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She relaxed against him, and he tipped her head back and kissed
her long and passionately. But when she responded to his passion, he
released her.
“I’m sorry, darling.” Then noting her bewildered expression, he
said quickly, “Tyne, I want to make love to you, you must know that.
But we have to stay in control. It wouldn’t be right. I love you too
much to take advantage.”
She smiled, reached up and caressed his cheek. “I love you, too,
Morley.” And her heart whispered, Thank you for being the wonderful
man you are.
Before ten o’clock on Christmas morning, Tyne sat ready and
waiting in the living room. Her mother and Aunt Millie had gone
to the kitchen to wash the breakfast dishes and stuff the turkey. Tyne
had cleared away Christmas paper and ribbons, and put most of the
gifts, now stripped of their festive wrappings, back under the tree
which stood in front of the picture window. Then she had run upstairs
to change into a green wool dress. She had her winter coat and
her patent leather handbag, a Christmas gift from her parents, ready
on a chair near the door.
Her dad and brother had taken Jeremy’s new skis to the ski hill
south of town. People called it a ski hill because they gathered there
every winter to learn the art of skiing, but it was little more than a
gentle rise in an otherwise flat landscape. Tyne knew that Jeremy had
his sights on Banff, and would be pestering his parents to let him go
there with his friends – the ones who drove their vehicles like race
cars through the streets of Emblem in the summer.
God, keep him safe, please, he’s my baby brother.
As the clock struck ten, the front doorbell rang. Tyne hurried to
open it. Morley, handsome in dark suit, tie and overcoat, stepped in
and kissed her lightly on the lips.
“Merry Christmas, Tyne,” he murmured.
“Merry Christmas, love.” She clung to him for a moment.
When he had removed his overshoes, she led him to the living
room, and he stopped and smiled when he saw the tree and the gifts
beneath it. “It looks great. Who decorated it?”
“Mom, I guess. Jeremy may have helped her, though.
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