by Jennie Marts
“I thought you said you don’t dance.”
“I said I wasn’t much good at it, but I can still cut a small rug. Not like a full-size carpet or anything, more like a little throw rug or a welcome mat.”
A grin curved her lips. “I get the idea. And I would love to go together.”
“Great. It’s a date.”
Her eyes widened again.
“I mean, not a date-date,” he backpedaled. “But like an ‘I’ll put the date on my calendar’ date…thing…kind of deal.” Oh geez. He was making it worse. Why had he even suggested they go together? By the way she was backing out of the room again, the idea was obviously making her uncomfortable.
Before she could say anything more, she jumped as a horn sounded from a car that had driven up to the house.
“Who’s here?” he asked, rising from the desk chair. He wasn’t expecting anyone.
Harper leaned back to peer through the office door, and the color drained from her face.
Chapter 16
The air rushed from Harper’s lungs, and it took everything she had not to run to the door. She’d only caught sight of the two people walking up the porch steps from the corner of her eye, but she knew it was a woman and a child.
It had to be Judith and Floyd.
Michael’s mother must have gotten her message and changed her mind. Harper pressed her fists against her sides, fighting the urge to smooth her hair. “I’ll get the door,” she said, trying to keep the tremble out of her voice.
She took deliberate steps, doing her best to act calm as she approached the door, a hundred things she wanted to say to her son crashing around in her head. She couldn’t even think about what she was going to tell Logan. But it didn’t matter. All that mattered now was seeing her boy. She’d figured out what to say to Logan later.
The tall cowboy had followed her from the office. Why wouldn’t he? This was his house. There was no reason to imagine that someone would be at the door for her.
Taking a deep breath, she felt as if she was walking through molasses as she crossed the room. But before she reached the door, it was flung open and the woman and child walked into the house.
Harper took a staggering step back as her heart sank—as if it had literally dropped from her chest and fallen onto the floor.
It wasn’t Judith and Floyd.
It was a boy and a woman, and the boy was around Floyd’s age, but he wasn’t Floyd. This boy had blond spiky hair and small, round glasses and hugged a stack of books to his chest. The woman with him was tall and gorgeous, her long blond hair curling around her shoulders and her smile radiant as she flashed it at Logan.
A thousand emotions flowed through Harper as she gripped the back of the sofa to keep her knees from giving way. Most were in line with sorrow and anguish and grief at missing her child, but she also felt a twinge of jealousy as she watched this woman stride confidently through the room and throw her arms around Logan.
“Hey, Lo,” the woman said. “You’re quite the talk of the town. I heard you fired Ted, and Kimmie is telling anyone who will listen that you practically threw her out of your house for not starching your shirts correctly.”
“That’s hilarious,” he said. “Since she never starched my shirts at all. I don’t think she got around to doing a single load of laundry while she was here.”
If it hadn’t have been for the shock of thinking it was Floyd at the door, Harper would have realized sooner that the woman was Logan’s sister, Quinn, with his nephew, Max. She’d seen pictures of them in the house. She swallowed the lump of disappointment that had formed in her throat.
“I figured,” Quinn said.
He motioned to Harper. “Quinn, this is Harper Evans.” He paused as if not sure how to introduce her.
Harper smiled and held out her hand. “I’m the new Kimmie. Except that I have already done the laundry.”
Quinn laughed and shook Harper’s hand, then gazed around the room. “It’s nice to meet you. Bryn told me she’d found a replacement for Logan’s latest housekeeper fiasco. And the house looks great.”
“Kimmie’s not even in the ballpark of what Harper’s done since she’s been here. And she can cook fried chicken to rival Grandma Rivers.”
Quinn raised an eyebrow. “That’s high praise.” She gestured to the boy who had spread out on the sofa and already had his head inside a large book with dinosaurs on the cover. “This is my son, Max. Max, say hello to Harper.”
He looked up, a friendly smile on his face. “Hello, Harper. Did you know that some dinosaurs had tails that were over forty-five feet long, and some of their skulls were as big as a car?”
