Twelve Days of Christmas Chaos
Page 15
What would she do if he just told her? Random, out of the blue. “Cleo, guess what? I love you. Merry Christmas.”
He rolled his eyes. Yeah, that would go over well. Instead, he said, “How did you end up with Big Mama here?”
Cleo laughed, emerging with the bottle of kitten formula. “Well, I brought some laundry home to do. Guess who had snuck into the blankets and fallen asleep? Imagine my surprise when I almost threw a laboring cat into the washing machine.” Pulling a face, she continued, “I think I’m going to need a new duffle, though.”
She hooked the bottle up to the feeding tube with deft fingers, something she’d probably done dozens of times before. She settled next to Kayne on the floor again and gingerly scooped up the kitten, who didn’t make a sound. “Come on, little one. You can do this,” Cleo coaxed, sliding the tube into the tiny mouth. “It’s going to be a long night.”
Kayne glanced up at the clock. Almost ten already. His family would have already all gathered at his house, and they were probably ready to open Christmas pajamas. He wondered if they waited for him.
“Do you need to go?” Cleo asked, as if reading his mind. “I’ll be okay if you need to go.”
Kayne thought of her, sitting all alone all night on the laundry room floor. On Christmas Eve. He didn’t want to miss out on his family’s festivities and traditions—he’d never been gone for a Christmas Eve before—but he couldn’t leave her there alone.
“No. I just need to check in with them and make sure they can function without me.”
Amaya, of course, responded that he should stay with Cleo.
No surprise there. Her little matchmaker heart was in heaven, even if it meant her oldest son was away for Christmas Eve.
Priorities.
“I talked to my parents,” she said. “They’re actually sad they aren’t here. There’s no snow or Christmas trees where they are.” She laughed quietly. “Imagine that, in southern New Mexico.”
“Yeah, Arizona isn’t anything compared to Huckleberry Falls at Christmas either. Although I’m not sure anywhere but the North Pole goes all out like we do.”
She held the kitten close to her, trying to coax her to eat. Mozzie occasionally poked his head in to check things out but kept his distance. Kayne took him outside for a walk but Mozzie didn’t seem interested in staying out long. Maybe it was the cold or maybe he was still recovering from his romp through the storm the night before, or maybe he felt like he needed to be inside with Cleo, but he finished his business and hurried back in.
Kayne sat next to Cleo, checking Diana’s progress. “She’s eating.”
Cleo nodded hopefully.
“Sorry I slept on you all night,” Cleo said abruptly. “I feel so bad. You must have been so uncomfortable. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Kayne was so unprepared for that statement he burst out laughing. He’d been fantasizing about it all day, and she was apologizing?
Of course, she was apologizing. Because she didn’t think of him as anything but the kid she’d been trying to untie herself from since kindergarten.
“I had a great night,” he said, sobering quickly.
“Well, thank you for being my pillow. You were very good at it.”
“My pleasure,” Kayne said, and he really meant it.
“So, what day do you go back to Arizona?” she asked, rubbing the baby’s tummy. She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes but peeked at him out of the corner of her eye as she spoke.
“I go back on the ninth. School starts on the twelfth.”
She nodded, eyes still closed. “It’s going to be pretty quiet and sad here without you.”
Hope flared in Kayne’s chest. “Yeah?”
“Who else will catch the birds for me?”
Kayne snickered. “I can teach Jayden all my secrets.”
“It won’t be the same.” Cleo pouted prettily, her thumb absently circling across the kitten’s tummy. Diana had gone to sleep, the tube hanging next to her face, but her breathing was stronger now.
“Well, I’ll only be gone for a few months. Then I’ll be back and rescuing all the birds, putting you to shame.”
Cleo laughed softly. “We’ll call you the bird whisperer.”
“When do you start classes again?”
She rolled her head to the side to look at him. “Also the twelfth. One more semester. We got this.”
“We do.”
“So… do you have a girlfriend in Arizona anxiously waiting for you to come back?” she teased, her voice hushed so she didn’t wake Diana. Mozzie wandered in and flopped on the floor next to them, causing Big Mama to hiss in warning. Mozzie ignored it, laying his head against Cleo’s leg and promptly going to sleep.
Kayne snorted, thinking of all the girls he’d dated trying to find anyone who could make him forget Cleo. None of them had even come close. “No. I’ve been focused on school.”
And you.
Tell her, you idiot. Tell her now. He could hear nearly every person in his life whom he held near and dear screaming in his head.
“What’s school like, living away from home?” Cleo was oblivious to Kayne’s inner turmoil. But she seemed genuinely curious and he realized she’d missed out on all the experiences he took for granted. He spent the next hour telling her every story he could remember, every pro and con, trying to paint a picture she could live as well.
