Whispers of Winter: A Limited Edition Collection of Winter Romances

by Nicole Morgan

  “Damn.” Luc sounded as shocked by this news as Del had been. He squeezed her against him, a man who’d never known a life without family, yet understanding immediately the depth of Jed’s pain. This was why she loved this man. She’d recognized his heart the day he’d propositioned her to be a part of the presentation to his kids at the teen center.

  Before she knew it, she was saying, “I’ve been thinking, maybe we should give the women in your family what they want so they’ll leave you alone.”

  He was quiet beside her. “Luc?” He was so still. “Have you changed your mind?”

  “Oh, hell no, you’re not backing out of it that easy. I’m just trying not to scare you by screaming so loud it brings the party down on us.” He took her face between his hands. “Honey, I know what you’re afraid of. I’ve lived with those six women all my life… well, five if you don’t count Sam—she’s different. They can be terrifying to those of us on the outside.”

  Del laughed, “Did you just hear yourself? No one could be more on the inside than the Larues’ baby boy.” Del remembered when she’d found out Luc was the youngest of six children that spanned a generation. His oldest sister’s son was almost his age. She’d met Mack, too, at the Larue family reunion on Memorial Day. There had been so much love on display there.

  “I’ll admit they are a bit daunting. I’ve been worried that they were going to be controlling, take over our personal life, but we’ve been engaged for six months and they haven’t—not one of them—asked me when we were going to set a date.”

  “What? Have they been giving you a hard time?" She felt his reaction. "They have.” He laughed as she shot off the bench.

  “Sit down, Delilah.”

  She’d never cared much for her name and had actually tried to make people forget anything but “Del” but when Luc said it, she got a warm gushy feeling inside, as if it were an endearment. She slouched back on the bench.

  “Always my protector, aren’t you, love?" He stroked his fingers over her hair. "Yes, they have asked, um, a few times.” Del snickered and Luc chuckled in acknowledgment when she tilted her head up. “Look at it from their viewpoint. They love you and know you make me happy so they—”

  “They’re so—”

  “—So much like you, Delilah. They’re strong women which is why I was drawn to you that day when you leaned down over me in the convenience store and threatened me. I get shivers just thinking about it. You fit perfectly in our family. It’s as if I’d been groomed for you my whole life.”

  What he said made so much sense suddenly that Del found herself relaxing. “Could we give them—instead of a date—maybe a season… about five years off so they ease into the wedding planning?”

  He squeezed her a couple times. “Honey, just tell me what you want. I know how to use my status as the ‘baby’ to get it.”

  His grin melted her heart and as usual had her hormones fist pumping and screaming as one, We love this guy. Marry him now… to heck with dates.

  “I love you so much, Luc. I never thought I’d find a man who understood me so well, nor one who accepted my job as part of the package.”

  “You know how I feel, Delilah. I haven’t pressured you because I know you’ll realize that my family loves you, too; they just want to embrace you fully. And you know how the Calloways are—when they just know things are meant to be.” He smiled. “Look at Buffy and Ridge. I took my cues from Ridge, who nearly made Buffy disbelieve in the family lore. I figured you’ll be ready, when you’re ready.”

  Del looked at the handsome steady man beside her, the one she’d taken for a criminal the first time she’d seen him. But it hadn’t taken long to realize he’d been the hero, and always would be. She'd thought him too good to be true at first but she'd realized before long he was pure gold, as good as they came. She didn't want to wait any longer to make him completely, officially hers.

  “Thank you for giving me that gift, Luc.” She drew him down to her for a kiss that delivered all her love. When he drew back and smiled, she said, “I’m ready.”

  His eyes went wide. “Really?”

  Chapter Eleven

  Del nearly laughed at the boyish joy on his face. She placed her palm on his cheek and said, “Really. Maybe not ready to name a month and day but how about we prepare them for say, end of the year—” At the look on his face, the sheer relief and happiness, she could have kicked herself for not doing this sooner.

  “Oh, God, Del. If you’re sure.”

