Sugar Pine Trail--A Small-Town Holiday Romance

by RaeAnne Thayne

  He pulled into the driveway at Winston House, anticipating that bowl of soup he hadn’t had time to eat at lunch and enjoying the colored lights from her tree in the front window.

  Looked like the boys had finally put all the ornaments on it, at least judging from the gleam of red and gold that hadn’t been there earlier.

  At some point that day, Julia and the boys had hung wreaths in each of the downstairs windows that faced the street, with a single candle glowing a welcome. That festive little touch gave him an odd sense of coming home.

  Winston House was truly grand, stately and graceful. It could be fussy and formal, as he’d thought earlier, yet somehow Julia was making it into a home for the boys.

  He glanced at the dark windows upstairs. For the first time in his adult life, he was almost tempted to put up a Christmas tree of his own.

  Where did that come from? Christmas was usually just another day for him. Oh, he enjoyed being with his family. He bought gifts for the whole lot of them in his travels and a few times had arranged leave to be home with them, but his heart was never in it.

  His mother had loved Christmas. After she died—and then with everything that happened with Lisa, shortly afterward—the holiday had lost its magic for him.

  It usually felt like a big jumble of emotions, guilt and old sadness and the sobering awareness that Christmas was meant for families, something that would never be for him.

  This year, maybe he would put up a tree, he thought as he parked his SUV. He could even ask the boys if they wanted to help him decorate it, assuming they weren’t tired of decorating after doing so much downstairs.

  He glanced at the clock on the dashboard. After nine. The boys would probably be in bed.

  Should he stop by anyway? He needed to know what she had decided. Was she going to take a risk and come with him to Hope’s Crossing for the weekend? He wasn’t sure how he wanted her to answer, torn between his desire to help her tick off multiple items on her wish list and his completely reasonable discomfort with his unwilling desire for her.

  He would shower first, eat some dinner, then see if her lights were still on, he decided. If they were, he would visit downstairs.

  The best laid plans. The moment he unlocked the door to the entryway, her door opened and two boys spilled through, as if they had been waiting just for him.

  Jamie told himself that little flutter through his insides was just hunger pangs.

  “You’re finally home,” Clint exclaimed.

  “We’ve been waiting forever!” Davy informed him. “What took you so long?”

  He didn’t realize he had a curfew, imposed by a couple of steely-eyed schoolboys. Jamie had to laugh. “Hey, guys. How was your day?”

  “We finished the Christmas tree tonight, and we’ve been waiting and waiting to show you,” Davy informed him.

  “Sorry about that. I was busy working on a broken airplane.”

  “Is that why you’re so messy?” Clint asked.

  “Exactly. I’m covered in oil. Maybe I’d better postpone until I clean up.”

  “We’ll be in bed by then. Julia said we had five more minutes, and if you weren’t home, we had to go to bed and would have to show you the tree another day.”

  “We don’t want to wait. We want to show you now,” Davy said.

  Jamie glanced up the stairs, then toward her door, with the fancy antiques behind it. Maybe he could go in, as long as he was careful not to touch anything.

  Before he could tell them as much, Julia suddenly appeared in the doorway. His insides did that weird jump thing again. She looked delectable, with no sign of the prim librarian tonight. Her chestnut hair was piled on top of her head and messy strands escaped everywhere.

  Keeping his hands to himself might be easier said than done.

  “Hi.” She didn’t smile, and his gaze sharpened on her. Something had happened. He could see it now in the strain lines around her mouth and the worry in her eyes.

  “Can we show him the tree now?” Clint asked.

  “Yes. That’s fine with me, as long as Jamie can spare the time.”

  “I’m a mess. I’ll have to be careful not to touch anything.”

  She held the door open wider, clearly unconcerned by the grease and grime on his clothes. He made his way inside and saw the tree and wreaths were only part of the Christmas decorations. A lovely crèche covered the top of the mantel, and greenery had been hung around the windows.

  Instrumental Christmas music played softly, setting a peaceful holiday mood.

  She was trying her best to show the boys a warm Christmas. Her efforts touched him, making him more determined than ever to give her a memorable Christmas, too.

  The tree he had helped the boys pick out truly did look magnificent in the space. It would have been too big for most rooms but fit perfectly here.

  He stopped in front of it, making a show of looking from all angles to admire their work. “That looks terrific. Great job, guys. And it smells fantastic in here, too.”

  That wasn’t hyperbole. The pine pitch of the tree was joined by spices and vanilla, which all combined to create a scent that should have been called The Perfect Christmas.

  “We made cinnamon ornaments,” Davy informed him. “That’s why we didn’t show you the tree before, because the ornaments weren’t dry. We had to wait until we could put them up. We rolled them and cut them out just like cookies—except you can’t eat them or you’ll be sick, because they have glue in them.”

  “Warning duly noted,” he said seriously, which earned him a smile from Julia, though he could still see edginess seething beneath the surface.

  “You boys did an excellent job of decorating,” Jamie went on. “I could see your tree from halfway down the street.”