“I did know that, yes. Did you know that all dinosaurs laid eggs?” Harper countered.
“Yes.” He pushed his glasses up his nose and grinned at her as if realizing he might have just found a worthy adversary. “Did you know that some dinosaur eggs were as big as basketballs?”
“I may have heard that.” Harper narrowed her eyes. “Did you know there was a dinosaur who had fifteen horns?”
“Yes. I’m quite an expert on all things dinosaur.”
“I can tell. Very impressive. I can see I’ve got more studying to do. Next time I see you, I’ll try to bring something stronger to the table.”
He grinned. “I look forward to the challenge.”
Harper liked this kid. He was smart and talked like an adult. Floyd loved dinosaurs too, which is where she’d gotten the few trivia facts she’d shared. But now she’d have to google some better data for the next time she saw Max. If there would be a next time. She wasn’t planning to stick around here forever. Who knew if she’d even see this kid again? But maybe she could look up a fact or two, just in case.
“I just stopped by because I needed to pick up the Christmas cookie cutters. Max and I are going to make sugar cookies with Rock’s mom this afternoon.” She tapped her son’s shoulder. “Why don’t you go grab the cookie cutters? They’re in the bottom drawer by the oven.”
Max closed his book and rolled his eyes at his mother. “I remember. I did grow up here, ya know.”
Quinn offered Harper an amused grin. “My son is an old man trapped in a boy’s body. Some days I think he’s eight going on eighty-eight.”
“I can hear you,” Max said from the kitchen where he was digging through the drawer. He pulled out a Ziploc bag of cookie cutters and held them up. “Found them.” He grabbed another bag. “I’m bringing the dinosaur ones too. We can make Christmas dinosaur cookies, can’t we, Mom?”
“I can’t imagine not making Christmas dinosaur cookies, son,” Quinn told him, her face breaking into an affectionate grin.
Seeing the mother-and-son interaction was sweet, but it also tore at Harper’s heart. It had been her and Floyd’s tradition to make cookies as well, and they always made Nana’s recipe for peanut butter blossoms. Last year they’d made them with Nana, which had made the tradition even more memorable and special.
Maybe she could try Judith again and see if she’d be interested in the three of them making cookies together. It pricked at her pride to keep begging for scraps from the woman who was basically keeping her son from her, but she’d do whatever it took to get him back. Even if it meant begging for time with Floyd and sharing their tradition.
“I think I saw some sprinkles in the pantry,” Harper told Quinn, trying to get her mind off the situation with her son. “Do you want those as well?”
Quinn waved her hand. “No thanks. I’ve got more than enough sprinkles and icing tubes and glittery sugar. We made gingerbread houses last week, so I’m stocked up on festive frosting and Christmas candies for the whole year.”
Harper took a step toward the kitchen. “Can I get you all something to drink or eat?”
Quinn shook her head. “No, we can’t stay. Vivi is expecting us.”
“You sur
e?” Logan asked. “Harper makes some mean peach cobbler.”
Quinn raised an eyebrow at her brother. “A mean peach cobbler and fried chicken as good as Grandma’s? Seems like you hit the jackpot with this one.” She grinned and turned her gaze back to Harper. “Thank you for the lovely offer, but we really can’t stay. Although I’d love to stop by another time for coffee and some girl chat. I need to get to know the woman who can recite dinosaur trivia and has my brother gushing over her home cooking.”
“Gushing might be a bit of stretch, but he hasn’t gone hungry yet.” Harper liked Quinn and the way she good-naturedly razzed her brother. “And I would love to have coffee with you. Stop over anytime.” That felt a little awkward…inviting Quinn to the house she grew up in and had only moved out of a few months prior.
The other woman didn’t seem to mind the comment. “It’s a date then.”
Gosh, Harper suddenly felt quite popular. That’s two “dates” she’d been offered in one day. Although the idea of coffee with Quinn didn’t have her pulse racing and her palms sweating like the thought of going to the Christmas Celebration with Logan.