  “I’ve always been sure I wanted to be married to you, my sweet hero, I just had to learn to…”

  “To trust the Amazons not to take over your life.” He smiled. “Believe me, I understand, but they aren’t just strong women, remember. They all have their own independent streaks that started with my mother and her legacy, and if the truth be known, it goes further back than that.”

  That made a lot of sense to Del. Victoria Callaway Larue had signed up for the service right out of high school. She’d always wanted a military career.

  And Luc’s father had loved her so much he’d made her dream a reality by allowing her to pursue her career while he’d raised Luc’s sisters as a stay at home dad. As far as she knew, he’d never complained. “There’s a lot of your father in you, ya know? The patience. The unconditional love. How did I get so lucky?”

  Luc grinned and looked down at her. “That’s what you must understand about us, Delilah. There’s not a lot of luck involved and I’m the fortunate one. I have an idea. Why don’t we announce it tomorrow while the families are all together? Aren’t your parents and Tommy coming to the farm?”

  “At one o’clock, they’re serving Christmas dinner at the mission at four.” She brightened, grasping his hands. “We could do that, say we’re thinking about a Christmas wedding, or better yet say… Winter-ish.”

  “Aw, love, you really are scared of them, aren’t you? Whatever you want is my desire.” She loved everything about him and he was not hard to look at either with his easy going smile and the love in those emerald eyes.

  “Are you always going to be this agreeable?” she asked.

  "Unless you try to change your mind. . ." He kissed her on the tip of her nose and slapped her butt. “Come on, let’s see what’s happening out back. I saw Madison dancing with Gino and some others trying to get a dance line together.”

  “What’s the story with Madison and Beau, Luc?” Del asked. "I never really got to know her in high school. I was glad Buffy was able to put her to work so she could finish her degree but I'm sorry I haven't had the chance to know her better. She's kind of quiet."

  He sighed, “Let’s just say we all hoped she’d wind up in the family. Have you ever met my cousin, Beau?” Luc brushed some debris from Del’s backside. At least she thought that’s what he was doing.

  “You mean “Duc” Larue? The famous movie star? It’s been a couple years but I was assigned protection detail for his visit home after his first movie came out, the one with him as the star instead of just the stuntman. He didn’t need protection. The hometown fans were very well mannered, just wanted to show him how proud they were of him. He seems very intense. I don’t really see how anyone could mistake him for you.”

  “Well, you know us black-haired, green-eyed guys—we all look alike,” he joked. “That was the year he wound up in the hospital due to some stunt gone wrong or something. Mom couldn’t get it out of him and it was never reported.”

  Luc pointed around the corner of the house to the “dance floor” where a group of mostly women were dancing to the zydeco music. The energetic group of musicians were armed with fiddles, a Cajun accordion, and harmonicas. In the center of the crowd of dancers Madison was bumping hips with one of the female models on one side and Gino on the other. She looked like the life of the party.

  “Madison has been in love with my cousin since she moved here in the ninth grade with her foster parents. Beau took her to the prom and they dated through college and grad school, but
something happened the year he went to enlist. You know, in our family, the males especially feel kind of left out if they don’t follow those who have gone before into the service." Luc's jaw clenched and he looked down at Del, his eyes serious.

  “Beau was turned down. He seemed okay with it for the most part but took off shortly after that for California to train as a stuntman . I thought Mad would go with him, but the next time he came home, they broke up. It must have been bad, neither one of them talks about it. I was kind of surprised she came today.”

  Del said, “Buffy mentioned that she was unsure how she felt about seeing Beau.”

  Luc stopped at the corner of the house, his sharp eyes catching sight of a familiar figure. He grabbed her hand. “I guess we’re about to find out. He’s here.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Del followed the direction of his gaze. In the shadows of the trees, beyond the lighted area behind the bandstand stood Beau Larue. His eyes were locked unerringly on the woman in the middle of the dancing guests. Del didn’t need her body language skills to interpret his. It spoke volumes and gave the impression of a man who spent a lot of time on the outer edges of polite society. She’d heard a few stories about his life in Hollywood. Hard drinking, partying, never a serious relationship—a real lone wolf, so far removed from Luc’s personality and demeanor.

