She grabbed two spoons and the container of ice cream from the freezer and headed into the living room.
Zane settled beside her on the sofa. “I guess in that situation you have to take turns.”
Nora sat close enough to share, her thigh nudging Zane’s. “I think Miss Isabelle would be fine with having them with her every other year.” She worked off the lid and offered him first dibs. “But they never spend any of the holidays with her. It’s always his folks. And since her husband died last year, they are the only family she has left.”
Zane used his own spoon to offer her the first bite. “Not nice.”
The decadent treat melted on Nora’s tongue. “No,” she sighed, offering Zane a taste from her spoon, too. “It’s not.”
Their eyes met. Held.
Zane fed Nora another bite. “I don’t suppose you could interfere?”
Aware they hadn’t done this since the last time they were together, Nora did the same.
“No,” she said. “Much as I’d like to call Miss Isabelle’s daughter and give her a piece of my mind, I can’t. Not that it would do any good.” She shrugged unhappily. “From what I’ve observed in situations like this one, the kindest souls are always the ones who lose out.”
Zane regarded her steadily, no more willing to give up on this than he was on the two of them. “Is there anything I can do to help?” he asked softly.
“Well...” Nora paused, smiling as her next idea hit. “Now that you mention it...maybe there is!”
Chapter Seven
“Adopt a grandparent?” Miss Isabelle repeated in consternation late Tuesday afternoon.
While Nora watched, Zane stood in the doorway of the elegant older woman’s suite and explained, “I’ve been tapped to do some kid sitting for my nephew Braden after school today while his parents do some Christmas shopping. I also promised Nora I’d help her get the garlands hung around the community room, so...since Braden likes to draw and color, and you used to teach art at the local high school, I thought maybe you could help us out a little?”
Twin spots of color glowed in the older woman’s cheeks. “Just for today,” Miss Isabelle clarified anxiously.
“Actually, if it goes well,” Nora cut in, “it might become a new volunteer program at Laramie Gardens for anyone who’s interested.”
“And this is because you two feel sorry for me?” Miss Isabelle asked pertly. “Because I won’t have any family with me at Christmas?”
Never one to run from potential conflict, Zane looked Miss Isabelle square in the eye. “I’ve been in the military ten years. In that time, counting right now, I’ve only been able to be with my family for four of the Christmas holidays.”
And he and Nora had never been together on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, she thought sadly.
Until this year.
This year held potential.
“So, yeah,” Zane admitted candidly, running a thoughtful hand across his jaw, “I know that being separated from loved ones this time of year totally sucks. And in that sense, I’ll admit it. I do feel for you.”
Miss Isabelle arched an elegant brow in Nora’s direction.
“My parents were in the Army and were seldom home for holidays, too,” Nora put in with a commiserating glance. “It hasn’t gotten much better since I’ve grown up.”
Zane folded his arms in front of his chest and continued, “But we also know that there are a lot of kids who—for a variety of reasons—are in similar straits. So, if we can pair the older with the younger and expand everyone’s sense of family and make them all happy, why not?”
Why not indeed? “And if you’re willing to be the test case for the proposed program...?” Nora began.
“How old is your nephew?” Miss Isabelle cut in.
Zane smiled fondly and walked over to show Miss Isabella a picture. “Braden just turned six. And though he’s lucky enough to have plenty of family, he’s also got a six-month-old baby brother...”
Miss Isabelle smiled knowingly. “So in other words, he’s now having to share the spotlight.”
“And though Braden loves Josh a lot, I think he could do with a little special attention.”
“But,” Nora put in, holding up a palm, lest they get ahead of themselves, “if you don’t feel up to it, Miss Isabelle, or choose not to participate at this time, we both understand. We don’t want you to feel pressured.”
The former art teacher stiffened indignantly. “Of course I want to meet this adorable young man!” She handed the photo back to Zane. “When did you say he would be here?”
Zane looked at his watch. “Thirty minutes.”
Miss Isabelle rose. “Then I better get ready.”
Zane and Nora thanked her. Together, they exited the room and walked companionably down the hall, toward her office. “Good job,” she told him.
He slid a hand beneath her elbow, then used the leverage to stop her in her tracks and turn her toward him. “It was your idea.”
She reveled in their brief moment of privacy. “You sold it.”
He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “We sold it.”
Nora sucked in a breath. “Now, if only all our problems were that easy to solve,” she said.
Zane exhaled, the weight of the world suddenly in his eyes. “No kidding,” he said.
* * *
“YOU TWO MAKE a really good team,” Miss Mim complimented Zane and Nora an hour later.
Having promised a group of seniors she would let them all have a turn cuddling Liam, before she left for the day, Nora settled her son in Miss Mim’s arms. Zane, who’d been regaling some of the men with his exploits, hovered nearby. He turned, showing none of the worry he had briefly evidenced earlier. With a charming grin, he asked, “In what way?”
Nora could think of lots of ways.
At work.
At home.
In bed.
Betty Blair nodded discreetly in the direction of one of the craft tables. “You got Miss Isabelle to come out of her suite and smile again.”
