The next morning, Tabitha sat in the office at the back of the store. She’d stayed up until Midnight working on the web site. She’d lied to Adam. Sort of. She hadn’t really eaten when he’d asked her to dinner, though she did have something in the oven. She just didn’t want to see him. She needed a little time alone to process what had happened with Bobby. He had made contact with her two days in a row and she was a little apprehensive about what the next day might bring.
All that hadn’t exactly left her in a sociable mood. Especially not to be with someone whose company she enjoyed.
Today, she’d gotten up, taken Aunt Allie in for her checkup, and even after they’d stopped for breakfast, they’d been home by nine thirty. Aunt Allie could walk around some now, though she was advised against doing stairs. That curtailed her activities somewhat, though she insisted on being in the shop this morning.
Claire was out for a class, so with Aunt Allie enjoying being back in her store, Tabitha had settled into the computer. She was in earshot if her aunt needed her. Just to make sure, she had a two-way radio on the desk and Aunt Allie had the other one up front. She could sit behind the counter, but didn’t need to be up moving around too much.
The best thing was, they’d turned the Christmas music down.
“Excuse me, can you tell me where I can find a book on the history of Estes Park?”
Tabitha nearly jumped out of her skin.
Adam stood in the doorway, smiling at her.
“Don’t do that.” she said, putting a hand to her mouth.
“I’m sorry. Honest. I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he said, coming to kneel beside her.
“It’s ok. I’m just a little jumpy.”
“A little?” He turned his gaze to her computer. “Is this the web site?”
“Yes,” she, said, thankful for the distraction. She had chosen silver and blue colors for the web page to reflect the colors of their Christmas decorations.
“Wow, that looks great!” the surprise was evident in his voice.
“Really? I’ve just been playing around with it some.”
“You’ve done more than play around. You’re good. Have you figured out how to link pages?”
“Oh, sure,” she said, clicking around from page to page, to demonstrate.
“Did you have fun doing this?”
“I actually really enjoyed it.”
“You have a talent for it, you know.”
“I don’t know...”
“Tabitha,” he began, taking her hand. “I’m serious.”
She felt the little intake of breath at the familiar feel of his hand on hers.
She forgot why she had reservations about getting close to him.
Right now, all she wanted to do was to be close to him. His mouth was only inches from hers. His gaze locked on hers. Those blue eyes of his held her mesmerized.
He inched forward ever so slightly. She could feel his breath against her lips. Her lips parted. Her eyes closed.
His lips hovered against hers. Then, ever so softly made contact.
She breathed in and held her breath.
Her eyes fluttered open when she felt him move away.
A second later, the two-way radio squawked, jarring them out of the moment.
“Tabitha?”
“Yes, Aunt Allie?” she said, grabbing the device, her heart still racing from the kiss.
“Someone just dropped off flowers for you.”
“Oh no,” she said, setting down the radio.
“Really? Someone sent you flowers?” Adam asked.
“They’re probably for Claire. Or Aunt Allie.”
“I’ll go get them.”
“No,” she said, but he was already on his way out.
After saving her work on the computer, she turned around and waited for Adam to come back. There would be no working for a bit.
Another vase. Another dozen yellow roses. She knew it was from Bobby without even looking at the card.
“They’re pretty,” he said, setting them on the desk.
“They’re yellow.”
“Yeah. And?”
“Did you send them?” She asked.
“No.”
“I don’t like yellow.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Richard said.
She took the card and read it. The card read It was good to see you again. I’ll see you soon.
“Something I should know about?”
“No.” She sighed. “Yes.”
He pulled up an extra chair and sat down, facing her.
“Tabitha, I like you,” he said, waiting until she looked up at him. “But if you’re spoken for, I won’t intrude.”
“Spoken for?” she echoed. A little laughed escaped her lips before she could stop it. “I’m not spoken for.” She looked away from him. “At least not any more.”
“Ex-boyfriend?”
She took a deep breath, told herself it had to be done, and plunged in. “Ex-husband.”
He leaned back, and looked away, just as she had expected. Might as well go all the way. “At least he will be in less than five weeks.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry. I should have told you. I just....” she hesitated when he looked back up at her. “I just wanted to start a new life. But, now, he’s followed me,” her voice broke a little and tears welled behind her eyelids.
“Come here,” he said, reaching out to pull her toward him until she was sitting in his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Her arms went around him and held on tight.
Her unshed tears dried and instead she felt something unexpected. She felt safe and accepted. He gently rubbed her back until her breathing steadied. “Did he hurt you?” he asked softly.
She nodded against his shoulder.
“Do you have a restraining order?”
She shook her head. “Not anymore.”
“What do you want to do?”
She pulled back. Looked into his blue eyes.
And was lost.
She’d gone and tumbled head over heels for him.
Oh, no.
Scrambling to her feet, she turned toward the window and looked out over the courtyard. In the background, she could hear the song All I want for Christmas is you. This was not good.