  But how much of it was true? The man whose gaze seemed to have been captured by Madison’s free-spirited dancing looked lonely and haunted. She put her hand on Luc’s arm as he started to wave at Beau. “I don’t think he wants to be seen, Luc.”

  Before her sentence was out, Beau backed into the woods. Then Luc’s phone rang. He lifted it to answer, cupped his other hand to his ear and turned away from the music toward Del. “This is Luc,” he answered not bothering to check the ID. Del heard his end of the conversation. “Beau, hey.” He listened, frowning. “Your plane was late? Uh-huh. And you won’t make it until tomorrow?” Luc tilted his head, eyebrows raised toward Delilah, who shrugged.

  “Okay, I’ll tell her. We’ll see you then.” When he ended the call, he said, “Beauregard just lied to me.” He ran his hand across his buzz cut in frustration. “Said his plane was delayed and he won’t be able to get here until tomorrow—to let Mom know. Maybe I’ll skip the details in case any of the family checks their Twitter feed. Or I could say it was me fans spotted…”

  The song ended and it looked like Madison was preparing to leave. She hugged Gino and waved goodbye to those near her. As she rounded the side of the house a trio of visitors appeared and Buffy greeted them. “Who’s that?” Del asked Luc.

  Buffy hugged a dark headed woman, who then turned to her companions, a tall muscularly built man who looked to Luc like he’d been in the military by the way he carried himself, and a gorgeous blonde woman who could have been the one returning home from Hollywood.

  Luc said, “The taller lady is Brenna McLaren… no, it’s Brenna Gabriel now, from Thunder Point and her husband, Nick. I’ve never actually met him—”

  “Wait,” Del said. “He’s the one Sheriff Peterson told me about. She hit him in the head with a fireplace shovel when he broke into her cabin during that bad storm a few months back. Knocked his memory right out of him.” She grinned at Luc. “We grow ‘em tough around here, don’t we?”

  Luc smiled. “Yeah, especially in Brenna’s case. She’s been scaring the boys around here since we were pre-teens. She was taller than the rest of us and swung a wicked bat. Come on, let’s find out who the pretty lady is with them.”

  Buffy turned as they approached. “Luc, Del, come meet Nick and Godiva.”

  The woman held her hand out to both of them and said, “Please call me Di. That handle causes me enough trouble.”

  Brenna introduced Nick and Luc said, “Del just remarked that we grow strong women around here.”

  Nick laughed. “I’d second that. My first memories of Brenna were as a Valkyrie warrior trying to kill me.”

  “I was trying to kill you, sweetheart, but it was a honest mistake,” Brenna admitted, then tilted her head and said, “I’m thankful you were so hard-headed, in more ways than one.”

  Buffy gave Di a shameless once over with her critical photographer's eye. “Have you ever done any modeling, Godiva?”

  Del said, "I knew it. She can't resist."

  Godiva shook her head and waved her hand as if to say absolutely not.

  Del said, “Ah, a woman after my own heart.” Buffy just laughed as someone called to her from across the lawn.

  Buffy said, “Y’all please excuse me, I have something to take care of inside.” She hurried up the steps and into the house.

  “Where are you from, Di?” asked Del.

  Godiva threaded her fingers through the lush golden waves of her hair and tucked it behind one ear. “I live in DC. Brenna and I met when she started consulting on climatology with the company I work for while she was still going to college.”

  “Are you just visiting for the holidays?”

  Luc said, “Don’t mind Del, Godiva. My fiancée is a police officer and I’m sure her next questions will be for Nick.” He’d put special emphasis on fiancée. To Nick he said, “She heard your story from Chief Peterson in Thunder Point. If you don’t want to answer her nosy questions, I know how to shut her up. I’ll just drag her over there in the dark and kiss her until she loses her train of interrogation.” They all laughed and Del squeezed Luc’s hand.

  “No problem,” Nick said. “Now that I have a new job, my life’s an open book.”

