The Christmas Night Miracle

by Mortimer, Carole

  She flicked him an unguarded angry glance, before drawing in a deep breath and forcing the tension from her shoulders, her smile coolly confident again. ‘Later,’ Sonia echoed coldly before turning and leaving.

  Jed’s arm dropped back to his side as Meg moved away from him to stand in front of the window, although he was pretty sure she saw none of the Christmas-card whiteness of the scene outside, several more inches of snow having fallen during the afternoon.

  She looked so tiny standing there, that ebony dark hair falling straight and shiny almost to her waist, very slender in the red sweater and black denims. She didn’t look old enough to be Scott’s mother, let alone to have all the responsibility that went along with that role.

  ‘What the hell was all that about?’ His voice sounded harsh in the silence. More so than he had intended, certainly, but it seemed the more he tried to understand this family, the less he actually knew.

  Meg didn’t answer for several seconds, and then she drew in a deep breath, straightening her shoulders before turning to face him, the smile she attempted reaching no further than the curve of her lips. ‘It isn’t important,’ she dismissed.

  Jed felt his frustration with the situation building inside him, his hands clenching at his sides.

  It was so unimportant there were tears glistening in Meg’s eyes, those eyes huge green pools of emotion in the otherwise pale stillness of her face.

  ‘Why the hell did you put yourself through this?’ he rasped impatiently. ‘Put Scott through it?’

  It was a low blow to bring the child she so obviously adored into the conversation, and Jed couldn’t really say that Scott had suffered any harm this afternoon from his grandmother and aunt’s complete indifference to his presence, his grandfather attentive enough for all of them. But that wasn’t the point, was it? It wasn’t going to help anyone, least of all Scott, if his mother made herself ill trying to cope with what Jed viewed as an impossible situation.

  And he probably wasn’t helping the situation by drawing attention to what might, for all he knew, seem perfectly normal to Meg.

  ‘Oh, to hell with this.’ He threw up his hands in disgust. ‘It’s your dysfunctional family. I’m sure you know how to cope with them.’ He turned on his heel and walked back through the connecting doorway, closing it firmly behind him.

  He didn’t want any of this, didn’t need it, had enough problems of his own to cope with.

  Meg Hamilton would just have to deal with this herself.

  The sooner the weather cleared, and he could leave, the better he would like it.

  Chapter 6

  Jed was wrong.

  So very wrong.

  Because Meg had absolutely no idea how to cope with all the unspoken strain in her family.

  Her mother and father, she had realized as the afternoon had progressed, barely spoke to each other.

  They had never been a demonstrative couple, and her mother had always been the parent whose word was obeyed, but there was a distance between her parents now that Meg didn’t understand, and her father no longer mildly tolerated her mother’s dictates. For instance, several times during the afternoon her mother had suggested that perhaps her father should go upstairs and rest for a while, suggestions he had completely ignored, choosing instead to play with Scott and his toys.

  The strain between herself and Sonia was harder to define. Although Jed seemed to have had no difficulty picking up on it.

  If not that he was part of the reason for it.

  Because that was what was bothering Sonia, she was sure. Meg hadn’t been home or involved with anyone since Scott was born, and now, not only had she come home for Christmas, but had apparently brought Jerrod Cole with her. The fact that she wasn’t and never would be involved with Jed was something, after he had announced to her family that he was a friend of hers, none of them were likely to believe. And Sonia, being Sonia, was probably wondering just how involved with him Meg was, what confidences she might have shared with him.

  As if. Sonia didn’t know her at all if she thought she would ever put in jeopardy all that she had striven to achieve.

  She looked up sharply as another knock sounded on her bedroom door, tensing instinctively; from not feeling wanted by her family, she had suddenly become very popular. Although another frosty encounter with her mother wasn’t something she particularly relished.

  She smiled her relief as she opened the door and found her father standing in the hallway, a smile on his face, and a shirt and tie draped over one arm. For Jed, she guessed. Because although he might have packed an overnight bag, she very much doubted he had packed something he could change into for dinner.

