Cups clinked in saucers as she took them out of a box decorated with roses. She set them on the flat-topped trunk next to the wine bottle. “Some little girl really needs to play with this.”
“This had to belong to Peter LeBarron's mother. She's the only woman who lived in this house. Peter doesn't have any brothers or sisters.” Kincaid backed away from the tea set and the way it spread wistfulness again on her face.
Gloria winked up at him. “Afraid you'll trip and break it?”
“Yes.” It was the truth.
“I wonder why something this beautiful is packed away? It should be on display, at least, to help remember Peter's mother. Maybe the new LeBarron baby girl will get it?”
“I doubt it. Boze told me Peter's mother drowned when Peter was a teenager. He and his dad took it mighty hard. They blamed each other. It was messy.”
“How sad.” Gloria re-packed the tea set. “If we ever had children, I'd buy a plastic set. You wouldn't break that.”
She'd said it all in her usual, off-handed way, but odd images flew through his mind. He saw himself sitting at a tiny table with a little girl like Shandra Leigh Montreaux sipping lemonade out of pink, plastic cups. He saw a little girl like her pushing a baby brother in a buggy back on the Montana ranch, with horses licking his head. He saw Glo settling them all around a perfect dinner table after a long day. And that'd be the end of his partying life.
In a panic, he dug down in the box where Gloria had found the tea set. They pulled out board games, including a handmade Chinese checkers board, then hit pay dirt.
“Train cars and an engine!” he crowed. “Look, a logging car.”
“A coal car.” She held it up.
“Two passenger cars and a caboose.”
They both laughed like fools finding gold nuggets in a stream out West.
Gloria said, “We can gather acorns to fill the coal car and pine cones for the logging car. We can go together tomorrow out to Peter and Crystal's farm. The woods are beautiful out there.”
“There's too much snow.”
“We'll wear snowshoes. We'll take shovels. Besides, I need to find more wild grapevines to make more wreaths for the Dazzling Woman magazine layout. In talking with you about my mother I realized just now that I should make this Christmas magazine layout honor my mother. We need more and bigger everything.”
A queasiness hit him. “You already have six trees to decorate. And the gingerbread town is magical enough, especially now with the train.”
Her eyes brightened, though, enchanted by a new thought. “I've been told there's an old sleigh in the barn. It was damaged by the fire last spring, but what if we surprised John and Dolly with it for their wedding?”
“What if it's beyond repair?”
“We don't know that so we can't even think that way. It's Christmas. It'll be an adventure and our little secret. Won't it be magical if the sleigh can take them for a ride around the town square?”
Her brown eyes sparkled with more light than a Vegas casino. He suspected the sleigh would be a charred mess, but he could at least go look at it. “Sure, I'll go.”
Gloria's arms lassoed his shoulders in a crushing embrace. But this time her hands slipped up to his neck. She pulled him to her for a kiss planted square on his lips, with her sweet-tasting tongue demanding he open up.
“Gloria?!”
To his shock, Gloria deepened the kiss as she grabbed his hands and planted them on her own derriere. He had no choice but to enjoy the experience. She was luscious and squeezable in a way he'd never before experienced with a woman. He wanted her...
He took his paws off her butt, then put space between them. “Gloria,” he panted, “what got into you?”
“I was kissing you to say thank you.”
“That's how you kiss every man you thank?”
“No, but you're from Vegas so I thought I should strut my stuff.”
Grabbing the wine bottle, he chugged directly from it. If she kissed like that, what would she be like in bed? He'd never know because he couldn't possibly want Gloria Gibson. He drank the last drop of wine. “Glo, you're a hell of a woman, and mighty confusing.”
After picking up boxes of the Lionel train set, Gloria headed to the attic door. “Nobody's ever called me Glo.”
“Sorry. It slipped out.” He was boiling under his skin. He knew he must be red in the face.
She winked. “I like it. Now hurry, Kade. Let's try to set this up before we go to bed.”
We? Blood racing inside his head clouded his brain. “Sure, Glo.”