  “I heard. You’re the new airport manager, right?” Del asked. “Did your memories ever return?”

  Brenna’s handsome husband grinned. “Every single one. Luckily, I can still remember my warrior goddess from that night, but as it turns out she’s both women.” He smiled at Brenna. “I hope we have a little girl just like her.” The man was obviously besotted with his wife and vice versa. For a few seconds they looked at each other as if no one else existed.

  Di cleared her throat loudly and Brenna looked around. Di rolled her head toward Del and Luc. “Every once in a while, you have to poke one of them to remind them where they are or things can get downright embarrassing.”

  Ridge appeared next to her and shook hands with Nick. “Buffy said not to let you get away. I won't apologize for my wife. You'd make a great addition to our agency. We’re always looking for talent, especially undiscovered talent, and for Buffy that could mean anyone in whom she sees potential, a friend, a cashier at the local grocery store, or a total stranger. Consider it an open invitation to audition.”

  Godiva said, “I have enough problems with my appearance without drawing attention to myself.”

  Del knew the “problems” she referred to. She was what the guys in the locker room would call “stacked” and she was as classically beautiful as Charlize Theron. In her flowing white and gold pantsuit, Godiva’s figure and complexion would be every woman’s envy and Del would wager Di did nothing to enhance her looks. In her opinion, Buffy would have a fight on her hands if she hoped to turn Godiva into a cover model.

  To Ridge’s credit, he dropped it immediately, but she doubted it would stay dropped if Buffy had anything to do with it. Buffy had a knack for making people see themselves differently. The best and most successful example of that was her husband.

  Buffy’s vision for her photography and her “actors” transcended the cliché. She wanted everyone she met to see themselves the way she saw them, as unique and beautiful. In the time Del had known her, she’d hired five people off unemployment and put them to work as models.

  She and Luc led the three over to the tables of hors d’oeuvres and entrées. As they filled their plates with pulled pork, gumbo and crawfish, the band suddenly halted and a couple of the musicians whistled pointing to the back of the house. Luc tapped Ridge on the shoulder. He’d been deep in conversation with their neighbor, Kelly Mitchell. They looked up.

  With her voice raised to get their guests’
attention, Buffy said, “Ridge, would you mind coming over here? A friend of yours has an announcement to make.”

  Ridge said under his breath, “What is she up to now?” Luc laughed and clapped him on the back as he made his way to the back porch. He knew from experience that his wife was as unpredictable as she was clever. Then his “friend” walked through the back door of the porch and smiled.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Ridge looked suddenly embarrassed as Buffy said, “I’d like for you all to meet the President of the Association of Independent Romance Writers, Sally Freeman.”

  Buffy came to stand beside Ridge. She wrapped her arms through his, to keep him from running as much as to be close to him. He'd never been comfortable with praise for his accomplishments, viewing them as just positive results with more work to be done. The crowd behind them stood silent waiting for the announcement.

  Sally began. “I don’t have to give a long introduction since you are all friends of Ridge and his wonderful wife, Buffy. Some of you may not know how I met Ridge—”

  He groaned beside Buffy. “How could anyone not know?”

  She gripped his arm tighter. “You’re going to be okay, sweet pea, just breathe.” Laughter sounded behind them.

  Sally smiled and continued, “I met Ridge first as ‘Tucker’ when he impersonated a cover model in the Strip Bingo contest at our DC conference two years ago.” Spontaneous applause broke out and she nodded. “So, some of you didn’t know about his little escapade.” She looked down at him. “Ridge, you aren’t still ashamed of that marvelous event, are you? Well, it doesn’t matter because that slip in his famously disciplined life led to a successful relationship between our romance writers, the military community, and people in power in the US Congress, not to mention that he met the woman standing next to him. Ridge, would you step up here, please?”

  The clapping began and their guests sensed something important was about to happen. Ridge leapt to the top step and hugged Sally, looking suddenly uncomfortable in his handsome skin. Buffy’s heart was ready to burst with pride. His humility was such a part of him; he only knew how to give of his resources, his expertise, and his time.