'Tis the Season

Filomena Albright has lost both of her parents, her mother only several months before Christmas. Saddled with huge debts her mother incurred, Fil has come back to her childhood home to put it in order to sell. She lives in New York City, where she is working on her Ph.D. Evan Myers' wife abandoned him and their children. He does his best to be an excellent father while at the same time overseeing his chain of sporting goods stores. He has his hands full with the two lively kids and can't seem to pull it all together. Evan meets Fil through his children's highjinks - they're caught on the Fil's porch, absolutely sure the house is haunted. Nearly at his wits end (the kids snuck out an upstairs window late in the evening), Evan asks Fil if she would be interested in picking up the children after school and staying with them until he got home. Just until the holiday season was over. Fil needs the money, so she agrees. Things proceed along a predictable course. She grows more attached to the children and Evan and they to her, knowing that after New Year, she would be gone. The romance progresses from chaste kiss to something a lot steamier. After New Year's, Fil does return to NYC. Even though Evan & Fil love each other, neither has voiced the words. 'Tis the Season is a warm holiday story, complete with blossoming love, two motherless children (three, if you count Filomena) and some secondary characters from the whole personality spectrum. My only problem was the fact that Evan did not check Fil's background before handing over his kids. In this day and age, that's an oversight that I just can't imagine. Still and all, a good story for the holiday season.