by Cheryl Wyatt
She shrugged. Busied herself doing tasks in his kitchen. He wished she’d take his apron off.
He scratched his jaw. “Actually, I’m inviting you along.”
Tia squealed. “Yay! Grandma will love you!”
Bri blinked at Tia, then narrowed her gaze at Ian as if to protest the fact that he’d asked her in front of Tia, which gave her less of an out. Hands on her hips, she said, “I’d be delighted to accompany the two of you.”
* * *
This wasn’t so bad.
Bri’s shoulders relaxed twenty minutes into arriving at Ian’s parents’ home in an affluent St. Louis suburb. “Your dad really knows how to tickle those ivories.” Bri smiled as Ian’s brothers and sister gathered around the piano, while Ian’s dad’s fingers danced over its keys in a rendition of “Jingle Bell Rock.”
“Come on, Ian! Join us.” His mom, Jenny, waved him over.
Ian’s ears tinged. He darted a glance at Bri. “No, thanks.”
Bri bit her lip to keep from smiling that he was nervous to sing in front of her. Tia inched forward. Her grandpa nodded at her, then the lyric booklet. She tried her best to sing along.
The Shupe family smiling and singing together brought joy to Bri’s heart, as did the tender way Ian watched Tia interact with the family her mother had kept her from.
Another sort of knot settled in Bri’s throat and made her nose burn. “Excuse me,” she said. “Allergies,” she explained to Ian’s mom. Then walked as calmly to the great room as she could, leaned against the window and let the tears roll.
The floor creaked behind her. She made a play of digging for her allergy medication and dabbing her nose with the wadded tissue, even though her allergies weren’t really the problem.
“Hey, you okay?” Voice like velvet. Deep. Rich. Soothing. And as caring as the day he’d said those very words on the asphalt after she’d taken a tumble off the ladder.
Because she didn’t trust her mouth to speak, she nodded. He came around to peer at her face. Bri tried to look away, especially since the deep concern and gentle care in his eyes made it harder for her to dam the emotions pressing for release.
“Allergies,” she managed to croak out.
She felt his silent gaze on her for a few moments, then he said, “Yeah. They bothered me, too, especially after my divorce.”
She peered up. His eyes roved over her face and he looked as if he was about to pull her in for a hug. If he did, the dam would collapse for sure. “Excuse me,” she said and stepped out from his overpowering presence that threatened to pulverize every wall she’d spent the past six months building.
When she’d composed herself, Ian’s mom was in the hallway getting linens out. “Are you feeling all right, dear? I can show you to your room if you’d like to take a nap before lunch?”
Bri smiled. She liked Ian’s mom. A lot. Even as she ached for her own. “Thank you, but I’m feeling a bit better.”
“Well, you just let me know if you change your mind. You hafta make yourself at home here.” She smiled kindly. Ian walked up behind her, seeking to catch and hold Bri’s gaze. She could barely make eye contact. “Ian, show her around.”
He nodded. When Ian’s mom went to the other room, Bri smiled despite her melancholy over missing her own mom. “Your mom’s like a breeze of fresh air.”
Ian laughed. “Or like a hurricane, depending on whether she wants her way over something.”
Bri followed where he motioned onto the side deck. “She’s also a dead ringer for Paula Deen.”
“She cooks as well, too.” Ian led Bri down to a brick patio with white wrought-iron seating near trees that were probably here before the house. “So,” he said. “This is the yard.” He waved at the grass, pond and walk.
Bri laughed. “Really? I never would have guessed.”
He shrugged. “Hey, I never claimed to be as good a tour guide as you.” He motioned to the side yard. “This way. You have to meet Homer the goat.”
“A goat?” Bri said a few seconds later. “Does he bite?”
Ian laughed loudly. “No. But if he doesn’t like you, he’ll run and head butt you. He might look old and decrepit, but believe me, he’s strong.”
“What does he do if he likes you?”
“Probably try to chew that white-silk hair of yours.” His gaze snagged on it, causing the air to tense around them.
Bri petted Homer, who aggressively trailed her across the yard, up the steps and to the door. Bri looked to Ian. “Help?”
