The Bachelor’s Christmas Bride by Victoria Pade

said he’d pack us all up and move anywhere she wanted to go—”
    â€œ That must have been scary—moves are so unsettling for kids.”
    â€œOh, yeah, it worried me every time that she was going to take him up on it and we’d all have to leave our friends, our school, our home—”
    â€œBut she didn’t.”
    â€œTo tell you the truth, I think Northbridge was tailor-made for her. Finding fault in the simplicity of the town, in the fact that the people who live here are so down-to-earth, was how she elevated herself. So no, she didn’t ever take my dad up on his offer to leave. I think here she could think of herself as the big fish in the little pond, and she definitely didn’t want to be the little fish in the big pond.”
    â€œSo you don’t think she just wanted more out of life?”
    â€œLike you do?”
    â€œDo I put on airs? ” Shannon asked, alarmed that he might think that of her.
    He smiled as if her concern entertained him. “Not that I’ve noticed. But you did say you’ve always wanted a bigger life than your parents had.”
    â€œTrue. But it’s the life I want to be bigger. I still want to be me.”
    â€œI hope so, because you’re pretty good,” he complimented with another smile—this one appreciative enough to send a warm rush through her as she finished her cake and watched Dag polish off what was left of the piece Cody hadn’t eaten.
    Then Dag continued with what they were talking about. “I think there’s something to be said for people who can be happy with who they are, with what they have, who can make the best of the cards life deals them. It sounds like that’s what your parents did and you admired them for it.”
    â€œI guess that’s true—that was how my parents were and I did admire them for it,” Shannon agreed. “But maybe some people need more and there’s nothing wrong with trying to achieve that, either.”
    Shannon couldn’t be sure whether the music from the reception downstairs suddenly got louder, or with the kids asleep and the silence that followed that last statement, it just seemed that way.
    Dag must have noticed it, too. He’d been leaning on the island counter and just then he straightened up, looking as if something had just occurred to him. “Hey, maybe I can have that dance with you after all.”
    â€œHere? Now?”
    â€œWhy not? There’s music—not loud, but there’s still music. There’s an open area, there’s a hardwood floor…”
    The loft did have a lot of open areas, particularly just a few feet from where they were, in front of an entire wall of windows where stars sparkled in the sky overhead and the main house in the distance was brilliantly and colorfully illuminated with Christmas lights.
    â€œCome on, dance with me—you would if we were downstairs, wouldn’t you?”
    She probably would have, yes. Just to be polite…
    â€œCome on,” Dag repeated, clasping her hand in his to bring her out from behind the counter and with him to that spot near the windows.
    When they got there he used a bit of a flourish to spin her into his arms where his other hand landed on her bare back and sent a wholly pleasant little shiver up her spine.
    It’s just a dance, she told herself. An innocent little dance like everyone downstairs is doing…
    And yet this seemed so much more intimate. Especially since she was ultra-aware of the feel of Dag’s skin pressed to hers.
    She tried not to focus on that, though, as she fell into step with him.
    â€œYou’re a good dancer,” she said with some surprise. And with a secret wish that he wasn’t quite as good as he was—if he hadn’t been, maybe he wouldn’t have been able to keep such a respectable space between them. “I haven’t run into many men who can dance at all, let alone