Her Christmas Prince (Love in the Keys) Read Online Free Page B

at her. He
seemed so genuine. Would it be so terrible to spend Christmas with
him? The little voice in her head was saying no, not so really.

    “ But
what about after Christmas? What then?”

    “ Patience,
Grasshopper. Let's get through Christmas first and worry about the
after part after. One step at a time. If we're going to pull this
off, we need to get cracking.”

    “ What
do you mean?”

    “ Well,
I can't show up empty handed. Let's go Christmas shopping. While we
buy gifts for your family, you can fill me in on who's who. And we
can get to know each other better. Maybe grab some dinner. How's
that sound?”

    Crazy.
Insane. Destined for disaster. “Good, I guess. Good. Sure.
Let's try.”

    “ OK
then, so where are we going?”

    “ Well,
maybe we should just have dinner. Because shopping might be tricky.”

    “ Why
is that? Are they hard to buy for?”

    “ The
buying part is the problem.” Henry gave her a puzzled look.
“We don't buy gifts in my family. We started making them a
couple of years ago. And we draw names. So technically Brian had my
dad's name. I was going to bake him something since Brian wasn't
coming but I guess we can figure out something for you to do.”

    “ Hmmm.
Interesting. I've never actually made anything. This could require
some thought. So you really don't buy anything?”

    “ We
still buy toys for the little kids. But for the adults, nope. We
decided people were getting too caught up in the gifts. And
forgetting about the real meaning of Christmas. So we dialled it
back. And with the money we save we try to do something charitable.”
At first, the family had not been that enthusiastic about the idea
when it had come up. But now, it was fun, and they all felt good
about doing positive things in their community.

    “ So
what is your charitable thing?”

    “ I
help at a local food bank to make up Christmas hampers. And I'm
baking meat cookies for the dogs and cats at the local shelter.”

    Henry
smiled. “That's fantastic. Really. I like it. OK, so let's
just make it dinner. Where shall we go?”

    “ How
about a burger? I feel like a good burger. We could just stop over
to The Grill House. Would that work?” He gave her a grin
that said yes.

    Callie
navigated for Henry and they soon reached The Grill House, which was
at the far edge of Sunnyside Key. It, too, was a family business and
now run by the third generation of Hamiltons, who Callie knew from
Sunnyside Community Church. Well known in the Keys for their great
burgers, steaks and ribs, it was a popular spot pretty much any time
of day, with locals and visitors alike. Liz Hamilton, the middle
daughter of the family, gave them a warm greeting and escorted them
to a comfy booth, where they ordered burgers, milkshakes, fries and
onion rings.

    At
first, there was a lot of silence. It was like the odd and somewhat
funny situation they'd found themselves in had finally hit home to
both of them. And they were a bit tongue tied.

    Callie
finally broke the silence. “So, since we're madly in love and
all, I guess I should find out a little bit more about you.”

    Henry
laughed. “Sure. What do you want to know?”

    Callie
smiled back. The tension was broken. “Well, you said you work
in your family's business. What kind of business is it? And tell me
about your family. Where are you from, anyway?” It had been
bothering Callie since she first heard Henry speak. There was
definitely an accent but she couldn't quite place it.

    “ I
guess you'd call it public relations. Lots of events and things like
that. It's all right, just sometimes tiring. It's nice to have a
bit of a break from it. And from my family.” Callie raised
her eyebrow in curiosity. “Don't mistake me, I love my family,
they're wonderful and we get along really well. But you know what
it's like. Sometimes you're in each others’ pockets. And you
just need a bit of a breather to remember why you love them so much.” Callie nodded in