He shook his head. “Looks like he’s taken a shine to you.”
For a brief instant, the way Ian looked at her, it almost seemed like he could, too.
Bri tried to wave her hands at Homer. “Shoo. Go on, now.”
Homer only bleated at her. And Ian chuckled. “He wants in.”
“Your mother lets a goat in the house?”
Ian took the steps two at a time, reminding her just how agile and athletic he was. “No, he has a play yard.” He opened a little gate and Homer dashed in.
Back inside, the family waved Ian and Bri over. They avidly protested until Tia turned puppy eyes up to her dad and said, “Please sing with us?” She eyed Bri also. “You, too?”
Bri groaned inwardly. She’d do it for Tia. Ian’s dad went to town on the piano again, singing “Carol of the Bells,” then a chipmunk song, which Tia giggled through more than sang.
While Bri didn’t have the greatest singing voice, she found herself bouncing and singing along. Ian smiled beside her.
After a delicious lunch, Ian’s mom announced, “Time for the gift exchange. Everyone gather ’round the tree.”
Bri went with the family, feeling less adrift than a day ago. She was glad she hadn’t let pride keep her away from this special time. Plus, she’d get to see Tia open her gifts.
After Ian and his two brothers carried gifts in, everyone settled around in a circle on the floor. Ian sat next to Bri, and Tia settled halfway on her grandma’s lap and halfway on her aunt’s lap. Ian’s sister, Leah, darted curious glances Bri’s way. When Ian caught on to it, he scooted a bit, putting a few more inches of space between himself and Bri. Fine with her. She didn’t want anyone getting the wrong idea, either.
Ian’s dad donned a fuzzy reindeer hat whose antlers blinked colorful lights that made Tia giggle. He pulled out a smaller pair and put it on her head, then started passing out presents.
Surprise overtook Bri when he set a gift in her lap. “That’s from me and Ian’s mom.”
“Oh, but I didn’t get you anything!” She tried to push the present back, so Ian pushed her hand down.
Ian’s dad chuckled and said, “He told us you’d try to do that.” He grew serious. “You’re gifting our family with the peace of knowing that Tia’s in good hands while Ian works. Nothing beats the gift of your presence, Bri. That’s a little token from the family to show how much you’re appreciated.”
She blinked swiftly, hating that all eyes were on her, waiting expectantly for her to open it. She peeled the tape delicately while anticipation electrified the air.
“Ian’s siblings went in on it,” Ian’s mom said.
The paper was so gorgeous, Bri didn’t want to destroy it. But in a flash of impatience, Tia trundled over in her vivid yellow tutu and plopped on her knees in front of Bri. “You do it like this.” With one motion, Tia dug fingers into the paper and ripped it to shreds. The room erupted in laughter, including Bri. “Well, I’m glad the expert helped me out.”
“Open it!” Tia clapped, excitedly. Ian eyed her carefully.
Bri slid open the box and pulled out a gorgeous Tiffany glass wall hanging that contained an eagle flying amid a sunset. “It’s beautiful,” Bri breathed, then lifted it to find a pretty quilted tapestry in her cabin’s colors.
&nb
sp; Bri was still smiling when Ian shoved another gift at her.
“Well, son! That’s no way to treat your lady friend.”
Ian’s jaw clenched for some reason. Why? Could it be because his mom and sister kept referring to Bri as Ian’s “lady friend” rather than the babysitter, despite Ian compulsively correcting them?
Ian nodded to her gift. “You gonna open it?”
Bri peeled back the paper to find the cutest little garden gnome ever. Ian got up and reached behind the chair. Pulled out a wreath. One she’d had her eye on. “I know Christmastime is almost over, but this would look nice on your lodge year-round.”
She took the beautiful wreath and met Ian’s gaze. “Thank you.” If she didn’t think it would both make him freak out and fuel his mom and sister’s matchmaking, Bri would hug him. “This means a lot, Ian.”
“It means a lot that you’re in our lives.”
