Harlequin Superromance November 2014 - Box Set 2 of 2: Christmas at the CoveNavy ChristmasUntil She Met Daniel

by Rachel Brimble

  Bianca narrowed her eyes and lifted her chin. “When I’m ready.”

  Scott glared and crossed his arms. “Now, Bianca.”

  Carrie pulled herself up to her full five feet seven inches, sensing if she didn’t stand up to Bianca now, there was every possibility she’d be mincemeat the next time they met. The tense atmosphere grew in strength as the three of them stood in a circle. Finally, Bianca threw her hands up in surrender. “Fine.”

  She flounced toward the counter and Carrie turned to Scott. “I don’t want to talk about Belle in front of your sister. I’m nowhere near ready for that. Not yet.”

  His eyes stormed with frustration. “Believe me, neither am I.”

  “Then call me when you can.”

  When she moved to walk away, he gripped her elbow. “I’m going to speak to the local doctor and ask him to hurry through a DNA test.”

  Carrie nodded. “Okay.”

  “Once...” He glanced toward the counter, color darkening his cheeks. “Once that part is done, we’ll know where we stand.”

  She followed his gaze toward the counter, where Bianca was in deep conversation with the waitress who’d brought them their coffees. Bianca and the waitress looked over, curiosity etched on their faces. Swallowing against the weight of their judgment, Carrie faced Scott. “You have friends and family here, I don’t. I don’t want this turning into a witch-hunt. You need to speak to your sister. Tell her who I am if you have to, because I won’t have people making me out to be a villain.”

  “I won’t let that happen.”

  She tilted her head toward the counter where Bianca and the waitress watched them. “Do you really think you have a choice?”

  He glanced over her shoulder. “I’m my own man, Carrie. I do what I want, when I want. You have to meet me halfway and let me deal with my family as I see fit.” His gaze bored into hers, determination turning them the darkest blue. “Just trust me, okay? Let me deal with my mum and sisters.”

  She lifted her chin. “I want to leave by Christmas Eve. I won’t spend Christmas Day without Belle.”

  “I know.”

  Before Carrie could say anything else, Bianca strode on high heels toward them, her mouth stretched into a wide smile and her intelligent gaze piqued with intense interest. “What did I miss?”

  Scott faced her. “Nothing. Carrie’s leaving.”

  Bianca pouted. “There’s no need to hurry off on my account.” Her gaze ran over Carrie’s hair. “It’s been a while since I’ve managed to pin down one of my brother’s conquests.”

  Irritation burned behind Carrie’s ribcage. “I am not one of your brother’s conquests. I’m someone he met for the briefest time and we’ve been thrown back together...possibly again, for the briefest time. Goodbye.”

  With the weight of their stares on her back, Carrie whirled around and left Scott with his sister, wondering whether the steam pouring from her ears was actually visible. The careful calculation in his sister’s gaze was surely just a taster of the animosity Carrie could be exposed to in this town. The feeling of being entirely alone amongst a jungle of potential danger and threat shivered through her.

  She flung open the bakery door and inhaled mouthfuls of dense sea air as though starved of oxygen. She was here and she would fight for Belle’s right to know her father, whatever the external obstacles. She looked to the sky. The gunmetal rainclouds of earlier had cleared, leaving the sky the same azure blue it had been upon her waking that morning. She smiled triumphantly. All would be well now she and Scott had met halfway. She didn’t doubt his ability to fight right alongside her once he knew for sure Belle was his.

  Feeling stronger than she’d felt since arriving in the Cove, Carrie rammed her arms into the sleeves of her coat and purposely scanned the road. Her plan to get in and out of Templeton within a day, two at the most, had failed dismally. Wariness and suspicion had ebbed and flowed in her veins when Carrie looked into Bianca’s eyes; the woman had smiled, but her steely gaze left Carrie in no doubt just what trouble Scott’s sister could cause if she put her mind to it.

  Carrie breathed deep. Yet, Bianca didn’t frighten her any more than Scott’s friend Nick had. Their hostility was a spark to her determination and would do nothing but push Carrie forward with more energy than ever.

