High Country Christmas

by Joanna Sims

  Tyler made her feel desirable. He made her feel wanted. And he made her body feel so very good, it was hard now to imagine a time in her pregnancy when she wouldn’t want Tyler to love her.

  London turned her head to the pillow and bit her lip to stop herself from crying out when Tyler’s tongue slipped inside her body. His hands underneath her hips, he lifted her up higher so he could have her for dessert.

  “You taste so sweet,” Tyler told her.

  He always pushed her to the edge. He was patient, persistent...he feasted on her until she couldn’t be still, until she was clutching the sheets, her back was arched and she was writhing against his mouth.

  “What do you want?” he asked her as he kissed the inside of her thigh.

  “You...”

  Tyler turned her over, pulled her hips backward toward him and entered her from behind. Her head dropped down and all she wanted to do was enjoy the sensation of Tyler’s hard, thick shaft stroking in and out of her body. Long, deliberate, sensual strokes meant to please her. And they did. But she wanted more. She surprised him by slipping her body away from his. She pushed on his chest.

  “Lie back.”

  When she had him on his back, she climbed on top of him and took him for a ride. This was the position she liked the best. It was so easy to take charge, to know the right angle and the right depth. It was so easy to pleasure her body this way.

  Tyler pulled her forward and captured her nipple in his mouth. He sucked on her nipple hard. He knew her well enough to know exactly what he needed to do to help her reach her climax. When he felt her begin to crest, he joined her, pumping his shaft into her hot core, faster and harder, until he grabbed her hips, pushed her down and strained upward with a deep, satisfied groan.

  She collapsed onto his chest with a laugh. Loving Tyler had become a bit of an art form. It never got old. It never got boring. It was just as exciting and satisfying now as it had been in the beginning. Maybe even more because they knew each other’s bodies so well.

  “Are you okay?”

  After that one time when she had started to have contractions after lovemaking, Tyler was always concerned.

  “I’m great.” She kissed him. “How are you?”

  “I’m with you.”

  She fell asleep in Tyler’s arms. She knew that he would get up some time before dawn, while it was still dark in the cabin, and return to the couch. He respected her relationship with her son and she could count on him to not get caught in bed with her until they were married.

  Tyler was certain that things were set in stone...that J.T. had cowboy in his blood. But she wasn’t so sure. If she could get him to take the earbuds out for a second when they were together, maybe she could gauge his mood. But if he wasn’t with Hank, he was completely absorbed with listening to music or watching videos on his phone. Where was her son’s head really at right now? She wished, as his mother, that it were easier to know. Why did it seem, now that he was almost a teenager, she was starting to be one of the last to know?

  * * *

  J.T. looked at himself in the mirror. “This one.”

  Tyler was standing next to him holding two Stetsons. J.T. had a dark brown Stetson on his head and a new pair of cowboy boots on his feet. Dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt, with a Western belt and buckle, her boy looked much more like a rancher and a lot less like the urban kid who had stepped off the plane wearing basketball shoes.

  “I like that one the best, too,” she agreed.

  “All right.” Tyler nodded. To the sales clerk, he said, “We’ll take this hat, the boots and the belt.”

  It was a strange thing to watch Tyler with her son. They didn’t have much to say to each other, but they appeared to be much more comfortable around each other. It was as if they had found some sort of unspoken balance together. And it occurred to her that they were actually pretty similar people, and perhaps that’s why their approach to their relationship appeared odd to the person outside it.

  “You’ve lost some weight.” London admired her handsome son.

  J.T. had always had a weight problem. He’d been a superchubby baby, a husky toddler and a heavyset preteen. She knew he got teased at school because of it, even though he didn’t talk about it much.

  He had noticed it, too, and she could tell that he liked what he saw—he actually smiled when he looked at himself in the mirror. He was tall for his age, and now he was slimming down and filling out with some muscle.

  “Hank’s been working me hard,” J.T. told her. “I’m sore all over.”

  Tyler walked over to them with a receipt in his hand. He handed J.T. the bag.

  “We’re set here,” he said to them.

  “Thank you.” London put her hand on Tyler’s arm. It was a sweet thing he had done, setting J.T. up with a cowboy uniform. He had his own boots and hat now. He was official.

  “Yeah...” J.T. addressed Tyler for once. “Thanks.”

  “I’m glad to do it,” Tyler told them. “You’re a rancher now.”

  As they walked together, as a trio, through historic Helena, London noticed the looks that her son was drawing. Her son hadn’t always been received the way she would have expected, and she knew she was hypersensitive to it because he had been picked on before for being biracial. There was still some prejudice in the country. There was still some prejudice in her own family...with her own father. But even though J.T. was receiving some looks, they weren’t hateful looks. And there weren’t a lot. Certainly not as many as she had thought there would be. And J.T. didn’t seem to notice or care one way or the other.

  “I want to do a little Christmas shopping with J.T.,” Tyler told her. “How ’bout I drop you off at the baby store with my credit card?”

  It didn’t take much to bribe her. She wasn’t much of a shopper, but the idea of being turned loose in a baby store to shop for her daughter? That was very enticing. Little girls were the best to shop for!