  “And did you see all the wreaths in the windows?” Clinton asked. “Julia said she saw a picture of the house from a long time ago, before she was born, and it had wreaths in the windows.”

  “I saw them. They look great. Do you want to put more wreaths in the windows upstairs?”

  “Would you mind?” Julia asked him. “You don’t have to, if you don’t want, but I did buy enough to hang in the front-facing windows upstairs. I also picked up solar-powered, light-sensitive candles. You don’t even have to turn them on. They’ll automatically come on when it’s dark.”

  “Easy enough.” He glanced at the tree again. “Thanks for sharing your tree with me, guys. It’s beautiful.”

  “Do you have yours yet?” Clint asked seriously.

  He winced. “Not yet. I need to get on that, don’t I?”

  “You better. It’s going to be Christmas before we know it,” Davy said, sounding so adult it made Jamie smile.

  “Maybe I’ll pick one up after I’m back in town next week.”

  He happened to be glancing at Julia when he spoke and didn’t miss the flicker of nerves in her expression. The suspense was suddenly making him crazy. Would she go with him or not? He had to know.

  “Speaking of which...” he began.

  She shook her head slightly, with a warning look at the boys. Clearly she didn’t want to discuss the matter in front of them.

  “Guys,” she said quickly, “it’s past time for bed.”

  Their groaning protests were ruined when Davy yawned.

  Julia hid a smile, though she still looked distracted. “Tell Jamie thank you for stopping by, then go brush your teeth.”

  “Thanks,” they said in unison.

  “You’re welcome. Good night.”

  As soon as they rushed off to the bathroom, he turned to her. “Okay. What’s going on?”

  She shifted, avoiding his gaze. “What do you mean?”

  “I can see it in your eyes. Something’s happened.”

  She sighed and loo
ked toward the bathroom. “Can you wait for five minutes, until I have them settled? I don’t want to say anything to the boys yet. I haven’t told them.”

  “Their mother has been found.” The words popped out before he thought them through. He wasn’t sure how he knew, yet as soon as he spoke he had no doubt.

  She looked startled. “How did you...? Never mind. Five minutes.”

  She hurried off to steer the boys from the bathroom to their beds, and Jamie waited in the living room, enjoying the lights and the soft Christmas music for the few moments it took her to return.

  “How did you know their mother has been found?” she asked. “Did Cade Emmett call you?”

  “I haven’t talked to anybody. It was a lucky guess. Where was she?”

  She sighed, her features distressed. “She was located in a homeless shelter in Portland, apparently, though she’s now in the VA hospital there receiving treatment. It seems she went off her meds and had a mental breakdown or psychotic break or whatever you want to call it. From what little Wyn could find out, she was arrested on a minor violation, and when they ran her prints, they found out who she was and that authorities here were looking for her.”

  Her remarkable eyes filled with emotion. “Jamie, she doesn’t remember that she has two sons. Isn’t that the most tragic thing you can imagine? To forget those wonderful boys? How is that even possible?”

  “She has PTSD. It can manifest itself in some pretty terrible ways.”

  He didn’t know Mikaela Slater, but he knew too many others. He had seen it firsthand with his brother, in the long months when Dylan was recovering from the explosion that had wounded him severely and taken his hand, then the terrible systemic infection that had threatened to finish the job a kid with an IED had started.

  His brother had been an Army Ranger, tough as nails, but for more than a year, until Genevieve came along, they had all been afraid Dylan would check out rather than have to live with the lasting scars.

  War and the fallout from it could take tough, decent, dedicated people and mangle them into something unrecognizable.

  “That poor woman,” Julia said softly. “She’s going to be devastated when she remembers she left her boys alone here.”

  The compassion in her voice touched him deeply. Many people would be angry and judgmental, not understanding how any mother could abandon her children, no matter how messed up her mind and emotions could be. Not Julia. She thought first about how the woman would suffer from her actions.

  Did she have any idea how remarkable she was?

  He was dirty and grimy and probably smelled like an airplane hangar. Jamie still couldn’t resist pulling her into his arms. She came willingly, clinging tightly to him and resting her cheek on his chest for a long, priceless moment, before she pulled away, cheeks pink.

  “I don’t know what or how to tell the boys. I can’t just come out and say, Hey, guess what? Your mom took off and left you, but it’s all good. She’ll be back when she gets the help she needs.”

  “Maybe not those particular words, but the gist. As long as you focus on the fact that she’s getting help and that they’ve got a safe place here with you as long as they need it, they’ll be okay.”

  “I hope you’re right,” she said. “At least I don’t have to tell them the news is much worse. I was so worried someone would find her in a field or ditch somewhere. Or that she wouldn’t be found at all. At least this way offers hope they can one day be a family again.”

  “When she does remember them and her doctors think she’s up for a visit from them, say the word. I can have you all there in an hour.”

  “Oh, Jamie. Thank you. I hadn’t even thought about taking them to see her. I’ll let you know.”