  She jogged across the street and hurried toward the Christie Hotel. She was a stranger in a town where everyone knew everyone’s business. She’d do well to remember that and be on guard. Even though Marian had been friendly enough, that didn’t mean anyone else would be...or even that Marian wouldn’t jump sides once she discovered Carrie had given birth to Scott’s baby and neglected to tell him he was a father for almost three years.

  Staying here to be bullied and judged wasn’t an option.

  She might want something more to happen between her and Scott—even if it had felt entirely physical at the bakery—but she would not allow him to skew her vision of what she wanted for Belle. If she and Scott made some small steps toward a resolution, that would be enough.

  With each passing hour she spent in the Cove, it seemed Scott was deemed Templeton property by the women in town. As far as she knew, she could remain a nobody in the eyes of a closed community for weeks, months and years. She wasn’t a nobody. She was Belle’s mother and the sooner Scott and everyone in town appreciated that, the better.

  She purposefully marched onward. The first step was a DNA test. Once Scott had the black and white proof he needed, Carrie would insist he make a decision to either be a father, or not. Either way, come hell or high water, she wouldn’t expose her daughter to one iota of hurt from a man or a town they barely knew.

  When she decided to come to Templeton, no part of her had considered Scott’s wider circle. The unit had been her, Belle and Scott. Now, though, it was abundantly clear Carrie was alone in her endeavors. Yes, her mother had offered to come to Templeton as moral support, but Carrie wouldn’t let that happen unless it was absolutely necessary—she refused to risk exposing the people she loved to dangers she hadn’t yet identified.

  CHAPTER TEN

  SCOTT STARED AT the bakery door and tried to get a grip on his anger. His sister’s perfume wafted over him as she squeezed past him into the booth. This was just the beginning. If Bianca suspected Carrie meant more to him than any other woman he’d dated, all hell would break loose. He couldn’t allow her the tiniest access to the mess of feelings battering around inside him before he’d had time to examine them.

  He inhaled a long breath and turned.

  Bianca, eyes wide with expectancy, casually leaned back and crossed her arms. “Well, she’s all kinds of pretty, isn’t she?”

  He slid into the booth opposite her and leaned forward, pushing his and Carrie’s cold coffees and pastries to the side...disastrous breakfast number two. He glared. “Listen to me. I want you to stay away from her. Who she is, why she’s here, is none of your concern until I say it is. I don’t want her becoming a family problem, okay?”

  She smiled, her eyes shining with excitement. “Is she the reason Mum pushed us out of the house this morning?”

  “Bianca, I’m warning you—”

  “What?” She raised her hands in mock surrender. “I’m just interested, that’s all. If you want to keep the blonde your little secret, who am I to interfere.”

  “She’s not my little secret. Like Carrie said, she probably won’t be here more than another day or two. It’s nothing.” His gut clenched at the blatant lie. Carrie was already so much more than she was the first time around. He still wanted her...still wanted to feel her skin and warmth; to see the revealed, animalistic side of her he’d only known behind a closed bedroom door, but the fervor in her eyes whenever she spoke of Belle added so much more...

  Scott swallowed. He couldn’t go there. He could not imagine Carrie as a mother and still expect
to think straight and have his wits about him. He had to think of her as a woman he once knew until he was sure the child was his. To start to care for Carrie and then have it turn out she lied about Belle...

  “Hello? Earth to Scott.”

  Scott snapped his gaze to his sister’s. “What?”

  Bianca lifted an eyebrow. “So she’s nothing? I don’t think so.”

  Scott glared. “I didn’t say she was nothing, I said it was nothing. Us. Me and her. There’s nothing going on.”

  Her gaze turned somber and she reached across the table to cover his hand with hers. “I’m only trying to break through a little here, Scottie. You haven’t been right for the last couple of days. Is it just the blonde? Or is something else going on?”

  “Her name’s Carrie.” He glanced around the bakery, a preferable option than looking into his sister’s astute gaze. “She’s just visiting a while and then going home.”

