Zane didn’t care.
Nor did Liam, whose eyes had lit up the moment he saw Zane striding toward them, Christmas lights blinking merrily. As the grinning lieutenant neared, Liam’s face lit up even more. And then it began. A first, soft chuckle that swiftly evolved into a baby belly laugh, Liam’s first.
And once Liam started laughing at Zane—who was by now laughing, too—he couldn’t seem to stop. Nor could anyone else. The chuckles running through the room grew and grew until everyone was joining in the hilarity.
Betty frowned at Zane, the rule sheet still in her hand. “You’re still disqualified,” she fumed.
Zane winked at her playfully. He reached for Liam, who had his arms held out toward him. “As I should be,” he murmured, moving quickly to catch the suddenly lurching Liam. “Hey there, little fella,” he said, holding Liam against his chest and wrapping his other arm around Nora.
In front of everyone, he kissed her soundly on the lips. “Don’t you look fetching, too,” he murmured.
And in that instant, with tears of mirth still streaming down her face, Nora felt so much. Gratitude that Zane was there with them. Regret at all the time they had wasted over the years. Plus, a boundless enthusiasm for their future. No matter what happened from here on out, she knew what she wanted, and that was to be a part of Zane’s life. And he, theirs.
* * *
“TELL ME THE TRUTH,” Zane said, hours later, when the three of them had returned to her home and the exhausted Liam was tucked in bed. His ridiculous sweater and hat off, a navy one in its place, he finished lighting the fire in the hearth. He pivoted and sent Nora a knowing look. “You threw the competition on purpose.”
Pretending to be indignant, Nora walked over to plug in the Christmas tree lights. “What was wrong with Liam’s and my sweaters?” She pointed to the back of the chair, where they were now displayed in all their eclectic glory.
She had sewn an adorable felt elf on the front of Liam’s Christmas-green sweater and hot-glued a combination of fabric ornaments, and vinyl green-and-white-striped candy cane decals to the front of her red one.
“Uh-huh.” Zane sank down beside her on the sofa.
Nora grinned and snuggled close. There was no use pretending she wasn’t completely smitten with the two men in her life. “Okay, I confess that I simply wanted Liam to look cute. Otherwise, he would have had way too unfair an advantage.”
Zane chuckled, recalling, “He almost won it with that belly laugh.”
The thought of which still brought a sheen of happy tears to Nora’s eyes. “His very first, by the way,” she pointed out.
And it had all been because of Zane.
So much that was good this holiday season was because of him...
Zane stroked the back of her hand with his fingertips. “I’m glad I got to see that,” he said tenderly.
“So am I.” She turned her palm up, so it was facing his. “It was a special moment,” she confessed softly. Made all the more special because Zane had been there, too. Marveling at how well they had always fit together—as if they were meant to be—she looked down at their entwined hands. “But it was good Miss Isabella walked away with the grand prize.”
The handpainted holiday collage attached to the front of the former art teacher’s Christmas-red sweater had been outrageously funny and loud, with colors clashing, yet somehow sweetly sentimental at the same time.
He nodded. “It’s amazing how much she has perked up since Thanksgiving.”
“Amazing how happy a lot of us are. I just wish Mr. Pierce hadn’t been so blue tonight.”
Zane recollected with concern, “He barely looked up from whatever he was doing on his computer tablet.”
Nora sighed. “I think he may have been a little confused, too.” She and the other nurses had noticed that happening more and more as the week had progressed, despite the new multitherapy regimen the older gentleman was on.
She forced herself to be optimistic. “Dr. Wheeler is coming in tomorrow morning to see him, so hopefully that will help.”
“I’m sure it will.” Keeping his dark silver gaze locked with hers, he stroked a comforting hand down her thigh. “So what else is on your mind?”
Nora swallowed around the rising lump in her throat, wondering if she was going to be able to find the nerve to do what she really wanted, and propose they craft a happily-ever-after. Whatever that looked like to him.
Married.
Engaged.
Or simply committed to each other, in their hearts and souls, from here on out. “I did want to talk to you about something important.”
“Okay,” he said softly.
She inhaled deeply. “Us.”
The width of his smile etched grooves on either side of his mouth. He looked deep into her eyes with all the affection she had ever wanted and hoped to see. “We’ll get to that before I leave again,” he said soberly, “I promise you that. But right now—” one hand on her spine, he drew her even closer “—what I want more than anything is to make up for the time we lost this week. Because I missed you, Nora, so much...”
His lips fastened over hers and just that quickly all her worries fled. He kissed her in a way that had her senses spinning and her heart soaring.
The next thing she knew he was tossing one of the throws and several pillows on the floor before the fire and guiding her to the bed he made for them. Passion swept through her as he stretched out beside her.
She moaned softly as he clasped her to him and eased a hand beneath her shirt. He kissed her slow and deep, angling his head to get more of her, even as his clever hands moved upward and the fastening of her bra came undone.
She smiled as his palms came around to her breasts, slipping beneath the silk of her bra and stroking her nipples. A slow, warm heat began to fill her as they kissed hungrily, arching into each other, his rock-hardness a seduction in and of itself.