It took him a moment before he could walk. When the fog cleared and the ache in his loins had subsided, he picked up the remaining train set boxes and muttered to himself, “Way to show her who's in charge, Kade.”
~—~—~—~ ~
[Back to Table of Contents]
* * *
Chapter 5
On Saturday morning Kade woke up mighty late even for him, around ten a.m. Finding nobody around on the second floor of the North Pole, he went downstairs and sure enough The Jingle Bell Inn was hopping with locals. A cheery Gloria Gibson, dressed in green under her white pinafore apron, was hard at work along with Dolly and Crystal leading first-graders in the decorating of more of the Moonstone village. Peter was setting up more railroad track around the town's square, expanding on what little Kincaid and Gloria had done last night.
Kincaid noticed little Shandra Leigh Montreaux among the children this time. That warmed his heart for some reason.
Philippe and Boze waved at him from a table in the middle of the crowded dining room. Harris Healy, the college student from the grocery store was there, too, as well as Nico Farina, the visiting brother-in-law of the couple who ran the store.
Boze poured Kincaid coffee from a white, plastic carafe, then winked. “Hard work up in that attic last night, Kade?”
Kincaid growled back, slurping at his coffee. “I found the train set. That's all that happened.”
Nico pointed his fork filled with omelet at Kade. “You celebrated the beauty of a woman, and now her soft curves linger in your hands this morning.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your shirt is buttoned crooked,” the young Italian stud said. “You were thinking about her yet this morning and lost your focus.”
Kincaid fumbled with the pearl snaps on his black western shirt while the men chuckled again.
Harris asked, “So what'd you celebrate by hookin’ up with Miss Sugar-n-Spice?”
The college grad was as irritating as the other men. Kade said, “There was no celebration in the attic. I didn't sleep well last night. That's all.” Which was the truth. He kept waking up thinking about Gloria, wondering why the heck she'd kissed him at all, and why he'd called her “Glo.” The more he'd thought about it, the more suspicious he'd become of her. What did she want from him? Why had she gotten him jawing about his sisters?
“Mon ami,” Philippe said, snorting, “you act disturbed that you made out with the wedding planner. Let the good times roll.”
Nico said, “A roll in the hay—another American expression.”
“I'm a man of honor,” Kade said. “I played it safe.”
Harris scoffed. “The only way to play it safe with a woman is to lust after a married one, somebody you can't have.”
Boze smacked Harris's shoulder playfully. “Don't tell me you've got your eye on my fiancée.”
Now here's an opening for me. Kincaid picked up his coffee cup. “Maybe Dolly's got her eye on the handsome college boy here. Ever think of that, Boze?” He sipped his coffee while the guys chuckled and nodded.
Boze said, “Harris, you touch my woman and I'll take off my leg and hit you with it.”
More guffaws erupted.
But the fun wasn't going in the direction Kade wanted, so he said, “You ever afraid Dolly's ex will come lookin’ for her again?”
“'Course not. Why would he do that?”
Harris said, “She
's a looker. I wouldn't let go of that.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Kade said. “And a gal like her, isn't she used to a lot of nice things? How's she gonna stay happy with the likes of you?”
Kade meant it as a joke, but Boze's cup clanked in its saucer too hard. The others around the table exchanged nervous glances.
“Mon ami,” Philippe addressed Kade, “I'm sure you didn't mean that the way it sounded.”
“Of course not.” But I have to tell Boze he's not ready for marriage. He's in over his head, still thinking about that other woman. “I'm just thinking she's used to living in Chicago, a big mansion, maybe doesn't know what she wants from life and is exploring things a bit. You're a good-looking man, Boze. You've charmed her.”
Boze dug into an egg on his plate, then put his fork down. “I know what I am, pal. I'm poor as a rancher can get. Half my family's ranch was sold to a Hollywood couple but I'm working to keep the rest of the land in the family name. I limp and I hurt, but it doesn't matter when I'm on the back of a horse. And I've got two arms to give Dolly a hug now and then. I hope it's enough for her.”
