Christmas With the Kings, Kings of Montana Bonus Book

by Vanessa Bartal

  Chapter 10

  Three of the King women were able to make it to supper that night. Ivy remained confined to her bed, but she sent Coy in her stead, telling him to remember what everyone said and did so he could fill her in. PJ secretly thought she sent Coy to spy on her, Ethan, and Grant who had now been added to the mix of intrigue if this afternoon’s performance was any indication.

  He had stuck to her like glue, dogging her steps and staring hard at her while she worked. The effect had been to make PJ feel like a circus freak instead of the object of his affection, however. He seemed fascinated with the fact that she was both a woman and a farrier. He was handsome; all of Ivy’s brothers were, but he looked like a southern version of a Montana cowboy—big and rough. She was uncomfortable with his close attention until they began talking about horses. Like Ivy, he was knowledgeable and passionate on the subject. Finding common ground put her at ease and made Grant seem more approachable. Until then he had seemed so big and boisterous that he was intimidating. After they talked for a few hours, she realized he was just like all the other guys she knew, except more so. He was larger, louder, hairier, and southern. Otherwise, he was interchangeable with any Montana cowboy.

  Now, by some cruel twist of fate, PJ found herself seated at the large table between Ethan and Grant. She wondered what Ethan had been up to all afternoon. Had Cam warned him away from her? And, if so, had he listened? Then he handed her the bread basket and intentionally brushed her knuckles with his finger. PJ blushed like a schoolgirl and had to remind herself once again that she was a grown adult and fully capable of handling such things. To be sure no one had noticed the silent exchange, she let her gaze travel around the table.

  Layla was the healthiest-looking sister. She seemed almost normal as she fed the twins and laughed and chatted with her family. Sam still looked a little green around the gills. Josh darted her worried glances and twice leaned in to whisper something in her ear.

  Belle was by far the sickest of the bunch. It was a wonder not only that she was able to sit up, but that Cam had allowed her out of bed. Then PJ noticed how tired he looked, and she wondered if Belle had simply worn him down with her requests to escape their room.

  “Did you work with the horses all day, PJ?” Ethan asked.

  He asked it loudly enough that everyone heard, so all eyes turned curiously to her. “I did,” she said. “Grant helped.”

  Grant beamed. “I helped,” he repeated dutifully. PJ was tempted to give him a lollipop for his efforts. He wasn’t stupid, by any means. In fact, he had a degree in engineering from a prestigious university, but he also possessed a very boyish nature that could alternately be charming or grating, depending on her mood.

  “What did you do?” she asked Ethan.

  “Belle and I finished up some work,” he said with a secret smile.

  Belle laughed weakly. “In my defense, I was very passionate when I had you make that list yesterday.”

  “You were adamant that I do it to your exact specifications,” Ethan said. Since the rest of the table was listening, he filled them in. “Belle had me make a list of things I needed to do yesterday. Unfortunately, she was hallucinating with fever at the time. I wrote down exactly what she said as proof that she actually said it.”

  “What was on the list?” Coy asked.

  “One of the directives was to asher the asheroff,” Belle said.

  “What does that mean?” Cade asked.

  “Your guess is as good as mine, but I was certain it needed to be done as soon as possible.”

  Everyone laughed as Ethan rattled off a few more of the nonsensical things Belle had told him to do. When he finished his story, a pleasant sort of silence fell over the room. PJ noticed Sam and Josh stealing glances until at last Josh cleared his throat to gain everyone’s attention.

  “Sam and I have some news.” He reached out to clasp her hand while Sam studied her dinner plate. “You may have noticed that Sam’s virus has lasted a long time. The truth is that we’re going to have a baby this summer.” There was a second of stunned surprise and then the laughter and congratulations started.

  PJ was as ecstatic as the actual members of the family. As the newest addition to the Kings, Sam was also the quietest, preferring to work on the range with Josh. Even though she seemed very sweet, PJ hadn’t gotten to know her very well. She hoped that with the addition of children, all of that would change. Sam would have to stay home a little more, and now there would be more babies to love and cuddle.