Her hands slipped beneath the hem of his sweater, too, finding the sleek muscles and satin warmth of his skin. He felt so good. So masculine. So right.
They felt so right.
“I want you,” she murmured, against his lips.
“I want you, too.” The wicked light in his eyes igniting all her erogenous zones, he sat up. Removed his sweater. She sat up and removed hers.
He pulled her onto his lap, so she was facing him, her arms encircling his neck. The clothing still between them was maddening. “Our jeans...”
“We’ll get there. Promise...” And then his lips were on hers in a frenzy of wanting. Making her reckless, making her need, the powerful muscles of his chest abrading the softness of her breasts.
And still they kissed. Caresses pouring out of them. Feeling building. Desire exploding in liquid heat. Until unable to stand it any longer, they undressed the rest of the way, found protection and joined each other on the blanket before the fire.
She lifted her hips, her yearning every bit as fierce and all-encompassing as his. The hard length of him pressed into her, slowly, sensually. Hands sliding beneath her hips, lifting her, holding her still. Forcing her to submit to the hopelessly erotic, endless strokes. Deep, then shallow, then deep again.
All the while, their lips clung together, seducing, surrendering. Driving each other to the brink. Until all was lost in a perfect storm of wanting. Needing. Giving. Taking. And there was nothing but the heart and soul of that moment in time, nothing but the two of them. The earthshaking pleasure and the never-ending bliss, the perfection of the present, the sweet hope of the future.
He felt it, too.
It was clear in the way he gathered her close afterward, pressing kisses in her hair, along her temple, her jawline. The way they sagged against each other, spent and breathless. So safe and protected, their connection so strong and so right it felt unbreakable.
> Until finally, he captured her lips in another hot, euphoric kiss, then lifted his head and gazed into her eyes, murmured softly, “I want you to know, Nora. There is only one woman on this earth for me. And it’s you.” His voice roughened even as his gaze grew unbearably fervent. “It’s always been you...”
It wasn’t the same thing as saying he was in love with her, but it was the closest he had ever come.
She celebrated that.
Heart swelling with all that she felt in return, Nora admitted just as fervently, “You’re the only man for me, too.” And for the moment, maybe even forever, that would have to be enough.
* * *
“SO YOU’RE GOING to be at the West Texas Warriors Assistance this morning,” Nora said, as she and Zane bundled Liam up and headed out the door to her minivan.
He nodded. “They have a Job Finder session I want to sit in on.”
Which meant what? Nora wondered. He was looking for a job? Thinking about looking for a job? Or searching for a reason not to try and find a job outside active duty military? There was no clue on his handsome face.
He flashed a grin. “Try not to miss me too much, okay?” he teased.
She wrinkled her nose right back at him, glad they already had plans to see each other for dinner. She saluted him sharply. “And you do the same, Lieutenant!”
Fortunately for Nora, it was slated to be a very busy day at Laramie Gardens. Which meant their time apart would pass quickly.
A good thing, given how much matchmaking she encountered when she reported for duty.
“Where is that handsome fella of yours?” Miss Mim teased while setting out boxes of undecorated sugar cookies.
Betty added colored frostings and sparkling sugar to the workstations set up in the dining room. “Not with Raquel, I hope.”
Miss Sadie put in her two cents. “You have to keep an eye on your man, Nora!”
“As it happens he is with other ex-military personnel this morning,” Nora said, as she passed out morning medications to those who required them.
“If I were you I’d get a ring on his finger, pronto,” Miss Patricia said.
“Let him know you’re serious,” Miss Isabelle chimed in helpfully.
I tried last night, Nora thought, in silent frustration, but Zane didn’t let me get very far...
Aware she’d have to be a lot more proactive if she wanted to get what she wanted out of their renewed relationship, Nora said wryly, “Thanks for the advice, ladies.” She propped her hands on her hips, and assumed a total taskmaster stance. “Now, can we get cracking on decorating those sugar cookies we were going to send to the community caroling event at the town square?”
Chuckles abounded.
And there were some sympathetic looks, too.
The women at Laramie Gardens knew Nora well enough to know they had struck a nerve with their teasing. Albeit, unintentionally.
Fortunately, she still had more medication to pass out and a patient to get ready for an on-site medical appointment.
“You want me to wait in your office?” Mr. Pierce asked.
Nora paused while the older gentleman got comfortable, then handed him the insulated mug of green tea she’d been carrying for him. “Just for a few minutes. Dr. Wheeler is reviewing your records as we speak. As soon as he’s done, he and I will confer, and then we’ll bring you in.”
Mr. Pierce set his leather-bound copy of A Christmas Carol and computer tablet on his lap. “Doc’s got to be very busy with Christmas so close at hand.”
Was it her imagination or was Mr. Pierce looking a little manic this morning? “I think everyone is this time of year.”
Mr. Pierce rubbed the elaborate buckle clasp on his book. “The weatherman said a cold front is coming in!”
Nora smiled. Moving to tidy up her office, she hung her coat on the hook behind the door, her purse on the one next to it, Liam’s fleece hoodie on a third. “I heard.”
