A Christmas Blessing

of showing him how grateful she was. The perfect gesture suddenly came to her and she blurted it out impulsively, not pausing to think of the implications. “In fact, I would be honored if you would consider being Angela’s godfather. I know that’s what Erik would have wanted, too.”
Luke’s eyes turned cold and he broke away from her touch. “You’re wrong, if you think that,” he said flatly. “I’m the last man in the world Erik would want anywhere near you or your daughter.”
Too late, Jessie realized she couldn’t have shattered the quiet moment any more effectively if she’d tossed a live hand grenade into the room. By mentioning Erik, by reminding Luke of his brother, she had destroyed their fragile accord.
“Luke, that’s not true…” she began, but she was talking to herself. Luke had fled from the room as if he’d just been caught committing a crime and a posse of lawmen were after him, guns already blazing.
Troubled, Jessie stared after him. Not until she heard her daughter whimper did she move. Picking Angela up from her makeshift bed, a blanket-lined drawer, she paced the floor with her until she quieted.
“You know something, angel? Your Uncle Luke is a very complicated, perplexing man.”
No one knew more clearly than she did how dangerous those two traits could be in a man, especially for a woman who enjoyed nothing more than solving puzzles.

Chapter Five
There was a huge stack of unpaid bills on Luke’s desk. Normally he hated sitting there with a calculator, checking the totals against his own records, writing the checks, meticulously balancing the books. The process bored him. The mistakes irritated him. If he’d wanted to do this much math, he’d have been a damned accountant.
Tonight, though, the tedium of the assignment drew him. In fact, he hadn’t been able to leave that bedroom fast enough to get to his office and shut the door behind him. Only a vague sense of the absurdity of the action kept him from bolting it.
At any rate, as long as he had to concentrate on numbers written out in black and white, numbers that either added up or didn’t, he wouldn’t have to think about the woman in his bedroom who made no sense to him at all.
What had possessed Jessie to suggest that he be godfather to Angela? Couldn’t she see how inappropriate that was? Couldn’t she guess how deeply hurt the rest of the family would be over her choice? Hell, they probably wouldn’t even show up for the baptism. They’d be certain she’d placed the baby’s very soul in jeopardy by selecting her father’s killer as the baby’s godparent.
Okay, she was grateful for his help in delivering the baby. He could understand that. He didn’t think thanks were necessary, but if Jessie did, she could have found a dozen ways of thanking him that wouldn’t turn the entire family inside out. A framed snapshot of the baby would have sufficed. A dutiful note would have covered it.
Instead, with all the impulsiveness and generosity he’d always admired in her, she had made a grand gesture that would have ripped the family apart. They would have chosen sides. In the end, more than likely Jordan and Cody would have backed Jessie’s choice. His parents would have been appalled. Even he cared enough for the family’s feelings to want to avoid deliberately causing them any more anguish.
Fortunately, his head at least had been clear. He’d said no before she could get too carried away with her planning.
He raked his hand through his hair and muttered an oath under his breath. A tiny part of him regretted the necessity for declining her offer. Being godparent to the baby he’d helped deliver would have bound him to Jessie and Angela. It would have kept him on the fringes of their lives. It would have placed him where no one would have questioned his involvement, where he could watch out for them.
Where he could torture himself, he added bleakly. Saying no had been the right decision, the only decision.
Determinedly, he picked up the first invoice from the pile on his desk and went to work. Sometime between the first bill and the second, he fell soundly asleep. The next thing he knew it was morning and the very woman who’d been tormenting him in his dreams was hovering around in his office as if she belonged there.
“What the hell are you doing?” he asked crankily, rubbing his aching shoulders as he eyed Jessie warily. For a woman who’d just had a baby less than forty-eight hours before, she was damned energetic. Normally he’d consider that an admirable trait, but at the moment it seemed a nuisance to have her bustling around as if he weren’t even there. “Jessie, whatever you’re up to, give it a rest.”
“I’m getting some light in here. It’s dark as pitch.” She drew back the draperies with a flick of her wrist, revealing the blinding glare of sunlight on snow.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” she asked cheerfully. “I’ll be back in a minute with your breakfast. You really shouldn’t sleep at your desk, Lucas. It’s bad for your back.”
Given the fact that every muscle between his neck and his butt ached like the very dickens, Luke couldn’t argue with her. If she hadn’t taken off, though, he would have had a few things to say about her intrusion into his domain. He figured they could wait until she returned. If she brought strong, black coffee with her, he might even moderate his protest to a dull roar.
He stood up cautiously, testing to see if any of his parts actually worked. His legs held him upright, which was better than he deserved. He stretched carefully, slowly working the kinks loose. By the time he heard Jessie’s returning footsteps, he was feeling almost civilized. That didn’t mean he intended to tolerate her sudden burst of uninvited activity.
Unfortunately for his resolve, the aroma of coffee preceded her into the room. Oblivious to whatever order there might