ISAAC MACALLISTER'S life revolves around building his business and doing his best to give his daughter Sara a strong sense of family. Over the years he's had to learn how to keep their little family together on his own, but this Christmas Isaac is g...
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"It worked!"
Sara's shrieking brought them both awake, Jenna scrambling to pull the blankets up around her neck. Uh oh. They were so busted. So much for her plan to be safely back in her room by morning.
Isaac could see the panic in Jenna's eyes when she realized they were no longer alone in the room. He snagged a t-shirt from the chair beside the bed and snuck it to her under the covers.
"What worked, Short Stuff?"
"Santa got my letter!" Sara was jumping up and down and looking very pleased with herself.
This should be interesting. With a quick glance at Jenna to see how she was making out with the shirt, he risked asking, "What exactly did you ask Santa for?" He hoped his detective skills had been adequate, and that what she wanted really was under the tree. He was still curious about what had been in that last-minute letter.
But Sara was off and running back to the living room. "Hurry up, Daddy! I want to open the presents. And Santa put stuff in yours and Jenna's stockings too!"
*
Sara was vibrating with excitement when she saw the stockings filled and the presents under the tree. "Can we open the stockings now?"
"What do you think?" Isaac winked at Jenna, who had joined them in the living room now that she had found some more clothes to put on, and Isaac had dug up her crutches for her.
"Yes!" Sara went over to the hearth and grabbed Isaac's stocking. She brought it over to where he was sitting with Jenna on the couch. She did the same again with Jenna's, and finally brought her own and sat on the floor in front of the couch.
Jenna watched as Sara dug into her stocking and showed off each of her new treasures. Sparkly hair elastics, a deck of cards with fairies on them, and a few other little toys and games.
She was surprised to feel how full her own stocking was. Jenna laughed when she pulled out the first couple of things. There were two ice packs—one with red glitter gel inside and one with green glitter gel. Her eyes met Isaac's and she grinned. "Safety first, right?"
"Well, the doctor did say you should keep icing off and on, and the snow won't stick around forever."
In Jenna's opinion, the quicker she healed up the better. There were plenty of things she was hoping to share with Isaac before she took off. From the look in his eyes, she and Isaac were on the same page.
Jenna dug back into her stocking and pulled out chocolates, an orange, a candy cane and a book. Nothing got past that man. It was the latest release by one of her favourite authors. Isaac must have seen the one she was reading and made a note.
She hadn't had a chance to sneak anything into his stocking. He must have filled it himself. But it clearly contained his favourites. A new ornament for the tree, some gloves for working outside, and the same complement of chocolates and an orange that everyone else had.
