His Holiday Heart by Jillian Hart

washables, wiped down the counters and helped Dorrie fill bags of leftovers for everyone to take home. If he had dared to get close enough to her, he would have witnessed the lingering sadness in her jeweled eyes.
    He couldn’t forgive himself for that. He laid his forehead on the top round of the steering wheel, hating what he had done. He had grown hard-hearted. Lord help him, because he didn’t know what to do about it.
    “Spence?” A familiar voice called out. Boots crunched through the snow.
    “Caleb.” He was glad to see his brother-in-law. Caleb, a city cop, was suited up in his uniform and cold weather gear. Spence angled out of the little car and grabbed the ice scraper from the roof, where he’d left it. “Good to see you hard at work. Too bad you left before dessert.”
    “Dorrie promised she would send a few pieces of pie and chocolate cake home with Lauren.” Caleb had a quiet, confident air about him. He made a good match for Lauren. “This isn’t your car. Wait—it’s Lucy’s. She was talking about being plowed under.”
    Great. Spence grimaced and put a cold frown on his face. Best that Caleb didn’t guess as to the real reason he was out here on a holiday in subzero temperatures scraping the packed ice and snow off of a woman’s windshield. “Thought I would nip the problem in the bud.”
    “The problem? You mean Lucy is a problem?”
    “You know she is. You saw what went on.” Spence put some muscle into it, and all he could do was get the smallest chip in the inch-thick ice. “You didn’t help matters at dinner. You could have spoken up and saved me from the marriage-crazed women at the table.”
    “Hey, I figured the least said the better.” Caleb held up his gloved hands as a show of innocence.
    “I could have used some support. We men have to stick together.” He gave the ice another swipe of the scraper. Nothing. “Dorrie practically has me married off to her.”
    “Marriage isn’t so bad, once you get used to the misery.”
    “Funny.” He wasn’t in the mood for humor. In fact, he was starting to be opposed to humor of any kind.
    “In fact, you sort of become tolerant to it. It’s not so bad after a while.”
    Was everyone in his family a comedian? He began beating at the ice with the scraper. Tiny flecks sprayed off. At least he was making some progress. “When do you get off your shift?”
    “Late evening.”
    “Then you can make yourself useful.” Spence did his best not to grin. He knew he could count on Caleb to help out, but for some reason it was easier for him to demand it instead of ask for it. “I need you to come out with me and drop off this poor excuse for a car so I have a ride back.”
    “Sure. This is an excuse to see her, isn’t it?” Caleb placed his hands on his hips, looking authoritative, as if he had everything figured out.
    Hardly. Spence growled as the ice began to crack away. Victory. “Lucy Chapin is a nightmare. She’s not the kind of woman I would pick— if I ever decide to marry and be miserable like the rest of you.”
    “I don’t know. A guy who looks the way you do can’t be too picky. Seems to me Lucy is out of your league.”
    “Thank you. Of course she is. She’s too good for me.” Finally some common sense. “I’ve been waiting for everyone else to notice that, but they are blinded by the thought of another wedding. What is it with women and weddings?”
    “No idea, but after having one of my own, it was nice.”
    “So close. For a minute there, I thought we were on the same page, Caleb.”
    “Marriage isn’t so miserable.”
    “Sure it is.” And if his dad was happy in his second marriage and if his brothers-in-law were always grinning, then he didn’t have to put that into the equation. “I’ll be at the bookstore. Swing by when your shift is done.”
    “Working late?”
    “Tomorrow’s a big shopping day. We open at seven.”
    Caleb trudged through the snow to his cruiser parked on the other side of