  She gave him a soft, fragile smile, and that dangerous tenderness seeped through his chest.

  “It seems pretty unimportant, in light of this new development, but did you think about what we talked about this morning?” he asked.

  Her smile slid away, and she caught her breath, then let it out slowly. “I... Yes. And I’ve changed my mind a dozen times. I had lunch with Eliza and McKenzie and the other Helping Hands, and they all think I would be crazy to say no.”

  But what did she think? “So is that a yes?”

  “Yes—for the boys’ sake, if nothing else. They’re going to be upset when I tell them about their mother. They’ll worry for her. Perhaps another trip to Hope’s Crossing will provide a distraction from that.”

  Was that the only reason she wanted to go? He understood her rationale. Still, some part of him felt small and selfish for wishing she might genuinely want to spend a weekend with him.

  This was all for her list, he reminded himself. It wasn’t about him.

  “We can certainly provide a distraction for them. They’ll be so busy with Carter and Faith, they won’t have time to stress about their mother.”

  “I hope so.”

  “This will be great. Can you be ready to leave about six tomorrow? We can drive together, if you want.”

  “I think that should work.”

  She was quiet for a moment. When she spoke, he had the impression this was something that had been troubling her all day. “I do have one condition.”

  “Oh?”

  She looked down at her hands, then met his gaze. “You don’t have to...flirt with me while we’re there.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You don’t need to try to charm me. We’re friends, but...we both know that’s all there is between us. I don’t need you to pretend to be interested in more than that.”

  He struggled to come up with a response. Yeah, they were friends. But they’d also shared a pretty intense kiss he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about.

  “It’s kind of you to ask me,” she went on quickly. “I’m still not sure why you did, but I wanted to make sure you know the ground rules. I’m saying yes because it sounds like fun, and the boys will enjoy the chance to see their new friends, but, just so you know, I’m not interested in anything deeper. I just don’t want you to worry you might...break my heart or something. You won’t.”

  He wasn’t sure whether to find that comforting or insulting.

  “Good to know,” he answered. “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, then.”

  She nodded, and they walked together to the door. He wanted to kiss her again just to see how she responded but thought that might be petty and wrong. Too bad...

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  WHAT HAD HAPPENED to her nice, quiet life in the past few weeks?

  Just a month ago, she thought she had things figured out. She had good friends, a nice job, a beautiful house, no mortgage. She knew what she would be doing from one day to the next. Her biggest challenge was trying to get along with three cats who barely acknowledged she existed.

  Now she had two foster children who were filling her life with chaos and noise, and here they all were, about to get on an airplane with Jamie Caine for a whirlwind weekend in Colorado.

  These sorts of adventures happened to other women. Not her.

  You wanted to live a little, her internal voice reminded her. She had been longing for something beyond her staid existence, a taste of the adventure she had expected to share with Maksym after college.

  This was living with a vengeance.

  Her heart pounded as she followed the directions Jamie had sent her and parked near a big blue hangar with Caine Aviation on the side.

  Every instinct was clamoring for her to back out. She didn’t do things like this. She was a boring, small-town librarian who spent her days reading about other people’s adventures, not living her own.

  These nerves were stupid, she knew. Millions of people flew every day. It was considered one of the safest forms of transportation out there. She knew that intelle
ctually. Now that the reality was in front of her, though, she had no idea how she would find the courage to step onto the airplane.

  How humiliating, that Jamie would be there to witness her fear.

  “Why are we just sitting here?” Davy asked.

  Because I’m a big, fat coward. “Just trying to think if we brought everything we need,” she lied.

  “We have. Let’s go. I can’t wait for another airplane ride!”

  Oh, she longed to be six again, with a tiny portion of that unwavering excitement.

  She drew in a deep breath and opened her door. Before she could climb out, Jamie was there. In the afternoon sunlight, he looked utterly gorgeous, wearing a black leather jacket and a white button-down shirt and tie. It wasn’t quite a uniform but close enough.

  He grinned at all of them. “There you are. I was beginning to wonder if I would be flying myself to Colorado.”

  “Sorry about that. We had a few stops to make.” She glanced around the hangar area. “Where is everybody else? I thought McKenzie and Eliza would be here.”

  “Change of plans. Genevieve called in a panic last night and needed emergency help with some of the decorating, so I flew Kenz and Ben out this morning. Eliza and Aidan tagged along.”

  No wonder she hadn’t seen him all day. Some part of her had been afraid he changed his mind and decided he didn’t want to take her after all. An even bigger part wondered if the whole invitation had been a dream.

  “I wish you had told me you were leaving early. I could have tried to arrange my schedule at the library so we could go with you, then you wouldn’t have had to make two trips.”

  “Don’t worry about that. In between the two trips, I came back here anyway to fly a couple of the Caine Tech execs to some budget meetings in California.”

  She stared. “You’ve flown round-trip to Colorado, then round-trip to California, and now you’re heading back to Colorado? That’s a crazy schedule. You’ve basically been working all day.”