followed, sitting on one of the chairs with its bright red padded vinyl seat. The bell over the restaurant’s front door jingled, drawing Nathan’s gaze in that direction. Two young women he’d never seen before stepped inside. Both looked to be in their midtwenties. The first had straight, dark hair that stopped at her shoulders. The one walking in behind her had long, red-gold hair that shimmered like flames under the fluorescent lighting of the diner as she moved toward him.

He tipped his cowboy hat with a polite nod as they walked by. “Ladies.” Then he removed it, placing it on the seat of the empty chair beside him.

Both offered up warm smiles, but where the first woman remained focused on finding a table, the fiery-haired woman slowed, her topaz gaze lingering in his direction for a long moment before she continued on to where her friend had slid into an empty booth.

The way the woman had studied him had Nathan wondering if they hadn’t crossed paths somewhere before. Surely, he would have remembered a face like hers if he had. Especially, those eyes. He’d never seen any quite that color. Like warmed honey with flecks of gold mixed in.

Lizzie returned with their menus and two glasses of ice water. “I’ll give you a couple of minutes to look the menu over.”

“Appreciate it,” he told her, opening one of the menus as she walked away. Try as he might, Nathan couldn’t keep his gaze from sliding over to the booth the two women were seated in. The one with the darker hair sat with her back to his and Katie’s table. The other, the one whose searching gaze had come to rest on him for the briefest of moments, faced his way. Her attention, however, was now focused solely on her friend and the conversation they had immediately fallen into, giving him plenty of opportunity to study her more closely.

Delicate features made up her face with the exception of her boldly lashed amber eyes. Bow-shaped lips pursed together as she cast a glance out the window beside her. A second later, perfectly straight, white teeth were sinking into her bottom lip as if she were deeply troubled by something.

It was none of his business, but Nathan found himself wondering what she was worried about.

“Daddy,” his daughter whined from across the table, drawing his attention back to the task at hand.

“Have you decided?” he asked her with a smile.

“Strawberry! Strawberry! Strawberry!”

Nathan chuckled as his daughter bounced up and down on the padded booth seat, excitement lighting her face. “I thought chocolate was your favorite milk shake flavor.”

She stopped bouncing and looked up at him from across the table. “Daddy, it’s a girl’s peroggertiv to change her mind.”

His eyes widened at the unexpected response. “Prerogative?”

Katie rolled her eyes. “That’s what I said.”

“So you did,” he chuckled. “You know, that’s a mighty big word for a six-year-old.”

“Almost seven,” she reminded him. “And Granny Timmons says it every time she breaks her one-cookie-before-supper rule and gives me another one.”

Nathan couldn’t help but smile. Suddenly, Lizzie hurried back to the table. “Sorry to keep you waiting. I had to handle a carryout order.” She flipped open the order pad in her hand and poised her pen over it. “What can I get for the two of you?”

Dragging his focus back to the menu, he said, “Hmm...let’s see. We’ll take three super dogs, ketchup on one, mustard on the other two, a large order of fries and a strawberry milk shake.”

“Will that be all?”

He cast a glance at his daughter over the top of his menu. “How about we make that two strawberry shakes? But we’d like those after my little Cupcake here eats all her dinner.”

“You’ve got it, Mr. Cooper.” Shoving her pencil behind her ear, Lizzie went to place their order.

“Daddy, do you got to go back to work?” his daughter asked, her tiny lips forming a soft pout.

He nodded. “For a little while, honey.”

Her small shoulders sagged at his response.

Guilt tugged at him. “Tell you what. I’ll see what I can do about taking the whole weekend off so you and I can do something special. How’s that sound?”

Her face lit up. “Can we go Christmas shopping?”

An all-too-familiar twinge moved through his heart. One that came every year during the holidays. He didn’t want to shop for presents or put up endless strings of Christmas lights to make his house festive. If it were up to him, he’d bypass the season altogether. But he couldn’t do that to Katie.

“How about we take a walk over to The Toy Box after dinner and start putting together your wish list? Then maybe we can see a movie this weekend.”

“I already know what I want,” she replied with a toothy smile.

He leaned forward, arms folded atop the table in front of him. “Let me guess. You want a new swing set?”

She shook her head, sending her head full of dark brown curls bouncing. “Nope.”

“A doll?”

“Uncle Logan just bought me a new dolly. Guess again,” his daughter urged with youthful impatience.

Rubbing his chin as if in deep thought, he hemmed and hawed for several seconds before saying, “I know. You want a giant pink pony?”

Katie giggled. “That’s silly, Daddy.”

“Okay, I give up. What do you really want for Christmas?”

She leaned forward, folding her arms just like his were and said determinedly, “I want a mommy.”

Nathan was speechless. She’d had a mommy. And he’d had a wife. How could he make Katie understand that no other woman could ever fill the void left behind when Isabel died?

“You have your daddy,” he pointed out, trying to sound unaffected by the turn in their conversation, when in truth he was anything but.

“I know, but Bettina’s mommy braids her hair every morning before school.”

“I can braid your hair.” He’d done so for three of the birthday parties Katie had been invited to that past year and had done a pretty good job of it if he did say so himself.

“But her mommy makes a French braid.”

He hated feeling like he had somehow failed his daughter. Something he never wanted to do. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Her eyes lit up. “About getting me a mommy?”

“About learning how to French braid your hair.”

She sank back against the padded seat, crossing her tiny arms. “But I want a mommy.”

“That’s not gonna happen, Cupcake,” he told her, fighting to keep the turmoil going on inside him from his voice.

Her stubbornness kicking in, his daughter lifted her chin and pouted.

“Katie,” he began, only to be saved from saying anything else as Lizzie came back with their orders, instantly distracting his daughter from her mommy quest. Thankfully. Marrying again was not an option for him.

And it never would be.

* * *

December first had finally arrived. Alyssa McCall walked her best friend back to her SUV, a tight ball of anxiety in her stomach.

“Are you sure you wanna do this?” Erica asked.

She nodded. “Yes.” Despite her fears and reservations, Alyssa truly felt that this was where she needed to be. Where the Lord wanted her to be. Not only would she be helping to reconstruct a part of the town that had been destroyed by the tornado, she would be proving herself to the interior design firm she worked for.

Since the car accident that had nearly taken her life three years before, she’d gone from being a highly sought after interior designer working full-time to being placed on the back burner with her firm, only being given small, mostly part-time jobs.

Pure Perfection Designs, the firm she’d been working for since college, felt that her visual disability, damage done specifically to the visual cortex of her brain in the accident that left her medically diagnosed as <00201Clegally blind,” left her incapable of handling the more intricate design planning and extensive hands-on attention their customers were seeking. While the pathway sending visual messages from her eyes to her brain didn’t always function as it should, she could still manage to perform the tasks required of her job. So this opportunity in Braxton was her chance to prove herself. To her firm and to herself.

“Isn’t there some other way you can contribute to the cause without having to stay so long?” Erica asked with a frown as they stopped beside her friend’s shiny new silver Ford Explorer. “We’re talking about spending most of December in a town where you don’t know anyone.”

Alyssa laughed softly. “Hey! Weren’t you the one giving me the you-can-do-this pep talk back at Big Dog’s when I went into that teeny tiny panic attack?”

“Sorry,” her friend apologized. “I have all the faith in the world you can do this. Really I do. It’s just the mom in me coming out. It can’t be helped.”