“You're marrying her based on hope? Hope and a hug?”
Philippe said, “I'd be a rich man if I had a wife to hug me.”
Kincaid took a deep breath. He could see he'd pushed as far as he could in front of Boze's friends. “I'm sorry. Boze, I don't know what's wrong with me speaking like that.”
Harris said, “It's Gloria Gibson.”
“No, Miss Gibson did not make me talk stupid.”
“No,” Harris insisted, “it's her. She's standing behind you.”
Kincaid went hot. “Morning, Gloria.”
Harris laughed. “Morning Glory. I like that. Morning, Morning Glory!”
Good grief.
“Harris, I could kiss you,” Gloria said.
Kincaid said, “Not until you're married. Harris only kisses married women.”
“Huh?”
“It's a bad joke,” Kincaid said. “Is there something we can do for you, Gloria?”
“Why, yes.” She planted hands on his shoulders from behind. The men around the table noticed the intimacy. “There's snow in the forecast, so I think we should go out in the woods before lunch.”
The men barely squelched their smirks.
Kincaid wanted to melt under the table. “I owe Boze that snowmobile adventure.”
“But you promised last night to help me find mistletoe.”
Kincaid's face flamed at her lie. She'd said that to embarrass him. “It wasn't mistletoe. It was wild grapevines, acorns, and pine cones.” He was sounding pathetic again.
Philippe pushed his chair back. “I must make my deliveries, but I'll be back through here around four on my way to Superior. Catch you guys then.”
Gloria said to him, “Crystal said it's all right for Shandra to stay. They'll be taking a break to go sledding, then we'll finish the village later after Peter finishes installing the train set.”
“Very good, cheri. Later, mon amis,” Philippe said, taking his leave.
Harris looked at Nico. “Looks like it's up to us to take the groom-to-be skiing.”
Kincaid said, “Hey, I'll join ya.”
Boze got up from his chair, looking weary. “No, you go with Gloria and get your mistletoe.”
The dismissal told Kincaid that Boze was smarting from the exchange the men had had. But Kincaid knew that Dolly O'Toole would be dragging Boze into a huge financial and legal mess. The more Kade thought about what Jason had found out, the more certain he was that Boze could end up in prison with Dolly. Somehow, someway, Kincaid had to get Boze alone this weekend and tell him the truth about Dolly.
After everybody else left, Gloria said, “I bought paint at the hardware store early this morning and guess what else?”
He couldn't believe she was this perky in the morning. “What else?”
“Cushions for a porch glider.” His brain felt as if she'd twisted it like a dish rag. She went on, “I'm guessing the sleigh's seat was destroyed in the fire. Foam melts. But we'll make a new seat from the glider cushion and we'll cover it with red velveteen curtains I saw last night in the attic. Crystal said to go ahead and use them.”
“You want me to help you make a cushion? Instead of going skiing with my best friend?”
She grabbed one of his hands while flashing her bright smile accented with the wiggling eyebrows. “This was your idea.”
Was this another one of her lies? He couldn't recall what he'd said in the attic. Her kiss had erased his brain as if it were an Etch-a-Sketch. But he wasn't getting tricked into sewing a cushion together.
Gloria leaned in close, her breasts grazing the hairs on his arms, tickling. “Don't you want to see what it is about the farm that made Boze fall instantly in love with Dolly? Aren't you intrigued?”
“Sure, Glo.” In fact, that did intrigue him.
* * * *
This was the first time that Gloria or Kade had visited the farm. John Hall and neighbors had weather-proofed the barn's loft, turning half of it into a one-room apartment and the other half into a heated chicken coop. It was where John and Dolly had fallen in love, and where little Finn fell in love with silkie chickens of all different colors, including the odd lavender hue. The boy was raising his own flock out on the Montana ranch.
After they looked in on the chickens, snow began to fall. They trudged back down to the turnaround area near the lower barn door. Snowflakes glistened as they landed on Gloria's shiny, straight brown hair that hung down the back of her red, wool coat. She wore matching red earmuffs, black boots and mittens. A blinking Rudolph pin graced the coat's lapel.
