He had a long night of editing ahead of him if he planned to have something to show Tansy during his lunch break tomorrow. That was his goal, to get this damned thing done and end the torture of constant contact with her.
By eleven that night, he was bleary-eyed from editing, but he couldn’t ignore the truth anymore. Tansy had nailed it. He was a coward. The proof was in every frame of every video.
All day he’d been dealing with abandoned animals. If they hadn’t been abandoned, they wouldn’t be at The Haven. Once upon a time they’d been living in a cozy setup that they’d expected would go on forever, and then, boom! They became excess baggage, ending up homeless and unwanted.
And yet, despite that, these creatures had not given up hope that life could be good again. He was humbled by the sheer volume of optimism on the videos he’d shot. These animals had more courage than he did.
Today he’d dealt with cats who’d been left by the side of the road. Yet they’d come over and rubbed against his leg, wanting to be stroked. He’d met dogs who’d been jettisoned because their family was moving and didn’t want the inconvenience of taking them along. Those same dogs still wagged their tails and affectionately shoved their noses into his hand.
Maybe their previous situation hadn’t worked out, but they had great expectations for the next one. Sure, a few of the animals moped in a corner, but Cindy and Shelby had told him how diligently Tansy worked with the depressed ones to bring them out of their shells.
She’d tried to do the same with him, and he’d rejected her attempts. He’d retreated, like the coward that she’d so rightly labeled him. But if these dogs and cats who had been rejected could bounce back, what was wrong with him?
He worked on the DVD all night, and then he had to go to work. Surviving on caffeine and sugar, he made it through the six o’clock morning news. Then he told Paul he had a personal issue and needed the rest of the day off.
At first he thought Paul wouldn’t let him go, so he played his ace. “It’s a project for The Haven,” he said. “Yesterday I shot footage for a holiday fund-raising DVD, and Tansy needs to approve it so I can get it into production and up for sale.”
Paul’s expression mellowed, but he remained skeptical. “That will take all day?”
“I’m afraid so.” Ben kept his expression neutral. “There’s a lot of detail to be covered.” Was there ever. And he had no idea if he’d succeed, but he had to try.
“Okay,” Paul said at last. “Why do I feel like Ebenezer Scrooge granting Bob Cratchit a holiday?”
Ben shrugged. “It’s Christmas. We’re surrounded by those traditional stories.” But in truth Ben was Scrooge, and instead of being instructed by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, he’d been taught to cherish life by a host of furry friends.
“Guess so. Take off, then. And say hello to Tansy for me.”
“Will do.”
With the video on the seat next to him, Ben drove to the pet store and loaded up. He needed cat litter, a litter box, a pet carrier, a cozy bed, a cat tree and some toys. He went somewhat overboard on the toys. He took the clerk’s advice on what food to buy. If Tansy had a different favorite, he could always switch it out.
By the time he arrived at The Haven, it was nearly noon. He hoped to God she hadn’t left for an appointment, or worse yet, caught the flu. She had to be there. She simply had to.
He walked into the office with the DVD rough cut in his hand and sighed in relief. Tansy and Faye were each at their desks working. Tansy looked up first, and he told himself it was because they had a connection and she sensed his presence.
But her expression was guarded. “You must have the DVD ready to preview.”
“I do.”
She took a deep breath. “Come on back and let’s see what you have.” She acted as if it would be a chore that she had to get through.
He chose not to be offended. She had every reason to give him a hard time. Rounding the counter, he proceeded back to her desk, commandeered the same chair he’d used the last time, and sat down. “Here you go.” He handed her the DVD in its hard plastic case.
“Did it take you long?” She popped it out of the case and inserted it in her disc drive.
“All night.”
She glanced over at him with grudging respect. “You must be tired.”
“Some.” He unbuttoned his coat and took off his hat, propping it on his knee. “But it was worth one sleepless night, all things considered.”
She waited while the video loaded, and he sat quietly, enjoying being close to her, being able to breathe in her special scent and admire the curve of her throat and the pink tinge of her cheek. Her lashes fluttered, as if she sensed his gaze on her.
The video began. It was a love letter, and he hoped she’d see that. She did seem entranced—her lips were parted and her breath was shallow as she studied the images. He was proud of what he’d done, and judging from her rapt attention, he’d captured the concepts of optimism, hope and joy.
The whole thing took more than thirty minutes, which gave him plenty of time to bask in her glow and realize that any man who was privileged to be with her should thank his lucky stars every day. If she gave him a chance, he’d do exactly that.
When the video ended, she turned to him, eyes shining. “Incredible. I love it.”
“And I love you.” He hadn’t meant to bust out with it, but the words came without him realizing they would.
She gasped and her eyes widened.
“Didn’t mean to say that quite yet,” he murmured. “But it’s true, Tansy. I’m in love with you.”
Her bright eyes grew even brighter and a pink flush spread over her cheeks. She swallowed and cast a quick glance at Faye.
