by C. C. Coburn
Nick was practically bouncing with anticipation as they piled into Luke’s vehicle and headed off.
IT WAS AFTER SEVEN when Becky met them on the front porch, a frown creasing her brow. A frown that was quickly erased as Nick excitedly related his adventures.
“That’s wonderful, honey,” she said, smiling. She glanced up at Will. “I was getting worried. It’s been dark for quite a while.”
“Sorry, Judge. We were enjoying ourselves and lost track of the time.” He covered her hand, which was icy cold. How long has she been waiting out here? he wondered and led her into the house, closing the door against the early-evening chill.
He ruffled Nick’s hair and said, “He was having so much fun with Luke’s girls, I couldn’t tear him away.”
She started to object, but he held up his hand. “Boss, you’ve gotta learn to let go a bit. You wanted someone to look after Nick. You’ve got me. He’s safe. He’ll always be safe with me.”
Becky expelled an exasperated sigh. “I…I know in my head that what you’re saying is true, but my heart is finding it hard to let go.”
“The truth is, you don’t like not being in complete control of every situation in your life.”
Will knew he’d hit a sore point when she flinched. Not being a control freak himself, he found it hard to imagine why some people needed to maintain such a tight hold on everything around them.
Nicolas squealed from the living room. “There’s a dog in here!”
Dugald raced up to Will, who reached down and scooped up the little dog. “What’re you doing here, Dugald?”
“You know him?” Nick asked, his eyes wide with wonder.
“Sure. Dugald and I go way back, don’t we, fella?” He passed him to Nick.
“He’s yours?”
“No, he’s yours,” Becky said. “If you want him.”
Nick’s eyes were bigger than saucers. “Mine! Oh, boy!” He held the dog tightly. Dugald rewarded him by licking his face. “Eeyew!”
“He’s only kissing you and saying hello,” Will assured him as they went into the living room.
Nick sank onto the sofa and let Dugald lick his face some more. “He really likes me a lot, doesn’t he?”
“Sure does,” Will said, then turned his attention to Becky. “So instead of resting as you were told to, you’ve been visiting with Miss P.?” He shook an admonishing finger at her, but tempered it with a smile.
“I did rest. Then I remembered my promise to do something about Dugald.” Her face softened with pleasure as she observed Nick and Dugald bonding.
Will massaged her neck, feeling her tension dissipate beneath his touch…and enjoying the fact that she didn’t pull away. “Thanks,” he said. “You’ve done a real favor for two people today. Dugald’s going to be a great companion. Why don’t we celebrate by buying a Christmas tree. The Boy Scouts are selling them down in the parking lot.”
A HALF HOUR LATER, after they’d hastily eaten the sandwiches Becky had prepared, Nicolas was raring to go. With Dugald tucked in the crook of Will’s arm, they were wandering through neat lines of Christmas trees. Customers roamed the aisles or warmed their hands on a fire blazing in a brazier. The stars shone brightly overhead and, with no cloud cover, the temperature had plummeted to well below zero.
The Boy Scout helping them pulled out three trees they’d shown interest in and leaned them against the fence side by side to compare.
Becky was alarmed the young Scouts wore only sweatshirts on this cold night. She and Nicolas were warmly dressed in several layers of clothing as well as ski jackets, fleecy neck warmers, beanies and gloves. As usual, Will wore considerably less.
She couldn’t resist asking the young Scout who was assisting them, “Aren’t you cold?”
He looked at her as though she was from another planet. “Nah. Why?”
“Because it’s cold. And dark.”
The Scout indicated a pile of ski jackets lying on a chair. “We’ve got ’em, but we won’t need ’em.”
Will bent to whisper in her ear. “We breed ’em tough up here in the mountains, ma’am.”
The warmth of his breath against the tiny amount of skin exposed between her hat and neck warmer sent tickles down her spine, making Becky forget for a moment what she’d been talking about.
“They’re only out here for another hour,” Will assured her. “Then they can go home.”
“Another hour? Oh, my…”
“I like this one best,” Nicolas declared. “Can we take it, Mom?”