“It’s okay,” Alyssa said with a grateful smile. “It’s nice to know I have someone in my life that truly cares about me.”

“The right man is gonna come along,” her friend assured her, knowing that Alyssa longed to have the kind of family Erica had.

“Not if I keep dating Mr. Not-So-Rights.” Not that she had dated much since the accident. As soon as her dates found out she was legally blind, they bailed. She supposed she couldn’t blame them. A relationship with her would involve some major adjustments. But at least her visual impairment wouldn’t get any worse than it was now. She could live with that, even if the men she had dated couldn’t.

“Don’t give up on love,” Erica beseeched her. “Mr. Right is out there.”

Reaching out, Alyssa opened the back passenger door to collect her suitcase. “I suppose I’ll just have to take your word for it.”

She leaned into the vehicle and grabbed her suitcase. Lowering the black spinner onto the sidewalk beside her, she stepped away from the SUV and turned to her friend. “I guess I’ll see you in a few weeks. Maybe sooner.”

Erica gave her a hug. “If you change your mind about doing this—”

“I know,” she said, cutting her off with a grin. “You’re only a phone call away.”

“I’ll miss you,” Erica called out as she made her way around to the driver’s side door.

“Same here,” she replied, lifting her hand in a wave as her friend drove away. Then she stood watching as the blurred image of her friend’s SUV disappeared from sight. A sudden surge of panic had her entire body tensing.

Her hand moved over the soft leather of the purse she had draped across her as she fought the urge to dig inside it for her cell phone. No, she thought determinedly, she would not call Erica to come back for her. Fear would not control her. She could do this. Closing her eyes, she prayed for the Lord to give her the strength to do what she had come to do. As she did so, a sense of calm slowly settled over her.

Opening her eyes, she let her gaze drift down what she knew to be the main street of town. Braxton, much smaller than San Antonio according to the information she’d found on the town’s website, stretched out before her in a distortion of shapes and colors. The closer buildings she could almost make out, just not the fine details. Never since the damage done to her vision from the accident had she felt the loss of her perfect eyesight more. She was far from familiar surroundings in a town where she knew no one. At the same time, she was grateful that her impaired vision would get no worse when so many others were forced to live their lives in total darkness.

“Hurry up, Daddy!” a tiny voice squealed behind her.

Alyssa turned just as a flash of red whooshed by, bumping into her with enough force to knock her off-balance.

“Sorry!” the little girl called back over her shoulder as she raced away.

A strong hand closed around Alyssa’s arm to steady her. “Sorry about that,” a deep, very male voice apologized. “I’m afraid my daughter had a little too much sugar at dinner.”

Her gaze climbed up the giant of a man standing before her. He had broad shoulders, a black cowboy hat shading a charming smile as he towered over her five-foot-two-inch frame. As their gazes met, Alyssa was startled by the intensity of the man’s blue eyes. “It’s all right,” she managed.

He released the grasp he had on her arm and held out his hand. “Nathan Cooper.”

“Alyssa McCall,” she said, smiling as she placed her much smaller hand into his. “You were in the restaurant.”

He nodded. “It’s one of my daughter’s favorite places,” he explained with a warm smile. “Best milk shakes around if you find you have a hankering for one.”

She laughed softly. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”

“Daddy, come on!” The excited cry was followed by the sound of bells tinkling as the store’s door swung open.

Releasing her hand, his gaze shifted toward the store. “I’d best get in there before my hyperactive little bull takes out the entire china shop.”

“This is a china shop?” she replied in confusion.

“What?” he asked with a chuckle.

Alyssa’s brow creased with worry. “I’m supposed to be at The Toy Box.”

He studied her for a long moment before pointing to the sign that hung over the storefront. One that was little more than a blur to her. “You’re in the right place. Largest mom and pop toy store in the county.”

She let out a sigh of relief. “You had me worried for a minute.” She reached for the handle of her suitcase, but he was faster.

“Allow me.”

“There’s no need—”

He held up his other hand, effectively cutting off her refusal of his help. “It’s the least I can do after my daughter practically ran you over.”

She relented, allowing him to carry her suitcase for her. And he didn’t stop there. He opened the door and held it, motioning her inside.

“Thank you,” she said as she moved past him into the store. If everyone in Braxton was as kind as Nathan Cooper, her stay would be far easier than she’d prayed it would be.

Chapter Two

“You aren’t by any chance a traveling Slinky sales rep, are you?” Nathan Cooper asked as he followed Alyssa inside.

“Excuse me?”

“The suitcase,” he said, with a charming grin. “I’m guessing you’re in toy sales of some sort.”

She laughed softly at his teasing. “Not even close. I’m here to see Mr. Clark.”

He nodded.

“Look, Daddy!” his daughter exclaimed as she pointed to the collection of animated figurines strategically placed in the storefront window. “It’s Rudolph.”

Alyssa stepped closer to watch the musical display. “You know, Rudolph’s story was first told by Robert L. May in 1939 in a booklet he created for a department store called Montgomery Ward. That was over seventy years ago.”

The little girl tipped her tiny face upward in wide-eyed amazement. “Rudolph’s that old?”

“The story is that old,” Alyssa explained with a smile. “But Rudolph is a very special reindeer,” Alyssa said. “He doesn’t get old. In fact, none of Santa’s reindeer do.”

“Because they’re special, too!” Katie exclaimed.

Alyssa nodded. “That’s right.”

Nathan called out to his daughter. “We don’t have much time, Cupcake. You’d best get started on that list.”

His daughter, needing no more coaxing, scurried away to disappear between the aisles. Alyssa had spent enough time in physical therapy not to miss the slight limp to the little girl’s gait. Probably nothing more than a bruised knee, but it brought Alyssa back to a time in her life she’d just as soon forget.

She turned to the girl’s father. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to distract her.”

His gaze shifted in the direction his daughter had gone. “It’s all right. Katie tends to get sidetracked easily and we don’t have much time. I have to get back to work soon.”

“Daddy, look at this!” His daughter hopped across the wood floor on a white stick pony.

Nathan Cooper smiled at her lovingly. “You’re a regular cowgirl.”

“Can I have it?”

“Not today, Cupcake, but we’ll put it on the list.”

“We can’t put it on the list until you try it,” she told him, worry creasing her tiny face.

“Me?” he replied, clearly confused by her request. “Why would I need to try it?”

“To know if it’s a good horse or not.”

“Honey...”

“Please, Daddy. You know everything about horses.”

He glanced in Alyssa’s direction. “I’m keeping you from your appointment.”

“I’m a few minutes early, actually.”

“You’ll probably find Rusty in the back room, watching The Weather Channel.”

Her smile faded. “Why? Are you expecting bad weather?” That would make getting around on foot so much harder.

He shook his head. “Nothing more than a light, though undoubtedly cold rain. And not until later this evening. Rusty just likes keeping up-to-date when it comes to the weather.” That said, he reached for the toy pony his daughter was holding out to him.

Completely understandable, she thought, considering what the town had gone through. Reaching out, she retrieved the handle of her suitcase from his grasp. “Thank you so much for your help.”

“My pleasure,” he told her with a tip of his coal-black cowboy hat. One just as dark as the five-o’clock shadow on his firm jaw and midnight hair.

She parked her suitcase up against the wall next to the opening that led to the store’s back room. A glance back over her shoulder found Nathan Cooper straddling the painted stick. His large frame making the toy appear even smaller.