  “So work’s okay?”

  He faced her. “Yes. Why wouldn’t it be?”

  “Because this is the second day in a row the place has been shut up, that’s why.” She slid her hand from his and picked up her coffee. “I can’t remember the last time you weren’t working. If it’s not the blonde...Carrie, I thought something else might be bothering you. Nick said—”

  “Nick said nothing.” He glared. “It’s Christmas. Maybe I want some time off.”

  She huffed out a laugh. “Now I’m really worried.”

  “Look, can you just give me some space? I don’t need you, Mum, Ella or Lucy getting involved right now, okay? It’s Christmas. Go shop, go out with your work friends, decorate the damn Christmas tree. Come Christmas day, I’ll be sitting around the table with you as usual.”

  “And will Carrie be joining us?” She stared, her eyes wide with feigned innocence.

  “No.”

  They locked gazes. Scott glared until Bianca put down her coffee cup with a clatter of china. “Fine.”

  “Are we done here?”

  She recrossed her arms. “Not by a long shot, but I’ll let it go for now.”

  “Good.”

  Pressure bore down on Scott’s chest as he glowered at his sister. He wanted to get the hell out of there and get to the doctor’s office. The sooner he found out if a DNA test was possible before Christmas, the sooner his mind—and heart—would know for sure whether or not he was a daddy.

  “I’ve got somewhere I need to be. If there’s nothing else—”

  “I think Mum’s heard from Dad.”

  He froze, every nerve ending screeching to high alert. “What?”

  Her cheeks flushed. “She’s more agitated than normal. I think something’s going on. I might be way off the mark, but I’ve got a funny feeling he’s contacted her. If he has, we have to do something.” The previous curiosity and scheming vanished from Bianca’s eyes, leaving behind the younger-sister “help me” look Scott knew so well.

  He tightened his jaw. “Why would you think that?”

  “I don’t know. Call it instinct. Haven’t you noticed the change in her recently? She’s...almost chirpy.”

  “Mum doesn’t do chirpy.”

  Bianca lifted her eyebrow. “No? Then what about the new lipstick she’s wearing and...” She shook her head. “She bought jeans, Scottie. Jeans.”

  Scott frowned. Had she?

  Bianca sniffed. “Well, that’s just typical for a man not to notice a change in what a woman is wearing.”

  Scott bit back a smile. He always noticed what Carrie wore. Always. “You’re jumping to conclusions. What possible reason could he have to contact her now? It’s been ten years.”

  “As far as we know.”

  Tension knotted his shoulders. “Meaning?”

  “How do we really know anything about him? For all any of us knows, he could contact Mum whenever he wants something.” She locked her gaze on his, her cheeks flushed. “You’re not at home much to keep an eye on her, are you? You’re either at the garage, with the boys or off chasing a skirt most of the time.”

  Anger simmered and he glared. “If you really think that, why are you here?”

  Her shoulders slumped and she closed her eyes. “Sorry.”

  Inwardly cursing, Scott sighed and touched her hand. “What’s happened to make you worried enough to tell me about this now? It has to be more than the lipstick and new jeans.”

  Bianca opened her eyes. “It’s something Mum said on the phone earlier.”

  Unease rippled through Scott’s blood as he waited.

  “She asked me if I think you’re getting itchy feet like Dad. Then she asked me why men think they can come and go as they please. Ruin people’s lives and laugh as they do it.”

  Scott shrugged. “She always talks like that.”

  “This was different. Something’s not right. Why would she ask that?” Her gaze bored into his. “Are you leaving? Is it because of this Carrie woman turning up?”

  Scott blew out a breath as the familiar feeling of suffocation flowed through him. “I’m not going anywhere, so leave Carrie out of it.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  He glared. “Yes, I’m sure. How could I leave even if I wanted to?”

  “Why are you snapping at me?”

  He gripped his coffee cup. “Because sometimes, it gets a little much that a man of my age and means can’t take a damn shower without his mother or sisters wondering why. Even if I wanted to leave, I wouldn’t. Until I know Mum’s happy and looked after, I’ve no choice but to stick around.”