Becky tore her eyes from the Boy Scout and looked at the tree. It was a very handsome tree. A very tall tree.
“Isn’t it a little large for the house?”
Will sized it up. “Nope. We can put it beside the staircase where it winds up to the landing. There’s plenty of height there.”
“Yeah! Great idea!” Nicolas agreed.
Becky eyed the tree. There was no way it would fit in the back of her SUV—even with the rear seat down. “Can you deliver?” she asked the boy.
“Sure, we can bring it around when we close up here.”
“Yay! Now we need decorations!” Nicolas insisted.
THEY GOT HOME, loaded down with decorations. Dugald had enjoyed his outing, sitting in the cart at the store, sniffing everything as it was chosen.
A truck containing their tree arrived, and the Scoutmaster and Will manhandled the Fraser fir into the house and set it up on a stand exactly where Will had said it would fit. Will lit the fire, instantly suffusing the room with warmth.
Becky stood back to check that it was in just the right place. She didn’t want it blocking Nicolas’s path, causing him to stumble and fall. “Perfect,” she decreed.
“Yay!” Nicolas started tearing open the packs of decorations and lights.
She’d never seen her son so animated. They’d had a Christmas tree before but it was the ready-decorated, plastic, store-bought variety and definitely lacked the soul of a real tree, she decided, as the scent of fir drifted through the house.
She put on a CD of Christmas songs and soon the strains of Neil Diamond accompanied by Will and Nicolas singing “Winter Wonderland” filled the air.
Will hung the lights on the tree, then they decorated it, Nicolas the lowest branches, Becky the middle ones and Will the topmost.
Will had a beautiful singing voice and she told him so.
He winked down at her from where he was perched on a stepladder. “Thanks, boss,” he said, sending Nicolas into fits of laughter.
Becky put her hands on her hips. “What’s so funny, young man?”
“Will’s calling you ‘boss’—but I guess you are his boss.” He dissolved into laughter again.
Becky’s heart soared at the sound. She’d always assumed Nicolas to be a serious, withdrawn child, much like herself. But in Will’s presence, he was happy and effervescent.
In another hour, all the decorations were on the tree, except one.
“Come here, champ,” Will said from halfway up the stairs.
Will handed him the angel and lifted him so he could place her on top of the tree.
Becky was about to say careful, but managed to stop herself in time to admire Will’s biceps straining against his denim shirt as he held Nicolas over the banister railing.
“There!” he said and peered down at her for approval.
“Beautiful! Let’s turn on the tree lights.”
Nicolas climbed onto the banister and slid down while Becky held her breath. “Wheee!” he cried and Will followed him down.
“Hold on, champ. We need to dim the house lights.”
Finally, with the room lit only by firelight, Nicolas plugged the lights into the socket.
“Oh!” Becky exclaimed. It looked so much more beautiful than she’d expected. In her whole life, she’d rarely experienced such a wondrous moment as lighting this tree.
There’d been no Christmas trees during her childhood, since there was never any money to spend on t
hat kind of indulgence. Instead, she’d snap a branch off a larger tree and bring it home to decorate with anything she could find that was shiny or pretty. But there’d been so few of those things, too. One year she’d used some of her mother’s beads and been harshly reprimanded for it.
Tears filled her eyes at the memory. She’d only wanted to cheer up the trailer a little. And yet she’d been so soundly rebuked by her mother that the effect was ruined.
Becky’s need to keep the details of her upbringing a secret had ensured she never got close to anyone, either professionally or in her private life. She had colleagues rather than friends and, until lately, that hadn’t bothered her.
But Nicolas’s exposure to Sasha and Daisy’s large, close family and their very-involved grandparents had made him question why his grandparents and his father weren’t part of his life. The truth—that none of them wanted anything to do with him—was too horrible to admit, even to herself. Graham’s parents hadn’t acknowledged any of Nicolas’s birthdays or Christmases since his diagnosis, no doubt taking their cues from Graham.
