Annie Cook is a widow with a six-year-old son, Josh.
UPS driver, Cord Williamson is a widower. It is Christmas and neither is happy with their situation, until they finally meet.
When they meet, they turn out to be a perfect match in many ways. Annie Cook needs a kidney and Cord turns out to be the perfect match, but Annie doesn’t know it. Could he give Annie a Christmas present that she will never forget? If he did, he would literally be part of her life by saving her life.
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A Transplanted Christmas
Copyright © 2010 Marc Jarrod
ISBN: 978-1-55487-738-6
Cover art by Martine Jardin
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
Published by Devine Destinies Books
An imprint of eXtasy Books
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www.devinedestinies.com
Smashwords Edition
A Transplanted Christmas
By
Marc Jarrod
Dedication
To my wife, who let me hog the computer so I could fulfill my dream of becoming a writer.
To Mahalia Levy, an established author in her own right, who gave me input to make this story read even better than what I had originally written.
Prologue
One week ago, today, December six, to be exact, Cord Williamson was exiting the grocery store after doing his weekly shopping. It had just snowed earlier that day and he was just about to place the last bag in his Chevy Blazer when he happened to look to his left and saw a woman and a small child pushing a shopping cart in his direction. Because of the snow on the ground, the woman was having a hard time negotiating the cart—it wouldn’t budge or it would start sliding once she got it moving again.
Cord quickly put the last bag in his truck, closed the trunk and hurried toward the woman and her child. “Here, let me help ya.”
Her face was rosy cheeked and she was wearing a furry hat and a leather coat.
She let go of the cart. “Oh, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. This snow is really something, isn’t it?”
Cord smiled as he grabbed the bar of the cart and started pushing it. “Sure is…oh where’s your car?”
“Two cars down from that truck—actually, it is a minivan.”
It was his truck she pointed to as Cord pushed the cart.
The woman said, “Let me go ahead and open the hatch.” She turned to her son and grabbed his hand. “Come on, honey. Come with me.”” They both started swiftly walking toward her vehicle.
As he was rolling the cart toward the woman’s van, Cord, perhaps out of boredom, looked down at her groceries and just out of idle curiosity, started looking at one of the bags. She had bought corn on the cob, cereal, potatoes and eggnog, among other sundries. He happened to look at a bag resting where normally a child would sit and noticed it filled with little white bags. Looking at the mini bags more closely, Cord realized they were pharmaceuticals. Wow. Somebody has some serious health issues. I wonder whom the medicine is for…the woman…the child…perhaps her husband.
A scream rent the air.
“Mommy!”
Cord jerked his head up and saw the woman on her back about ten feet from her minivan.
“Oh, my God!’ Cord quickly ran to her, leaving the cart full of groceries. He knelt down and asked anxiously, “Are you okay?”
The woman lifted her upper body and said, “Yes…yes…I think I’m okay.”
She started to get up, and almost slipped again.
“Whoa, here let me help you. I’m going to carry you, okay?”
Annie looked at him, her mouth agape. “You mustn’t. I’m too heavy.”
Cord gave her a huge grin. Without giving her a response, he put one arm under her legs, the other around her back and then slowly lifted her.
He stared at her, still wearing the smile and said, “You’re as light as a feather. Besides, I’m a UPS driver. I deliver packages that are up to a one hundred fifty pounds and—” He stopped abruptly, his smile disappearing just as quickly. “Not that you’re one hundred fifty pounds. I mean you’re not even close to it. I mean—” He closed his eyes. “Okay, I’ll shut up. I’ve already stuck most of my foot in my mouth. I need to stop inserting the rest of it before I choke on it.”
Annie started laughing, trying to suppress it, but failed miserably. Carried to her minivan, she turned to her son. “Honey, open the driver’s side for me, please.”
“Okay, Mommy.”
Once the door was open, Cord carefully placed her in the driver’s seat. “Are you sure you’re okay?” He remembered the drugs he saw in the cart and followed with, “Maybe you should go see your doctor or at least let him know what happened.”
“I’m fine, sir. Really, I am.” She inserted a key into the ignition. “Once I get going, I’ll—”
“Mommy, the food…you forgot the food.”
Realizing what her son was referring to, Cord said, “Oh, yeah, I forgot. Stay here. Can you open the hatch automatically?”
“Yes, I can.” She bent down and Cord heard a dull sound telling him she popped the hatch.
He ran to the shopping cart he had left several cars back, rolled it toward the woman’s van and started depositing the bags into the trunk.
Once he finished, he moved the cart to the cart rack and then went back to the woman’s van to the driver’s side.
“You sure you’re okay?” Perhaps because of all the drugs Cord saw in the bag and now sensing they were for her, he felt an overwhelming protectiveness. Now that I think of it, if she were married, where is her husband?
Cord looked deeply in her eyes. She truly was a beautiful woman. I wonder if she is married?
She stared back, but said nothing.
The boy exclaimed, “Mommy, let’s go. It’s getting cold in the car.”
Cord broke their stare. “Oh, I’m sorry.” Just before he closed the door, he told her, “Be careful, okay?”
She gave a bright smile that made her face glow. “I will and thank you so much for helping me. I really appreciate it. Oh, is…there anyway I can repay you. I have some mon—”
“No, no. I won’t hear of it,” Cord quickly cut in. He grinned. “Thanks anyway.” He closed the door.
Chapter One
Friday—Twelve days before Christmas
UPS Driver Cord Williamson took a quick glance at his DIAD. The information on the handy device told him that he only had a few stops left. As he drove to his next stop, he contemplated what he’d do when he returned home and surmised he’d put on some holiday music, but that was about it. He’d lounge on the couch, maybe watch some holiday movies—his favorite being A Christmas Story. He didn’t put up a Christmas tree. Why bother? He looked at his watch, which also displayed the date and month. December 13. Twelve days until Christmas. It brought to mind his favorite song, The Twelve Days of Christmas. His soft humming of the song filled the cab of his truck, turning louder as he drove along the snow-filled roads.