High Country Christmas

by Joanna Sims

  Tyler tipped his cowboy hat up with one finger, draped his arms over the fence and looked down at her. “How are you feeling today?”

  His concern was genuine, and that brought her an odd feeling of security. This time, this pregnancy, maybe she wouldn’t feel so alone.

  “Really sick,” London admitted. “I threw up again this morning. I’ve been nauseous all day...”

  “It’s a good thing you decided to stay,” Tyler responded.

  He was right. It was the best decision. But it was still hard to see her plans derailed. She didn’t have the first clue how she was going to break the news to her family. Now that she had decided to make the trip back to Virginia to break the news to everyone in person, she’d spent the day thinking about how to break it gently. What could she possibly say to J.T. to make this right for him? He was counting down on a calendar to the date she was supposed to return home for good. She’d already pushed the date back once.

  “The right decision isn’t always the easy decision.”

  “No...” Tyler agreed. “It’s not.”

  After a couple of silent minutes between them, London said. “I’m going to start checking on flights to Virginia. I need to see my son.”

  Tyler studied London’s profile carefully; the thought of her leaving the ranch made his chest feel tight.

  Finally, he asked, “Do you need something? Money?”

  London shook her head. “No... I’ve got it covered.”

  Tyler looked off in the distance and didn’t ask the question he was afraid to ask.

  Are you planning on coming back?

  Instead, he asked a safer question. “Are you still up for that walk?”

  London, still watching the frolicking colt in the paddock, nodded her head.

  They agreed to meet on his front porch in thirty minutes. Tyler wanted to change his clothes, and London wanted to spend a little more time with Rising Sun. London knew that she was avoiding the farmhouse—suddenly, after months of loving to spend time with Barbara, she now felt uncomfortable around Tyler’s mom. She used the restroom in the main barn and then headed to Tyler’s cabin. When she sat down on the top step of Tyler’s front porch, it was the first time she noticed how tight her jeans were now. With her first pregnancy, she hadn’t shown for a long time. Because of her height, she carried extra weight without showing it. But instead of her normally flat stomach, there was a tiny bump filling up the space behind the zipper.

  London put her hand on her stomach. She hadn’t really come to terms with the fact that she was pregnant. She would love this baby, just as she loved J.T. But did she want to be pregnant right now? No. It was the wrong time, the wrong place, and she couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t with the wrong man.

  Tyler opened the front door. His hair was wet and slicked back from his freshly shaven face.

  “I’ve been looking forward to this all day.” Tyler held out his hand to her to help her up.

  London stood up and caught a whiff of a new smell. Her body responded quickly and violently. She covered her mouth and bolted up the steps into Tyler’s house, ran to the first available bathroom and slammed the door behind her.

  He waited just outside the bathroom door. After a couple of minutes, he asked, “Are you okay?”

  “Oh, God...” London said. “Something...you’re wearing...the smell of it made me sick.”

  “The only thing I’m wearing is aftershave,” he told her through the door.

  “That’s probably it,” London confirmed. “Do you have any mouthwash?”

  “I’ll get it.”

  Tyler went to his bathroom, scrubbed his face and neck to get rid of the aftershave, before dumping a brand-new bottle of his favorite aftershave in the trash. He grabbed the mouthwash and delivered it to London.

  “Thank you.” London cracked the door just wide enough to take the bottle of mouthwash.

  He waited for her in the kitchen. When she emerged from the bathroom, holding the bottle of mouthwash in front of her body like a shield, her face was flushed with embarrassment.

  “Sorry,” she apologized. “That was awful.”

  “Here...” He handed her a glass of water. “Let’s see if you can hold this down.”

  She took a small sip of water while he watched her closely. Her chronic bouts of sickness worried him.

  “I got rid of the aftershave,” Tyler told her. “So I shouldn’t make you sick now.”

  London winced and felt the need to apologize again. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be.” Tyler put her empty glass in the sink. “I just want you to know that I’m going to do whatever it takes to make things easier for you. Are you still up for a walk?”

  London nodded. “I think that fresh air and a little exercise would do me some good.”

  They walked slowly along the one of the main roads that connected the four quadrants of Bent Tree Ranch. The sudden wave of sickness passed as if it had never happened, and the late-afternoon air and soft sunlight warming her face made her feel better than she had all day. They veered off the main road to hike up the large hill that overlooked the farmhouse, Tyler’s cabin and the barns. At times, the hill was steep, and Tyler reached out to take her hand. It was natural to take his hand, to accept his help, in those moments. She had to admit that she enjoyed the feeling of having her hand in his.

  “Wow...” London was immediately struck by the beauty of the one-hundred-year-old chapel situated perfectly at the top of the hill.

  “That’s exactly how I feel every time I come up here.” Tyler removed his hat and wiped the sheen of sweat off his forehead before he put his Stetson back on.

  “Can we go inside?”

  “Sure.” Tyler smiled and headed toward the chapel.

  “Oh, my stars...” London admired the old curved door with the heavy metal handle and thick hinges. “It’s beautiful. I can’t believe that they managed to get it down the mountain in one piece.”