  I have baby fever and I’m only twenty one, PJ thought. How much louder would her biological clock get as the years progressed? She used the bedlam as an opportunity to study Ethan. Did he want kids? She shook her head, trying to dislodge the thought. They were supposed to be taking it slow to see what happened. She had already sent him packing with talk of marriage. How much more frightened would he be if she dared to mention children?

  PJ would have been surprised to learn that Ethan was also thinking about children. The stubborn vision of PJ with Lexi and Levi had taken root in his brain and refused to leave. And now another King was going to have a baby. At twenty two, Josh and Sam were the youngest couple present. Ethan nosily wondered if the pregnancy had been planned or a surprise. They were so young, but they had also been married two years and they had a stable home, family, income and relationship. Wasn’t that what everyone said was needed before a baby should be brought into the world? Whereas Ethan had none of those things. He was as close to having a wife and family as he was to the man on the moon.

  When all the hubbub surrounding Josh and Sam’s announcement died down, there was the sound of someone weeping. To everyone’s astonishment, it was Belle. She wasn’t known for her displays of emotion. No one but Cam had ever even seen her cry before, and now she was practically sobbing.

  “Belle, honey, what is it?” Cam said, laying a gentle hand on her back.

  “I’m just so happy for them,” she said when she could speak.

  Cam and Ethan shot each other looks of dismay. Belle wasn’t anyone’s idea of a kid person. She had been blasé about the twins and neutral on the subject of Ivy’s pregnancy. Why was she so overjoyed for Josh and Sam?

  “Come on, sweetheart, let’s get you to bed,” Cam said, half lifting and half dragging her down the hallway to their suite.

  “That was odd,” Cade said into the ensuing silence.

  “Maybe it’s the fever,” Coy suggested. “Sometimes fevers make Ivy cry.”

  “Sometimes I cry when I get sick,” Sam admitted.

  “I just cried the other day when I didn’t feel well,” Layla added.

  Everyone looked to PJ for her input. “I cried when I broke my leg,” she said.

  Ethan smiled and Grant guffawed. “Thatta girl,” he said, slapping her hard on the back. “I like my women tough.”

  Ethan’s smile quickly changed to a frown that lingered until Grant removed his hand. The mention of sick women reminded him that he needed to go check on Chrissy. While PJ and Layla tidied the kitchen, he loaded a tray with leftover soup, water, and juice and carried it to her room.

  There was no answer to his knock so he gently opened the door and poked his head around. Chrissy was still asleep. Her soft snores that let him know she was still alive. How could anyone possibly sleep so much without food or drink all day? He set the tray beside her bed and crept quietly out of the room.

  When he returned to the kitchen, only Layla and Cade remained. They sat drinking coffee, trying to capture a moment of peace while their twins wreaked havoc on the cupboard that housed the pans.

  “Any idea where PJ went?” he asked.

  “She and Grant went outside. He said he had something he wanted to show her.”

  I’ll just bet he does, Ethan thought. He smiled at the couple and made his way outside. Predictably, he located Grant and PJ at the horse barn. Although he had expected Grant to be putting the moves on her, he actually did seem to be showing her something on one of
the horse’s hooves.

  “You might be right,” PJ said, though she sounded dubious. “We’ll have to check with the vet and let him be the tiebreaker.”

  “Sure thing, sugar,” Grant said. He dropped the horse’s hoof and turned to PJ with a smirk. “What do I get when I win?”

  Ethan cleared his throat and PJ jumped. “Hey, Ethan,” she said timidly, spinning toward him to include him in their circle. “I should put this stuff away.” She gathered up a handful of tools and headed toward a storage locker in the back of the barn. Ethan and Grant remained, watching her walk away.