He crossed his legs, then uncrossed them. “I also read that it’ll be below freezing tonight, with a possibility of snow on Christmas Eve!”
Nora had heard less than a 10 percent chance. Still... “Wouldn’t that be wonderful,” she said, opening the blinds, so Mr. Pierce could see the people coming and going from the parking lot outside. Her red minivan that he had so admired gleamed in the winter sunshine.
He nodded vigorously. “Your son would love it. So will Lynn.”
“They would.” Spying her keys on the desk, Nora slipped them into the outside pocket on her purse.
“But it could hurt last-minute business for the retailers,” Mr. Pierce predicted.
True. “Or encourage them to buy early!”
He grinned. “The holidays have always been a particularly busy time for booksellers. Including Esther and me.”
Aware Mr. Pierce hadn’t been this chatty in a long time—if ever—Nora straightened a stack of Welcome folders on her desk. “I remember,” she said fondly. The Book Nook had been a treasure trove of gifts during the holidays. The married owners were a delight.
Mr. Pierce settled back in his chair and sipped his tea. “I want Lynn to have a very nice Christmas, too.”
It was good he was focused on his daughter and her upcoming visit. Those plans would help keep him grounded. “I know she’s excited,” Nora said. The actress had already phoned to request that she and her father be allowed to eat at least one meal in the private dining room.
Mr. Pierce opened up his tablet. “I probably should make up a list,” he said, as if anxious to get going. “I still have a lot to do to get ready for Christmas.”
Didn’t they all?
“Then I’ll leave you to it.” Nora shut the door quietly behind her and went down the hall to the conference room, where Dr. Wheeler was just finishing reviewing the files Nora had set in front of him.
“You’re right.” The physician looked up from the notes he had been making. “The time frame fits. But you and I have both done extensive research on possible drug interactions in this case. There’s no documented evidence that the new antihistamine Mr. Pierce started taking after his move to New York City last summer could be causing his intermittent disorientation and memory issues.”
But there was no documented evidence that it wasn’t, Nora thought. Quietly, she persuaded, “It’s only been on the market a year. Maybe there just isn’t enough data yet for it to show up. Or maybe the new drug is fine on its own, but when it’s combined with the particular blood pressure and cholesterol medications Mr. Pierce takes, there’s an interaction. Or maybe for most people there is no negative side effect, even with that particular combination, but for him there is.”
Dr. Wheeler steepled his hands in front of him. “You want to take him off the new potentially troublesome medication and put him back on his previous allergy medicine?”
Eager to get her fellow clinician on board, Nora nodded. “It’s the only way to eliminate the new medication as being the culprit.”
Dr. Wheeler closed the file. “Okay. Let’s go see him.”
Together, they walked down the hall.
Nora’s office door was open.
Unfortunately, Mr. Pierce was not where she had left him. His travel mug of green tea, tablet and leather-bound copy of A Christmas Carol were also gone. “Maybe he went back to his suite,” she said.
But Mr. Pierce wasn’t there, either. Nor was he in the community room. The music room. The dining hall, or anywhere else they could fathom. In fact, they realized quickly, he wasn’t anywhere on the premises, inside or out.
Beginning to panic, Nora called the Laramie County sheriff’s department, and then Zane.
Both arrived within minutes.
Deputy Kyle McCabe strode in with several fellow officers. Zane and a whole cadre of ex-military followed.
Zane went straight to Nora and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “We’ll find Mr. Pierce,” he promised.
But would it be in time? Nora wondered, distraught. “His brown leather jacket and fedora are still in the closet in his room. Which means all he has on is his flannel shirt and corduroy trousers.”
And with it being around thirty-four degrees outside, hypothermia was a real concern for the eighty-five-year-old.
“How long do you think he’s been gone?” Deputy McCabe asked.
Nora consulted her watch. “Thirty minutes, at most.”
Zane speculated, “If he’s on foot, he can’t have gone far.”
What if he wasn’t in his right mind? “He could be confused.”
“Is there anything else missing?” Deputy Kyle McCabe asked.
“Like what?” Nora asked.
“Your minivan,” Zane said.
Nora rushed to the front of the building.
Sure enough, the space where she had parked was empty.
She dashed back to her office. Her purse was still there where she had left it, with her coat on the hook by the door. The exterior pocket was unzipped. She groaned. “My keys are gone, too.”
Zane sobered all the more. “If he was confused, he might have thought he was driving his own vehicle.”
Betty joined them. “He was talking about Esther at breakfast, and...well, it almost sounded as if he thought she were still here with us...”
Darrell Enlow joined them. “He asked me where I thought the best place in the county was to find a live tree if you wanted to cut it down yourself. I said I didn’t know. I hadn’t done it in years.”
Miss Patricia said, “He also said something about getting his favorite Christmas ornaments out of storage.”
“When I left him, he was making a list of things he still had left to do to get ready for Christmas,” Nora added.
“So he’s probably out running errands,” Zane said.
Kyle took down the license plate of Nora’s minivan, then issued a Silver Alert. “Two patrol cars are canvassing the town limits as we speak. No one has caught sight of him yet.”
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