Twenty minutes later, Fin’s navy blue 4x4 bumped down the lane of the tree farm and parked in the drive right next to the house. He shut off the engine, jumped out and ran around the truck to open Harper’s door, grabbing her bag from the floor. The farmhouse was lit up like a Christmas tree and she could hear laughter coming from the living room as they entered the back door. Fin dropped Harper’s bag next to the staircase and ran after the girls.
“What are you two still doing up. Santa won’t stop here if he sees you both running around.”
“Exactly what I’ve been trying to tell them.” Kaleb looked a little worse for the wear. “Alright, let’s go, move it out. Harper and Uncle Fin are putting you two to bed. Give me kisses.”
Kelsey and Hayley ran into their fathers’ arms then bound up the stairs with Fin and Harper hot on their heels. After a good tooth-brushing, they jumped into bed and settled under the covers. More kisses and good night wishes were administered then Fin shut the door.
“Lord I’ve never seen more energetic kids in my life. Do you think they’ll actually fall asleep tonight?”
“Probably within two or three minutes I’m guessing. They’re really good sleepers. They fight going to bed but fall asleep fast. Okay, you ready to wrap?” Fin wiggled his eyebrows as he made his way down the hall to his room.
Harper fiddled with rolls of wrapping paper and tape for two hours while Fin dug from his closet the things he’d hidden there for his nieces.
“How much more do you have in there? We’re going to run out of wrapping paper.”
Fin pointed to the stuffed horse heads on sticks. “That’s the last of it. Are you hungry? I’m going for some milk and cookies; I’ll bring it back up for us.” He disappeared from the room.
“Okay…guess I’m on my own.” Harper finished the last two gifts and collapsed on Fin’s bed. “Oh, wow is this comfortable.” I bet if I shut my eyes, I’d fall asleep in a second.
“Hey, you better not be asleep little lady. I have dessert.” Fin burst into the room making Harper jump from the bed. “Oh sorry, did I scare you.”
“It’s ok, I was just resting my eyes.” She giggled a little and sat back down in the middle of the queen-sized bed and crossed her legs Indian style. He handed her the plastic bowl full of cookies and her glass of milk and climbed into the bed.
“Crap.” One wrong move and Fin spilled both glasses, splattering them both. “I’m sorry Harper. Here, let me get you a t-shirt.” Fin stripped off his wet shirt then dug for a clean one for Harper to wear.
“Thanks, now can you turn around so I can change?”
“If I must.” He chuckled but she thought he was probably completely serious. She made fast work of stripping her top off and pulling his on but then took her jeans off because they took the biggest portion of her milk. Then she took a little risk, she pulled back his covers and crawled in, just to stay warm.
“Okay, you can look, I’m done.” When he turned and saw her clothes laying on the floor and her in the bed, his nostrils flared and his eyes sparkled.
Chapter Eight
Sitting on his bed was one thing but noticing her clothes discarded on the floor and seeing her in his bed was quite another. He’d managed some great amounts of control the last couple days as far as Harper was concerned but this might just be the final straw.
“Sorry for hogging your bed but I got cold. I promise I won’t bite if you want to crawl in here with me.” Her look of innocence didn’t fool him a bit.
“What if I want you to bite?”
“I might consider it but you’d have to get in here first.” She held the covers up from the mattress, all joking aside, showing beautiful lily-white legs.
“Are you sure you know what you’re getting yourself into Harper? If I crawl in that bed with you, it’s pretty much a guarantee things are going to happen. I want you to be sure.”
“I’m sure Fin.”
He didn’t have to be told twice. He turned the light switch off at the door but turned on the side table lamp because he wanted to be able to see every inch of her. He almost shed his boxers too but that might make him look a little desperate. He couldn’t help it. The more he tried to keep his distance, the more he wanted Harper.
He slid in under the cool sheet but the warm contact from her silky legs against his own created a friction unmeasurable on any scale. When his hand caressed her hip as she lay facing him, he knew he was at her mercy. Her petite hand appeared on his chest with a sizzle, as if the heat of her fingers would leave a handprint on his skin afterward.