He raised the horse’s head with an impressively realistic whinny, eliciting laughter from his little girl and a smile from Alyssa. Turning away, she stepped into the smaller room in search of Mr. Clark.

Having seen the playful, loving interaction between Nathan Cooper and his young daughter, she now knew what a true knight on a white horse was. Even if this particular knight was dressed in blue jeans and a flannel shirt and the horse had mop strings for hair.

“Mr. Clark?”

The leather chair creaked in protest as it spun away from the paper-strewn desk. A compact television with The Weather Channel playing on it sat atop a smaller table next to the desk.

“Forgive me,” the older man apologized as he pushed his portly form out of the chair. “I didn’t hear the front bell ring. Then again my hearing hasn’t been the same since the tornado.”

“It’s quite all right,” Alyssa replied with an empathetic smile, speaking slightly louder than she had been. She stepped forward, extending her hand. “I’m Alyssa McCall. We spoke on the phone.”

“Ah, yes,” he replied with a nod as he shook her hand in greeting. “So glad to have you here.”

“I’m thrilled to be a part of this.” More than he could ever know.

He stepped past her to a small table by the window to pour himself some coffee. “Would you care for some?”

“No, thank you.” It was too late in the day for caffeine. She’d be up all night. And after the keyed-up day she’d had so far, she was going to require a good night’s sleep in order to give her all to the job the next morning.

“Your firm’s offer to help out with the finishing touches on the recreation center was quite generous, Mrs. McCall. On behalf of the town council, we are truly grateful.”

“It’s Miss,” she gently corrected. “And my company was more than glad to be of part of such a positive undertaking for your community.”

“I have to admit,” he began as he took a sip of the coffee he’d just poured himself, “that we never expected to have a professional interior designer join us on this project. I’m beyond thrilled.”

She just hoped he wouldn’t be disappointed. While she wanted to believe her skills were still sharp, not having as much opportunity to make use of those skills as she once had meant there was a possibility that her expertise might have diminished somewhat.

“Miss McCall?”

Alyssa snapped out of her thoughts with an apologetic smile. “Yes?”

“I was just saying that Myrna and Doris have a room for you over at The Cat’s Cradle.”

“The Cat’s Cradle?”

“It’s the boardinghouse they run at the far end of town. I’m sure you’re aware the town agreed to take care of your accommodations during your stay here. The Wilson sisters have very generously offered to provide your lodgings at no cost to the town.”

“That’s so kind of them, but isn’t renting rooms at the boardinghouse their livelihood? I’m more than willing to pay for my stay there.”

“Nonsense.” He waved the suggestion off. “In fact, the council already offered to pay them, but they refused to accept any money. This is their contribution to the rebuilding of our town. Besides, those two run the boardinghouse because they rarely venture away from The Cat’s Cradle and welcome any and all company that comes their way. Neither one of them is in need of money. Trust me.”

So far every person she had met or heard about in Braxton was unbelievably kind and giving. That eased her worries about being in a town where she knew no one. “I look forward to meeting them.”

“I’m sure that goes both ways.” The words had barely left his mouth when his smile faded, replaced by a worried frown. “You aren’t allergic to cats are you?”

She shook her head. “Not that I know of. Why?”

“Because Doris has a real soft spot for felines.” He started back to his desk. “I’ll call and let them know you’re on your way. You can stop by the rec center in the morning to see how things are coming along and decide on its finishing touches. Light fixtures, paint, trim and furniture of some sort.”

“I’d like that. Is the boardinghouse within walking distance?”

“Maybe when the sun’s shining. But there’s the possibility of rain moving in. You’d be better off driving there.”

“I’m afraid I don’t own a car.”

“Then how on earth did you get here?”

“A friend of mine drove me here,” she explained. “She’ll be back to pick me up once the job is finished.”

“Which should be just in time for our annual Christmas Eve celebration. You and your friend are welcome to join us for it if you have the time. And while I’m at it, I would highly recommend seeing the reenactment of our Savior’s birth the local church here puts on Christmas Eve afternoon. Brings tears to a grown man’s eyes I tell you.”

“It sounds wonderful. But Erica has family in San Antonio she’ll be spending time with over the holidays. She’s not scheduled to pick me up until the day after Christmas. But even if she can’t make it for the church’s program, I’ll be certain not to miss it.”

He sipped at the steaming coffee, studying her curiously. “No holiday plans for you?”

She lowered her gaze to the papers on his desk. “No.”

“Well, we’re glad to have you join us here in Braxton for the holidays.”

“Thank you, Mr. Clark. I really appreciate that,” she told him with a smile. “Now, can you tell me how to get to The Cat’s Cradle?”

Rusty Clark’s gaze shifted past her and a smile moved across his weathered face. “This here young man can take you there.”

She turned to find Nathan Cooper’s broad shoulders filling the open doorway.

“Take her where?” the cowboy replied, his gaze meeting hers.

“To The Cat’s Cradle,” the elderly store owner said. “Now that the sun’s gone down, it’s sure to be too cold for our town’s guest to be walking that far.”

Nathan nodded. “You’ll get no argument from me there.”

“I don’t mind the cold,” she insisted. “Besides, I’d rather not impose.”

“It’s no imposition” came his husky reply.

“Miss McCall,” Rusty said, “I’d like you to meet Nathan Cooper.”

“We’ve already met,” she said, her gaze fixed on the man in the doorway. His face wasn’t as clear as it had been when she’d looked up at him out on the sidewalk outside, but that didn’t matter. She recalled every chiseled contour of his handsome face. The startling blue of his eyes. The slightly crooked hitch of his smile.

Rusty Clark clapped his hands together. “Wonderful. It saves me the time of making introductions. Something tells me the two of you are gonna work real good together.”

“We’ll what?” Both Nathan and Alyssa replied in unison.

“I assumed you already knew, seeing as how the two of you are already acquainted. Nathan and his brother’s company is in charge of construction for the rec center.”

She looked his way. “I had no idea. I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ve done so far. I can’t wait to start on the design plans for it.”

Nathan Cooper held up a hand. “Hold up. Design plans?” He shot a questioning look in the older man’s direction.

“Miss McCall’s design firm has ever so generously offered to donate their services for the project and have sent us one of their top designers to do the job.”

“I thought I was handling the project through to completion,” he replied as he moved farther into the room to join them. “Does the council have some sort of problem with the work I’ve done so far?”

Mr. Clark shook his head. “Goodness, no. Your work, as usual, has been top-notch.”

Alyssa bit at her bottom lip. She hadn’t meant to step on anyone’s toes when she’d accepted her firm’s offer to send her to Braxton for this project. “If my helping out is gonna be a problem...”

“Nonsense,” the councilman assured her. “Your assistance is more than welcome here. Nathan has already given this town so much of his time when it comes to the rebuilding efforts, accepting your offer was the least I could do for him.”

“You might have let me know sooner,” the glowering cowboy replied stiffly, his entire demeanor changing.

“Her firm only contacted me a few days ago with their very kind offer,” Mr. Clark explained. “I had hoped to surprise you.”

“Well, you succeeded.” Some of the harshness in Nathan Cooper’s expression faded as he looked her way. “Welcome to the team.”

“Thank you.”

“Now that we have that settled, what brings you here?” Mr. Clark inquired of Nathan. “Problem at the site?”