  Tyler and J.T. didn’t have much to say to each other in the truck. J.T. listened to his music and Tyler drove. When he got to his destination, Tyler pulled into a spot and turned off the engine. He looked over at J.T. Now was as good a time as any.

  “I want to talk to you about something, J.T.”

  J.T. pulled his earbuds out of his ears.

  “Christmas is almost here.” Tyler leaned on the steering wheel. “I want to put a ring under the tree for your mom.”

  When J.T. didn’t say anything, Tyler added, “I want to ask your mom to marry me.”

  “Yeah...I figured,” J.T. said noncommittally.

  “I want to marry her before your sister is born.” Tyler looked over at the preteen. “How would you feel about that?”

  J.T.’s face was blank. “I don’t know. I have to think about it, I suppose.”

  “That’s fair.” Tyler leaned back. “Let’s go in this store right here while you think about it.”

  Friends of the family owned the jewelry store, and Tyler knew that he would be able to find a ring for London here. They carried beautiful and rare pieces that were as beautiful and rare as London was to him.

  “Tyler!” The owner came out from behind the display case to shake his hand. “Merry Christmas!”

  “Merry Christmas.” Tyler shook his hand. “Business’s booming.”

  “’Tis the season.” The owner smiled.

  “This is J.T.” Tyler introduced the two. “He’s visiting from Virginia.”

  “Nice to meet you, J.T.” The jeweler stuck out his hand again. “Are you cold enough?”

  “I guess.” London’s son turned back into the shy kid he had met at the airport.

  “So...what brings you in? A little Christmas shopping?”

  Tyler nodded.

  “Well,” the jeweler said, “you caught me at the
right time. I just finished with my last customer when you walked in the door. What can I do you for?”

  “I’m looking for an engagement ring.”

  “An engagement ring? Usually news like that travels.”

  “Well...” Tyler followed the man over to the cases. “I can keep a secret.”

  The owner went behind the cases where the engagement rings were housed. “Who’s the lucky lady?”

  “J.T.’s mother.” Tyler took off his hat and put it on the counter.

  “Well, then...you can help us pick out the ring for her. Which one would your mom like?”

  J.T. looked into the case. He took his time, examining each one carefully. Finally he pointed. “That one.”

  J.T. had selected an emerald-cut natural emerald surrounded by diamonds on a high mount.

  The owner pulled the ring out of the case, polished it, looked at the price tag, then handed it to Tyler.

  “You’ve got good taste, young man,” the jeweler said. “Natural emeralds that color are hard to find. Rare.”

  “How much?” Tyler handed the ring to J.T. for him to get a closer look at it.

  The jeweler took out his calculator, typed in some numbers. “After the family discount? With tax, fifty-two hundred.”

  “That’s the one?” Tyler asked J.T. while he reached for his wallet.

  J.T. handed the ring back to the jeweler with a nod.

  “Wrap it up.” Tyler handed his credit card over.

  The ring came back wrapped in pretty red paper with a fancy bow. After Tyler signed the receipt, they left the store. Back in the truck, J.T. put his seat belt on, but this time he didn’t immediately put his earbuds in his ears and turn on his music.

  “If you married my mom, where would I live?”

  Tyler turned on the truck and shifted into gear. “At the ranch with us.”

  “I know...” J.T. gave a little teenager sigh as if it were impossible to communicate with adults. “But where? Your cabin only has two bedrooms.”

  The fact that the boy was even asking this question was major progress, and Tyler knew it. He just tried to not show it too much on the outside.

  More casually than he felt on the inside, Tyler said, “I’ll show you where you can stay when we get home. How’s that?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Back at the ranch, London spread out all of the new baby clothes on the bed and admired them. She picked up each tiny, frilly, totally girlie item one by one. If her daughter turned out to be a tomboy like her, at least she could dress her like a girl for a while before she started to reject dresses for jeans. London was still admiring her purchases when she heard a thump directly above her head.

  “Tyler? J.T.?”

  When neither responded, she put the little ruffled purple top down and went in search of her son and her cowboy. More thumps that sounded like footsteps overhead made her stop and look upward.

  “Hey! Where are you guys?”

  “We’re upstairs.” She heard Tyler’s voice, but she didn’t know where upstairs was in the cabin. In fact, she didn’t even know that an upstairs existed.

  She followed their voices down the hall, past the guest bedroom and found an open door at the end of the hall. She peered into what she had always believed to be a linen closet, only to discover a set of drop-down wooden attic stairs.

  “Come up.” Tyler stood at the top of the landing and held out his hand to her.

  She carefully climbed the steps. At the top, she took his hand and he held on to her until she could safely stand on her own two feet.

  “I didn’t even know this was here!” London put her hands on her hips and looked around at the attic space. Tyler had already insulated and drywalled and installed hand-scraped wooden floors that appeared to be reclaimed wood.

  J.T. was exploring the large space that ran the length of the cabin very intently.

  “What are you guys doing up here?”

  “Just checking it out,” Tyler said nonchalantly.

