Chapter Thirteen

A fresh dusting of snow greeted a crispy-cold Christmas Eve morning. Frost created shiny diamonds on the café’s window panes while inside the air fairly crackled with excitement. Jess was treating everyone to Christmas Eve breakfast and at the moment they were gathered at a long table. The kids, giddy that Santa Claus was coming that night, chattered like a tree full of magpies.

Raine was seated at one end and Jess at the other. She’d thought to sit by him but the kids had commandeered him, so they were separated by a sea of people. Watching him with suspicious eyes, she ignored the continuous vibrating phone in her pocket. Addison would not ruin this Christmas. He’d ruined too many in the past. She’d ignored him the last few days so he must really be angry, she ruminated with a touch of humor.

Just then Jess looked down the table, caught her stare and winked. And it wasn’t just any old wink, either. It was the one he used when he was up to something. She shot him a squinty-eyed look, he must really be up to something big time given he’d winked at her at least five times over the past twenty minutes. If he wasn’t careful it’d turn into a permanent tic!

Jess was getting a kick out of her miffed reaction to the eye-winking business. He had a secret he wasn’t divulging until tomorrow and given her annoyed looks it was probably a good idea they were sitting at opposite ends of the table.

As soon as everyone was finished eating, he paid the bill and tried making a quick getaway but she was already outside waiting to grill him but before she could get more than a “Where . . .” out, he gave her quick kiss, another wink, and drove off.

Shooting Cora an inquisitive look, all she got in return was an evasive shrug. Darn the woman, she did know something! Opening her mouth to grill her, what came out was, “We’d better get going ourselves.” Pulling her muffler over her mouth to hide a grin, Cora got in the passenger seat. Subterfuge sure was fun, she decided, as they left the parking lot.

Three hours later they were taking a well-deserved break. Normally a coffee girl, Raine was sipping a rich creamy hot chocolate that immediately sent her into chocolate euphoria. This was her favorite time of year and this Christmas she had so much to be grateful for. She had the sweetest little girl any mother could want. She’d been given another chance at love. And she’d survived Addison. And wouldn’t you know it, as if on cue, the cell in her pocket vibrated. Obviously, he was furious at being ignored. Too bad. Until the holidays were over, he could leave all the threatening messages he wanted.

An old adage came to mind about things happening for a reason. It definitely applied to her. She’d had to suffer through Addison’s hellishness to get to Jess. As for that other old adage about just desserts,—Addison was certainly getting his. But not for long, she thought dismally, all too soon he’d be free and gunning for her. Well fine! Bring it on!

Her thoughts turned to Jess. Where had the evasive man with the infernal eye-winking dashed off to? If he wanted to get under her skin all he had to do was use that sly-wink thing. It set her off every time. Of course, she was guilty of a few things that set him off too, which proved things wouldn’t always be hearts-and-roses between them. Both were stubborn and opinionated to a fault, so there would be plenty of fireworks in their future. But they’d have fun, too, and when they did argue she could speak her mind without fear of any backlash. She’d lost track of the times Addison had slapped her for simply voicing her opinion.

But Jess Harper could be infuriating, too. She remembered the day he’d driven her to the mall to get Katy’s dollhouse. On that trip she’d wanted to smack the smirk off his handsome face, especially when he’d decided to do some shopping and bought that sexy black negligee. Now be honest, came a taunting voice, you really wanted to kick his sexy rear-end into the next universe, especially believing he and Belle had a thing going. And come to think of it, where the heck was that wispy piece of torture? She’d have to tackle the sly dog about it. And, she recalled with a satisfied grin, she had kicked him!

Over the rim of her cup Cora studied Raine. With Addison’s hand-i-work finally faded, despite the smudges lurking beneath her eyes, the girl fairly glowed and thank goodness she and that tall-drink-of-water finally worked through their prickly mess. He’d been twisted up worse than a pretzel and Raine had been just a bad. Thankfully, they’d come to their senses, albeit with a mighty shove from her. Much more shenanigans and she’d have boxed their ears! They were a match made in heaven, warts and all. They belonged together like chocolate needed caramel, like peanut butter needed jelly! Hiding a grin, she took a sip of coffee and thought about Jess’s surprise. He’d sworn her to secrecy but, for sure, Raine would be over the moon come tomorrow.

By late afternoon the SUV was stuffed to the gills with gifts, including ones from the boys to everyone else. Raine had enjoyed herself especially knowing Addison was not a happy camper spending Christmas behind bars. As far as she was concerned it was the best Christmas present she’d ever received from him. Merry Christmas to me!

It was after eight that night and Raine was wiping down the kitchen counter when she caught the flash of headlights down at Jess’s. Good! The sneaky man was finally home. She’d phoned him earlier regarding dinner plans but he’d told her to eat without him, that he was still knee-deep in errands and before she could quiz him, he was gone. She was sorely tempted to march down there and weasel out of him what he’d been up to but a mountain of presents still needed wrapping. Maybe she could find a chunk of coal to put in his stocking! Him and his confounded eye-winking business!

Jess heaved a sigh of relief to be home. He hadn’t planned on being gone all day, but his shopping expedition had morphed big-time and he’d found himself thoroughly enjoying it. He hadn’t worried about chores as the boys had volunteered to do them. Upon parting company, after breakfast, his first stop had been the jewelry store in the mall to get the ring, the one she’d been captivated by the day he’d driven her to pick up Katy’s dollhouse.