Nathan shook his head. “No. We’re moving right along, all things considered. I just stopped by with Katie so she could add a few dozen more things to her Christmas list.”

The older man chuckled. “Just like her moth...” His words trailed off.

A deafening silence fell in the room.

Alyssa looked between the two men, unsure of what had just happened. The tension in the air was palpable.

“I really should be getting back to work,” Nathan said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. He turned to her. “Miss McCall?”

“Alyssa, please,” she replied. “And I’m ready to leave whenever you are.”

“We’ll talk more tomorrow,” Mr. Clark told her as he walked them out to the front of the store.

“I look forward to it.” She reached for the handle of her suitcase only to find a much larger hand already wrapped around it—again. The warmth of his skin soothed her chilled fingers. Glancing up, she found Nathan Cooper staring down at her.

“Allow me.”

“Thank you, but I think I’ll walk to the boardinghouse after all. The crisp air will do me good.”

He shrugged his broad shoulders, looking almost relieved. “Suit yourself.”

* * *

Releasing his hold on her suitcase, Nathan tipped his hat, then turned toward the aisles of toys. “Let’s go, Cupcake,” he hollered. “Daddy’s gotta get back to work.”

A tiny whine floated through the air somewhere in the vicinity of the doll aisle. “But I’m not done yet,” his daughter said as she stepped into view.

“We’ll come back another time,” he assured her. Right now he just had to get out of there. Away from the festive holiday music and mechanical Christmas characters. Away from the woman who was going to invade his life and stir up memories he’d just as soon forget.

He flexed his hand. The one she’d touched briefly. A light, gentle touch. Accidental. But it had been so long since he’d had any sort of physical contact with anyone other than his daughter it had taken him completely off guard.

“Daddy, what’s this?” his daughter inquired as she skipped up to him.

He stared at the sprig of green tied with a red bow, which she held pinched between her fingers. “It’s mistletoe.”

“Whose toe?”

Alyssa McCall’s soft laughter filled the room. “It’s called mistletoe. Back in eighteenth-century England, if a young woman stood under some mistletoe, brightly trimmed with ribbons, she couldn’t refuse to be kissed. In many cases, that special kiss under the mistletoe led to love and marriage.”

Nathan stared at her in disbelief. Was the woman a walking encyclopedia on holiday traditions?

“It can make people fall in love?” Katie repeated in awe.

Miss McCall nodded. “So they say. Apparently, there’s something very special and romantic about mistletoe.”

“Can we buy some, Daddy?”

“Not today.” Or ever. “Now go put that back where you found it and let’s get going.”

She scowled as she returned the sprig of mistletoe to its hook on the aisle’s end cap display.

“I’d reconsider taking that ride with Nathan to the boardinghouse,” Mr. Clark advised Alyssa as she neared the door, pulling her suitcase behind her. “It’s gonna be a mighty cold walk to the other end of town.”

“In the rain,” Katie added as she bounced over to press her nose against the store’s front window.

“It’s raining?” the woman who had so unsettled Nathan gasped.

“Big fat drops!” his daughter exclaimed.

Alyssa looked his way.

Nathan shrugged. “Looks like they were wrong about the rain not moving in until later.”

“Oh, no.”

“My offer still stands.”

“If you don’t mind,” she replied, looking less than thrilled.

“We don’t mind a bit,” Katie answered for him as she opened the door, letting a gust of wind-blown rain inside. “Daddy’s got a real big truck with a real big seat.”

Rusty’s hearty chuckle followed them out the door.

Nathan swept Katie up in his arms, carrying her out to the truck. The last thing they needed was for her to slip on the wet sidewalk and reinjure her bad leg.

“How old are you?” his daughter asked Miss McCall as they settled into the truck’s roomy cab.

“Katie,” Nathan admonished. Was there ever a more inquisitive child?

“It’s okay,” Alyssa McCall replied with a smile. “I’m used to dealing with children’s questions. I teach art at a recreational center back in San Antonio.”

Her reply took him off guard. “I must have misunderstood. I thought Rusty said you were an interior designer.”

“I am. I have my degree as well as plenty of work experience in the field. However, I’m only working part-time in interior design at the present.” She glanced down at Katie. “And to answer your question, I’m twenty-seven.”

“Are you married?”

“Katie Marie!” he gently reprimanded, staring down at his too-curious-for-her-own-good little girl who was seated on the bench seat between them.

The question didn’t seem to daunt Miss McCall who answered with a simple, “No, Katie, I’m not.”

“My daddy’s—”

“Here we are,” Nathan announced, effectively cutting off his daughter’s reply. The large wooden sign welcoming guests to The Cat’s Cradle swung in the cold, wet, winter wind. It was a welcome sight as he turned into the half-circle drive. A second later, he was pulling up in front of the old Victorian boardinghouse.

Katie squirmed in the seat. “It’s the kitty house!”

“She has a thing for cats,” he explained.

Miss McCall looked down at his daughter. “Me, too.”

“Do you have a kitty of your own?” Katie asked, curiosity lighting her eyes.

“I’m afraid not. No pets are allowed in the town house I rent back in San Antonio.”

“I don’t have a pet either,” his daughter said with a sigh. “Daddy’s afraid—”

Nathan cleared his throat, cutting in. “I really do have to get back to work.” He had to make certain the rec center was completed in time. Not so much for the Christmas Eve party that was to be held there, but for the dedication ceremony that would open the festivities, honoring those lost in the storm. He hadn’t been there for Isabel that day, but he would be there to see the project through and his wife’s memory honored.

“Of course,” Miss McCall said apologetically. “I’m so sorry for throwing you off schedule.”

“It’s not a problem,” he replied as he swung open the driver’s side door. “Wait here, Cupcake. I’m gonna get Miss McCall’s suitcase and then see her to the door.”

“I wanna see the kitties.”

“Another time, honey,” he said, ruffling her hair. “Uncle Carter is waiting for Daddy to come help him with the rec center.”

She let out an exaggerated sigh. “Okay.”

“You don’t have to see me to the door,” Miss McCall told him. “I’ll just grab my suitcase and you can go.”

“Daddy doesn’t mind helping you,” his daughter cut in before he had a chance to reply. “He has really big muscles.”

Miss McCall met his gaze, the corners of her mouth twitching as if trying very hard to suppress a grin. “Well, then, I guess I should let your daddy help me.”

“Will I get to see you again?” his daughter asked, a little too eagerly for Nathan’s comfort.

Alyssa offered her a warm smile. “You can pretty much count on it.”

Not if he could help it. Not with Katie in mommy search mode. Nathan stepped out into the rain and rounded the truck. Opening the tailgate, he pulled her suitcase out from beneath the covered bed.

“Thank you for the ride,” she said as she stepped up beside him, attempting to shield the both of them from the rain with the floral print umbrella she held clutched in her hand.

“Thank you for handling my daughter’s meddling questions so well,” he said as he walked her up the wet porch steps. Reaching out, he knocked on the door.

“Children are naturally curious. I didn’t mind,” she assured him as she lowered the umbrella to shake the excess rain from it. “You’re blessed to have such an adorable little girl, curiosity and all.”

“I tend to think so, but then my opinion might be a bit biased when it comes to my daughter.”

She turned to look up at him. “About my helping out with the recreation center...”

A slight frown pulled at his mouth, try as he might to fight it. “Yes?”

“My intention in coming here was to do something to help your town,” she said, closing the umbrella. “If that is gonna be a problem for you...”

