Sugar Pine Trail--A Small-Town Holiday Romance

by RaeAnne Thayne

  “I know. Isn’t it great? Sometimes I still have to pinch myself that I get to do what I love all day.”

  She understood that. She loved working in the library, being surrounded by books all day. What wasn’t to love about that? Some might consider it boring clerical work, but she adored organizing the library collection, working with students on research papers, helping people discover new authors.

  “So we will be by ourselves on the plane?” Clinton asked.

  “That’s right. You okay with that?”

  “Yeah!” Davy said. “We can sit wherever we want!”

  Julia wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed. She had been looking forward to having her friends McKenzie and Eliza along to help ease her way into her first flight. On the bright side, if she turned out to be a terrible passenger, at least there wouldn’t be eyewitnesses.

  “Are you ready? I can grab your luggage.”

  “As ever,” she muttered, fighting down the panic that returned in force now that the reality of the trip was unavoidable.

  She popped the back of her vehicle to open the lift gate, and Jamie pulled out the two suitcases she’d packed.

  “Is this everything?” he asked.

  “Yes. It’s enough, isn’t it?” They were only going for two nights and wouldn’t have needed even two suitcases, if she hadn’t had to pack bulky winter clothing.

  He helped them into the plane, then spent several moments doing an inspection before climbing in himself and closing the door.

  “That’s it. Let’s do this.” She could sense his enjoyment of the process as he sat in the pilot’s seat and started adjusting controls.

  “You don’t have a copilot?” she asked.

  He turned around with a half grin. “I have three of them. You and the boys.”

  The low simmer of panic inside her spiked hot and fierce, and for a moment she forgot to breathe. “I don’t know anything about airplanes, except from books. I’ve never even been on one!”

  He gave her a comforting smile. “Relax. I’m teasing. I’m fine on my own. If I were going farther than Hope’s Crossing, I would plan for one of my other pilots, but this is one of my smaller jets, and the flight is barely an hour. Relax, sweetheart. I’m an excellent pilot, and my girl here is in tip-top shape. Everything is going to be fine.”

  She forced her lungs to work again. She could do this.

  “I do have a job for you.”

  “Yes?”

  “I need you to try to enjoy yourself. Can you do that?”

  “I don’t know. Ask me again when we get to Hope’s Crossing.”

  “I was nervous the first time I went on an airplane, too,” Davy told her, sounding like a sophisticated world traveler instead of a boy whose first flight was only a few weeks ago. “Turns out, it was really fun. You’ll see.”

  “I’ll take your word for that.”

  “Be ready for your tummy to tickle,” Clint said. “That’s the best part.”

  She admired these boys so much for their courageous approach, for facing head-on all the difficult curveballs life had thrown at them.

  She had told them about their mother that morning. Davy had cried a bit when she said their mother was ill and they wouldn’t be able to see her for a while, but Clinton had been stoically accepting of the news, and his younger brother had eventually followed his example.

  “She’ll be okay, won’t she?” Davy had finally asked her. Julia hadn’t wanted to lie to them or give them false hope, so she’d only hugged them close.

  “She’s getting the best help possible right now. We can pray that she will. What you can do right now for her is work hard in school and do your best to have fun learning and growing and trying new things. That’s what she would want, for you to be safe and happy.”

  She hadn’t told them Mikaela hadn’t remembered them. They didn’t need to add that heartbreak to their store.

  She would take the advice she had given the boys—to embrace the world and new opportunities. That had been her once, before she slid into the expectations everyone else had of her.

  She settled into her seat and kept her attention focused on Jamie competently working the controls of the plane as they started to taxi away from the hangar and toward the blinking lights of the runway. She trusted him. He would keep them safe—and the only thing left for her to do was enjoy the ride.

  * * *

  JAMIE LOVED EVERYTHING about flying. The power of the plane, the adrenaline rush, the view. He had logged thousands of hours up in the air, first as a helicopter pilot, then flying jets, and he never tired of it.

  This time, he almost wished he didn’t have to focus on the fun of it so he could sit next to Julia and hold her hand while she experienced her first flight. For several minutes after takeoff, he had to manually work the controls until they reached the altitude and point in the flight path where he could switch to autopilot.

  When he was comfortable their course was set, he finally turned around to focus on his passengers.

  “How are things back here?” he asked.

  Julia turned from peering out the small window at the ground below them, and he had to catch his breath at her expression.

  Her eyes shone, filled with wonder. “Oh, Jamie. It’s amazing! Every bit as wonderful as I always dreamed. The view is incredible, and I’ll never forget the thrill of takeoff, of peeling away from the earth.”

  “See?” Davy said. “I told you it wasn’t scary.”

  “Make sure you take pictures. I meant to remind you before we took off,” he said.

  “Will it be dark when we reach Hope’s Crossing? I would love to have a little light so I can photograph the town from above.”

  “We should be getting there just after sunset. Sorry about that, but you can get some nice night shots.”

  “Great.”

  “Hold your phone right up to the glass. That’s the best way to keep out the reflection.”

