Read A Chesapeake Shores Christmas for Free Online

answers. Did you expect me to lie for you?”
    Mick stared at his mother in dismay. “You didn’t tell her what’s going on, did you?”
    “It’s not up to me,” Nell replied. “You do your own dirty work.”
    “I’ll call her tonight,” he promised, cutting into the over-cooked, dried-up piece of beef on his plate. Not even his mother’s excellent gravy could save it. He pushed the plate aside.
    “And say what?” Abby wanted to know. “Are you going to tell her about Connor?”
    “For all I know he’s blabbed to her himself,” he grumbled.
    “If he were speaking to her, he might have, but I doubt he broke silence to fill her in on this,” Abby said. “Dad, you need to fix this before Mom finds out. If she hears about you telling Connor to stay away from his own home, you know she’ll postpone the wedding until it’s resolved.”
    Mick grimaced. “That’s what I was trying to avoid when I went to see him. I wanted peace.”
    “And instead you’ve made it worse,” Nell said. “Mick, you’ve always had the tact of a bulldozer. And Connor’s more like you than anyone else in the family. You should have known better.”
    He scowled at the two women. “Are you going to sit here berating me, or are you going to help me straighten this out before Megan gets wind of it? Do either one of you actually have any helpful suggestions?”
    “You could start by calling Connor and apologizing. Tell him you didn’t mean it,” Abby suggested.
    “But I meant every word,” Mick argued stubbornly. “He’s the one who needs to change his attitude.”
    “You’re not going to win him over by banishing him,” Nell said. “That’s not a tactic to win anyone’s heart. All it tells him is that you’re choosing his mother over him.”
    “Well, what would you have me do?” he asked testily. “Cave in and tell him it’s just fine if he wants to do his best to ruin the wedding?”
    “Of course not,” Abby said. “But he needs to spend more time here, not less, and he and Mom need to be thrown together as much as possible. She’ll win him over. It may not happen on your timetable, but it will happen.”
    “I’m not postponing this wedding,” Mick insisted, his jaw set.
    “If Mom finds out about this, you may not have a choice,” Abby said realistically. “She’s determined that this family will be united and at peace before the ceremony takes place.”
    “Well, I can’t be expected to work miracles, now, can I?” Mick grumbled and threw down his napkin.
    Nell put her hand on his. “No, but ’tis the season of them. Perhaps there’s one waiting in the wings.”
    Mick’s faith was as strong as any man’s most of the time. Right this second, though, he doubted there was a miracle on tap that could possibly fix this mess he’d made.

    Megan knew there was something seriously wrong in Chesapeake Shores. Even if Mick hadn’t been clearly avoiding her, it was plain in Nell’s voice and in Abby’s. No matter how hard she’d tried, though, she hadn’t been able to get the truth out of either one of them.
    “I can’t get down there this weekend to see for myself,” she complained to Abby. “Keeping me in the dark is just making me imagine all sorts of things. Is it the baby? Has Bree been having problems with her pregnancy?”
    “Bree is fine,” Abby assured her. “Healthy as a horse, according to the doctor. She seems to have more energy than ever. She’s been getting ready for the children’s Christmas play at her theater. I went to a rehearsal the other night and the kids are absolutely precious, Mom. Wait till you see them.”
    “I’m sure they are,” Megan said distractedly. “What about Jess? Is she okay? The inn hasn’t suffered another financial setback, has it?”
    “Business at the inn is booming. Jess is doing a fantastic job. Bookings for the holidays are strong.”
    “Kevin and Shanna, they’re okay? Henry’s biological father isn’t making trouble about the