“Don’t trouble yourself any over that,” he told her. “I’ll deal with it.”

Chapter Three

He’d deal with it. Not a very promising start to their working relationship. The door swung open before Alyssa had a chance to reply and a tall, slender woman with a beehive of silver hair waved them inside.

“Come on in out of the weather, you two. I’ll heat some water up for tea. Something to take the chill off.”

“Appreciate the offer, Doris,” Nathan Cooper replied with a smile, “but I can’t stay. I’m just dropping Miss McCall here off.”

The older woman looked to Alyssa. “Myrna and I have been expecting you. Rusty called to let us know you were on your way. Welcome to The Cat’s Cradle.”

“Thank you for having me,” she said, propping her wet umbrella against the porch wall next to the door before stepping inside.

“It’s our pleasure,” Doris said, her gaze shifting to Nathan. “Are you sure you can’t stay for tea?”

Nathan set her suitcase down in the front foyer. “Katie’s waiting for me in the truck. I have to run her out to Mildred’s place before I head back to work.”

“Just be careful on those roads,” Doris warned. “It’s really coming down hard out there.”

“You can count on it.” His gaze shifted to Alyssa. “Guess I’ll be seeing you tomorrow.”

She nodded, then stood watching as the blurred outline of Nathan Cooper faded away behind a curtain of rain.

“A fine-looking young man, that one,” Doris muttered behind her.

She turned from the window. “I was watching the rain.”

“Of course you were, dear.” She turned toward the winding oak staircase and cupped her hands to her mouth. “Myrna! Our guest is here.”

Maybe she had been admiring the way Nathan Cooper carried himself, but that was it. She was there to do a job. Not to start something up with a man on the divorce rebound. Katie would just have to look elsewhere for someone for her daddy.

An elderly woman wearing a bright floral housecoat and fuzzy pink slippers came scurrying down the stairs. “Miss McCall!”

“Call me Alyssa, please.”

Myrna stood before Alyssa, a welcoming smile parting her wrinkled cheeks. Her blue-gray hair hung in a single braid over one shoulder. “We’re so happy to have you staying here with us.”

“Indeed,” Doris agreed with a nod. “Braxton isn’t exactly the tourist capital of Texas.”

A fluffy white ball shot down the stairs and past their legs, disappearing into an adjoining room.

Myrna laughed. “That blur of white is the newest addition to our family, Bluebell.”

“You like cats, don’t you?” Doris asked.

Alyssa nodded. “Yes, I do.” Although she’d never had one of her own.

“Good, because our dear little ones tend to crave affection.”

She could relate to their need.

“You have the prettiest eyes,” Doris observed, then leaned closer in her inspection of them.

Too bad they didn’t work. That wasn’t exactly true. Her eyes were perfect. The visual cortex part of her brain, which had been damaged in the accident, was the reason for her visual impairment.

Myrna leaned closer, as well, inspecting Alyssa’s eyes through her glasses. “She does. They’re just like topaz under the sun.”

“Goes well with her hair color.”

Doris nodded. “I always thought green eyes complimented auburn hair the best, but I do believe I was wrong.”

Alyssa blushed at their compliments and their close scrutiny. “You’re both too sweet.”

Just then two kittens with calico markings scampered into the entryway. Doris bent to pick them up. “This is Rhett and his favorite girl, Scarlett.”

“Well, hello there,” Alyssa said, scratching each of them behind their ears.

“Come on, dear,” Doris said. “Let me give you a quick tour of the downstairs. Then I’ll show you to your room.”

“I’d like that.”

“I’ll go put some water on for tea,” Myrna called out as Doris led her into the parlor.

The house was purely Victorian, from the striped damask curtains to the countless gilded picture frames that lined the walls. Taking a walk through the rooms helped Alyssa familiarize herself with the house’s layout. Like Alyssa’s town house, the women’s home was filled with warm, white lights and holiday decor.

When the tour ended, Doris led her upstairs to the room she’d be staying in. Alyssa stepped inside and looked around, her gaze drawn to the off-white, antique cast-iron bed. She walked over to it, running her fingers over the faded beige ribbon-threaded quilt.

“Our mother made it,” the older woman announced behind her.

“It’s beautiful.”

“She loved quilting. Unfortunately, neither Myrna nor I inherited our mother’s sewing abilities,” she said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

Alyssa turned to face her. “We all have our own special abilities. You and Myrna run a boardinghouse, and yet you still find time to take in strays and love them unconditionally. It’s more than some children can say about their own parents.” The second the words left her mouth, Alyssa wished she could take them back.

“Your parents didn’t show you love?”

“I was simply making a reference,” Alyssa replied with a nervous laugh.

“Of course you were,” Doris said from the open doorway. “If you ever need to talk, dear, Myrna and I are very good listeners. Now you go get settled in and then come down to the kitchen and join us for a cup of tea.”

“I’ll do that. Thank you.” Tears pricked at the backs of her eyes as the older woman stepped from the room, closing the door behind her. No, she would not think about her mother and the love she’d never been able to show Alyssa. That was something that would never change. Her mother was gone now, so there was no use wishing for what could never be.

Instead, she would strive to focus on only the good things God had blessed her with in Braxton. Like the kindhearted sisters who had so generously opened their home to her. Like the adorably inquisitive Katie Cooper and her stick-pony-riding father.

* * *

Nathan glanced toward his daughter, who appeared to be thoroughly captivated by the rain outside. As long as it wasn’t storming with gusting winds, she was fine. Let the wind pick up and Katie became panicked. Understandable, all things considered.

He thought back to what she’d said earlier. Since losing her mother, Katie had never once voiced her discontent with the way things were. He’d assumed that Mildred’s presence in her life, and then that of Audra’s, satisfied any need his daughter might have for a mother figure. And maybe it had in the past, but something had changed. His little girl was looking for a mom.

That tugged at his heart. He would give his daughter the world if he could, but giving her another mother was asking for more than he was ready to do. And what if he did remarry again, for Katie’s sake, and things didn’t work out? Where would that leave his daughter? Motherless again. Heartbroken. Emotionally withdrawn. No, it wasn’t worth the risk.

So how was he supposed to handle this situation? Ignore it? Tell Katie to stop wishing for what she could never have? It was moments like this that he missed Isabel the most. She always knew the right thing to say.

He pulled up to Mildred’s place and shifted the truck into Park.

“Daddy, look how big the puddles are outside,” Katie exclaimed, her lightly freckled nose pressed against the passenger window.

“It’s coming down in bucketfuls,” he acknowledged with a nod. Crazy weather patterns. High sixties and sunshine that afternoon. Cold rain that evening.

“I wanna jump in them.”

At least his daughter’s thoughts had moved on to something other than Alyssa McCall’s marital status. He tossed his partially soaked cowboy hat onto the backseat to dry, then stepped out into the rain. As he rounded the back of the truck, he shrugged out of his coat. Then, opening the passenger door, he gathered his daughter up in his arms, wrapping her up in his coat to shield her from the rain’s onslaught. “The winds are picking up. We don’t want you blowing away.”

Katie stiffened in his arms with a muffled gasp. “I don’t wanna be blown away,” she cried out, her arms clutching his neck.

He mentally chastised himself for his careless choice of words. He tightened his hold on her with a sigh. “Don’t you worry, honey, Daddy would never let that happen to you.”

“But it happened to Mommy.”