Not used to that kind of sentimentality from her typically brooding doctor, Bri nodded and sat back down, trying to convince herself the little flips in her tummy were from eating too much of Ian’s mom’s Christmas fudge. As they ate, a text came in to Ian’s phone from Ava that caused him to scowl. Bri averted her eyes.
After the family exchanged gifts, lively laughter and hugs, Ian’s sister approached Bri. “Would you mind helping me clean the kitchen up, so she can pack and leave early for her trip?”
Bri smiled and stood. “Not at all.”
* * *
Ian didn’t like the looks of this. His sister was worse than Kate in terms of matchmaking. He didn’t like her luring Bri away when his mom had a perfectly good dishwasher.
Tia’s grandpa and uncles took her to see Homer the goat, which gave Ian a chance to text Ava back. She lived in St. Louis yet declined to see Tia. Tia would be devastated. He looked up on someone’s approach. “Hey, Mom.”
Ian’s mom pulled him into the pantry. “What’s going on?”
He shrugged. “Ava’s being her typical self.”
She shook her head sadly. “So she’s not even willing to meet us if we drive Tia there?”
“Afraid not. She demanded I stop texting her or she’ll change her number, call the cops and sue me for harassment. She won’t even get Tia a card. I offered to buy one on her behalf.”
“Ian, at some point you have to stop covering. Tia has to know Ava’s the issue and not you. Tia resents you enough as it is.”
“I know. But I can’t in good conscience give her mom a bad rap in Tia’s eyes.”
“Ava does a fine job of that herself. You need to move on and find yourself a decent wife. One who’d be a loving mother to little T.” His mom scurried over and peeked through the crack in the doorway leading to the kitchen. “So, Bri—”
“Is nothing but our babysitter, Mom.”
“Uh-huh. Well, the minute it becomes more, you let me know.”
Ian gritted his teeth, patience leaking like helium from a punctured balloon. “It won’t become more. Stop meddling.”
She blinked big, wide eyes, trying to look innocent.
“You’re worse than Leah,” he said. He needed to declare war on his mom and sister’s matchmaking efforts. Bring in the big guns. Something to deter and thwart them.
He didn’t have the time, or the heart, for this nonsense.
His mom stopped observing Bri and brought Ian a yellow-and-green festive envelope. “Son, I need another favor. I promised Tia a Make-A-Zoo trip near our home. It’s a stuffed animal factory where kids make the animals. She had her heart set on it and has never been. That was our gift to her but the certificate can only be used tonight on Christmas Eve. We’ll be on the Mississippi. Would you take Tia for me?”
“I can do that. You and Dad have a good time.” Ian schooled his outer reaction but gritted his proverbial inner teeth, knowing he had a serious dilemma. His siblings were flying out early morning the day after Christmas.
He didn’t fancy the notion of just Bri, him and Tia somewhere alone for an extended period during the holiday season. Too many people would comment about what a cute family they were.
He needed a solution ASAP. He went outside. Paced the yard.
Tia stood with his family and Bri in the courtyard below. Tia brushed a hand along the tree’s piney branches and smooth needles. “At least this ol’ tree has its pj’s on.”
PJ! That’s it. Ian would hit Brock up to go. Hadn’t Brock mentioned not going home for Christmas? Not only that, Brock had been checking Bri out the day they’d met at the lodge. This could totally work in his favor and counteract his family’s matchmaking.
Ian dialed Brock’s number, but got his voice mail.
Brock phoned back. “Hey, dude. Whut-up?”
“Hey, Brock. I need another favor. Can you meet me in St. Louis this evening?”
“Probably. Everything okay?” His rescuer voice kicked in.
“Yeah. I need you to come endure an M.A.Z. with me.”
“What’s M.A.Z.? Sounds like a covert military operation.”
Ian burst out laughing. “Well, it sort of is. M.A.Z. is Make-A-Zoo where kids craft soft toys themselves.”
Four seconds of total silence. “Dude, seriously? You want me to go to a stuffed-animal factory with you? For real?”
“C’mon, you owe me for all the training you get at EPTC.”