  “I sure as heck didn’t think it could be done. But they had it on a new foundation and the exterior fixed up good enough for Jordan to get some wedding pictures taken...” Tyler opened the door for her. “We’ve still got a ways to go on the inside.”

  When London stepped inside the chapel she felt as if she had stepped back in time. The inside was cozy and rustic, but there was elegance in the simplicity of the space.

  “Your great-grandfather built this, didn’t he?”

  Tyler sat down on one of the benches that had been handcrafted by his ancestor. “He was a full-time rancher and a part-time preacher.”

  London ran her hand across one of the stained-glass windows. The world outside looked wobbly and askew when viewed through the heavy leaded blue glass.

  “My mom would love these windows. She’s so sentimental. She saves absolutely everything. Drives my stepdad nuts. He believes that if you haven’t used something in the last six months, you should toss it. My mom’s memorabilia is my stepdad’s junk. Hard to believe they’ve managed to stay married for as long as they have.”

  Tyler watched London explore the chapel. He had a vision of her in a simple white gown, her long hair loose, her belly round with his child.

  “I want to marry you in this chapel,” he told her.

  Surprised, London spun around to look at him. She crossed her arms in front of her body protectively. “Why do you think you want to marry me, Tyler? You don’t even know me.”

  Tyler stood up and walked over to where she was standing.

  “I know you now.” He took off his hat and placed it on the rectangular preacher’s podium.

  He put his hands on her upper arms. “No matter how hard you try to hide from me, I can still see you.”

  Tyler wanted to stare at London. His eyes couldn’t seem to get enough of her. Every time
he saw her, from the first moment he had ever laid eyes on her, she had made his heart smile. That had never happened to him before. He had met beautiful women—but he’d never met a woman who touched him inside the way London touched him. Yes, she was striking with her thick ice-blond hair and her unusual height. But there was a beauty inside her, an untapped well of goodness, that he had recognized the minute he saw her. That’s why he had pursued her. That’s why, no matter how many times she rejected him, he had never given up on her. Was this what finding a soul mate felt like? He had to believe that it was.

  Staring into his eyes, it seemed to London that she could see directly into his soul. He was standing before her, unguarded, baring himself to her, and she could see the goodness in him. She could see beyond the dashing bachelor cowboy exterior to the true man he was inside.

  “Please, London...tell me that you feel it.” Tyler’s voice was low, beseeching.

  She knew what he was talking about. He was talking about the connection, the invisible electricity that pulled them together. Chemistry.

  “I feel it, Tyler.”

  Tyler stared into her eyes, searching. Finally, his fingers flexed around her arms and he pulled her closer to him.

  “Damn it, London... I knew there was something between us. Why have you fought me every step of the way?”

  “My son,” she said simply.

  “Why? I don’t mind that you have a son.”

  London took a step back and Tyler’s hands slid off her arms. “You don’t understand...it’s complicated.”

  Tyler dragged his fingers through his hair several times, frustrated. “I’m right here...help me understand.”

  London sat down on one of the roughly hewn benches with her hand out to support herself, eyes closed.

  “I think I need to go lie down,” she told him. “I feel dizzy.”

  His concern for her health, and the health of the baby, took priority. They would have to finish this conversation later. He took her to his cabin, which was closer than the main house, and helped her lie down on the couch. He got her a cool, damp washcloth to put on her forehead and then sat down in an adjacent chair.

  “I’m sorry.” London still had the washcloth on her forehead and her eyes closed. “Again.”

  “You don’t have to apologize to me,” he said. “I just want you and our baby to be healthy.”

  Her body always had an uncomfortable, visceral response whenever Tyler talked so easily about their baby. How could he be so sure of himself when she didn’t feel certain of anything? She should be on her way back to school, getting ready to finish her last semester, and then on to graduation and a job that had been lined up for a year. This pregnancy had derailed all of her plans and she felt angry about it.

  London sat up slowly, swung her legs down and held the tepid washcloth in her hands.

  “Why is all of this so easy for you?” she asked him pointedly. “You can’t tell me that you were gung-ho to get married and have a kid before this happened.”

  He took the washcloth from her and tossed it in the kitchen sink. He leaned back against the polished wood kitchen counter. “I accept what is. What else should I do? Fight it? What good would that do me? I live today today and let tomorrow take care of itself. You should try it.”

  London stood up, tugged her shirt down. “I’m going to go see if your mom needs some help with dinner.”

  Tyler caught her hand as she passed by. “If it’s complicated, we’ll work through it together. You belong on the ranch with me, London. You, me and our child. Together at Bent Tree. You have to know that.”

  He hadn’t mentioned J.T. Was it a simple oversight or a sign? London slipped her fingers free. “I’ll see you at dinner.”

  London loved Bent Tree Ranch. She loved the Brand family. To live on a ranch in Montana, surrounded by snowcapped mountains and a herd of purebred quarter horses? This was her idea of heaven. But J.T.... Would he be happy here? She couldn’t imagine it. She just couldn’t imagine it.