And there wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t blame himself for Isabel’s death. He’d been off with his brothers working on a job site. He hadn’t been there when his family had needed him the most.

Before he had a chance to reply, the front door swung open and Mildred walked out. “There you two are. I was beginning to worry.”

He set Katie on her feet. “We had to swing by The Cat’s Cradle first.”

“Yeah,” Katie joined in, her mood shifting back to its normal carefree state. “We had to give Alyssa a ride there.”

“Miss McCall,” Nathan corrected as he shoved a hand back through his wet hair.

“Miss McCall?”

He nodded. “Apparently, she’s gonna be helping out with the decorative touches to the rec center.”

“She’s real pretty,” his daughter added with a glance in his direction.

The older woman smiled, her gaze shifting to Nathan, as well. “Oh, is she now?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t pay that much attention.” But he had. Enough to know that Alyssa’s hair was an unusual shade of red-gold that seemed to come to life under the light. Enough to know that her thick lashes framed eyes the color of warm honey.

“I see,” the older woman said, but her expression said that she didn’t quite believe him. “Come on in out of that rain and you can tell me all about this Miss McCall.”

“I’m soaked clean through,” he said, nudging his daughter into the warmth of Mildred’s house. “I need to swing by the house and pick up some dry clothes before I head back to work.” What he failed to add was that Miss McCall was the last person he wanted to talk about. She was invading his thoughts with those honey-colored eyes and disarming smile, and was taking over part of the job he should have been overseeing and making his daughter want things, like a new mother, even more, which she couldn’t have. Reaching out, he ruffled his daughter’s hair. “I should be back to pick Katie up around nine thirty.”

“Why don’t you just leave Katie here for the night? No sense traveling on these roads any more than you have to on an evening like this.”

Katie clapped her hands together. “Can I stay, Daddy? Please! Please!”

Mildred was right. The rain coming down as hard and fast as it was could make for unexpected flash floods. Better safe than sorry. “All right, Cupcake. I’ll swing by at lunch tomorrow to check on you.”

“Yippee!”

He bent to kiss the top of her baby-fine hair and then straightened, turning to Mildred. “Call my cell if you need me.”

“We’ll be fine. You just concentrate on getting the rec center done. The town is counting on you.”

He nodded. “I’m doing my best.”

He was the kind of man who put his heart into every job, but this time was different. Every minute, no every second he spent working toward finishing the rec center in time for the town’s Christmas Eve party was a painful reminder of what he and Katie had lost. Of the Christmases they would no longer share as a complete and happy family.

Despite the turmoil that filled him, he had committed himself to seeing the job through. At least, as far as the building’s structure was concerned. Rusty had procured help putting up the holiday trimmings from the church’s Bible group as well as the local ladies’ bingo club. Katie would go to the party with Nathan’s brother Carter and Audra and their kids, allowing him to avoid all that holiday cheer. Then afterward, they’d drop Katie off at home and the two of them would have a quiet Christmas Eve at home, just the two of them.

Pushing all thoughts of Christmas aside, Nathan turned his focus back to the road ahead. Water covering the pavement made hydroplaning a possibility. He eased up on the gas as he drove down the wet road. Leaving Katie at Mildred’s for the night had definitely been a wise decision.

As soon as he arrived at his place, Nathan called Carter, leaving a message on his brother’s cell phone that he was on his way. Then he hurried upstairs to his room to change out of his wet clothes.

When he finally arrived at the rec center, nearly half an hour later, Nathan slid out of the warmth of his truck and back into the cold, wet rain. Raising the collar of the dry coat he’d switched over to, he hurried across the rain-soaked parking area to the newly erected building. One that housed an indoor swimming pool, a TV and game room, an arts and craft room as well as several other recreation-devoted rooms. In the spring, once the weather cleared, an outdoor basketball court, a couple of shuffleboard courts and several picnic tables would be added.

He swung open the front door of the newly constructed building and stepped inside. Removing his jacket, he hung it over a nearby sawhorse, set his still-damp cowboy hat atop it and then moved farther into the room, spotting his brother atop a ladder. “Sorry I’m late.”

“Don’t apologize,” Carter called down from his perch where he stood working on the wiring for one of the overhead lights. “You’ve been working day and night to get this job done. Katie needs you, too.”

No, what Katie needs is a mommy, Nathan thought, his daughter’s words having burrowed themselves under his skin like a thorn.

“How is my little Katydid?” his brother asked as he moved down the ladder.

“Lively as usual,” he muttered, looking around. “Where’s the crew?”

“In the arts and crafts room, finishing the trim on the windows.”

Nathan nodded distractedly.

“Something troubling you?” Carter asked as he walked over to join him. Just a year younger than Nathan, Carter had always been able to read his moods. Their momma used to tell them they were meant to be twins, only Carter decided to hold out a year longer before making his own grand entrance into the world.

“No,” he muttered. “Why?”

His brother snorted. “You always were a poor liar. What’s going on?”

Nathan stepped past him to collect his tool belt from the eight-foot folding table that held an array of power tools along with several boxes of nails and drywall screws. “Katie wants a new mother,” he said with a sigh as he slung the leather belt around his waist and buckled it.

“What?” his brother choked, sounding every bit as surprised as he’d been.

He turned with a frown. “That’s what my daughter wants for Christmas. A mother. She even went so far as to give her own little ‘mommy interview’ to this woman who just arrived in town.”

His brother shook his head with a sigh. “Tough one. Not that I don’t understand Katie’s wanting a mother in her life. I reckon a girl needs that.”

“She has Mildred and Audra. That’s as close as she’s gonna get to having a mother figure in her life. Speaking of which, how is Audra doing?”

His brother’s face beamed at the question. “She’s holding up. The morning sickness tends to get the better of her, but knowing the wondrous gift we’re gonna have soon helps get her through the day. The doctor says the nausea should only last another month or so.”

“Glad to hear it. You couldn’t have chosen a better mother for your child.” Audra had given up everything she’d known to move to Braxton with her children after her husband divorced her, abandoning his children in the process. She was determined to give them a better life. Then she met his brother and they fell in love, giving her children the true family they had always wanted.

“Agreed,” Carter said, a hint of heartfelt emotion pulling at his voice. “Getting back to Katie’s request for a momma. She’s too young to understand what you went through when you lost Isabel. But I do. I remember praying for you every day. Wishing I could do something to bring back the brother I knew. One who used to live life to its fullest. Who smiled often. And loved completely.”

“Carter—”

His brother held up a hand, cutting him off. “I don’t blame you for being afraid of letting someone else into your heart.” Reaching out, he clasped a hand atop his brother’s shoulder. “I saw what losing Isabel did to you. I had no intention of ever putting myself in that position. But then the Lord brought Audra into my life and I couldn’t keep myself from loving her. Our daddy was right. We have to have faith. In ourselves. In our love. And, more importantly, in the Lord’s plan for us.”

Their father had told them from his deathbed in the hospital, Have faith. There is always hope beyond the storm. Despite those weakly uttered last words, all three of Caldwell Cooper’s sons had decided that day that faith wasn’t enough. If it had been, their loved ones would still be there. They’d made a pact that none of them would ever take the risk of loving and losing again. Katie was the only exception to their rule. She was already a part of their lives and needed all the love they could give her. Then Carter had to go and let his heart get in the way of common sense. But Nathan understood. Audra was a woman worth loving and she had given her heart completely to his brother.