Nora and Zane turned. Evidently as pleased as she was to see that Miss Isabelle and Braden were still chatting and coloring diligently, Zane lifted a staying hand. “Don’t credit me for that. The proposed program had been on Nora’s mind for a while now.”
“But you made it happen, Lieutenant,” Miss Sadie said.
That he had, Nora thought with glowing admiration.
With all she had on her agenda during the holidays, she likely wouldn’t have had the time or opportunity to do anything like this until after the New Year.
“Nora, dear,” Miss Patricia pleaded, “give the poor fella another chance.”
The group of seniors around them nodded, in full matchmaking agreement.
Buck Franklin winked flirtatiously. “If I were another forty years younger, I’d give you a run for your money, soldier.”
Nora blushed at all the attention while Zane chuckled. “Good thing you’re not, then,” he drawled, stepping in to wrap a possessive arm about Nora’s waist.
Russell Pierce furrowed his brow. “Does that mean you’re still determined to win her back? Because you don’t have much time left, if that’s the case...”
Twenty-three days, Nora thought. Not that she was keeping track or anything...
With a glance directly into her eyes that telegraphed otherwise, Zane told the group, “We’re concentrating on being just friends.”
His good-natured assessment was not met with glee. Miss Patricia knitted her hands together. “Then, Nora, you do something!”
Exasperated, Nora stepped out of the warm arc of Zane’s embrace. “Like what?”
All eyes went to one thing she had yet to notice, prominently placed in the center of the community room.
Mistletoe. Nora flushed at the implication. “Whoa now. I’m working.”
Miss Mim gave Miss Sadie a turn with Liam. “Actually,” Betty Blair said, keeping track of everything, as per always, “you were off half an hour ago.”
“I need to get this done.” Nora gestured at the box of stockings, meant for the community room fireplace.
Miss Patricia relieved Nora of the decorations. “It’s your own tree that needs trimmed, Nurse Nora.”
She huffed. “I put it up.” She just hadn’t had time to do much else.
Darrell Enlow looked at Zane. “You should be a gentleman and help her with that.”
Molly and Chance Lockhart walked in to pick up Braden.
Catching the tail end of the conversation, Zane’s sister-in-law agreed. “That’s exactly what his brother and I are thinking! Don’t let this golden opportunity go by...especially when it comes to a once-in-a-lifetime love.”
Nora felt the blood rush to her face. “Who said anything about love?” she couldn’t help but blurt out.
Liam was shifted to Miss Patricia. “We all see it, dear.”
Zane gave Nora a smug look. “Don’t you start!” Nora warned.
He shrugged. “Doesn’t seem like I have to.”
Disliking the expectant way everyone was looking at them, Nora glowered at the entire group, “Well, you-all are going to have to get over your disappointment because I am not going to kiss him.”
Zane ambled closer, a devilish look on his face. “Then I’ll guess I’ll have to kiss you.”
Nora gasped, as he bent her backward from the waist. Afraid if he kissed her again, she really would lose herself in this moment—this man—to disastrous result, she spread her hands across his broad chest. “Zane Lockhart,” she warned as their eyes met, held, “don’t you dare!”
Dark silver eyes shuttering to half-mast, he dared in a low husky voice that further stirred her senses, “Tell me that again five minutes from now, sweetheart, and I’ll believe you. Until then...”
He lowered his lips to hers and delivered a kiss to end all kisses. Sweet, tempting. Adoring and tender. Passionate, yet incredibly restrained, too...
It was, Nora realized as she surrendered the way she always inevitably surrendered to Zane, the kind of ultraromantic kiss that ended a wedding ceremony and began a marriage. The kind of kiss that spoke of the days and weeks and months and years to come. The kind of kiss that forever linked two hearts and souls.
When it finally ended, Zane lifted his head and gazed into her eyes. The silence in the room such that you could have heard a pin drop.
“Tell me,” he whispered.
That she didn’t want him to kiss her like this? That she didn’t want him in her life? Dear Lord... Her knees went weak. She couldn’t speak. Couldn’t deny him any more than she could deny herself.
With a look of immense satisfaction, he lowered his mouth again. Kissed her even more tenderly. Longing swept through her, and then all was lost in the heart-pounding passion engulfing them both.
Zane hadn’t really thought she’d let him kiss her. Not in front of an audience. But now that she had, the soft press of her body against his, mixed with the sweet give of her lips, was enough to nearly send him over the edge.
Whatever happened next, however, was not destined to happen here. Reluctantly, he lifted his head and ended the soul-shattering kiss. Dimly became aware of the claps, gasps and whistles.
“Hallelujah!” Wilbur Barnes said.
“Finally!” Darrell Enlow chortled.
“About time the two of you came to your senses!” Zane’s brother Chance declared.
“I agree about the last,” Nora muttered beneath her breath, struggling to regain her balance.
Gallantly, Zane brought her upright. She sent him a withering look, not about to let his actions go unchallenged. “I can’t believe you just did that!”
He could. He’d do it again, too.
Taking in Nora’s resentment-filled glare, Buck Franklin elbowed him. “You’ve got your work cut out for you, buddy!”
That was okay. Zane chuckled. He knew he was up to the task.
