Christmas at Colts Creek

by Delores Fossen

  “Last night. I don’t have any details,” Brody explained, “but I soon will.” Then he would find out why he’d had to hear the news from Rowan rather than his mother.

  There was uneasiness in Janessa’s eyes. Until she met his gaze, that is. Then she smiled, and with the baby snuggled in her arm, she bent forward to kiss him. It was better than a coffee hit.

  “Margo’s covering the night shift with the baby,” she said when she pulled back from the kiss. “She’ll spend the night in the nursery and told my mother and me not to worry about showing up until nine tomorrow morning. Well, that’s provided the baby doesn’t throw up an entire bottle again.”

  Brody ran his fingers over the baby’s hand while he kept his eyes locked with Janessa’s. “This probably isn’t the most romantic way to go about this, but if the baby doesn’t puke, would you like to go out with me?” he asked.

  She smiled. “Yes, especially if the date involves...other things.”

  He smiled, too, and kissed her again. “Other things can definitely be arranged. Just come over when you’re done for the day, and we’ll go from there. If the baby has trouble with the reflux, just let me know, and we’ll keep rescheduling until the forces of the universe align in our favor.”

  Brody wanted to kiss her again, but his phone rang, and when he saw the name on the screen, he knew he had to answer it. “Lucian Granger,” he relayed to Janessa. “He’s buying some horses.”

  She nodded, said a quick goodbye. And while gently rocking the baby, Janessa left him thinking about tonight and about this aching need he had for her. An ache he pushed aside so he could take the call. As usual, Lucian was all business, which suited Brody just fine. They worked out the deal for buying six of the ranch’s cutting horses, and while Lucian was still on the phone, Brody emailed him the standard contract for the sale.

  When he finished with Lucian, Brody didn’t put his phone away. He went ahead and called Barton. Brody expected to have to leave him a message, but his assistant put the call right through.

  Brody dispensed with a greeting and went right to the heart of the matter. “Why did you go to my mother’s house last night?”

  Barton certainly didn’t jump into an explanation, though. He took several long moments before he finally said, “What did your mother tell you?”

  That counter question definitely didn’t sit well with Brody. “Why were you at her house?” he repeated, and this time he made sure it sounded like the demand that it was.

  Barton’s huff was plenty loud enough for Brody to hear. “I’m sorry, but I can’t get into this with you.”

  “This?” Brody snarled.

  “I’m sorry,” Barton repeated. “If you want to know what your mother and I discussed, then you should ask her.” The PI muttered a goodbye before he ended the call.

  Brody sat there staring at his phone and cursing. Not because the PI had hung up on him but because he knew what he had to do next. He was pretty sure his mom was at work today, but Brody still tried her number. When it rang and then went to voice mail, he didn’t leave a message. What would he have said anyway?

  I demand to know why Abe’s hired PI went to see you.

  That wouldn’t play well with his mother. If that visit was something she wanted him to know about, she’d tell him when she was ready. If she didn’t want Brody to know, then she’d dodge him. Without a message, she’d be curious, or worried, enough to call him back the first chance she got. It was possible that she still wouldn’t explain the PI’s visit, but at least this was a start.

  Brody was about to put his phone away again so he could go out and have a chat with one of the supervisors who handled training the ranch hands, when it rang. He figured it was Darcia. But it wasn’t.

  It was Jimmy.

  Brody hit the answer button, and like with the PI, he didn’t greet his father. Nor did he wait for the scumbag to say anything. “I know about the photos and emails you’ve sent Abe over the years so don’t even think about trying to bullshit your way out of it.”

  “Well, hello to you, too, son.” Jimmy said that last word as if it were a gnat to be swatted. If the man had ever loved him, and Brody wondered sometimes if he ever had, there was certainly no love now. The feeling was mutual.

  Brody answered with his own gnat-swatting tone. “You’re a petty asshole, and I want you to stop dicking around with people’s lives.”

  “I don’t know what you mean. It has stopped. Abe’s dead, remember?”