  * * *

  A week after she had moved into the Brand family home, dinnertime had become a comfortable routine. London and Barbara worked together in the kitchen while Hank tinkered in his study. Tyler always arranged to finish his work on the ranch so he could sit down at the dinner table with them. It wasn’t what she had planned, but it had become an acceptable alternative.

  “You’re starting to show,” Barbara noted as she turned over the chicken frying in the large black pan.

  London’s hands automatically went to her stomach. “I know. I could barely get these pants buttoned this morning.”

  “We’ll have to take you shopping,” Tyler’s mom said. “Have the mints been helping?”

  Barbara had bought her a bag of mints to help with the all-day sickness. London always had a handful of the red-and-white candies in her pocket.

  “So far, so good.”

  Barbara turned the heat down before she helped London finish setting the table. “I remember how sick I was with Tyler. I had such an easy time with my first set of twins—Tyler’s older brothers—that I wasn’t really prepared to have a hard pregnancy.

  “Then, with my second set of twins, the girls, I had another easy pregnancy. The only one who gave me a hard time was Tyler.” Barbara laughed. “I gained a ton of weight and I was as sick as a dog. But it was worth it... Look what I got.”

  After dinner, Tyler and London insisted on washing the dishes while Barbara and Hank went for a walk. While the dinner routine had become more comfortable, the tension between Tyler and his father was palpable. She knew that the pregnancy was at the heart of this tension. Hank was a ring, marriage, then baby kind of man, and his middle child had defied that Brand family principle.

  “I’m sorry things are still hard with your father.” London put the last dish in the dishwasher and turned it on.

  “He’ll come around,” Tyler assured her. “It’s just going to take some time.”

  London had her back to Tyler, drying off her hands with a hand towel at the kitchen sink, when she felt him slip his arms around her waist and the warmth of his body on her back.

  “I have a proposition for you,” he whispered in her ear.

  Her body went a little bonkers when Tyler was so close to her. Plain and simple, her body lusted for his body. She was in the stage of her pregnancy where she felt hungry, nauseous and horny all the time. She just wanted him to ravish her—no foreplay, no frills, just give it to her hard and nail her to the wall until this ache between her legs stopped.

  She hadn’t let herself go there with him. Sex had already complicated their lives enough. But how much frustration could one woman take? Tyler...sexy, strong, cowboy handsome Tyler was there for the taking. All she had to do was ask.

  London slipped out from beneath his arms. She needed to put a safe distance between her body and the object of her desire.

  “Which is?”

  “Skinny-dipping. You and me. It’s a full moon.” Tyler put his arms around her waist again, nuzzled her neck. “Meet me on the porch at midnight?”

  Oh, heck with it.

  “Okay...”

  They both knew where a midnight skinny-dip would lead. They both knew what she was ultimately saying yes to. Which was why there was a twinkle of anticipation in Tyler’s clear blue eyes when he left the kitchen. And she had to be honest with herself—she couldn’t wait for midnight.

  That night, she lay flat on her back on top of the covers, fully clothed, waiting, waiting, waiting for midnight to arrive. When she heard the grandfather clock in the hallway begin to chime, she quickly slipped out of bed, down the two flights of stairs and out to the porch. Tyler was already waiting for her.

  Laughing as quietly as she could manage, she took Tyler’s outstretched hand and they both started to run away from the house. S
he felt like a teenager again, sneaking out of her parents’ house to meet her first boyfriend. It was exhilarating.

  The giant full moon cast a soft gold light that lit their way to the small lake behind Tyler’s cabin. He had built the cabin on that plot of land specifically for the lake. He could walk out his back door, onto the short dock and jump in the lake to cool off during the summer. Once they reached the dock, they were both winded and laughing.

  “Why are we sneaking around like kids?” she asked him.

  “Because my parents have hijacked this pregnancy. That’s why!”

  Tyler didn’t waste any time disrobing. One minute he was dressed and the next minute he was naked in the moonlight. The man was an Adonis. That tall, lean body with long muscles that appeared to be sculpted from clay by a master’s hands. She couldn’t imagine that any woman would ever get tired of looking at Tyler Brand.

  Tyler dived into the lake, leaving her standing on the dock. He shot upward out of the water, the water gleaming on his bare chest, and pushed his hair off his face.

  “Come on, London,” Tyler called to her. “The water’s warm.”

  “Turn around.”

  “You’re joking. I went with you to the ob-gyn!”

  “I don’t care,” she whispered loudly. “Turn around.”

  “Fine.” Tyler turned his back to her.

  London quickly disrobed, padded over to the end of the dock and then dived headfirst into the water. Tyler turned around in time to see London, her athletic body naked and glowing in the light of the moon, execute a perfect dive into the middle of the lake. She was a goddess. Tyler swam toward her with every intention of making love to her as soon as he reached her.

  Chapter Eight

  London emerged from the water and saw Tyler swimming toward her. She treaded water until he arrived at her side. She didn’t resist when he took her in his arms and kissed the water from her lips. She took his tongue deep inside her mouth, silently giving her consent to him. He wanted to make love to her. She wanted to make love to him. This tension had been building between them for weeks. It wasn’t a matter of if...it was always a matter of when.