âI know you, Amy. Youâll nevergo all the way.â
Maybe she wouldnât if she didnât want a baby with him so very much. âI will, too!â
âThen prove it.â Teddy turned to her, making no effort to hide his desire. âGo into the bedroom. Take off your clothes. And wait for me.â
She turned on her heel and stormed out of the room. âI thought it was going to be a lot easier being married to you!â
âNo kidding!â
Huffing in exasperation, she marched over to the bed. Stood staring down at it for one long second.
âThis is to make a baby,â she whispered to herself, already toeing off her boots. âOur baby. And he or she will be made in the spirit of tenderness and hope and love.â
This baby would be the ultimate Christmas gift to each otherâ¦
Dear Reader,
My husband is also my best friend. We became great pals as we fell in love. But what if, I wondered, that hadnât been the case? What if we had been friends first and then realised we wanted to date? Would our romance have developed in the same way?
Thirty-five-year-old Teddy McCabe and Amy Carrigan have been friends since primary school. Wary of risking their friendship, they have never allowed themselves to think of each other as anything but companions, although they have joked about having kids together one day. As the Christmas season begins, and Amyâs thirty-second birthday approaches, they realise they might never get the family they both want so much if they donât start down another less traditional path.
So they rush off to the justice of the peace, determined to get married, and move on to Phase Two of operation baby-making. They already know each other. Theyâre not planning to have sex. This is going to be a piece of cake! They donât bargain on the complications that quickly â and inevitably â ensue.
But as anyone who has ever said âI doâ knows⦠marriage changes everything!
I hope you have as much fun reading this holiday story as I did creating it.
Best wishes to you and all your loved ones,
Cathy Gillen Thacker
Chapter One
âI had no idea it was this bad.â Amy Carrigan reached over and took the hand of her best friend, Teddy McCabe, the day after Thanksgiving.
He squeezed her hand reassuringly. âSame here.â Being careful to keep to the other side of the yellow tape surrounding the century-old community chapel in downtown Laramie, Texas, Teddy let go of her hand and walked around, surveying what remained of the previously beautiful church.
The once towering live oak tree that had been struck by lightning at the advent of the previous nightâs thunderstorm had a jagged black streak down what remained of the trunk. The rest of the tree had taken out the bell tower and fallen through the center of the church roof.
By the time the fire department had arrived, the white stone chapel was engulfed in flames. Nearly half the wooden pews had been destroyed. And though the exquisite stained-glass windows were amazingly still intact, the walls were covered with black soot, the velvet carpeting at the altar beyond repair.
Fortunately, no one had been hurt, and plans were already being made to restore the town-owned landmark.
âDo you think theyâre really going to be able to get this restored in three weeksâ time?â Amy asked.
âGiven the number of volunteers that have already signed up to help with the cleanup, yes,â Teddy replied.
âTrevor and Rebecca were supposed to have the twinsâ christening here on the twenty-third.â
âWeâll get it done,â Teddy promised.
Amy hoped so. Although there were numerous other churches in the area, the community chapel was where everyone got married and had their children christened. It was small and intimate and imbued with tradition and hope.
Amy had dreamed of being married here.
Teddy studied her. âEverything okay?â
âWhat do you mean?â
âYouâve seemed blue. You hardly cracked a smile during the Thanksgiving festivities yesterday.â
Amy had been hoping no one would notice.
She walked around to survey the damaged landscaping around the chapel. âI had a headache.â
Teddy ambled along behind her. He had a good nine inches on her. And though they both owned ranches and worked outdoorsâshe growing plants, Teddy breeding horsesâone might have a hard time discerning how physically fit she was because she was so delicately boned and slender.
However, it came as no surprise to anyone that Teddy had ranching in his blood. After all, he had the broad shoulders and strong, rugged build of the McCabe men. Being around him like this always made her feel impossibly feminineâ¦and protected.
âHeadache or heartache?â Teddy probed.
Amy returned wryly, âThank you, Dr. Phil. But I really donât need your psychoanalysis.â
âThat, my friend, is debatable.â Teddy placed both hands on her shoulders and turned her so she had no choice but to look at him. âCome on, Amy.â His grip tightened ever so slightly, the warmth of his palms transmitting through the fleece vest she wore. âTell me whatâs going on.â