To protect both her and her son from hurt, she’d cut herself off from everyone who should matter to Nicolas. Yet the O’Malleys had managed to worm their way into her heart, forcing her to confront issues so long buried she hadn’t thought of them in years.
“Mom?” Nicolas’s query brought her back to the present. “Why are you crying?”
She sniffed and dabbed at her eyes with the backs of her hands and tried to smile. “I’m just happy. The tree’s pretty, isn’t it?”
Nicolas looked back at the tree, and Becky glanced at Will. His frown told her he suspected her tears weren’t only about the tree in her living room.
“Let’s have some eggnog, to celebrate,” she said and, without waiting for an answer, strode toward the kitchen, needing to escape Will’s assessing gaze.
NICK FOLLOWED, leaving Will to ponder her tears. They’d been more than the tears of joy she claimed. Those were big, fat tears of sorrow coursing down her cheeks.
He studied the tree to see if it would reveal her secrets. It looked like every other Christmas tree that had graced his childhood home, brimming with color and light and the promise of Christmas. It said Joy. Family. Home. Love.
He could see Becky in the kitchen, blowing her nose. Yup, they definitely weren’t tears of happiness. Something in her past had put them there. Something about Christmas…
Chapter Fifteen
The next evening, Will and Nick set off on a shopping trip. Becky was banned from it, since they were choosing her gift.
Two hours later, Nicolas bounded in the door, full of energy. “Will told off the bullies, Mom! They even shook my hand and said sorry.”
“What?”
Will perched on the sofa. “We ran into them at the store and had a little heart-to-heart. I don’t think Nick will have any more trouble from them.”
Becky wanted to weep with joy at the incredibly wonderful feeling of having a man around to stand up for her son and “tell off” bullies. The issue had been tearing at her guts since she’d heard Johnny Cooper was still terrorizing Nicolas.
She hadn’t spoken to Nicolas about why he was keeping secrets from her and mentally added that to her to do list.
“I’m on vacation tomorrow!” he cried, breaking into her thoughts. “Can we have pizza?”
Becky loved seeing his excitement. “Sure, sweetie.”
“Cool!” he said and dashed into the kitchen.
Becky noticed he was more stable on his feet and moved more fluidly. She smiled up at Will. “Thank you for doing that. I couldn’t get an appointment to see his teacher until after the holidays.”
“Nick told me.” Lowering his voice, he said, “Between you and me, I don’t think this is over, but Nick’s going into the holidays feeling happy. I still don’t trust that Cooper kid an inch, but you should’ve seen the look on Nick’s face when Johnny shook his hand. He was so relieved.”
“But what about January, when he’s back at school? He might come after him again.”
Will placed a calming hand on her shoulder. “I’ll talk to Nick and help him with some strategies for dealing with bullies. But for now, I want him to relax and enjoy himself. I’ll be with him all the time, so he’ll be safe.”
Becky released her breath. Will was right; Nicolas should be allowed to enjoy his holidays without any fears. “Thank you for everything. You’ve exceeded my expectations of a caregiver in every possible way.”
“You’re welcome. It’s all part of the service.”
Becky knew it was much more than just “part of the service.” “I’ve set aside time to come to the pool tomorrow to watch him swim,” she said.
Will rewarded her with a grin so wide, her heart turned over.
NICOLAS KEPT GLANCING at her to make sure she was watching as he did his therapy. Becky waved back enthusiastically and gave him a thumbs-up.
“Hi, boss,” Will said as he joined her, rubbing a towel through his wet hair. “The little guy sure loves the pool, doesn’t he?” He stretched out his long legs as he sat on the bench.
Becky concentrated on keeping her eyes trained on her son and not on Will’s half-naked body.
Nicolas became even more animated once Will arrived. He began to show off a little and she couldn’t help smiling at his obvious hero worship. Her son was thriving—and Will was responsible.
“Catch you later. I do my laps while the little guy does his therapy,” Will said and strode through to the pool.
Becky watched him leave, her throat dry.