  ‘Jed’s in the room next door, Daddy,’ she told him after a brief glance to make sure Scott was still asleep.

  A miracle considering his excitement about the arrival of Father Christmas and the amount of visitors to their bedroom in the last few minutes.

  She slipped out into the hallway to join her father. ‘Are you really well again, Daddy?’ She looked up at him anxiously, her hand resting lightly on his arm.

  ‘I really am,’ he returned reassuringly. ‘The doctors say it was only a mild attack. A warning, if you like, to change my lifestyle to something less stressful.’

  Her father was eight years older than her mother, had retired some months ago; Meg wasn’t sure how much more he could change it.

  ‘Not in that way, pumpkin,’ he said gently. ‘There are certain things, about this family, that I’m not happy with. Those are the things that need changing,’ he added determinedly.

  She hadn’t been wrong about those changes she had noticed in him, then. She knew he was physically much frailer than she remembered, but emotionally he seemed much stronger, less inclined to acquiesce to her mother for the sake of a quiet life. Could she possibly be another of those things about this family that he wanted to change?

  ‘Yes, Meg,’ he gently confirmed her thoughts. ‘You’re my daughter. And Scott is my grandson. I intend to see a lot more of both of you in future.’

  Meg would like nothing better if it meant she only had to see her father; her mother was something else entirely.

  Her father squeezed her hand sympathetically. ‘It will all work out, Meg. I love your mother very much, but I love my daughters too, and now our grandson, and Lydia will have to come to terms with that.’

  She didn’t understand what he meant, had never understood her mother’s aloofness to her family, even less so now that she was a mother herself.

  Her father reached up to gently touch her cheek. ‘Things aren’t always what they seem, little Meg. Your mother loves you very much, and Sonia, and with time, after getting to know him, she will learn to love Scott too. It’s totally impossible not to,’ he added fondly.

  Meg thought her father was expecting rather a lot. She had felt no softening from her mother towards Scott this afternoon, although at least she seemed to have adopted the attitude ‘if you can’t say anything nice then don’t say anything at all’!

  ‘And now I had better deliver these.’ Her father held up the shirt and tie. ‘I like him, by the way,’ he added teasingly.

  ‘Jed?’ She gave him a startled look, uncomfortable with her father not knowing the truth. ‘Look, Daddy, this is another case of things not being what they seem. You see,’ She broke off frowningly as the bedroom door opened behind her, turning to find Jed standing there. In her bedroom.

  ‘Sorry.’ He grimaced as he saw the two of them standing in the hallway together. ‘It was getting late, and I was just coming to look for you, David. For those,’ he added ruefully as her father held up the shirt and tie. ‘Thanks.’ He took them before turning to go back the way he had come.

  Probably not the best time to try and convince her father that she wasn’t involved with Jed at all, that they had only met by accident, literally, the evening before.

  Although quite what Jed was doing coming out of her bedroom she had no idea.

  ‘You
were saying?’ her father prompted.

  Meg grimaced. ‘Nothing of importance.’ Or, in fact, believable, in the circumstances.

  Her father nodded. ‘I’ll just go and change for dinner myself, then. And don’t worry, Meg, everything is going to work out just fine.’

  She stood and watched as he strode off down the hallway, admiring his optimism, but very much afraid he was going to be proved wrong.

  But once her father had disappeared she wasted no time going through her own bedroom, but went straight to the adjacent door and into the room that connected with hers.

  Only to come to an abrupt halt once she was inside, the angry words dying on her lips at the sight of Jed standing beside the bed wearing nothing but a pair of faded denims. In fact, she was having trouble breathing, let alone speaking.

  Jed’s chest and arms were as tanned as his face, his shoulders wide and muscled, a dark dusting of hair on his chest that went down in a vee to his stomach, not an ounce of superfluous flesh on his body.

  Meg couldn’t speak, couldn’t move as she acknowledged she should have knocked first, that of course Jed would be changing into the clothes her father had brought him.

  Jed raised one dark brow at her continued silence. ‘I’m pretty sure I’m not the first half-naked man you’ve ever seen,’ he drawled mockingly.