It was right before midnight and he was in the middle of regaling her with the story of one of his roommate’s many kitchen fires, when Big Mama started panting and yowling in agony.
“Another kitten?” Cleo gasped, leaning forward. Kayne did his best to comfort the big cat, but there wasn’t a lot he could do. They tried to make her comfortable as she labored, watching the minutes tick by.
Just after the last tiny kitten was born, the clock struck midnight.
“There’s your Twelve Days of Christmas, Cleo,” Kayne said, grinning. “Merry Christmas.”
Cleo squealed, eyes shining as she danced on her knees. “It really was the Twelve Days of Christmas, Kayne! And you hardly even mocked me. One of the many reasons I love you,” she laughed, bending to check the new kitten.
Kayne froze.
Cleo froze.
Slowly, she straightened. “I—I mean—”
“You love me?” Kayne’s heart bashed violently against his ribs, tried to climb out his throat, and shattered into a thousand butterflies that shot through his stomach and made his arms and legs weak.
She stared at him, eyes wide. “It’s a figure of speech?” she ended it as a question, her voice breathless.
Hope deflated like he’d been pierced by an arrow. “I see. Right, of course.”
“No,” Cleo suddenly snapped. “No, it was not a figure of speech. I meant it, Kayne. Okay, I know you’re Mr. Popularity and I’m just this small town dog whisperer but you’re so amazing and kind and compassionate and so annoyingly flawless and gorgeous, and I am tired of pretending I’m not in love with you because—”
Kayne leaned forward, cupping her face in his hands, and kissed her, his lips devouring hers. She gasped against his mouth, leaning into him, her entire body trembling against his.
“I love you too,” Kayne said, pulling back just enough that he could see into her bright brown eyes. He leaned his forehead against hers, breath coming in ragged pants like he couldn’t quite get enough oxygen to his lungs. “I’ve been trying to tell you but I didn’t want to lose you and I—”
She kissed him, cutting him off the way he’d done to her, drowning out excuses and explanations. Her kiss told him everything he needed to know.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Kayne stayed with her all night long on the floor of the laundry room, talking about the future and laughing about all the time they’d wasted because of fear. It was funny now, but she could have lost him because she’d been so afraid of losing him.
Lost him before she ever got the chance to tell him how she felt.
Thank goodness she had a habit of speaking without thinking.
It was just after nine Christmas morning when Kayne’s phone buzzed. Cleo had just finished feeding Diana, and Kayne had come in from taking Mozzie for a morning walk. Diana had nuzzled up to Big Mama and was trying to nurse, and Cleo watched her excitedly, hope blossoming in her chest. If Diana could nurse on her own, she had a much stronger chance of surviving.
She glanced up at Kayne. “Look!”
“Little rock star,” he murmured.
The doorbell rang, startling them both. Cleo frowned. “Who in the world could that be?”
Kayne just smiled.
He followed her to the door, standing back as she swung it open. “Cleo, Kayne! Hello!” Amaya cried as she came in with Kayne’s brothers and father close behind. She hugged Cleo tight. “How are the kittens?”
“They’re good,” Cleo said, laughing. “Come see!”
The doorbell rang again, before Cleo had even shut the door. She tipped her head quizzically, turning back to it. Mrs. Stradley hustled in, hugging her tight. “Merry Christmas, Cleo!”
“Merry Christmas!” Cleo said. “What are you doing here?”
Before Mrs. Stradley could answer, Red and Greyson came through the still-open door. Dustin on their heels. Bart and Lizbeth from the bed and breakfast showed up next, and Merry and her very handsome new boyfriend Carlyle, and both their children.
Kate and Luca popped in on their way to the airport. Farrah and Rose and the rest of the court. Christina from the day spa. For the next hour, a steady stream of friends came to her door, wishing her Merry Christmas and telling her how much she meant to them.
Cleo was speechless, more so as the morning went by and so many of her neighbors and friends came, taking time out of their busy Christmas day to visit her.
“What is going on?” she gasped around the tears forming at the back of her throat. “Why are you all here?”
Kayne, leaning against the wall watching it all casually, finally spoke up. “You seemed to have a hard time realizing how much you mean to this town. So, I brought the town to you.”
“Oh Cleo,” Red said. “We love you. So much. We would be lost without you, and I don’t know how you can’t see that.”
“Kayne decided to show you, since you won’t listen,” Mrs. Stradley laughed, clapping her hands to enunciate each word.
She turned slowly to face him, tears soaking her cheeks that she didn’t even remember crying. “You did this?”
Kayne shrugged. “I told you we love you.” Pushing away from the wall, he said slowly, “I told you I love you.”
The room, full of their friends and family, erupted in cheers and several finallys.
“What’s going on here? Where’s my Cleo?”