  “It’s a beautiful space.” London walked over to a large picture window that looked out to the mountains. She had never had a reason to walk behind the house and had never noticed the window at the peak of the cabin.

  “What are you planning to do with it?”

  “I was going to put a pool table up here,” Tyler explained. “Have my own bar over there. Just a place to hang out with the boys during the winter.”

  London’s brows dropped at the thought. “Not very practical to have a bar in a house with a baby.”

  “You’re right about that,” he agreed.

  J.T. came over to where they were standing.

  “What do you think?” Tyler asked her son.

  J.T. nodded a little, which was about as expressive as he got these days. “It’s pretty sweet up here.”

  “Could you live with it?”

  “I’m sorry?” London looked between them. “What am I missing? Can he live with what?”

  “This...as a bedroom,” Tyler said.

  “A bedroom.” London restated it. “A bedroom?”

  “Sure.” Tyler was serious. “Why not? We have the master. We can turn the guest room into the nursery. We need a third bedroom.”

  “And another bathroom,” J.T. added.

  “And a third bathroom.” Tyler agreed with him.

  “It’s huge up here...a kid doesn’t need this much space.”

  Tyler kept on talking as if he hadn’t heard her.

  “Over here...we could make this your chilling-out area...get a flat screen, hook up some video games.” Tyler was getting more excited about the buildout as he designed the space. “What do you think?”

  He was asking J.T., not her. This was a strange, annoying scene. It was nice that Tyler was thinking of a space for her son, but this was too much. She had to fight his father with the spoiling...she didn’t want to have to fight Tyler, too.

  “We tap into the plumbing for the guest bathroom right here...” J.T. was standing with Tyler now instead of her. “And you still have plenty of space for a king-size bed and a desk.”

  “It sounded like elephants walking around up here when I was downstairs...”

  “We’ll soundproof.” Tyler wasn’t deterred.

  J.T. looked at Tyler, then looked at her. “I could live with this.”

  “Oh...” She laughed. “I know you could! What kid wouldn’t want his own apartment before he turns thirteen?”

  Tyler went down the ladder first and waited at the bottom for her to climb down safely. She could see that Tyler’s idea for an upstairs apartment had really grabbed J.T.’s attention.

  When Tyler left to get some work done before the sun began to set and the temperature dropped to below freezing, London knocked on the guest bedroom door. J.T. was lying down on the bed, listening to his music too loud. She sat down on the edge of the bed and patted him on the leg.

  “Hey...do you think you could unplug for two seconds and actually talk to me?”

  J.T. pushed himself up and back against the pillows, pulled his earbuds out of his ears.

  “What’s up?”

  London shook her head. “No. Not polite, J.T. Turn the music off and talk to me.”

  J.T. turned off the music with a dramatic sigh.

  “I’m over here...”

  “What?” This was said in that whiny tone she disliked so much. When would he outgrow that one?

  “Look...I know you’re mad at me, okay? I get it. And you have a right to be mad at me.” She started counting on her fingers. “I broke my promise to you, I hid things from you—which is too close to a lie not to be a lie—I’m pregnant, and I want you to leave your life and all of your friends in Virginia to move to a really ridiculously cold ranch in
Montana.”

  J.T. stared hard at her with his father’s dark brown eyes.

  “I let you down,” London admitted. “And I’m sorry.”

  Her son looked away from her and she saw him start to tear up.

  “I’m sorry, J.T.” She put her hand on his arm. “I really am. But shutting me out, not talking to me, isn’t going to make things better. I promise you that. I’ve tried it with my parents already, and look where that got me with them, right? Grandpa has all but disowned me at this point, and Gram is perpetually disappointed with my choices...”

  She turned her body toward him. “I hate that I’ve disappointed you. I do. But I can’t change it. All I can do is try to make this work for the three of us...you, me and this baby.”

  “Tyler told me that he wants to marry you.”

  London knew the surprise showed on her face. “He asked. And I told him I couldn’t marry him if you weren’t going to be happy here at the ranch.” She looked directly into her son’s eyes so he knew she was dead serious. “I mean it, J.T. If you can’t be happy in Montana, then I won’t marry Tyler. If you’re not happy, I can’t be happy.”

  London saw a mixture of anger and doubt in her son’s eyes. “So...what? You’ll just go back to Virginia?”

  “If you’re not going to be happy here, J.T., then I won’t be happy. If that means we leave Montana...then we leave Montana. You, me...” She put her hand on her stomach. “And Maggie.”

  * * *

  “What’s wrong with it?”

  Tyler had been so focused on the sickly calf that he hadn’t heard J.T. approach. He straightened with a heavy sigh.

  “She’s sick. Been sick from day one. I can’t seem to get her to eat.”

  J.T. hung over the gate. “Where’s her mom?”

  “She died.” Tyler didn’t feel the need to hide the truth from J.T. He was a solid kid.

  “It never fails,” Tyler continued with a frustrated shake of his head. “It snows and all the cows want to give birth. Why on the coldest nights, I’ll never know.”

  “Can I come in there?”

  “Sure.” Tyler swung the gate open. “She’ll like the company. Gotta be scary as all get-out to find yourself in a brand-new world without a mom to protect you.”