“So tell me about this woman our little Katie interrogated,” his brother said, lifting an arm to wipe the sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his flannel shirt.

“She’s from San Antonio,” Nathan told him. “Apparently, she’s an interior designer. Her company offered to send her here pro bono to help with the finishing touches to the rec center.”

His brother arched a questioning brow. “Rusty accepted that without consulting us?”

He nodded.

“I thought we were supposed to be handling the entire project,” Carter muttered, clearly ruffled by Rusty’s lack of communication with them on the matter.

“So did I.”

His brother shrugged. “Reckon we can use all the help we can get if we wanna get the rec center completely finished in time. I just wish Rusty had given us some notice.”

“From what I understand, this was a last-minute offer.” His frown deepened. “Apparently Alyssa has a degree and several years experience, and the board jumped at the chance to have her join in on the project—”

“Alyssa?” his brother cut in, his dark brow arching even further.

“Alyssa McCall. That’s her name,” Nathan stated matter-of-factly. “As I was saying, she has expertise in interior design and Rusty jumped at the opportunity to have her handle that part of the project.”

His brother stroked his whisker-stubbled chin in thought, then let his hand fall away with a casual shrug. “I suppose it’s all for the same cause and she does have a degree...”

“We don’t need her help,” Nathan muttered in irritation. Making decisions on the final touches for a lot of their jobs had once been Isabel’s responsibility. She hadn’t needed some fancy degree to make everything come together. She was a natural. Now he and Carter, along with whoever was contracting their construction services, made those decisions.

“Look at it this way,” his brother said, understanding in his eyes. “It’ll free up a little more time for you to spend with Katie instead of spending it all here.”

Nathan scoffed. “You’re beginning to sound like Mildred.”

“She must be rubbing off on me,” his brother said with a grin. “So, is she pretty?”

“Mildred?”

Carter rolled his eyes. “I already know what a pretty gal Millie is. I was referring to Miss McCall. More important, is she single?”

Nathan groaned. “I’ve just figured out where Katie gets her nosy nature from.”

“I wasn’t asking for you. I was asking for Logan.”

“Our brother happens to be a confirmed bachelor,” he replied with a frown.

His brother eyed him curiously.

“What?” Nathan demanded.

“The little lady caught your eye,” Carter accused, his grin widening. “That’s why you’re so bristly about her being here. She must be a pretty one.”

Nathan’s patience with the conversation ended. “I don’t care how pretty she is. The only woman I ever loved is gone. I’m not looking to replace her. So stop—” his words were cut off by the ringing of his cell phone.

Pulling it from his jeans pocket, he glanced down at the caller ID and then back at his brother. “It’s Millie,” he said.

His brother nodded, stepping away while he took the call.

“Hello?”

“Nathan,” Mildred said, her voice quivering. “I’m sorry to bother you at work.”

The tremor in her voice had his heart dropping like a lead weight. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m afraid there’s been an emergency,” she told him.

Despite their strength, his muscular legs threatened to give way beneath him. He struggled to take a breath. Please, God, not again.

Carter was beside him in an instant. “What is it, Nathan?”

He waved his brother off and forced the dreaded question from his suddenly bone-dry mouth. “Is it Katie?”

“Oh, goodness, no. She’s right as rain,” Millie assured him. “It’s my sister.”

Relief swept through him with gale force. “Your sister,” he repeated as he dragged a hand back through his hair. Then his thoughts shifted to concern for Millie, who had been through enough after losing her husband. “Is she all right?”

“From what I understand, Eleanor lost her balance coming down the stairs this evening and broke her ankle. It’s bad enough to require immediate surgery, which they’ve scheduled for tomorrow.”

“Ah, Millie,” he said, shaking his head, “I hate to hear that. Is there anything I can do?”

“That’s why I’m calling. Eleanor’s all by herself. I really need to be there with her.”

“Of course, you do,” he said without even a moment’s hesitation. “I’ll come get Katie.”

“No need to pick her up right now,” Millie assured him. “She can sleep here tonight like we planned and you can pick her up in the morning. I’m not about to drive up to Laredo tonight. Not with the weather being what it is.”

“I can drive you there,” he offered. How could he not? Millie had done so much for him the past two years.

“I appreciate the offer,” she said, “but Eleanor really needs to get some rest before her surgery tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. You just keep on working to get that rec center done in time for the party. I’ll make a few calls and see if I can round up someone to watch Katie until I get back. I’m not sure how long I’ll be needed in Laredo.”

“Don’t trouble yourself any,” he told her. “I’ll just bring Katie into work with me tomorrow. There’s no school. Some sort of teacher in-service day, which will be followed right after by Christmas break. I’m sure Audra would be willing to help out if I need her while you’re away.”

“Of course,” she said. “Thank you for being so understanding about my leaving.”

“Eleanor’s your sister,” he told her. “You need to be there for her. Now you be sure to get some rest yourself. I’ll be by first thing tomorrow morning to pick Katie up.”

“I’ll have her ready.”

“And, Millie...”

“Yes?”

“Give Katie a kiss good-night for me.”

“I’ll do that.”

He turned the phone off and found Carter standing there staring at him.

“What happened?” his brother asked, his brows furrowed in concern.

“Millie’s sister in Laredo busted her ankle pretty bad. She’s having surgery tomorrow and Millie’s gonna head on up there to be with her. Sounds like she’ll be staying with her sister for a while afterward to help out.”

“I have to admit, when you first answered her call and I saw the color drain from your face, I thought something had happened to Katie.”

“You and me both,” Nathan admitted. His baby girl was his world. If anything ever happened to her...

He forced the thought from his mind and pulled the hammer from its loop on his tool belt. “What are we standing around for? We’ve got us a rec center to finish.”

Chapter Four

The morning sun shone brightly through the multipaned windows of the dining room as Alyssa hurried downstairs, eager to start her day’s work at the rec center.

“Good morning, dear,” Doris greeted from the dining room, giving Alyssa a start.

“You’re up early,” she said. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“Not at all. I rise with the sun.”

Just then, Myrna entered through a door on the far side of the room, a warm smile moving across her face. “Perfect timing,” she said as she moved toward the antique pedestal table in the center of the room. In one hand, she held a bowl filled with what Alyssa guessed to be scrambled eggs. In the other, a plate of crispy bacon, which had Alyssa’s mouth watering. “Come on in and have a seat, dear. We’ll see to it you’re fed before you start your busy workday.”

Alyssa stepped into the room and settled into one of the balloon-backed Victorian chairs. “You didn’t have to make me breakfast. I could have grabbed something on my way through town.”

“Honey, this is a bed-and-breakfast,” Doris reminded her as she and Myrna took their places at the table. “You can’t have one without the other.”

Myrna set the filled dishes in the center of the table and then reached for the vintage rose-print teapot. “Tea?”

Alyssa nodded. “Yes, please.”

Lifting the delicate old teapot gingerly, she filled Alyssa’s teacup with steaming water and then pushed a doily-lined wicker basket filled with assorted teas across the table to her.

“You were so tired last night,” Myrna said as she dipped her tea bag up in down in her tea water, “that we decided not to bombard you with questions about yourself.”

“There’s not much to tell,” Alyssa said as she perused her choices, selecting an apple-cinnamon tea. “I was born and raised by a single mother in Waco. No brothers or sisters. I never knew my father.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Doris said with an empathetic frown.