  She narrowed her eyes and the silence stretched as Scott’s habitual guilt of splintering under his obligations sucked the air from his lungs. He squeezed his eyes shut and Carrie’s face appeared behind his closed lids. “You’ve got nothing to worry about, okay?”

  Bianca sighed. “So you’ll talk to Mum? Make sure everything’s okay?”

  He opened his eyes. “Yes.”

  “Promise?”

  “Yes, Bianca, I promise. Leave it with me.” What the hell’s going on here? First I find out I might have a child, and now Dad could be sniffing around again after a ten-year absence? “I’ll talk to her.” He slid out of the booth, tossing a ten-pound note on the table. “See you later.”

  “But—”

  Leaving Bianca calling after him, Scott strode from the bakery and along the High Street. His mind buzzed with the possibility of his father coming back into their lives at any given moment. A possibility he hadn’t considered for years, since he put that painful and pointless want in a box in the very dark, dangerous shadow of his psyche.

  Over my dead body will the man turn up and spew over the successes I’ve made for myself or destroy the happiness I’ve ensured for Mum.

  Scott marched toward the garage. He needed to get on his bike and get something concrete done with at least one aspect of his life that was under his control, and then he’d speak to his mum. He broke into a jog and made his way back toward the Christie Hotel, where he’d left his bike what felt like eons ago.

  * * *

  SCOTT SOON REALIZED trying to make his way to the reception desk at the doctor’s office on the twenty-first of December was as bad as facing the prospect of shopping for his female-heavy family. After a twenty-minute wait, he was finally next in line and immediately swapped his scowl for his very best smile when the attractive middle-aged receptionist faced him.

  “Good...” He glanced at his watch. “Afternoon, Julie.”

  Her face broke with a wide smile. “Hi, Scott. How’s your mum?”

  Pushing Bianca’s suspicions about their father returning out of his mind, Scott raised his eyebrows. “Well, she has a baking list about a mile long in preparation for Christmas, so she’s in her element. How’s Connor?”

 
“Just great. Wanting Mark and me to buy him a car for Christmas...” She sniffed. “I swear the kid will never stop believing money grows on trees in our backyard.” She rolled her eyes. “Are you looking for an appointment? Unless it’s an emergency, you’ll have to wait until the New Year.”

  “Um...I was hoping for a quick word with Kevin.” He glanced behind him. “I assume he’s back to back today, tomorrow and the next day?”

  She nodded. “Yes, yes and yes.”

  “Could you maybe ask him to call me? It’s medical...and it’s a kind of an emergency.”

  She lifted an eyebrow, her dark eyes glinting kindly. “The kind of emergency that doesn’t need to take place in a doctor’s office, I assume?”

  “Something like that.”

  “You boys. You, Nick and Kevin will never change. Thick as thieves.” She picked up a pen. “What’s the message?”

  “Tell him I’ll be at his place about seven tonight. If there’s a problem, he can call me.”

  She scribbled down a note and dotted the paper with a firm pop of her pen. “Consider it done.”

  Scott grinned. “Thanks, Julie. You’re a star.”

  “That’s what they all say.”

  He was about to turn away when his friend and doctor, Kevin Blake, strode into the reception area. “Julie, could you possibly call Mrs. Warren and ask if she can come in to discuss these blood test results sooner rather than later?”

  Scott waited for his flushed-faced, spiky-haired friend to notice him.

  Julie scribbled a note. “Sure. You have someone here to see you.”

  Kevin frowned. “I have lots of people here to see me.”

  Julie tilted her head in Scott’s direction. Kevin looked up and his frown was replaced with a surprised smile. “Hey, what are you doing here?” Concern immediately furrowed his brow. “Something wrong?”

  Scott glanced around for a second time, all too aware of listening ears and watching eyes. “Sort of.”

  Kevin lifted his eyebrow. “Sort of? As in this is something Nick can’t help with?”