  “That is one fine farrier,” Grant commented. He tore his eyes from PJ and looked at Ethan, his smile slipping slightly as he took in Ethan’s thunderous expression. “But I suppose she’s not your type. Your girlfriend is holed up in her room, right?”

  The reminder of Chrissy took Ethan back. “Uh, yes. She’s pretty sick.”

  Grant nodded. “I bet she’s pretty.”

  “She’s pretty,” Ethan agreed, but he was looking at PJ as she walked toward them. Her eyes caught his and held. “I thought maybe we could catch a movie.”

  “That sounds awesome!” Grant enthused. “Let’s go.” He tromped toward the house, not waiting to see if he was being followed. Ethan thought about ditching him, but no doubt he would find them wherever they went.

  “Awesome,” Ethan muttered. Beside him, PJ laughed quietly. Somehow, she was even lovelier when she smiled. The corners of her onyx eyes crinkled above her high cheek bones. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought he saw the flash of a dimple.

  They had the den to themselves, but it didn’t matter because Grant plopped down in the middle of the couch, forcing PJ and Ethan to squeeze beside him in the remaining space. This isn’t the sort of cuddling I had in mind, Ethan thought as he hugged the arm of the couch to avoid rubbing elbows with Grant. How did any one person grow so large? What did they feed him? He wasn’t fat, but he was tall with broad shoulders and big bones. Plus his loud, large personality made him seem much bigger and more imposing. Ethan told him to choose the movie, figuring he would have an opinion anyway, and was surprised when he picked a children’s movie with talking animals.

  For the first half hour, they watched the movie in silence, except for Grant’s occasional chuckles. “I’m a sucker for kid movies,” he explained, sounding almost self-conscious for once.

  About halfway through, the door to the den burst open, and Coy poked inside. “Grant, Ivy wants you.”

  “Now?” Grant said, casting a longing look toward the unfinished movie.

  “Now,” Coy repeated. His disheveled, harried appearance caused PJ to wonder if Ivy had sent him with the sole purpose of retrieving Grant so she and Ethan could have some alone time together.

  Ethan remained on his end of the couch after Grant left. For the first time in a long time, he was unsure of what to do. PJ was a novice. He didn’t want to scare her by moving too far, too fast, but he couldn’t sit there and do nothing. Suddenly the cushion between them felt like a gulf and his mouth ran dry at the thought of trying to cross it. Everything was a first for her, that meant it had to be perfect, and that was a lot of pressure on a man. Finally he realized that inertia was worse than anything else, and he slowly began to shift toward her on the couch.

  She took the hint and began to inch toward him. He felt like a teenager again as they slowly and subtly began to make their way toward each other on the sofa until at last they were sitting side by side. There was something fun and refreshing about their innocent interchange, he thought, as he reached over and took her hand, twining his fingers through hers. Was this the first time she had ever held hands with a man? Being someone’s first anything was a heady experience.

  For the remainder of the movie, they sat quietly holding hands. Ethan tried to remember the last time he had enjoyed just sitting and holding hands, but his mind was a blank. He felt wholesome and nostalgic, as if he were back in Ohio in his parents’ basement, trying to coax a girl to kiss him for the very first time. The family-friendly movie they were watching only enhanced the feeling.

  The movie ended and Ethan realized the time had come—he was going to kiss her. All of a sudden he felt unaccountably nervous. He had to remind himself that he had kissed countless girls and knew exactly what to do. With that bracing thought in mind, he let go of PJ’s hand, turned toward her, and cupped her face in his hands. She wore the same sweet expression as the first girl he had kissed when he was thirteen, a mix of nervousness and anticipation. He smiled briefly before bestowing a tender and lingering kiss.

  PJ was no slouch. She caught on quickly and returned his kiss. Although the exchange remained chaste and innocent, Ethan chalked it up as his best kiss ever. He didn’t want to let her go and say goodnight, but he did. He walked to his room feeling buoyant. For once, things were perfect. What could possibly go wrong?