  No, of course he wasn’t. It was just that his nakedness was so unexpected, so immediate. Added to which, he was gorgeous.

  His dark good looks were disturbing enough when he was fully dressed, but like this…

  ‘I’m sorry I interrupted you and your father just now.’ He grimaced. ‘I thought you were in your room, and then when I heard voices in the hallway…’ He broke off as she only continued to stare at him, putting the shirt down on the bed to walk slowly towards her, coming to a halt standing only inches away from her. ‘You’re very quiet, Meg. Don’t you have anything to say now that you’re here?’ he queried huskily.

  Something like kiss me? Take me to bed. Make love to me!

  Because at that moment they were the only things she could think to say, when she could have reached out and touched the hardness of his flesh.

  But she wasn’t going to say any of them.

  Instead she shifted her gaze away from him. Probably not a good idea either, as her gaze became riveted on the bed. A double one. Easily big enough for both of them.

  ‘Meg?’

  She swallowed hard, drawing in a deep breath as she lifted her gaze to meet his, on the assumption that looking into his eyes was better than looking at the rest of him.

  But she was wrong.

  Jed’s eyes had darkened almost to navy as he looked down at her, that gaze shifting now to the fullness of her lips.

  Meg groaned low in her throat as she felt the caress of that gaze, something melting deep inside her even as she raised her face to meet the assent of Jed’s mouth on hers, moving into his arms as he pulled her against his naked warmth.

  They kissed passionately, ravenously, devouring, tasting, sipping as hunger took control once again.

  Jed’s skin felt firm and smooth to the touch, so hot, burning, a fire matched by one deep inside Meg, her whole body seeming to have turned to liquid flames as she clung to him, his lips moving down the sensitive column of her throat now.

  ‘How the hell—’ Jed raised his head to look at her, his hands cradling each side of her face as he gazed down at her hungrily, his fingers tangled in the dark thickness of her hair ‘—am I supposed to go downstairs and eat dinner with your family when it’s you I want to eat?’ he groaned. ‘Every—’ he kissed her lips ‘—delectable—’ he kissed her again ‘—inch—’ and again ‘—of you.’ This time he kissed her and didn’t stop.

  She wanted this. As much as she might try to fight it, she wanted this, wanted Jed.

  The throb of his body told her he wanted her too. Now. Urgently.

  He finally dragged his mouth away from hers, breathing raggedly, his cheeks slightly flushed. ‘What am I going to do with you, Meg Hamilton?’ he rasped harshly.

  She couldn’t move, enjoying the hard curves of his body against hers, the clean male smell of him, the warmth of his skin beneath her touch. ‘Do with me?’ she repeated dreamily.

  Jed reached up to grasp her arms and put her slightly away from him. ‘I’m not sure whether you’ve noticed or not, but I can’t keep my hands off you.’ He groaned self-disgustedly.

  She frowned at his tone. ‘I didn’t ask you to.’

  ‘No, but—’ he gave an impatient shake of his head, his hands tightening on her arms ‘—I’m something of a nomad, Meg. Never quite know where I’m going to be from one week to the next; have homes in New York, Vancouver and Paris. Your life is fixed here, in England, with Scott and your work. Haven’t you already been hurt enough, Meg?’ he added gratingly.

  By Scott’s father, he meant. At the same time warning her that he was no more interested in permanence than Scott’s father had been. His warning would be laughable, if it didn’t hurt so much.

  What did Jed think she was? A single mother possibly looking for a husband for herself and a father for Scott? His talk of his nomadic lifestyle certainly seemed to indicate as much.

  As quickly as her desire for this man had raged it turned to anger of equal intensity. ‘Really, Jed,’ she scorned as she shook off his grasp on her arm, moving away from him, eyes glittering with the force of her anger. ‘You flatter yourself if you think that this—’ she made a flippant gesture that encompassed everything that had happened between them in the last few minutes ‘—meant any more to me than it did to you.’ She gave a hard laugh. ‘I happen to like my life exactly as it is too, have no intention of becoming involved in a permanent relationship. Ever!’ she added vehemently.