  Most of the time Jamie’s passengers considered the ride routine, mostly a nuisance. They were business executives heading from one work obligation to another, then back again. He loved sharing this thing he loved so much with someone discovering the wonders of flight for the first time.

  “We’ve got another forty minutes to go. Settle in and enjoy. We’ll fly over some beautiful mountains.”

  “Thank you,” she said again, her features soft, lovely. That alarming tenderness bubbled up in his chest, soft and dangerous, making it hard for him to look away.

  He cleared his throat. “There are water bottles in the refrigerator and an assortment of snacks beneath each seat.”

  The boys were all over that. While Julia was busy helping them choose between candy bars and little bags of chips, he made himself turn back to the controls. Flying was safe and predictable. He felt completely confident in his ability to deal with whatever challenge could arise behind the controls of a plane. This tangled thing with Julia was a much more complicated situation. It was much easier to focus on what he knew and understood.

  Because of a little turbulence, he didn’t have much chance to talk to his passengers until after he brought the plane down safely in Hope’s Crossing and taxied to the hangar he used there.

  When he was done with the postflight check, he finally turned to them, waiting patiently in their seats.

  “So? What do you think?”

  She beamed. “I think I need to plan another trip somewhere.”

  “Where would you go?”

  “Somewhere tropical, maybe. Or Europe. I always wanted to visit Europe.”

  She looked down, color suddenly high on her cheekbones, and his interest sharpened. She had said she would go to the Ukraine, he remembered from a long-ago conversation. Julia had secrets. He had sensed it before. The
woman had hidden depths, parts of herself she didn’t share with the world.

  Davy tugged on his leg before Jamie could probe. “Where are we going now? Will we have to walk there? It’s cold here.”

  He smiled down at the boy. “Nope. I’ve got a car waiting for us, right over there. Do you guys think you can help me carry the luggage?”

  In answer, Clint picked up a suitcase and his younger brother quickly followed suit.

  “Ready?” Jamie asked with a smile for Julia. She was looking around at the mountains that surrounded Hope’s Crossing, terrain similar to Haven Point but without the vast, beautiful lake.

  “I am,” she answered. She followed him to the parking area where he kept his vehicle.

  “This looks familiar,” Julia said as he loaded the luggage in the cargo area and opened the back door for the boys. “Right down to the same color as the SUV you have in Haven Point. Did you buy them in bulk?”

  “I keep a personal vehicle in Hope’s Crossing and at the airport we use in San Jose. It makes life easier, so I don’t have to arrange a ride when I fly in and out. When they’re all the same, I don’t have to figure out which car is mine.”

  “I would have thought a man like you who enjoys...variety...in so many other aspects of his life would have a different vehicle in every airport.”

  “When I find what I like, I stick with it,” he murmured. “At least where cars are concerned.”

  To his delight, color climbed her cheekbones. He loved it entirely too much when she blushed.

  “What do you think about heading over to my dad’s café before we head to the inn so we can grab a bite to eat?” he asked, when the luggage had been loaded and everyone piled into his vehicle.

  “That would be lovely.”

  “Davy is starving,” Clint informed them.

  “We’d better take care of that, then,” he said, then put the car in gear and turned toward town.

  * * *

  THE DOWNTOWN AREA in Hope’s Crossing was packed with other vehicles, which meant it took Jamie some time to find a parking space.

  “Is it always this busy on a Friday night in December?” she asked.

  “The ski resort brings in plenty of tourists, sure. It’s got world-class skiing. Some of the traffic might be for the gala. Still, this is much busier than normal. There must be something happening downtown—a concert or an art walk or something. I couldn’t tell you for sure.”

  His hometown seemed vibrant and fun. As he drove around looking for a spot, Julia greatly enjoyed the charming lampposts, the holiday lights, the merchants and restaurants decorated for the holidays.

  The town was set in a lovely location, too, surrounded by soaring snow-capped mountains.

  She tried to imagine Jamie as a boy, wandering these streets with his friends, maybe riding his bike in the summer or hanging out at his father’s café.

  Why had he been in such a hurry to leave? She still wasn’t sure she knew the full answer.

  “Whoa. Look at that snowman!” Clint yelled out, pointing to a small, undeveloped corner on one city street where a snowman that had to be at least sixteen feet tall watched over the hustle and bustle of shoppers and tourists. The snowman’s sturdy base looked taller than Julia and was as big around as an above-ground swimming pool.

  “That’s cool,” Davy exclaimed. “Hey, Jamie, can we build a snowman that big tomorrow?”

  Jamie grinned. “That’s a tall order, kid. Literally. I imagine they had to bring that much snow in from a field somewhere.”

  “How did they get it here?” Clint asked, his expression fascinated.

  Jamie was explaining about dump trucks and front-end loaders and community cooperation, when ahead of them, a big pickup truck started to exit a space. Jamie braked to give him room, then pulled into the newly vacant spot.

  “This works, as long as you don’t mind walking about a block.”

  “Walking isn’t a bad idea,” she said. The boys had been in school all day, then running errands with her before climbing onto an airplane. They could probably use a little exercise before dinner.