Quinn motioned to Max. “Come on, buddy. Grab your books. We need to get over to Grandma Vivi’s.” She gave Logan another hug, then gestured to the living area. “It’s no wonder you’ve been gloomy lately. This place has zero Christmas cheer. I mean, it’s clean, but you haven’t put out a single decoration. You don’t even have a tree up yet. And Christmas is right around the corner.”
Logan shrugged. “I haven’t been gloomy. I’m not Eeyore.”
Quinn raised an eyebrow, but let the comparison drop. “All I know is that if Dad makes it home for Christmas, he’ll be pretty disappointed to walk in and find the house bare of any Christmas spirit. You need to at least put out Grandma’s holiday candy dish, and you’d better have a tin of Almond Roca on hand.”
“All right. All right. I hear you.” Changing the subject, Logan held out his hand to his nephew for a high five. “See you at practice, dude. You better bring me a dinosaur Christmas cookie.”
Max grinned. “I will. I’ll bring one for Harper too.”
Aww. That kid was melting Harper’s heart. At least that’s what she was attributing the pain in her chest to. Instead of pinning it on the real emotions of grief and longing for Floyd and the hard pangs of jealousy at seeing the mother and son together. She wished she and Quinn really could be friends—like normal people. It would be fun to sit down for coffee and chat while Max and Floyd had a playdate and shared dinosaur stories.
But that wasn’t going to happen. Not once this family found out she’d just been released from jail. It didn’t matter, she tried to console herself, because by that time, she’d have found a way to get Floyd back and they’d be home in Kansas where they belonged.
Quinn and Max waved their goodbyes, and Logan shut the door behind them, then turned and studied the room. “Quinn’s right. I should get out the decorations and put up a tree.” He offered Harper a sidelong glance. “Any chance I could talk you into helping me get one?”
She blinked, surprised by Logan’s invitation to share in his holiday tradition. A tentative smile curved her lips as the idea sank in. “Yeah, sure. That sounds like fun.” And it did sound fun. If she couldn’t be with Floyd, at least she could help another family make sure their holiday turned out great. “But like Quinn said, Christmas is only a few days away. Do you think the store will have any trees left? How picky are you? The selection might be a little sparse.”
“Store? Why would I go to a store for a tree? I’ve got a whole mountain of them behind the house to choose from.”
Harper peered through the window. “You mean you just go out and cut one down, then bring it in the house? Like a Christmas lumberjack?”
Logan chuckled. “I’ve never thought about it like that, but yeah, I guess. Haven’t you ever gone into the mountains and picked out your own Christmas tree?”
“No, I have not. I’m from Kansas, remember. We don’t have any mountains to tromp through with our trusty axes.”
“Well then, I think you are in for a treat. Maybe not the tromping part, but picking your own tree is kind of fun. We do it every year. And by we, I mean Dad and I follow along while Quinn and Max study and evaluate every single tree we pass on the mountain until they find the exact one they deem ‘perfect’ for that year. Then we cut it down and bring it back.”
“So maybe you’ve never picked out your own Christmas tree either.”
He grinned. “You know, you’re right. I don’t think I ever have been the one who actually picked the tree.”
“Then it sounds like it’s about time you did.”
“Yeah, I guess it is.” He tilted his head to look out the front window. “We’d better go now because it’s gonna be dark soon. And it’ll be cold when we lose the sun, so we’ll need to bundle up. Do you want to go change into some warmer clothes?”
She had on jeans, a navy-blue thermal, and a pair of faded black Converse sneakers. “I can change into my boots, but I don’t really have anything much warmer.”
“Hold on,” he said and hurried down the hall to his room. He was back a minute later with a burgundy Creedence High Hockey sweatshirt in his hand. “Here, try this.”
She took the offered sweatshirt and pulled it over her head. It was warm and roomy and smelled like Logan. It made her want to wrap her arms around herself, cuddle into the sweatshirt, and pretend it was Logan she was cuddling into.