All she wanted for Christmas was Adam.
A delivery truck pulled up and the driver jumped out to deliver a package to Adam’s shop.
She had to make it stop. She couldn’t let this go on. He deserved someone without all the baggage that she brought with her. He didn’t need to get tangled up with her and her problems.
Besides - she would be going back to Boulder soon. She had to go back to work. In fact, she should probably leave sooner than later. She couldn’t stay here and risk putting Aunt Allie in any kind of danger.
In fact, she decided as she thought more about that, maybe she should just go ahead and leave now before things got any worse. She could stay in a hotel while she apartment shopped. The whole reason for coming to Estes Park was to get way from Bobby. But that was blown now.
“Tabitha?”
She squared her shoulders, lifted her chin, and turned to face him.
“I’m sorry. I just can’t do this.”
“What can’t you do?”
“This,” she said, with a vague sweep of her hand.
“Things will get better.”
“No, I don’t think so.” She swept her sweater sleeve up and held out her arm so he could see the bruise on her upper arm. It had an ugly yellow shade to it now.
“He did that?”
She nodded.
“When? When did he do this Tabitha?”
“Two days ago, he came into the shop and demanded to see me. I don’t know how he found me. I didn’t mean to lead him here.”
“I think we need to call the police.”
“No,” she said, quickly, with panic in her voice. “We can’t.”
“Ok,” he said, reluctantly. “Are you goin
g to tell me why?”
“I tried that. It only makes things worse.”
He nodded slowly. “Then we’ll have to take things into our own hands.”
“What do you mean?”
He seemed to consider his next words. “Have you ever shot a gun?”
“Sure. My brother used to be into hunting and he would take me out to the range sometimes.”
“Where is he now?”
“He’s living in Boston.”
“Does he know about all this?”
She shook her head. “He’s got a wife and a new baby. I didn’t want to bother him.”
“You have to tell him. Just in case they could be in danger.”
“But he’s in Boston.”
“Doesn’t matter. Craziness knows no boundaries. And anyway, if anything happens to you, he’ll need to know where to start.”
“Well, that makes me feel better.”
He reached out, took her hand. “I’m only thinking of your safety. I don’t mean to frighten you.”
“I know. But I am afraid.”
“Do you have a gun?”
“What? Geez. No.”
“Does Aunt Allie have one?”
“Not that I know of.”
“I’ll loan you one of mine then.”
“You have guns?”
“Of course.”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t have to carry it. Just have it in your night stand. Just in case.”
“Just in case.” she repeated.
“Yeah, just in case. This ex of yours sounds like he might be a little bit dangerous.”
“Only to me.”
“Good enough,” he said. “Wait here. I’ll be back in five minutes.”
As he went out the back door, Tabitha didn’t know what to think or how to feel.
She hadn’t planned on telling him so much about Bobby.
Her emotions swirling, she picked up the vase of flowers and, taking them out back, tossed them in the dumpster.
Then she stood and looked around. The back patio was deserted and there were only parked cars in the parking lot. She didn’t know what Bobby drove anymore, so any of the cars could have belonged to him. She waited for the normal sounds of daily activity, but it was quiet. Too quiet.
Feeling a little spooked, she went back inside and locked the door.
Adam raced upstairs to his closet and pulled out one of two gun cases. He had bought the little thirty-eight special air weight pistol for his ex-girlfriend. Fortunately, he’d never given it to her. He actually liked it himself. It was small, lightweight, and easy to handle. It would be perfect for Tabitha. He grabbed a box of bullets, too, and put it all into a cloth bag before going downstairs with it.
He went out the back way and, as promised, would be back in less than five minutes.
As he went down the stairs, he considered his situation. His first instinct with Tabitha had been to run the other way. To get mixed up in something that was destined to end badly. Not just the situation with her ex, but she was likely too scared for any kind of normal relationship - at least for a long time. If ever, he admitted to himself, reluctantly.
But for some reason, she appealed to his protective instincts. He couldn’t abandon her. She needed him. She was far too vulnerable.
And far too appealing.
He tried the back door. It was locked. Good. He knocked.
Tabitha came to the door. She looked a little more composed than she had earlier.
As she let him inside, he could see the strain on her face. She did well at masking it. He could see it only because he was getting to know her.
And care for her.
Going to the nearest counter, he pulled out the gun case. She hung back, watching him. He pulled out the little pistol and handed it to her, handle first. “It’s loaded,” he said.
She took it in her hand, seemed to weigh it.
“How does it feel?”
“I really don’t care for guns.”
“It’s not for fun. It’s to save your life. Or Aunt Allie’s life.”
She nodded toward the bag. “What else do you have there?”
“Bullets,” he said, taking the box of ammo from the bag.
“Looks like you’re planning a shoot-out.”
He laughed. “If you want to try it out, we can go out to the range.”
“I think I’ll be ok. If I have to shoot him, he’ll be close enough for me to hit.”