AFTER NICOLAS’S THERAPY session, it was time for his swimming lesson with Will. Tears sprang to Becky’s eyes. Her precious son could swim! Okay, he wasn’t going to be winning races anytime soon, but he had the basics. His breathing was good, his arms thrashed the water and propelled him along, while his legs trailed behind. He looked so proud of himself as Will towed him back to the pool’s edge.
“I’m really impressed with you, sweetie,” she said as Will lifted him out of the water to sit on the pool’s edge. “You’re doing great.”
“Really, Mom?” His eyes shone with happiness.
She knelt down to hug his wet body, uncaring of what the chlorine might do to her clothes. “You’re a much better swimmer than me already.” She wrapped his towel around him.
“Wow! Did you hear that, Will? Maybe you can teach Mom to swim so she can keep up with me.”
Will hauled himself out of the pool in one easy movement to stand in front of her, his hair dripping wet. Lord, he was magnificent. All rippling muscles and sinewy strength. She’d have to get through her cases faster so she could make it to the pool more often.
Will grinned and Becky’s legs nearly gave out under her. “Sure,” he said, looking into her eyes. “I’m happy to teach your mom anything she wants.”
Heat suffused her face. It sounded as if Will intended to teach her something altogether different from swimming….
THAT EVENING, NURSING a glass of wine as she rested on the sofa while Will and Nicolas cleaned up after dinner, Becky knew she’d made the right decision in employing Will. The difference in Nicolas was astounding. He seemed stronger every day, his appetite had improved and his complexion glowed with health. Instead of being shut up in her chambers after Jessie dropped him off following hydrotherapy, he now went with Will on a circuit of the town, Dugald in tow.
I could get used to this, she thought and smiled at Dugald having doggy dreams on his bed in front of the fire, his tiny legs making running motions in the air.
She could get very used to getting home to delicious aromas from the kitchen and the sound of her son horsing around with Will.
Although she’d come here reluctantly, she was beginning to feel a part of this community and regretted her initial attitude, which had clouded her opinion of Spruce Lake.
Many of the problems—drunk driving, drugs, traffic violations and so on—were perpetrated by outsiders, hence the
reason court was so busy this time of year. Thankfully, the town’s number-one public nuisance, Louella Farquar, and her outrageous antics, were nearly a distant memory.
And the way the community had rallied behind the cause of saving the old buildings was impressive.
An ideal town to raise a family. Now where had that come from? Probably Sarah O’Malley when she’d dropped by to take her to lunch that week.
Will’s mom had done a sales job on the town, and on her son, adding snippets praising the town as a safe place to live and raise a family….
“Hey, Mom!” Nicolas jolted Becky from her musings as he jumped onto her lap. Her wineglass tilted alarmingly but a large hand swooped in to wrap around hers and Will removed the glass from danger.
“Thanks.” Becky glanced up at him and smiled. Since taking over Nicolas’s care, he hadn’t made a single pass at her. Granted, she’d warned him to be on his best behavior, but since when did Will do as he was told? She’d half expected to be beating him off with a stick, yet he’d been the embodiment of professionalism and a gentleman to boot.
Will ruffled Nicolas’s hair and Becky’s heart warmed. He felt genuine affection for her son and wasn’t afraid to show it. They made an easy trio, lounging on her comfy old sofa with the fire blazing in the grate. Like a family.
She worked at quashing that thought as soon as it entered her head.
“Will and I are going out for ice cream. Wanna come?”
She pulled a fleecy blanket over her legs. “No, sweetie, I’m enjoying myself right here. Why don’t you guys bring me some back?”
“Go put on some more layers before we head out, champ.”
“But you don’t wear big heavy jackets,” Nicolas protested.
“That’s ’cause I grew up here and I’m a tough mountain man,” Will told him in a deep voice that had Nicolas chuckling.
Becky shook her head. “You really will catch your death of cold one of these days,” she warned as Nicolas went to collect his gloves, hat and jacket.
Will leaned close. “Not while I have you to keep me warm,” he murmured, but Becky was the one who felt her face heat.