“Why don’t you go get your boots,” he said, oblivious to her snuggling fantasy. “I’ll grab a sweatshirt and a couple of things and meet you in the barn in ten.”
* * *
Ten minutes later, Harper poked her head into the barn where Logan was fitting a toboggan sled to the back of an ATV.
“We’re taking this to get the tree?” she asked, crossing to the four-wheeler.
“Yeah, how did you think we were going to get up the mountain?”
“I guess I thought we’d be hiking up.”
“The best trees are higher up. We can get there quicker with the four-wheeler.”
She gestured to the toboggan, a worried expression wrinkling her forehead. “Am I supposed to ride on that thing? Does it have a seat belt? Or some kind of safety harness?”
He chuckled. “No, this is for the tree. Unless you really want to ride on it. But I thought you’d rather ride the quad with me.”
“Yes. I’m choosing that option.”
He finished attaching the sled, then reached into the open storage box on the back of the quad and pulled out a red scarf. “I figured you’d need this.”
She’d already put on his extra coat and grabbed the stocking cap and gloves that she’d almost begun to think of as hers. “Thanks.” She reached for the scarf, but he’d already lifted it in his hands, and she stilled as she let him wrap it around her neck.
His fingers skimmed her throat as he twisted the ends, then tucked them into the front of her coat. “There. That should help keep your face warm.” His expression softened. “You look good in red.”
She hoped so, since she had a feeling that’s the color her cheeks were turning. Red wasn’t a color she usually chose for herself, preferring to wear mostly black and the darker shades that camouflaged or slimmed her curvy figure. Every once in a while she’d add a pop of color, but it was usually blue, or a little pink or purple. Red seemed too daring, too racy, too dangerous. And she’d had enough danger in her life the last few months. Boring black was fine with her, especially if it meant her life could be calm and ordinary.
Logan shut the storage box, climbed onto the ATV, and patted the seat.
She climbed on behind him. Nothing about wrapping herself around this man’s back to ride up into the mountains together seemed calm or ordinary. Her pulse was pounding, and she wasn’t sure where to put her hands. The inside of her th
ighs warmed as they straddled Logan’s, and she was glad he couldn’t see the nerves she was sure were written all over her face.
He turned the key and the engine rumbled to life, sending another set of tingles through her already trembling legs. “Hold on,” he told her as he grabbed her hands and wrapped them around his stomach.
The ATV lurched forward, and she had no other choice. She held on.
Logan was a skilled driver and obviously familiar with the terrain. He steered the four-wheeler up a path behind the house, and Harper held on as the ATV crisscrossed up the mountain.
Dusk was settling in, and a slight breeze blew the snow from the trees, filling the air with tiny ice crystals and giving the mountain a magical feel. Logan veered off the path and deftly weaved between the trees, then stopped and cut the engine in a small wooded area.
The section had several smaller trees and a clear space where the view opened up on the valley below. The setting was breathtaking, and with the bits of snow shimmering like diamonds in the air, Harper felt as if they were inside a giant snow globe.
Logan pointed to a grouping of trees as they climbed off the four-wheeler. “We usually find something in this area. The trees are younger so they’re a little smaller. And we have to be careful, because they always look smaller out here than when we actually try to fit them into the house. One year we brought home a huge monster that Quinn was sure would fit and ended up having to cut three feet off the bottom of the stump.”
“Oh no.”
He shrugged. “It was okay. Dad and I knew it wouldn’t fit, but it was Max’s first year picking, and he’d worked so hard to find the perfect one that we didn’t want to disappoint the kid, so we made it work.”
“That was nice of you.”
“I’m a fairly nice guy, when I want to be.” He offered her a teasing wink as he opened the storage box. “We always bring up some hot chocolate. It’s kind of a tradition.” He held up a small thermos and two blue tin cups. “You want some?”
“Yes, please. I don’t want to mess with the tradition.”