When her lips met his in a soft yet demanding kiss, he lost all other thought but her. The way her lips were soft and pliable, only a tiny bit damp. As her tongue prodded, requesting access to search for his own, he lost what was left of his control, his hands moved about her body and up under the confines of the shirt she wore.
He was powerless in her arms yet demanded control when he edged the T up past her pierced belly button to reveal the luscious breasts, he would give just about anything to caress. There were only guttural sounds and squeaks from Harper as he continued his perusal. Using both hands, he pushed the cotton barrier over her head to its resting place on the floor. The fact she wore lace undergarments just proved there was still much to learn about this woman. Before he could remove the remaining pieces, she pushed him away.
“I think it’s my turn now.” The desire emanating from her eyes had his palms sweating.
Harper, in all her lacy glory, crawled from beneath the covers, removing the covers from Fin as well and straddled his legs right below the knees. “I have to say I hadn’t taken you for a boxer briefs man but you do wear them well.” She emphasized her statement with a finger trailing across the bulge in his briefs. The moan that escaped Fin’s lips made her smile.
“I guess we both have our little secrets huh?” Fin punctuated his statement by circling his finger around a lace covered nipple.
“Lace is my weakness.” Harper shrugged her shoulders.
“Trust me, mine too.” Then in a swift move, Fin sat up, dragging Harper closer to straddle his thighs and encircling his arms around to the clasp of her bra. “This piece has to go.” Within seconds, swift fingers had worked the metal hooks and the bra found its’ home on the floor next to the discarded t-shirt.
“You are so beautiful.” He didn’t’ give her time to respond before his mouth was on one of the rosy peaks while his hand tweaked the other. She gasped but pushed herself into his embrace.
“Mm…that feels so good.”
Before she could get too comfortable, his lips had popped from the first and found the second sensitive nub. His constant change in pressure on her nipples had her fingernails digging into his shoulders.
“Fin I can’t take much more of that.” Again, not needing to be told twice, he circled her waist with his hands and lifted her off of him and into the center of his bed. It was his turn to straddle her legs.
“It’s time to get rid of this last piece of lace Harper.” Fin had his fingers looped in the thin strip of material riding low on her hip. She leaned back against her arms, raising her hips, giving him permission and a dare with the devilish look in her eyes to take it off himself. Once he’d pulled them over her thighs and down her silky legs, he stood at the end of the bed and slowly removed his boxers, a small strip tease just for her.
“Awe, I wanted to do that for you.”
“I’m sure but if you touched me right now, it’d be all over. This way, it helps me keep what’s left of my self-control.” He crawled back onto the bed, spreading her legs wider the closer he got. He didn’t stop until his body molded exactly with hers, his lips covering hers, his shaft teasing at her wet opening. When her arms crept around his shoulders, he entered her in one swift thrust. The rest became a blur of bittersweet ecstasy.
As they relaxed a time later, too exhausted to move from being wrapped around each other Fin noticed his alarm clock read after midnight. Kissing her softly he mur
mured, “Merry Christmas Harper.”
Waking up to shrill screams from three-year old’s running in the hallway made Harper take stock in how far she’d come in her life. She’d come from having nothing and no one to waking in the arms of a man she’d met only a week ago and somehow fallen in love. It didn’t seem real. The type of thing that only happened in a romance novel. Afraid to open her eyes and it all turn into a dream, she moved her arm only to realize the arm lying across her stomach wasn’t her own.
I’m not dreaming. She couldn’t help but smile. And if he wasn’t a dream then everything, she remembered about last night wasn’t a dream either, including the sore muscles from a few positions she’d never known about.
“What are you smiling at beautiful?” Oh boy did she love that raspy voice first thing in the morning. Especially from less than a foot away. She turned her head in his direction.
“Just happy that last night and waking up next to you this morning wasn’t a dream.”