  They walked about a block, making their way past other pedestrians until they reached what looked like one of the busiest spots in town. The air inside the café was warm, and the smell of yeast and grilled meat made her stomach rumble.

  Inside, Jamie stopped short. “I should have known,” he muttered. “On a Friday night at the Center of Hope, you can usually find enough Caines to start a pickup basketball game.”

  She recognized several of his siblings and their spouses, crowded together at a pair of tables. They were all laughing and seemed to be having a great time. Charlotte was the first to spot them, and her eyes lit up with happiness.

  “Jamie! I was hoping you would drop by once you got back to town.”

  She hugged him, then hugged Julia in turn, though Julia had only met her a few times.

  That seemed to be the signal for Dermot’s wife, Katherine, to jump up and hug her, followed by Genevieve and Eliza.

  “You made it,” Eliza exclaimed. “What do you think of Hope’s Crossing?”

  “It’s beautiful,” Julia answered. “We’ve only seen the ride from the airport to downtown, but I enjoyed every bit.”

  His brothers jumped to bring extra chairs for the four of them, wedging them in any empty space. Julia found herself seated next to Charlotte on one side and Jamie’s brother Andrew on the other.

  “It’s so great to see you again,” Charlotte said, with a sincerity that warmed her. “I have to tell you, I was so thrilled when Eliza told us Jamie was bringing you and the boys to town for the weekend and that you were going to be his date for the gala tomorrow.”

  Julia shifted in her chair, hoping his family didn’t have the wrong idea here. Was it possible they thought she and Jamie were involved? Surely they only had to look at her to know that was completely impossible.

  She wanted to set the record straight but couldn’t figure out a way to do it that wouldn’t sound ridiculous. “I’m looking forward to it,” she said instead.

  “It takes a tough woman to come back for a second helping of Caines.”

  She wasn’t tough. Far from it. Hadn’t she proven that, over and over?

  “I think your family is wonderful,” she said softly.

  Charlotte smiled. “They can be. And they can be annoying and intrusive, too. It depends on the day. The point is, we’re all thrilled Jamie brought you for the gala. It’s nice to see him showing some sense, for once, and picking someone with brains as well as beauty.”

  Oh, dear. She had been right. Charlotte had absolutely the wrong idea.

  She had to say something. Before she could, though, Clint tugged on her sleeve to ask if he and Davy could go to the bathroom, and the moment was gone.

  As she had observed at Thanksgiving, a meal with the Caine family was both crazy and wonderful. The food was delicious—nothing elaborate but fresh, healthy comfort food.

  She would have expected nothing less from Dermot Caine.

  She would have loved to stay all evening listening to the banter. The only discordant note was the fine-edged tension between Jamie and his brother Dylan. She had noticed it at Thanksgiving and wondered if she imagined it, but seeing them together at the café reinforced the suspicion.

  Jamie smiled and joked with his youngest brother as he did with everyone else, but she caught a certain tension in his jawline and murky emotion in his eyes.

  “Are you sure I can’t persuade you to stay with us?” Charlotte asked when the dishes had been cleared away and people started putting on their winter coats. “You know we have plenty of room.”

  “You’re welcome in Snowflake Canyon, too,” Genevieve said. “You would be our first overnight guests since Dylan finished adding on to t
he cabin.”

  “I appreciate your kind offers, but this time we’re staying at Wild Iris House. Lucy insisted,” Jamie said.

  “Next time you’re staying with us,” Charlotte insisted, “even if I have to arm-wrestle Lucy for it.”

  “There’s an idea for our next family party,” Eliza said, while Julia felt a pang at the realization this was a one-time experience. She wouldn’t be back. They were this close-knit, warm, intertwined family, and she was only temporarily on the periphery.

  “Good night, everyone. I hope I see you again before we leave town.”

  “Something tells me you’ll see so much of us this weekend, you’ll be eating those words,” Dylan said with a grin. With his scar and the eye patch, he looked like a sexy, disreputable pirate.

  She smiled back at him. Out of the corner of her gaze, she thought she saw Jamie’s jaw tighten again, though she couldn’t be completely sure.

  When they walked outside, the night was crisp and smelled of snow. Hope’s Crossing was charming, festive, and Julia resolved to enjoy every moment she was here.

  “Careful there,” Jamie said, pointing out a patch of ice on the sidewalk. He gripped her arm to make sure she didn’t slip. To her secret delight, he didn’t remove his hand as they made their way to his vehicle, with the boys walking hand in hand in front of them. Clint watched over his younger brother, as he always did.

  “Sorry about that back there,” he said after he helped them to his SUV and settled into the driver’s seat. “I should have prepared you for the possibility of a Caine onslaught tonight before we headed to the café. My family can be overwhelming.”

  “I like them very much,” she assured him as he pulled out of the parking space. “It’s obvious they care deeply for one another—and for you.”

  He made a face, his attention focused on the driving for a moment.

  While the boys pointed out Christmas decorations they liked, she watched Jamie out of the corner of her gaze. He still seemed distracted, on edge about something. Was it being back here in Hope’s Crossing, or could there be something else going on?