  “I’m not talking about the photos and emails that ruined Abe’s marriages and plenty of business deals. This is about Mom,” Brody snapped. “You will stop trying to get back at her for whatever wrong or slight you feel she’s done.”

  “Well, now that’s an interesting accusation,” Jimmy said, his voice still calm and cool. “What exactly is it you think I’ve done to her?”

  “You sent her a photo of Layla.” Brody wasn’t doing so well with the calm and cool because the photo was just for starters. It was possible Jimmy had done something that had spurred the PI to make that visit.

  “Oh, that. Yeah, I sent it. I wanted her to remember the anniversary of our daughter’s death.”

  Brody wished he could reach through the phone and punch this jerk. Damn it. That photo had caused his mother to cry and twisted her into knots. He wouldn’t give Jimmy the satisfaction of hearing that, though.

  “My mother has no trouble remembering Layla’s death,” Brody spat out. “You, on the other hand, weren’t even here and haven’t been since she died. You should have sent the photo to yourself, you worthless son of a bitch.”

  “Me? I’m the son of a bitch?” Jimmy growled. Apparently, he was also ditching the calm and cool. “Abe ruined me, and I’m pretty damn sure he did that with your mother’s help. They worked together so I’d lose my business, so I’d have to leave town. As far as I’m concerned, they deserved a hell of a lot more than pictures and emails.”

  Brody wanted to shake his head. “You believe Darcia helped Abe ruin you?”

  “I know she did.” The anger in his voice was fresh and raw. “Darcia isn’t as squeaky clean as she likes people to believe. She’s a liar, Brody, and if you want to know the truth about why your sister died, you should ask her.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  JANESSA GLANCED AROUND and decided it didn’t get much better than Christmas twilight at Colts Creek. The winter breeze stirred the tiny lights and garlands on the fences, making it look like ribbons of fireflies. The trees, also lit, dotted the grounds so that everywhere you looked, you got a taste of Christmas.

  The decorations continued along the road to Brody’s, and they dazzled even brighter as she drove away from the lights of the main house. She might never know why a grouch like Abe would want something like this, but maybe it came down to the simple beauty of it. A beauty that even grouches could appreciate.

  Janessa parked her car in front of Brody’s and stepped out into the crisp night air. She immediately caught a whiff of fragrant wood burning. Heard the horses whickering in the corral off the barn. The winter breeze brushed slow, soft and damp against her skin.

  Snuggling her coat tighter around her, she walked toward Brody’s porch where he’d left a light on for their date. Part of her wanted to laugh at that label when this was clearly a scheduled evening of sex, but it felt like a date, too, what with the romance of this place.

  She’d risked the cold and worn a dress. A winter wool red one that she’d bought at a shop in town. It hit her mid-calf so she’d paired it with black cowboy boots that she’d found at the same shop. Putting the outfit together and slathering on some makeup had definitely taken some time. Probably too much time, considering the clothes wouldn’t be on her for long. That thought warmed her despite the chilly temps. But what warmed her more was when she looked in the direction of the pond.

  And she saw Brody.
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  Well, she could see the silhouette of him anyway. He was by the pond, standing next to a firepit, the source of that burning wood she’d smelled. There was another Christmas tree there and it was all lit up, making a perfect mirror reflection on the surface of the indigo water.

  His back was to her, his hands propped on his hips. What a picture he made standing there. Tall and lean in his great-fitting jeans, buckskin jacket and cowboy hat.

  No, Christmas at Colts Creek didn’t get much better than this.

  He looked at her from over his shoulder, and even though it was hard to see his eyes, she knew they were on her as she made her way toward him. With the tiny lights and fire dancing off the water and flickering over his face, Janessa stepped into his arms when he reached for her, and she slid right into the kiss. A kiss with plenty of heat and need.

  But there was something else.

  Something simmering just below the surface of that kiss. She thought it might be a different kind of need.