“All right then. Do you have some place to keep it?”
“In my night stand like you said.”
“You’ll want to tell Aunt Allie in case she needs to know.”
“Optimistic, aren’t you?”
“I just want you to be prepared. Someone who’ll track you down like this can’t be trusted.”
“I don’t trust him. He told me one time that he’d rather be widowed than divorced.”
A stab of fear shot through him. “Tabitha, I can’t begin to tell you how much that scares me.”
“Yeah, well, it scares me, too. And the bruise I have on my arm doesn’t help any.”
He didn’t like the idea of anyone hurting her. Just the reminder of the bruise on her arm sent a stab of anger through his veins. “Do you have a picture of him?” he asked with sudden inspiration.
“If I did, I’d burn it.”
“I was just thinking that if I had an idea of what he looked like, maybe I could keep an eye out for him.”
“I doubt it would matter. He’s very cautious.”
Cautious or not, her ex was messing with the wrong girl.
Chapter Fifteen
Tabitha took Adam’s gun and stashed it in her night stand. She wasn’t opposed to guns exactly. She’d grown up with them around her - her father, her brother, all hunted. She’d never been interested in killing an animal.
Her brother had taken her out target shooting a few times. For the most part, she could hit whatever she aimed at. She had never imagined ever aiming a gun at a person.
It couldn’t hurt to have the gun, she decided as she stepped into the bathroom, ran a brush through her hair, and smeared on some lip gloss.
Which brought her back around to a problem she considered to be more pressing at the moment than Bobby.
Adam.
She could still feel his lips on hers - soft and firm. And he was, oh, so sexy.
Checking her reflection in the mirror, she shook her head. She had so many reasons for not allowing herself to go there. First of all, she was technically a married woman. Though married to the devil - still married. Second, she was damaged. Adam deserved better. Someone who hadn’t been trained to distrust men. Third, if he was right and Bobby was mentally off-balance, getting too close to Adam could put him in danger. Fourth, she needed to move on because her being here was most likely putting Aunt Allie in some danger and she could not allow that. Fifth... well, she couldn’t think of any other reasons right now, but that was certainly enough.
It was decided. She had to keep her distance.
Oh, hell, she thought dropping to sit on the edge of the tub. She needed him. She needed his friendship. He was the only person besides Aunt Allie who she felt she could trust.
Maybe she could just keep him as a friend. And not let him kiss her anymore.
Right.
She could do it.
No more kisses.
She sighed. And reminded herself that it was for his own good.
With new resolve she headed back downstairs where he was waiting for her.
“Come with me,” he said, when she joined him in the break room.
“Where are we going?”
“I want you to meet someone.”
She hesitated.
“Come on. I told Aunt Allie. She’ll be fine. She promised to stay downstairs until we get back.
“Aunt Allie?” Tabitha said, picking up the walkie-talkie.
“Go,” Aunt Allie’s voice came over the unit. “Go and have a
good time.”
Allie shrugged, but went to the door and peeked inside the shop where she had a clear with of the front counter.
Aunt Allie smiled and waved at her from her perch behind the cash register.
She waved back and tried to smile. She didn’t like leaving her here. Not with Bobby around. “I should tell her,” she said.
“We’ll tell her when we get back. She’s good.”
“Okay,” she said and turned back to Adam.
Adam took her hand. “Okay.” he repeated. “Let’s go.
After they locked the back door, he opened the car door for her and went around to get in on the other side.
Tabitha looked around for Bobby, expecting him to be lurking anywhere. “Maybe we should have brought the gun with us,” she said when he had closed his door and slipped into the driver’s seat.
“No worries,” he said, patting the console between them.
Her eyes widened and he winked at her.
“You’re beginning to worry me just a little,” she said.
“Don’t be worried. I’ve never shot anyone. And I don’t plan to start now. But I also don’t plan to start letting someone bully anyone I care about.”
As he drove out of the parking lot, her mind focused on those words - anyone I care about.
They could only be friends, she reminded herself. It was for his own good, she told herself.
He cared about her.
“I take it you haven’t gotten out much,” he said.
“No, I haven’t. I guess I’ve been sort of hiding out.”
He nodded. “I don’t blame you. One day I’ll show you around. Estes Park has a lot to offer.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” giving him a little smile. He kept his eyes on the road, but she saw him smile in return. She kicked herself for that. She mustn’t give in to her feelings. She would be leaving soon.
She studied the Stanley Hotel as they waited for the light to turn green.
“Where are you taking me again?” she asked.
“Good try. I’m not going to tell you yet.”
“It’s a good thing I trust you,” she said, teasingly. Though, seriously, they were heading out past town. And she couldn’t help but feel a little trepidation.
“Tabitha,” he said, reaching over to take her hand. She ignored the warning signs going off in her head. “Don’t ever think you can’t trust me.”
A Very Merry Christmas Gift (Winter Kisses Book 1) Page 8