Alyssa forced a smile. “Can’t miss what you never had,” she said. “After graduating from Baylor, I was offered a job with a large interior design firm down in San Antonio. So I packed up and moved south to begin my new life.”

“Have you ever been on TV?” Doris asked as she spooned two heaping teaspoons of sugar into her cup.

Alyssa was thrown by the unexpected question. “TV?”

“You know,” Myrna joined in. “On one of those home makeover shows you see all over television these days. You’re sure pretty enough to be a TV star. Isn’t she, Doris?”

Her sister nodded, the beehive of hair piled atop her head shifting to and fro. “I could see her starring in one of those cooking shows, looking all pretty in her ruffled apron.”

Alyssa laughed softly. These two women were so endearing. “I’m afraid cooking is not my forte.”

“All you really need to know how to make is sweets,” Doris noted as she sipped at her tea. “My beloved Henry, God rest his soul, was especially fond of my sister’s county-fair-winning apple-pecan cobbler.” Her gaze drifted off and a soft smile lit her face. “That man had quite the sweet tooth.”

“Most men do,” Myrna said. “Nathan Cooper included. Just ask Millie.”

“She’s a close family friend,” Myrna explained. “Always baking up sweets for those Cooper boys.”

“Nathan... I mean Mr. Cooper,” Alyssa quickly corrected, “has sons, too?”

“No, only Katie,” Myrna clarified. “My sister was referring to Nathan and his two younger brothers, Carter and Logan. Big and strong, those boys. Some of the heartiest stock Texas produces.”

“Like three peas in a pod,” Myrna told her. “All with that same dark, wavy hair and bright blue eyes. Just like their daddy had. Real lookers, those Cooper boys.”

If his brothers had even a smidgen of Nathan Cooper’s good looks and charm, she could understand why even women old enough to be the men’s grandmothers were smitten with them.

* * *

Huddled beneath the hood of her jacket, Alyssa quickened her step. The previous night’s rain had left the earth damp and the air chilled. She should have thought to bring gloves with her when she packed for the trip. It would have made the long walk from the boardinghouse to the opposite end of town far more tolerable.

The moment she saw the large Cooper Construction sign flanking the front sidewalk of what had to be the town’s new rec center, relief swept through her.

Picking up her step, she hurried toward the entrance. The warmth that greeted her when she stepped inside was a welcome respite from the chill outside. Pulling the door closed behind her, she brought her hands to her mouth, breathing warmth onto her very cold, very stiff fingers.

“You walked here?” a deep, familiar voice demanded behind her.

Startled, she turned to find Nathan Cooper watching her from a nearby doorway. Frown still intact. “How else was I supposed to get here?” she asked in her own defense. “Taxis don’t exactly line the streets of Braxton.”

“I could have given you a ride.”

“The walk wasn’t that bad.”

“I suppose the tinge of blue in your lips is some sort of newfangled lipstick color?”

“They’re blue?” she gasped, her chilled fingers flying to her lips.

“Close enough,” he said as he joined her in what would, once finished, be the lobby area. His narrowed gaze traveled over her, then with a shake of his head he said, “Come on,” motioning for her to follow him down a long hallway.

“Where are we going?” she asked as she unzipped her jacket.

“There’s a space heater in the next room. You can warm up some before you get started doing whatever it is you do.”

“That would be nice,” she said, following him. It was all she could do to keep up with his long strides.

He pointed to an open doorway. “You can warm up in there.” That said, he disappeared into another of the rooms that lined the hallway.

“Thank you,” she called out after him. Then she stepped into the room he’d directed her to where several men were busily at work. One by one the sounds of hammers and drills stopped and she felt more than saw their gazes shift her way. Lifting her hand, she offered a nervous smile, hoping their dispositions would be a tad more welcoming than Nathan Cooper’s had been. “Hello.”

A man who had been running a nearby table saw walked over to where she stood by the door. He was wearing safety goggles, his dark, wavy hair brushing over the top of them. His height caused her to crane her neck as he stopped in front of her.

“Can I help you?”

“I’m Alyssa McCall.”

Shoving the safety goggles off his face and onto his head, he studied her with a widening grin. “The interior designer?”

“That’s what I have my degree in, but I also teach art classes to children at a recreation center in San Antonio, which is where I’m from. It’s a job I enjoy immensely.”

His gaze moved over her in an assessing manner. “When my brother told me you’d be joining us sometime this morning, he conveniently left off the part about your being...”

“My being what?”

He glanced toward the other workers before saying, his voice low, “Not old.”

She stiffened at his response. “I can assure you I have plenty of design experience.”

“I’m not doubting your skill,” he said apologetically. “Let’s try this again.” Pulling off his leather work gloves, he extended a hand. “Carter Cooper. Co-owner of Cooper Construction. Welcome to the crew.”

She took the offered hand. “Thank you.”

His dark brow lifted. “Your hand’s as cold as ice.”

“I know. The walk here was a little chillier than I expected,” she admitted.

“You walked here from the boardinghouse? It’s clear on the other side of town.”

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his stunned reaction. The walk hadn’t been all that far. Not for someone who was used to walking nearly everywhere she went. The problem was having been underdressed for the inclement weather.

“I did,” she replied. “Your brother sent me in here to warm up by the space heater.”

“And here I am talking your ear off,” he muttered with a frown. “Back to work,” he hollered to the other workers. “Come on,” he told her. “The space heater’s over here.”

She trailed after him, grateful when she felt the warmth from the portable heater start to curl around her. “So what exactly did your brother tell you about my being here?” she asked as she leaned in, shoving her hands closer to the heat.

He smiled. “He mentioned you’d be stopping by today.”

“Much to his dismay, I’m sure,” she murmured as the chill began to ease from her shivering limbs.

His husky chuckle filled the air. “Try not to take it personally, Miss McCall.”

“It’s a little hard not to,” she said. “Your brother was all smiles and politeness when we first met, but the second he found out I was gonna be helping with the interior design portion of the recreation center, his demeanor toward me did a complete one-eighty.”

“I’ll talk to him,” he assured her with a kind smile.

“I’d appreciate it. I truly do want the same thing you all do,” Alyssa said. “To help give this town back some of what it lost in that storm.”

“Miss McCall!” The high-pitched shriek echoed off the unpainted walls.

Alyssa glanced back over her shoulder to see Katie Cooper hurrying in her direction, the little girl’s limp slightly more pronounced than it had been the evening before. “Katie,” she said with a smile. “What a surprise finding you here this morning.”

“Daddy just told me you were here. He had to bring me to work with him today.”

“He did?” she said in surprise. “Is your mommy sick?”

“No,” she replied, her beautiful smile sagging. “She went to Heaven with Grammy and Pappy.”

Alyssa’s heart wrenched. She’d assumed the day before that her father was divorced. Not for a second had she ever considered the possibility that he was widowed. Not at his age. She couldn’t manage any kind of response. How could she when she had no idea what to say? Instead, she offered up a silent prayer for the Lord to watch over this dear, sweet, motherless child. And her father, as well.

“Hey, Katydid,” Carter said from behind Alyssa, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “How would you like to give Miss McCall here a tour around the rec center?”

The little girl’s face lit up once again. “Sure!”

Alyssa flashed him a grateful smile for saving the moment. Her heart ached for Katie. So very young to have lost her mother.

“You can hang your coat over there,” Katie said. Her earlier bright smile back in place.

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