  His face was cold, letting her know that he’d been standing out here for a while. She couldn’t blame him, though. This place was magic, and with the heat from the firepit, they wouldn’t freeze.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked when she eased back. Janessa kept her mouth right against his, drawing in his breath, savoring the taste of him.

  She expected a quick, short answer along the lines of fine and for him to then ask her how her day had gone. But she didn’t need to see his eyes to know that fine wasn’t going to cut it.

  “Jimmy called this morning,” Brody told her. “He admitted to sending the photos and emails to Abe and the picture of Layla to my mother.”

  Well, at least he’d owned up to it, but she didn’t think Jimmy’s confession was what had put Brody in this mood. Janessa didn’t push for more. She just slid her arms around his waist, stealing some of the warmth of his body, and waited.

  “Jimmy implied that my mother had something to do with Layla’s death,” Brody finally went on. “He didn’t get into specifics, but he claimed she was a liar. I don’t want to ask her about it because God knows how many bad memories this will stir up for her.”

  It was obviously stirring up plenty for Brody, too. “It’s possible Jimmy said that to hurt you. He probably knows that the fastest way to hurt Darcia is through you, so he could be trying to drive a wedge between the two of you.”

  She wanted to ask the obvious—had Darcia had anything to do with his daughter’s death? Anything even in an accidental sort of way. But Janessa recalled what Brody had said.

  I’m the reason Layla’s dead.

  Not Darcia. Not Abe. Brody felt he was the cause.

  Brody nodded. “Yeah, I can see Jimmy trying to create a wedge especially since he’s at the core of Abe’s divorces. But I just don’t know why Jimmy would go after my mother. He’s the one who left. She’s the one who stayed to raise Layla and me.”

  “Unhappy people often try to make others unhappy.”

  That was the best reason Janessa could come up with. However, that wasn’t going to answer these questions Jimmy’s call had put in Brody’s head. Those answers would have to come from Darcia. Maybe Brody wouldn’t risk upsetting Darcia to get to the truth, and if so, he might have to get the truth elsewhere.

  “Can the PI verify or disprove what Jimmy told you?” she asked.

  Brody shook his head. “I called him after I talked with Jimmy, and he said he didn’t have any idea what Jimmy meant. And FYI, Barton is still refusing to say what other matter Abe hired him to do.”

  Janessa couldn’t see how all of this was connected. The emails and photos Jimmy had sent. His sister’s fatal car accident. This other matter. And the PI’s visit to Darcia. But maybe it was.

  “If you think it would help, I could ask my mother to talk to Jimmy,” Janessa offered.

  He looked at her. Really looked at her. Not the eye contact of a man with something else on his mind. For whatever reason, she had now moved front and center of his thoughts.

  “Thanks, but don’t bother Sophia about this.” Using a single finger, he moved a strand of hair off her forehead, and in the same motion, he touched his mouth to hers. It was extremely effective. A whole lot of heat for such minimal contact.

  “We’re supposed to be on a date,” he reminded her. “I’ve got steaks in the fridge.”

  Janessa was hungry, but steaks could wait. So could going back to his house. First, she wanted to make sure he was truly all right.

  She tipped her head to the hammock. “Why don’t we just lie there for a while, snuggle up to stay warm, look at the Christmas tree and count the stars?”

  Now that her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, she had no trouble seeing his eyebrow lift. “If you’re thinking about having sex in that thing, you should know we’d likely end up on our asses.”

  He smiled, and mercy, that was good to see. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to linger down here for a while. And possibly fall on their asses.

  “That sounds like a challenge,” she said, and Janessa went in for a kiss. One of those long slow ones that made her feel as if the rest of the world had just floated away.

  “The bed could be a challenge, too,” he reminded her. “You know, the bed in a heated room in the heated house. You never know when you can get a paper cut from one of those mattress tags you’re not supposed to take off.”

  She laughed, kissed him again, and taking hold of the waist of his jeans, she backed them toward the hammock. Janessa was pleased to see a plaid blanket, which told her that Brody used this even in wintertime.