Through the bare tree branches Christmas lights twinkled around the cabin. He was tempted to go up, but he wasn’t sure he could keep his secret. To further avoid running into her, he’d driven across the river into Illinois to do his shopping. Thank goodness for GPS or he’d still be wandering around in unfamiliar territory. The things a man did to surprise the woman he loved!

Once everything was unloaded and the wrapped presents were tucked under the tree, he was ready for a breather. Grabbing a beer, he kicked back in the recliner and found a Christmas movie. Twisting off the cap, he started to take a drink then remembered Katy’s dollhouse. A thrill raced through him that he’d see Raine after all and he’d keep the surprise even if he had to glue his lips together. Taking another drink, he thought dourly of the catastrophic evening they’d put the dollhouse together and his horrible actions that had nearly driven her away. A hard lesson learned; he wasn’t about to go down that rocky road again.

While Jess watched his movie, Raine heard the two little girls giggling excitedly from their bedroom. They were waiting for her to read them a Christmas story. Her heart twisted a little that Katy was still worried Santa wouldn’t find her despite being assured frequently that Santa and Rudolph’s red nose would find her any place she was. “All right you two, ready for your story?”

“Yes mommy,” they answered in unison. At Kathy’s calling her “mommy”, a pang hit her heart. If only she could be her mother.

Perching on the bed, she began reading. “T’was the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse.” Barely two pages in, on simultaneous sighs they’d drifted off into slumber. Turning off the light, she kissed them. Visions of sugar plums may not be dancing in their heads, but she bet there’d be dreams of a jolly fat man in a red suit and a red-nosed reindeer.

Before joining Cora, already busy wrapping gifts, she poured two glasses of Chardonnay. “I thought something fortifying would make this less painful.”

“You thought right!” Cora exclaimed, accepting a glass.

“We may need a couple of bottles before we get through this mountain.” Grabbing a roll of paper, she got busy. “I barely read two pages before they conked out. But you can be sure they’ll be scoping out the presents before the rooster crows in the morning.” Cora’s mumbling grumble made her chuckle.

With the first round wrapped, Raine was tucking them under the tree when a soft knock sounded at the door. It was Jess with Katy’s dollhouse. “Hi.”

“Hi yourself.” His breath formed a wispy cloud between them. She caught the heady scent of him—clean fresh air and the spice of his cologne. It was enough to . . . umm . . . she really would like to . . . she caught herself mid-fantasy, blushing wildly. “You better put that in Cora’s room.” She said huskily when he started to set it beside the shimmering tree. “If Katy wakes up and sees it there’ll be no sleeping the rest of the night.”

“I never even thought of that. Guess you can tell I’m not used to having little ones around. Maybe someday.”

“The maybe someday,” didn’t slide by her and she wanted so badly to tell him she’d have his babies. And she might have had she seen the dreamy-eyed look on his face envisioning her heavy with his child. The picture was so vivid he literally put a hand out to touch her swollen belly only to find thin air. The hand dropped to his side. The idea of conceiving a child with her stirred a yearning he’d never felt before. The image of her with his child would come to him quite often over the next several months.

“Hey, Cora,” Jess greeted, sitting the dollhouse down in the one clear spot in the room as he looked around in wide-eyed disbelief. “Did you buy gifts for the whole county?”

“Looks like it, don’t it?” Cora chuckled at his stunned expression. “Care to have a glass of cheer? It sure makes wrapping a lot more fun.”

“Then by all means, I’ll have a glass.” He said, shaking his head in amazement.

“I’ll get it.” Raine headed for the kitchen with him hot on her heels.

Backing her against the counter, he kissed her hungrily for several long moments. “I’ve been craving your kisses all day, woman.” He murmured roughly against her mouth.

“Then by all means we have to feed your craving.” And she kissed him back for all she was worth.

Both were breathless when they parted. “Wow! That whetted my appetite a little bit. Much more and I’ll have an early Christmas feast—you.”

Her cheeks burned rosy red, but not from embarrassment. Visions of their night together wove its silken threads through her mind. If she didn’t stop them, she’d be feasting on him, too, right there in the middle of the floor! “I like that idea but there are too many eyes here for that. I think I’d better get your wine.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. Let’s go wrap all those presents and let Cora chaperone us.” Soon Jess was knee-deep in ribbon, tape, and colorful wrapping paper. A little while later he frowned at the pile. “I think this unwrapped pile is multiplying. Just when I think we’re done more pop up.”

“Better have another glass of cheer,” Cora commiserated.

“We may have gotten carried away, but we made our lists and checked them twice, just like Santa and there just weren’t any naughty boys and girls. A naughty man, maybe,” she teased, receiving an eye-roll and a bop on the head with a roll of wrap.

They stacked the rest of the gifts around the tree, making sure the ones from Santa were front and center. Excited, Raine rubbed her hands in giddy anticipation. “This is going to be the best Christmas ever.”

Slipping an arm about her trim waist, Jess gazed into her eyes and couldn’t resist kissing her. “Merry Christmas,” he murmured as the earlier vision of her with child materialized in his mind.

“Merry Christmas,” she whispered against his warm mouth.

Lost in the moment, neither heard Cora’s soft goodnight. In her room, she did a fist-pumping victory jig. She’d also asked Santa for something, and he’d delivered on it!