“It definitely wasn’t a dream and I swear I could get used to this.” She giggled when he pulled her closer to him, his excitement pushing at her stomach.
“Down boy, we don’t’ have time for that right now. I’m sure if we don’t surface soon, Hayley and Kelsey will be in here after us. I heard Kaleb say they couldn’t touch a thing until we were down there too.” Not that she wanted to leave the comforts of Fin’s warm cozy bed. Ever. They were probably far from that stage though. She couldn’t help but remember that Santa letter she’d left in the red mailbox at the post office. How were all her wishes coming true?
“Too much contemplation lady. Those wrinkles on your forehead make it look like you’re working that brain of yours awfully hard. What’s on your mind?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Are you ready for presents?” She knew he’d written one himself but she really didn’t want to discuss her Santa Letter with him. She watched as Fin crawled out of bed, bare as the day he was born and god awful handsome. She couldn’t help but stare.
“See anything you like?” She’d been daydreaming again and looked up to see Fin striking a pose.
“Yes, but not now.” She threw her bed pillow at him. “Now go get dressed.” He dodged the pillow, running into the bathroom. He’d told her sometime during the last week that after his sister-in-law passed and he moved in, Kaleb had a bathroom constructed for Fin’s privacy. Heaven forbid he run naked down the hallway.
By the time he’d emerged, showered, and dressed, she’d gotten herself ready and made the bed.
“Damn, a tiny bit of me wanted to forget we had to go downstairs and hoped I’d find you still naked in my bed.” He wrapped her in his arms, kissing her tenderly.
“Later, I promise.” Then she grabbed his hand, pulling him out the bedroom door behind her.
While the girls were stuffing the last bit of ripped wrapping paper from the floor into a garbage bag held by Fin, a knock echoed at the front door.
“I’ll get it.” Harper leapt from the couch. Kaleb was cooking in the kitchen and he’d told her more than once to make herself at home, she was part of the family. I guess that means answering the door too.
When she opened the door, a myriad of emotions encompassed her, shock, relief, and surprise. She had never been so happy to see the woman standing on the front porch.
“Elsie, I’m so thrilled to see you!” She lunged and engulfed the older woman in a tight squeeze and then a kiss on the cheek. She looked up, pointing in the same direction. “Mistletoe, the men insisted on it.” Harper escorted the woman inside and helped with her coat. “Burr, it’s freezing outside.” She shut the door and turned back to the older woman. “You’re just in time for breakfast, Kaleb is cooking it up now.”
“Oh, pish posh, I’m not going to interrupt your Christmas morning.”
“We won’t take no for an answer.” Fin chimed in as he joined the women, embracing their guest. “Merry Christmas Elsie, we were starting to worry about you.” He stood next to harper with an arm resting comfortably around her shoulders.
“Don’t waste your time worrying about this old bird. I get around just fine.” She raised her eyebrows at the couple standing before her. “But it sure does look like the two of you have been getting on quite well.”
“Both smiled but Fin spoke up first. “You could say that,” he winked at Harper. “And I’m not letting her get away either.”
“Well it’s about time.”
Harper and Fin’s mouths dropped open, surprised by Elsie’s admission.
“Now, where are those little girls? I brought presents for them.”
“Here let me carry those.” Fin took the large bag from her. “Head on into the kitchen, I’m sure the girls are stuffing their faces right now.”
Once they’d convinced Elsie to eat something hot, they all retired to the living room where the girls were chomping at the bit to open more presents.
“I have something for you as well Harper.”
“Oh, Elsie you shouldn’t have. With the ice storm we had, I wasn’t able to get out to shop for anybody.
“No worries young one, I didn’t shop, for much anyway. This got delivered to me so I brought it to you.” She dug into her oversized purse and handed Harper a thick brown padded envelope.
“What is it?” Puzzled, Harper held the dirt colored priority package and looked at the return address. “New York? I don’t know anyone in New York.” Turning the envelope over, she pulled the open here tab that slices through the top and pulled out a small stack of paper clipped papers.