“Yeah, but pastel fluffy things? Come on. That’s asking a lot. If my teammates found out, I’d never hear the end. Besides, don’t you think that would be a great time for you and T to bond?”
“Well, it would, except that she can’t stand to be around me, number one, and two, Bri’s here, too.”
“Bri, the tall blonde who owns the lodge?”
“Yep.”
“Dude, I’m totally there.”
Four hours later, Brock shoved a piece of plush, fuzzy material at Ian’s chest at their next Make-A-Zoo station. “Dude, I don’t care how big, bad, macho and brave you are. When a kid hands you an empty cloth animal carcass, you stuff it.”
Ian laughed and took the floppy squirrel Tia picked out.
“What are you making?” Ian asked Bri, standing nearby with hers.
“A monkey for Kate and a Cardinals frog for Caleb with a sentimental recorded message inside.” Her voice caught on her brother’s name, reminding Ian that Bri had no one for Christmas. He suddenly felt like a heel for being so paranoid about his family matchmaking. Besides, his plan had backfired, anyway, he thought while watching Brock flirt with his sister, Leah.
He’d have to come up with a new battle plan. A stronger defense against the emotions he was beginning to feel every time he witnessed Bri interact with his daughter.
Chapter Six
“That was a blast, Ian. Thank you,” Bri said on the two-hour drive back to Eagle Point on Christmas Day the following morning. “I’m glad your parents were able to see Tia open all her gifts before they left on Christmas Eve. It was nice of them to put us all up for the night.”
He nodded. But had grown solemn. In fact, he had been since Brock ended up driving his sister to the airport this morning.
“Everything okay, Ian? You seem—”
“Fine.”
Bri settled deeper in the car cushions, wishing she’d sat in the back with Tia, asleep in her booster seat.
Bri tilted her seat back and closed her eyes to rest.
“We’re here.” Ian’s robust hand shook her shoulder. Tia blinked awake in the back. Bri rubbed her eyes and realized they were at her cabin. A strange sense of disappointment hit that their time would be over, despite Ian’s bad mood. Bri exited the car. At least she hadn’t had to spend all of Christmas alone.
She leaned in and hugged Tia. “Merry Christmas, little fairy elf.” She pinched Tia’s cheek.
Tia giggled and wiggled her head to tinkle her antlers. “I’m not a fairy elf, silly. I’m a fairy reindeer.”
“I see.” Bri went to grab her suitcase, but Ian beat her to it. He hadn’t said two sentences since stopping the car. With him in that kind of mood, she was better off alone at her cabin.
He wheeled her suitcase inside and carried her gifts in. He checked inside Bri’s cabin to be sure everything was okay, then eyed Tia through the doorway.
“Merry Christmas, Ian.”
He raised his chin, jaw hard. Eyes glinted, then softened some. “You, too. I hope my family didn’t overwhelm you too much.”
His statement socked her in the gut and brought tears to the back of her eyes. What on earth? She didn’t typically cry. “I’d take overwhelming over absent and gone any day.”
The way his face flickered let her know that might’ve come out harsh. “There’s no need to apologize for your family. You should be glad they’re all still here.” She turned to go inside.
“You should go see him, Bri.”
She whirled. “Who? My dad? Absolutely not. And I’d appreciate you not telling Caleb he needs to go see him, either.”
“Caleb’s the one who told me you need to go.”
Her stomach burned like hot embers. “He’s been to see him?”
Ian drew a breath, looking as if he was gauging how much to tell her. “That’s something for you to discuss with your brother.”
“Apparently my brother has no interest in talking to me about it, otherwise I wouldn’t know less than you.” She shook her head. “This conversation is dismised. If you’ll excuse me—” She tried to shut the door, but his palm prevented it.
“I wasn’t finished.”
“Oh, yes, you were.” She thought about shutting his fingers in the door. How could Caleb confide in Ian more than her? It stung. So did Caleb’s betrayal of their pact not to forget what their dad had done. Of course, they’d made the pact when she was fifteen and he was fourteen, but still.
Ian removed his hand off the door. “We’ll be back after I check on things at my place. Unless you’d rather go over there?”