  ‘Meg—’

  ‘But that doesn’t mean,’ she continued forcefully, ‘that at twenty-seven I expect to remain celibate, either. What, Jed?’ she derided hardly as his expression became grim. ‘Don’t you like having the roles reversed on you? Too bad,’ she scorned. ‘Because that’s the way it is. The way it will always be as far as I’m concerned.’ She reached the communicating door in long strides. ‘Take it or leave it.’ She turned back to echo the words he had used to her this morning at the cottage.

  This morning at the cottage. Uncomplicated. Simple.

  It seemed a lifetime away.

  Jed looked at her with narrowed eyes, his mouth a thin line. ‘I don’t believe you, Meg,’ he finally said slowly.

  She gave an uninterested shrug. ‘Please yourself,’ she mocked. ‘I usually do.’

  He shook his head. ‘I don’t believe that, either,’ he bit out. ‘You wouldn’t be here at all if that were really the case.’

  True. Very true. She had come here for her father’s sake. Because he had been ill. Because she’d been sure he’d wanted to meet Scott.

  But if she had known, if she had even guessed, that she would meet Jed Cole along the way, then she wouldn’t have come. Not even for her father.

  Because Jed had guessed right about her. She didn’t get involved in casual affairs. Never had. Never would.

  So what, exactly, was she doing in Jed Cole’s bedroom?

  Getting out of it as fast as possible. Away from him. Away from the desire that never seemed far from the surface when she was near him.

  ‘You must believe what you please, Jed,’ she told him with dismissive scorn. ‘But, in future, don’t just walk into my bedroom uninvited.’

  ‘And if I’m invited?’ His jaw was squared, cheekbones hard beneath his skin, blue eyes glacial.

  Meg gave a humourless smile. ‘Hopefully you will be able to leave some time tomorrow. I believe I can resist temptation until then.’ She went back into her bedroom, closing the door firmly, but necessarily quietly, behind her.

  The tears of humiliation almost blinded her as she stumbled across the room to sit on the side of her bed, burying her face in her hands as she let those tears silently fall.

/>   For over three years now she had kept herself deliberately aloof from any man that had shown an interest in her, not because she didn’t want to love and be loved, but because she had Scott, and any man who chose to come into her life would have to be prepared to take him on too, and not just as an adjunct to her, but for himself. She had seen and heard of too many incidents where this wasn’t the case, a child from a previous relationship hurt or rejected in any new relationship. She wouldn’t accept that for Scott.

  But she had allowed Jed Cole to get under her guard these last two days, only to have him tell her that he didn’t want to get involved with her, let alone Scott, on a permanent basis. Honest, perhaps, but no less hurtful for that honesty, leaving her no choice but to defend herself.

  She raised her head to look at her sleeping son, once again knowing that overwhelming rush of love for him. He was an innocent, a baby, worth all the pain of rejection she had known this last three and a half years, from her family, from so-called friends, from men like Jed Cole too, who wanted no complications in their life.

  Well, you handled that really well, Jed, he told himself disgustedly as he looked at the door Meg had just closed in his face. Very suave.

  Very sophisticated.

  He didn’t think.

  But it was true that he couldn’t seem to keep his hands off Meg, took every opportunity to kiss her, to hold her, whenever the two of them were alone.

  And it scared the hell out of him. She scared the hell out of him.

  There was no doubt in his mind that he wanted her, that the feel of her lips and body drove him wild, but he also wanted to protect her, keep her safe from harm. Even from himself, it seemed.

  God, he hoped she was right about him being able to leave tomorrow—he needed to get away from Meg before she drove him insane.

  But keeping his distance from Meg wasn’t easy to do when he was actually staying in her parents’ home, something brought starkly home to him when he found himself seated next to her at dinner.

  He should have expected it, of course. There were only the six of them seated at the round table, Meg’s father seated on her other side, by David’s design, Jed felt sure, like two sentinels on guard.