“This is from a law office.” She eyed Elsie; eyebrows raised. “I don’t know who Barrett; Baker & Brown is.” She looked toward fin for some help.
“Let me take a look.” He read the first page then leafed through the next few before he turned to Harper. “Honey, these are court papers releasing this case.” Fin continued to leaf through the rest of the stack.
“What case, and releasing it from what?” She was really confused. She didn’t remember ever getting into any trouble with the law. “And why am I getting all this stuff?” She motioned to the papers Fin was still reading.
“From what I can tell, these are adoption papers.” He looked at her before continuing. “Usually those kinds of papers are sealed for privacy.”
“Okay but why me? I don’t know anyone that was adopted.”
Fin pointed to a spot on the form. “Here it lists Frank and Lila Stevenson as the birth parents to a girl named Chloe, born March 23rd.”
“Those are my parents but that doesn’t make any sense. They never put me up for adoption and that’s not my birth date. So, what does this all mean?”
Harper couldn’t process everything Fin was telling her. He put his arm around her, pulling her closer. “It seems that you just might have an older sister if I’m understanding this information right.”
“What?” Harper looked from Fin to Elsie and back to Fin before she started to sway where she stood. “You’re kidding right?” How could this be? Mom and dad would have told me something like that wouldn’t they?
Fin handed the court papers to Elsie and grabbed ahold of Harper. “Okay, come on, let’s get you to a chair before you pass out on us.” The sofa was closest and he propped her up with some pillows behind her.
“Is that better?” When she focused on him long enough to nod, he turned to the kitchen. “Don’t go anywhere, I’m going to get you a drink.”
When Fin returned, Harper felt as though she was breathing more calmly and sipped from the glass. She looked up when Elsie spoke. “Seems there’s something else in this priority pack.” She extended a red envelope to Harper. She tried to focus her eyes.
“To my sister Harper,” she read on the label. Somehow finding new energy at the thought of having family, she ripped it open revealing a hand-written letter on lined notebook paper.
To my dearest sister Harper,
I know this news must come as a shock to you and I dearly hope it doesn’t ruin your holida
y festivities. I think I was in as much shock when I received the news as you may be feeling right now. First, I should say my name is Chloe Summerfield. I was put up for adoption when I was two days old. I grew up with a wonderful family who made sure I knew at an early age about being adopted. By the time I was old enough to start asking questions, our parents had already died. I’m sorry that you had to go through that alone.
She looked up to Fin, smiling. “She says that adoption records are automatically sealed to protect all parties so she never thought twice about trying to look any further once she found out our parents were dead. Then she went to law school and eventually figured out that since they were dead, she was able to petition the court for all the information. That’s when she found out she had a sister, me.”
Harper was so overjoyed she could hardly keep the tears at bay. She continued to read.
I have two brothers that I grew up with but I would be forever grateful for the chance to meet you in person, even if only just once and…
“Oh my god, she says she’s coming to Hopeful to meet me.”
“Harper, that’s fantastic.” Fin squeezed her in a tight hug.
“I totally agree and I have Santa to thank for this because this has been the best Christmas ever and I’ve gotten everything I wrote to him about.” She looked over to see Elsie smiling back at her. Fin broke into her thoughts.
“Does she mention when she’s coming?”
Harper scanned the paper, speed reading to find the information. She looked up at Fin and Elsie in disbelief. “She’ll be here in five days.”
The End
About the Author
Krista Ames is an International #1 best-selling author of contemporary romance, including several sub genres. Western Romance is her failsafe and she loves a man in Uniform but Paranormal is starting to be her new go-to. Born and raised in Indiana, she is now a Northern Lower Michigan transplant and married to the love of her life. They have 4 children and a few fur babies. She is a full time stay-at-home mom and pursues her writing career when she’s not running her kids every which way. She finds her inspiration in the love of her family and binge watching romantic and scary movies.
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