Ben noticed the receptionist was paying considerable attention to her computer screen, but chances were she was listening to every word. He didn’t care. He wanted to tell the whole world.
“I realize you don’t love me,” he said. “Because who would love a coward? But I’m working on that, and maybe in time you’ll come to love me back.”
She cleared her throat. “I’ve tried really hard not to love you,” she said in a low voice. “I haven’t been particularly successful.”
“Really?” His heart thumped crazily in his chest.
She nodded. “You’re all wrong for me, and yet I—”
“Not all wrong.” He reached for her hand and held it between both of his. “But I did have to evolve quite a bit to meet your standards. I want to adopt Max.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “You do? Are you sure?”
“As sure as I am that I love you, and that’s pretty damned sure. I’ve bought all the stuff I need for him and it’s out in my truck. You might not want me to take him yet, but I wanted to be ready in case I could. You can come and look in my truck if you want, make sure I’ve got everything.”
“I don’t have to.” Her eyes sparkled with that sunshine he loved so much. “I only have to look at you. There’s something different about you today.”
“I am different, and it’s because of you. You and the animals. Your bravery and theirs put me to shame, and I’m determined to change my attitude.”
“My sweet Ben.” She cupped his face with her free hand.
He smiled. “That sounds promising.”
Faye pushed back her chair with a loud, scraping noise. “Okay, you two.” She stood and faced them. Although her voice was stern, her expression was not. Then she started to laugh. “I’m thrilled for you both, but I think you might want to take this party over to Tansy’s house before you embarrass us all.”
Tansy’s rosy glow deepened as she looked at Faye. “I doubt Ben has that kind of time.” She gently extracted her hand from his. “He probably has to get back to the station.”
“Actually I took
the day off.”
Her gaze swung back to his. “You did?”
“I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get Max settled in, assuming you’d let me have him today.”
Faye nodded. “Could take a long time, considering how cranky Max is right now. I warn you, he’s not in a good mood.”
“That’s okay,” Ben said. “I am.”
Tansy glanced at Faye. “I hate to leave you alone to handle everything.”
“Hey, consider it my Christmas present. Take Ben down to greet his cat and then you can...discuss the adoption procedures.”
“All right.” Tansy pushed back her chair, and when she stood, so did Ben. “You’ve never adopted an animal before, so we’ll need to go over everything carefully.”
“Very carefully.” Ben took her coat from the back of her chair and helped her into it. Then he smiled at Faye. “Thanks.”
“No problem. I always thought you’d come around. You’re not the hardest case we’ve ever come across. I can think of one who’s a lot worse.” She winked at Tansy.
Tansy laughed. “Me, too.”
“Oh?” He glanced from Faye to Tansy. “Who’s that?”
The two women spoke together. “Max!”
* * *
THAT EVENING, TANSY cuddled on the sofa with Ben as a fire crackled in the fireplace and the Christmas lights glowed from the tree in the corner. Tansy’s head was tucked against Ben’s shoulder, but she made sure not to crowd Max, who was firmly ensconced, cone and all, on Ben’s lap. Ewok had curled against Tansy’s other side, and Wookie was stretched out by their feet.
Fortunately Max had been asleep when she and Ben had first arrived, which gave them plenty of time to make long, sweet love to each other. But after Max woke up and discovered that his soul mate had reappeared, he’d been unwilling to let Ben out of his sight.
Ben laid his cheek against Tansy’s hair. “Do you think he’ll expect to be attached to me like this 24/7?”
“He probably won’t be as needy once he knows you’ll come back.”
“Good, because although I like having him on my lap, I have...other things I want to do that require Max to be somewhere else.” He tightened his arm around her.
Desire stirred. “Me, too. Fortunately, adult cats sleep eighteen hours a day.”
“That’s good news, too.”
“He’ll probably sleep most of the day while you’re at work. He should be fine alone in your apartment.”
Ben sighed. “Speaking of that, I suppose I should think about packing him up and driving home.”
She’d been thinking about that all afternoon and evening. Their love was very new, but it didn’t feel that way. Sitting here with him, her world made sense at last.
She took a deep breath. “If you’re not ready for this, just say so, but I was wondering if you—”
“Yes.”
“Yes?” She lifted her head to look into his eyes. “You don’t know what I was going to say.”
His gaze was warm. “I’d say yes to anything you asked me right now, but I’m hoping...I’m hoping you’re asking me to move in.”
Her heart beat faster as she realized her dreams really were about to come true. “I am asking you to move in.”
“Thank God. Because I was sitting here trying to figure out how this was going to work. I want to be with you, and you need to be here with Ewok and Wookie, and I should be home with Max. I could trundle him over here every night in his carrier, but that didn’t sound like a very—”
“He would hate that.”
“Yeah.” He smiled. “And we sure don’t want to cause Max any stress.”
“We sure don’t.” She returned his smile.
