A Family Under the Christmas Tree: A Novel - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Terri Reed is an award winning author whose romance and romantic suspense novels have appeared on Publishers Weekly Top 25, Nielsen’s Bookscan Top 100, and Amazon’s Top 100, and have been featured in USA TODAY, Christian Fiction Magazine, and RT Book Reviews. Her books have been finalists in Romance Writers of America’s RITA contest, National Reader’s Choice Award contest, and the ACFW Carol Awards. She resides in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, children, and dog. 

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A Family Under the Christmas Tree

CHAPTER
1

Sophie Griffith brought her rented car to a stop in the driveway of her grandmother’s house. The midday gloom of a rainy December tinted the world in shades of gray. She turned off the engine and looked toward the front door, and smiled as she spied Grandma sitting on the porch, wearing a red and white Santa hat. Little tufts of silver hair peeked out from under the hat, and a green fleece blanket was tucked around her. She waved as Sophie climbed out of the car.

A surge of affection hit her, and Sophie waved back. It had been too long since she’d made the time to visit Grandma. She missed this place. She missed Grandma. She was frustrated that it had taken this for her to make the trip.

Then, she blinked with surprise as she realized Grandma had company. There was a man on her porch. Well, there was a man on a ladder in front of her porch. A man with dark hair and long lean legs, wearing jeans and a black weatherproof jacket, clung to a ten-foot-tall ladder, stringing a strand of icicle lights along the eaves. Shouldn’t he be tied off with a safety harness or something?

She held her breath, sure any second he’d topple over as he reached for the little hooks attached to the house.

Sophie returned her narrowed gaze to Grams. Hmmm. Two days ago Grandma had called saying she’d fallen and needed Sophie’s help. But she seemed okay now. What was up?

Movement on the lawn drew Sophie’s attention. A small boy of about five wearing a blinding yellow beanie streaked across the fenced-in front yard. A muddy dog chased him, close on his heels. Wait, were those reindeer antlers on the dog’s head?

The child’s sweater could compete in any ugly Christmas sweater contest. His jeans and rain boots were caked in mud. Who was this kid?

The scene reminded her of something from a Hallmark Christmas card. The handsome man, the child and dog playing, Gram supervising it all. . . . She ached to grab her camera and capture the image, but her equipment was out of reach inside hard-sided cases in the back of the SUV.

Sophie grabbed her purse and closed the car door, breathing in the fresh air scented with an earthy musk from a recent rainfall. The cool, damp air seeped through her pink cashmere sweater, but she didn’t mind. Hard to believe twenty-four hours and two flight layovers ago she had been baking in the tropical sun. She’d just wrapped up a job photographing the spectacular wedding of one of the year’s hottest actors and his makeup artist bride on the island of Gran Canaria, one of the smaller and most popular of the Canary Islands. The average temperature peaked at ninety degrees with high humidity there this time of year. As usual, Grandma’s timing was impeccable. Had she called a week earlier, Sophie wouldn’t have been available to make the trek to Bellevue, Washington.

Sophie grabbed her suitcases from the trunk. As she tugged the cases up the drive toward the walkway to the house, the man climbed down from the ladder and rushed over.

“Here, let me take those.” His voice was rich and deep, and she was surprised to find her stomach flip at the sound.

Not one to turn down help, especially from a handsome man, Sophie relinquished her hold on the bags. “Thank you.”

She tilted her head up to meet steel gray eyes fringed with dark lashes. Okay, now that she was seeing him up close, handsome didn’t quite cover it. He wasn’t beautiful like the Hollywood types she frequently photographed. Some of those guys were prettier than their costars. This man had a square jaw shadowed by day-old scruff and a mouth that tipped upward at the corners in a faint smile.

No, this man’s face wasn’t pretty, but it had character and strength. And if she wasn’t mistaken, there was a hint of melancholy, balanced by an appreciative gleam in his eyes. Her pulse ticked up a notch. She envisioned him within the frame of her lens. The camera would love him. “Nice job with the lights.” She tried to make her voice sound natural.

He grinned. “Thank you. My first time.”

She blinked. “First time?”

“Putting up Christmas lights.”

That explained the lack of safety equipment. “Did Grandma know that when she hired you?”

He laughed, a deep, delicious rumble that Sophie felt in her chest. “We live next door. Louise has been so good to us I offered to put them up.”

Ah. A family man. No doubt his wife would be as beautiful as he was.

Now, why did she feel a prick of disappointment at the thought? It was silly. Get a grip, Soph, she silently chided herself. The last thing she needed in her life right now was a man. And definitely not a married one.

Sophie had big plans, goals to fulfill. A pending job that she’d been after for a long time. She almost couldn’t believe it was really going to happen after all this time. She was not about to get sidetracked. Besides, she didn’t do well in the romance department.

The man easily carried the bags to the front porch and set them by the front door. She liked the way he moved, with athletic grace. He was nearly as tall as the doorframe. Not that she should be noticing that kind of thing. She hurried up the porch stairs to her grandmother’s side.

“Sophie, my dear, it’s so good to see you,” Grandma said, her arms spread wide. Her beautiful face beamed. Even at seventy, Grandma hadn’t lost her glamour or the twinkle in her blue eyes. Sophie moved into her embrace, relishing the comfort a hug from Grandma could still bring.

Growing up, Sophie had found refuge from her parents’ chaotic life at her grandparents’ house. Here, Sophie was seen and heard. Here, she wasn’t a nuisance. This was the only place Sophie had ever felt like she really belonged.

Sophie owed her grandmother so much. She’d been the one to give Sophie her first camera, when she was twelve. Grandma had seen how hurt she’d been when her older brothers had ditched her to go off on an adventure, as they often did, and Grandma had thought she might enjoy having adventures of her own taking pictures. At the time, she’d had no idea how that one gesture would shape Sophie’s future.

Sophie pulled back to look into her grandmother’s face, searching for signs of pain. Then she realized Grams wasn’t sitting in a normal chair, but an electric wheelchair. “You said you’d fallen. Are you okay?”

Grandma grimaced and moved the blanket covering her legs to reveal a black ankle brace on her right foot. “Sprained it good.”

Her stomach clenched. At least it wasn’t broken. “What happened?”

Grandma fussed with the blanket. “Oh, well, that’s a long story, and one we’ll discuss later.” She patted her arm. “Where are my manners? Sophie, dear, this is my new neighbor, David Murphy.”

David tugged off his glove and held out his hand. “Hello, Sophie.”

She slipped her hand into his, and his big hand engulfed hers. Their palms fit together, and his fingers curled over hers firmly. “It’s nice to meet you, David. Thank you for getting the lights up for my grandmother.”

His gaze never left her face. Nor did he retract his hand. “You’re welcome. Louise has told me a great deal about you.”

“All good, I hope.”...