  “Rowan camps out here sometimes so it’s a waterproof camping blanket,” he explained when he followed her gaze.

  Even better, though, there was no rain in the forecast until morning. Still, if they fell asleep out here, they wouldn’t risk getting soaked.

  “We’ll just count the stars, fool around a little and then take the fooling around back to the bed. Oh, look—” Janessa pointed to the sky “—there’s one star. See if you can find another.”

  He didn’t look up. Brody took her mouth as if it’d been years instead of seconds since they’d last kissed. The man could certainly make mouth-to-mouth contact into something sizzling hot.

  When she felt the back of her legs hit against the hammock, she took hold of Brody and dropped back. And they promptly tumbled right onto the ground. Janessa’s butt did indeed hit, but she thought Brody’s shoulder took the brunt of the fall. She was laughing, trying to apologize and making sure he was okay all at the same time when he kissed her again.

  She forgot all about possible bruised butt cheeks, the December cold, the inevitable grass stains on her new dress and everything else. The fire that his kiss created had her focus pinpointing just on Brody.

  He pulled her into his lap, giving her body something else to think about. Specifically, think about feeling the already hard length of him in just the right spot. Mercy, she already wanted him. Too much want to try to fulfill that fooling-around promise and then make it all the way back to the house.

  Brody must have felt the same way about the fifty or so yards of distance between them and the house because with her arms wrapped around his neck and legs around his waist, he managed to move to his knees. Then get to his feet. With slow gentle movements, he eased onto his back on the hammock, which put her on top of him again. But at least they weren’t on the ground. And they weren’t toppling out.

  “The trick is not to make any sudden movements to the side,” he instructed, and he managed to toss the blanket over them.

  “You seem to know the ins and outs of hammock sex.”

  Janessa wasn’t jealous or disappointed about that, though. Right now, she’d take all the expertise she could get. And the speed. A quickie would work to burn off some of this ache, and then they could do a bedroom follow-up.

  With that plan se
t in her mind, she went after his belt, but he stopped her. “Indulge me,” Brody told her.

  That was the only warning she got before he worked his way inside her coat and pushed up her dress. Not a fast movement with his clever hands. Nope. This was a slow slide up her body with his palms sliding over each inch of her skin that he bared. Many scalding moments later, he finally had the dress pooled up above her breasts.

  Janessa didn’t consider herself an overly modest person, but she made one quick glance around. She didn’t see lights from any nearby house or barn. That didn’t mean there weren’t any, though. “I asked something similar when we were in your truck, but how private is it out here?”

  “Private,” he assured her, “but not as private as my bedroom would be.”

  She smiled. “We can save the bedroom for later. Sort of like the main course. This can be an appetizer.”

  “Am I going to be able to walk after this appetizer?” he asked, but there was absolutely no wariness or concern in his tone or expression. All the blues over his mother were now on the back burner. Exactly where she wanted them to be.

  And speaking of where things should be, Brody somehow shifted them again. Using that same slow pace he had with her dress, he eased her to her side so that she was snuggled against him. It was, well, nice, but Janessa had preferred the full-body contact.

  She got it.

  When Brody moved on top of her. The hammock swayed, rocking them, and Janessa got an even better angle on that full-body contact deal.

  Brody used the new position to shove down the cups of her bra and kiss her breasts. While the heat inside her continued to climb and climb, he went lower and lower, kissing her along the way. Kissing her, too, as he shimmied down her panties and gave her a kiss that caused her to gasp, arch and send the hammock jiggling.

  The jiggling created some interesting sensations. So did Brody’s chuckle. The kind of sensations that were going to end way too soon. Yes, she wanted a quickie, but she didn’t intend for it to be a solo act.

  Janessa caught onto him, dragging him back up her body, and she decided to do some torturing of her own by kissing those vulnerable places on his neck and ear. She did that while she managed to get his shirt unbuttoned, and her reward was his bare chest against hers. Definitely a good way to move this quickie along.