Cleo whirled toward the back door, where both her parents stood with luggage, straining to see over the heads of so many guests. “Mom? Daddy?”
“Cleo! We wanted to surprise you! But I guess we’re a little late for that.”
She hugged them both tight, fighting sobs now. “No, you’re right on time.”
Mozzie bounded out from the kitchen where he’d been playing with Merry’s son.
“We—uh—I got a dog. And some cats. A lot of cats. I hope that’s okay.” She peeked up at her dad to see his reaction, but it was Christmas and the house was full of holiday miracles. It was impossible to be annoyed under those circumstances.
Someone else rang the doorbell and Cleo ran to answer it, letting more love into her tiny house with each friend who stopped by. It went on all morning, friends coming and going, until finally it was just her and Kayne and her parents.
Kayne twined his fingers through hers and raised her knuckles to his lips. “Merry Christmas.”
She smiled, leaning her head on his shoulder. “I can’t believe you did this.”
“I didn’t. You did. You care about this village and this village cares about you.”
Cleo’s mom’s eyes sparkled. “I guess you two are a thing now?”
From the laundry room, Cleo’s dad yelled, “Diana’s nursing!”
Kayne grinned, kissing Cleo’s forehead. “I would like us to be.”
“Me too,” Cleo whispered.
Her mom laughed. “We always knew the Christmas Couple would work out!”
“I love you, Cleo Klausse,” Kayne said softly.
“I love you, too, Kayne Frost.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
One year later
Mozzie bounded through the snow, Glacier on his heels. Cleo threw another snowball for them to chase, laughing as Mozzie face-planted in an epic dive to beat Glacier. Her limp had all but disappeared and she was nearly as big as he was now.
Kayne’s phone buzzed the same time Cleo’s did and she frowned, digging it out of her pocket. “An escaped partridge in a pine tree?” Kayne asked incredulously. “She can’t be serious.”
Cleo squealed. “The Twelve Days of Christmas returns!”
Kayne groaned. “This year we stay away from rivers. And I don’t care what kind of animal we have to rescue on the eleventh day, but it better not be in a snowstorm.”
Cleo laughed. “Agreed. Ready?”
They called the dogs and ran to the truck, hurrying back to the ski slope. “It’s in the same tree as last year,” Kayne mused, as he navigated the wintery roads to Edelweiss. “It must have some attachment to that particular tree, the reason it keeps going back.”
“Weird.” Cleo shivered against the dread of coming face to face with that bird again. Maybe it would be on stronger branches and Kayne could rescue it without having to rescue her too.
He parked the truck and they hiked up the hill. It was twilight and most of the skiers had gone in for dinner. The mountain was quiet with only the occasional whoosh of snow as a skier flew past. Mozzie and Glacier bounded ahead, tongues lolling in excitement.
Cleo slowed as they approached the tree. “Weird. It looks like someone is already there.” She couldn’t see any people, but there was a blanket beneath the tree and tall, curved candles with a picnic basket between. She wasn’t sure where she could put the ladder.
“Weird,” Kayne said ahead of her.
“I feel bad interrupting someone’s romantic dinner.” Cleo set the ladder on the other side of the tree, trying not to disturb the scene, and peered up into the tree. From where she stood, she could see no bird.
“I think it’s over here,” Kayne said from the other side, standing on the blanket. “Mozzie, Mozzie, no!” He knelt next to Mozzie, trying to wrestle something from his mouth.
Cleo hurried to their side. “Mozzie, drop it,” she said firmly and Mozzie obeyed, dropping the ball in her hand. It broke open and a box tumbled out, falling to the blanket.
Kayne knelt to pick it up and opened the box, holding it out to Cleo. “Cleo Klausse, love of my life and dog-whisperer extraordinaire, will you marry me?”
Cleo gasped, her jaw dropping while she fought for words. Any words.
No, not any words. The right words.
Just one.
“Yes!” she cried. “Yes, Kayne Frost. I will marry you.”
Mozzie bounced excitedly and Glacier barked, dancing around them on dainty paws.
Kayne slid the ring on her finger and rose to cup her face in his hands. “I love you, Cleo. I can’t wait to spend all of my Twelve Days of Christmases with you.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Wendy Knight is an award-winning, USA Today Bestselling author. She was born and raised in Utah by a wonderful family who spoiled her rotten because she was the baby. Now she spends her time driving her husband crazy with her many eccentricities (no water after five, terror when faced with a live phone call…). She also enjoys chasing her three adorable kids, playing tennis, watching football, reading, and hiking. Camping is also big: her family is slowly working toward a goal of seeing all the National Parks in the U.S.
You can usually find her with at least one Pepsi nearby, weari
ng ridiculously high heels for whatever the occasion may be. And if everything works out just right, she will also be writing.
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