The Road Not Taken (The Daddy Diaries). Jackie Braun

      On their way from Montpelier’s airport, they’d stopped at a grocery store. They had everything for the holiday feast with them, from the eggs the children were itching to dye to the honey-glazed ham that would be served the following day for dinner. Doreen even had packed the fancy Irish linens the McCabes used every holiday. Jake took in the scene before him. The kids scampering about, his father smoking a pipe while seated fireside. It was so damned easy to pretend that everything was the same with his family here.

      Except that it wasn’t. Nothing was the same. This family gathering was different. Someone was missing … and he didn’t mean his ex-wife.

      He glanced toward the doorway. Caro stood there—looking tentative, looking utterly beautiful despite her damp hair and pinched expression. She was nothing like Miranda, despite their shared affinity for high-quality clothing. Miranda’s features were far sharper. The description he kept coming back to when it came to this woman was soft, fragile.

      Jake cleared his throat. “Any luck getting a tow truck to come out?”

      “No. A man answered at the place you suggested, but he said the roads were impassable and he had a dozen or so requests for assistance to handle ahead of mine. With tomorrow being a holiday, he said it would be Monday at the earliest before he could tow my car to his garage.”

      Some of that desperation leaked back into her expression. “Is there another garage I should try?”

      “Maybe. But I have a feeling they’d all tell you the same thing,” Jake replied.

      She nodded glumly.

      “Well, not to worry. You’re welcome here,” Doreen said. “You’ll take Jake’s room.”

      Her eyelids flickered. In surprise or dismay? “Oh, no. I couldn’t—”

      “He insists,” Doreen said.

      At Caro’s dubious expression, Jake added, “Actually, I do. It will save my mother and Bonnie from having to clean up another one of the guest rooms.”

      She smiled. “Well, in that case …”

      “You’d probably like a hot shower,” Doreen said. “Show her where everything is, Jake, while Bonnie and I try to come up with a change of clothes.”

      Having been given his marching orders, Jake headed for the stairs. Even though Caro was behind him, he swore he could smell the subtle, sexy scent that wafted from her person.