Christmas at Candlebark Farm

Read Christmas at Candlebark Farm for Free Online

Book: Read Christmas at Candlebark Farm for Free Online
Authors: Michelle Douglas
touch his hand—perhaps because his eyes were so dark and his mouth so grim? Perhaps because she sensed that behind the grimness lay genuine concern? ‘Would you ever marry a woman just because you wanted a baby?’
    â€˜No!’
    Tension shot through his shoulders. The physiotherapist in her itched to un-knot all that tightness. The thought made the woman in her turn to putty. Oh, puhlease —pregnancy hormones were addling her brain!
    â€˜I…’ She swallowed, edged back in her seat. ‘I couldn’t use someone like that either. In the end I had to make a decision I could live with.’
    He gazed at her for a long moment and finally gave a curt nod. She could have sworn she saw admiration flash in those dark eyes of his, and it warmed her all the way down to her toes. She couldn’t help smiling at him, and just like that an arc of electricity vibrated between them. Keira’s heart, pulse, spirits—all started to race.
    She dragged her gaze away and forced herself to stare at the strawberry jam. This…this heat that seemed to spring up between them—she had to ignore it. In one week she’d be leaving here, and she and Luke would never clap eyes on each other again. She was here to secure her and the Munchkin’s future. She had no intention of getting sidetracked by a sculpted chest and a pair of dark, smouldering eyes. She had no intention of getting used to someone looking out for her. She was an independent woman of the new millennium. She didn’t need any of that nonsense.
    She lifted her chin. ‘I know common wisdom has it that raising a child on one’s own is harder, but I’m not a hundred percent convinced of that.’
    He raised an eyebrow. How on earth one eyebrow could contain such a depth of scepticism she would never know. Doubts crowded around her, but she pushed them back. She came from a long line of strong women. She was more than capable of providing a good home and a good life for her baby.
    â€˜Tell me that after months of broken sleep, colic, and a bad case of the baby blues,’ he drawled.
    â€˜My father deserted my mother when she was pregnant with me. She raised me on her own. I don’t doubt things were hard for her at times, but she was strong and resourceful and full of life.’ Keira refused to let her chin drop. She would not let the picture his words had created spook her. ‘I had a wonderful childhood, and I certainly never felt anything was lacking from my life.’ And her Munchkin wouldn’t either!
    â€˜I didn’t mean—’
    â€˜In fact—’ she spoke over the top of him ‘—I’d say my childhood was better than a lot of my friends who had both parents.’ Especially if those parents were either divorced or constantly arguing.
    Her two best friends had been cases in point, their loyalties torn between their parents. Keira had always considered herself lucky in comparison. She and her mother—they’d been incredibly close. When her mother had died, her grandmother—another strong female role model—had stepped into the breach, helping Keira through the worst of her grief. Keira was determined to follow in their footsteps, to uphold their examples.
    Her mother had always claimed it was foolhardy for a woman to pin all her hopes on a man, that first and foremost a woman should rely on herself. Keira believed that with all her heart. She knew her mother would have applauded her decision to pursue IVF and have a baby on her own. The knowledge that she’d have made her mother proud kept her going when doubts plagued her.
    And she wasn’t going to let some man who seemed to spend less than ten minutes a day in his own son’s company make her doubt herself either!
    Tell me that after months of broken sleep.
    Her mouth went dry. ‘I will love my baby, and I don’t need virtual strangers telling me I’m not up to the

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