“I’d do anything for that cat.” He lowered his head, and his breath was warm against her mouth. “After all, he led me to you.”
“He definitely deserves special treatment.”
“So do you, Tansy. And I’m just the guy to give it to you.”
“I believe you are.” As she surrendered to his kiss, joy spilled over her in a glittering cascade. She had it all—her precious animals and the man who would love them, and her, with all his heart. At last she’d found her forever home...with Ben.
* * * * *
Home for Christmas
USA TODAY Bestselling Author
Catherine Mann
To Daisy and her forever family.
I’m honored to have been a part
of your journey to find each other.
Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER ONE
SHELBY DAWSON-CONRAD waited inside an airplane hangar to welcome home her husband, as she’d done for at least half a dozen military deployments. Their two dogs sat beside her, wearing matching Christmas collars with bells.
The band, the families and banners were the same year after year, their anticipation echoing up to the steel beam rafters. This chaotic lifestyle had become the norm for her.
But one thing was glaringly different. She was wearing underwear.
Usually before she welcomed her husband home, she shimmied out of her panties in the car and stuffed them in her purse. Today, her underwear was so totally in place she might as well have put on a chastity belt.
She and Alex had been married for nearly eight years. They’d loved each other for most of that time. Until things started to fall apart. Four months ago, just before he’d left for another deployment, they’d contacted lawyers about a divorce.
So welcome-back sex was definitely out of the question.
Still, honor dictated she greet Alex returning from his deployment. Even if the marriage was all but over, she refused to be like her mother who’d left her husband to return home from war unwelcomed. Shelby would not be that callous. She had worked hard to be the perfect wife, to be the antithesis of her own mom.
And yet it still hadn’t been enough.
The band transitioned from “The Star Spangled Banner” to “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” She arched up onto her toes to stare over the press of other families gathered in the heated hangar at McChord Air Force Base. A toddler girl twirled in a candy-cane-striped dress, with elfin snow boots on her feet and a “Welcome Home, Daddy” poster in her hand. A little boy in a Santa hat leaned against one of Shelby’s dogs, burying his chubby fingers in Samson’s fur.
Her heart squeezed tight. She and Alex had dreamed of starting a family...but it had never happened, despite countless and costly fertility treatments.
The holidays would be awkward with the looming divorce and no children to focus on, but Shelby had a plan to ease that unbearable tension. She’d volunteered to use her holiday break from teaching to drive three shelter dogs from The Haven to each of their adoptive families around Washington State. If Alex came with her, they could use the time to talk through their unresolved issues on neutral ground and end their marriage on a positive note. Getting Alex to discuss their problems was like pulling teeth, but she figured if she had him alone in a moving car, it would be a helluva lot tougher for him to bail on the conversation.
Hopefully he would sign on for her idea, rather than insist on spending Christmas in the home they’d bought with such hope when they’d moved to Tacoma, Washington.
Finally, Shelby saw him. Her husband.
Alex loped through the open hangar door toward her, his flight suit rippling with each confident step. The frenzy of reunions melted away as her eyes locked on him, drawn by an attraction that refused to fade no matter how bad things got between them. His flight ba
g dangled from his hand, his helmet was under his arm. Sweat from wearing his helmet plastered his blond hair to his head. He could have been the quarterback for a pro football team striding, victorious, across the field. A five o’clock shadow bristled his jaw, giving his poster-boy-handsome face a rough-around-the-edges air that only deepened his appeal.
Without question, the chemistry between them when they’d met at nineteen years old had been combustible. But along with his hot body and seductive hands, she’d fallen for his dry wit and determination. He excelled at his job as an in-flight mechanic on C-17s. And he was in demand—the massive cargo plane was part of most military operations around the world, transporting troops and equipment.
His calling was to serve his country, something he’d made clear to her from the start. She couldn’t even claim ignorance of the sacrifices that being a military wife demanded. Her father had flown the same aircraft and Shelby had grown up in the military lifestyle. She’d lived through her mother’s inability to cope with the stress, her parents’ divorce and her mom’s abandonment of both her daughters as well as her husband.
Yet in spite of Shelby’s best intentions, she’d failed just like her mother. The weight of that shook her to her core.
Her fists tightened around the leashes hooked to her German shepherd and springer spaniel, Samson and Delilah. The dogs had both been adopted from a shelter, both were their children.
Alex stopped in front of her, the scent of musk and hydraulic oil clinging to his unzipped parka. He didn’t reach out and neither did she. Awkwardness hovered between them. Nothing new. Samson and Delilah, on the other hand, moved in sync, tugging and whining to get closer in a display of undiluted joy so dear her throat clogged with emotion.
Dropping his bags, Alex sank to one knee and wrapped an arm around each dog’s neck. The bells on their collars jingled in time with their yipped greetings.
“Hey, there, buddies,” he said, his drawl drifting over her senses like a pure shot of Southern Comfort. “Missed you both every day.”
Rescuing Christmas Page 10