Both of them gazed at the spot where Crystal's cabin had burned to the ground. Crystal and Peter had barely escaped with their lives last spring. On top of it, Kade had heard that she'd had a miscarriage afterward.
A new log house was being built from Canadian tree trunks that looked to be thirty-inches across. The log walls and green, steel roof had been set in place by Mennonites who specialized in such construction. A verandah with railings lapped three sides of the house.
Gloria said, “That porch will be perfect for watching sunsets from a rocker.”
Kincaid warded off a shiver. “Peter and Boze might be ready for rockers, but not me.”
“The place looks big enough for a dozen bedrooms,” Gloria said, obviously ignoring him. “Think of all the decorating options, each room representing a different state or animal habitat or something.”
He hiked an eyebrow her way, but she ignored him and went on. “But I wonder what Crystal and Peter want with all that space? Crystal told me they're trying to have kids but she's in her forties already. They don't have time for a big brood.”
Kincaid brushed at the snowflakes swirling about his face. “Peter's in a building mood around Moonstone, I hear. He's also adding on a bunch of bedrooms for Boze out in Montana.”
“But that's different. Dolly's young and she can't wait to have a bunch of kids.”
“I don't think so.”
Gloria went to the car to get the paint, the bag holding the velveteen, and her sewing kit. “You really don't think she can be happy out on the ranch, do you?”
He retrieved the glider cushion from the trunk. “You're more his type.”
“Me?” She laughed out loud, then headed along the snowy path to the barn. He hurried to catch up.
While he turned the heavy, steel door handle, Gloria asked, “Why would I make a match for a rancher?”
“Not just any rancher. John Hall needs somebody who can take care of him. He's aging faster than anybody that I can see.”
“So you think I'm good enough to be his nurse? That's how you view me?”
“I didn't mean it that way. But you have all these talents, like cooking and decorating, and you seem to know how to take charge of things. John needs a woman who's smart and has things under control.”
Batting her eyelashes playfully, she said, “I do
declare, Mr. Kade Hunter, you just paid me a compliment. I bet it hurt like heck to say that, didn't it?”
“Yeah, a little.” Her boldness tickled him.
“I'll let you be boss now. I don't know much about barns. Please lead the way.”
“Anything you say, Glo.”
After they'd marched inside, she wrinkled her nose. “I forgot to bring the air freshener.”
“A whiff of animal manure makes me feel at home.”
“Now I know what to get you for Christmas.” She set her packages down on a straw bale. “Where do you suppose that sleigh is?”
He looked about. “Probably the last stall that looks empty at the other end. Come on.”
“I'm not walking through there.” She indicated the narrow alley between the stalls.
“Why not?”
“There are animals in those pens. They'll do stuff.”
He laughed. “Like what?”
“You said yourself last night that horses lick your head.”
Kincaid put an arm around her shoulders. “Nobody's going to lick your head. There are no horses here and you're too tall. They might lick your cute butt, though.”
“In that case, I'm keeping my coat on.”
“The place is heated. Might get a little hot while we work.”
After shucking his ski jacket and laying it on a work bench, Kincaid guided Gloria in her coat past pens with two goats, an alpaca, and a donkey. Finally near the far end of the barn they came upon a bigger pen with a reindeer.
“Ah,” he said, sweeping off his Stetson, “Rudolph, meet Mrs. Claus.”
“Since when am I called Mrs. Claus?”
Open mouth, insert foot. “That's what you, uh, sort of, look like.”
“People call me Mrs. Claus behind my back?”
“It's a good thing.” He relished having the upper hand with Gloria for once. “Glo, meet Rudolph. He likes Mrs. Claus, of course. Probably looking for some of your gingerbread. He might even be your Number One suspect.”
“Nice joke.”
“Any more of it been stolen?”
“Not since last night but I think that's because too many people have been around.”
Men Of Moonstone Series Page 9