* * *
NORA WASN’T SURPRISED when her doorbell rang at six-thirty that evening. Liam in her arms, she went to answer it. Zane was on her doorstep, a shopping bag in each hand.
Liam grinned up at him.
“Hey, little fella,” Zane said, bending down to buss her son’s forehead. “I’m happy to see you, too.” His amused glance drifted over her. “Can’t say your mommy feels the same enthusiasm about my presence, however.”
She did and she didn’t. And yet time was already passing, too fast... She propped her free hand on her hip and huffed, “Are you here to apologize for kissing me?”
He flashed a grin as wide as Texas. “Never, darlin’! That clinch made my day! Hell, my week! My year, my life...!”
She couldn’t help it; she laughed and ushered him inside.
Expression sobering, he crossed the threshold and removed his coat, looping it over the stand next to the front door. Picking up the bags, he carried them over to the sofa table in the living room, so she could see. “I am sorry for embarrassing you in front of everyone. So I brought you and Liam a present, in way of apology.”
She peeked inside the bag. “Cool-touch Christmas lights.” Excitement zinged through her. There were enough boxes to really light up the unadorned tree in her living room.
Zane mugged at Liam, who was still staring raptly at their visitor. He was then rewarded with a slow smile and an infant gurgle of delight. Zane tucked his little finger inside Liam’s tiny fist, as had become their custom. The baby tugged on Zane’s hand excitedly.
“Miss Sadie told me the ones your grandparents used to use, years ago, weren’t as safe as you’d like.”
Enthralled by the bond Zane and Liam had already established, Nora nodded appreciatively. “That’s true. Luckily, the ornaments are all still really nice.” She pointed to a red storage box next to the tree. “Unfortunately, you can’t put the ornaments on until you have the lights on.”
Zane turned to survey the task. “I can help with that if you’d like.”
Before she had a chance to answer, Liam let go of Zane’s finger. Then, surprising them all, he reached for Zane, grabbing hold of his sweater, and tried to propel himself into the lieutenant’s arms. Zane acted fast to catch Liam and hold him against his broad chest.
Nora gasped in wonder. “That’s the first time he’s ever done that!”
Liam chortled happily and tightly grasped Zane’s cashmere sweater. The big guy grinned. “Finally, I’m in the right place at the right time,” he boasted.
“Apparently.” Had the two ever looked more like father and son than at that moment, their eyes sparkling happily, blond heads together? Nora didn’t think so.
Zane cuddled Liam closer. “He’s never done that for you?”
“No,” she admitted, a little hurt.
“I’m sure it’s just because he doesn’t have to hurl himself into your arms. You always take him immediately and hold him when you see him after the two of you have been apart.”
That was true, Nora admitted. It did not however in any way diminish the special relationship Liam and Zane were forming.
Zane handed Liam back to Nora, but Liam immediately reached for him again. When Zane hesitated, Liam let out a rebel yell.
Amused by her son’s strong will, Nora smiled, suggesting, “How about you hold him for a while, and I’ll unspool some of the lights?”
Zane sat down with Liam in the rocking chair and turned the baby so he could see his mom, too. Swayed him gently while she draped lights from the bottom of the tree, upward. She had just reached the middle of the tree when she noted Liam was fast asleep.
&nbs
p; “We really should put him down in his crib upstairs,” she said. “It’s his bedtime.”
“We?” Zane whispered, looking slightly alarmed by the prospect.
Nora ambled closer, unable to help but note once again how sweet the two men in her life looked. “Well, you’re holding him,” she whispered back. “And the less we transfer him around, the less likely he is to wake up.”
Zane straightened cautiously. “Only one problem,” he quipped, as the two moved smoothly toward the stairs. “I don’t really know how to do that.”
Nora curved a hand around the swell of his bicep. “I’ll teach you.”
Together, they went upstairs into the softly lit nursery. Nora put the side of the crib down.
“Okay,” she directed in a hushed voice, “put one hand behind his head, use the other to support his spine. Then slowly lower him down to the mattress. Set him down, wait a minute, then ease your hands out from under him.”
As Zane finished, Liam sighed drowsily.
Nora took Zane’s big hand in hers and placed it gently over Liam’s chest until they were sure that Liam was fast asleep once again, then carefully withdrew their touch. Ever so quietly, Nora eased the safety rail up and clicked it back into place.
She turned on the monitor. Taking Zane’s hand again, she nodded to the door and they quietly exited the room.
“You make it all look so easy,” he complimented her when they reached the first floor once again.
Nora thought of the way she had struggled to make everything work when she’d first brought Liam home from the hospital. And then, several weeks after that, home to Texas. How different things would have been if only she’d had Zane here to share that time with her. “Ha!”
He put his hands on her shoulders. “I’m serious.”
She knew that. It’s what made their situation all the more poignant and intense.
“You really seem to know what you’re doing. From what I understand, that’s not always the case.”
Nora led the way back to the tree. She picked up the strand of lights where she’d left off. Zane grabbed the other end. “Well...all nursing students do rotations in maternity and pediatrics. So I learned how to handle babies there.”
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