Merry Christmas, Baby Maverick!

by Brenda Harlen

  She shuddered at the thought. “Because that place on a Friday night is a bad idea.”

  The local bar and grill was more than a little rough around the edges at the best of times—and a Friday night was never the best of times as the cowboys who worked so hard during the week on the local ranches believed in partying just as hard on the weekends. As a result, it wasn’t unusual for tempers to flare and fists to fly, and Kayla had no interest in that kind of drama tonight.

  Natalie sighed. “You’re right—how about a hot chocolate instead?”

  That offer was definitely more tempting. Though Kayla hadn’t experienced many cravings, and thankfully nothing too unusual, the baby had definitely shown signs in recent weeks of having a sweet tooth, and she knew that hot chocolate would satisfy that craving. But, “I thought you had to open up the store in the morning.”

  Natalie waved a hand dismissively. “Morning is a long time away.”

  “Hot chocolate sounds good,” she admitted.

  “It tastes even better,” Trey said from behind her.

  Kayla thought he’d left the gym after helping to stack the chairs, but apparently that had been wishful thinking on her part.

  “But where can you get hot chocolate in town at this time of night?” he asked.

  “Daisy’s,” Natalie told him. “It’s open late now, with an expanded beverage menu and pastries to encourage people to stay in town rather than heading to the city.”

  “I always did like their hot chocolate,” Trey said. “Do you mind if I join you?”

  “Of course not,” Natalie said, buttoning up her coat as they exited the gym.

  They said “hello” to various townspeople as they passed them in the halls, stopping on the way to chat with some other friends from high school. A few guys invited Trey to go for a beer at the Ace in the Hole, but he told them that he already had plans. When they finally made their escape, Natalie pulled her phone out of her pocket and frowned at the time displayed on the screen. “I didn’t realize it was getting to be so late.”

  Kayla narrowed her gaze on her friend, wondering how it had gone from “still pretty early” to “so late” in the space of ten minutes.

  “I think I should skip the hot chocolate tonight,” Natalie decided. “I have to be up early to open the store in the morning.”

  “You were the one who suggested it,” Kayla pointed out.

  “I know,” her friend agreed. “And I hate to bail, but there’s no reason that you and Trey can’t go without me.”

  Kayla glanced at Trey. “Wouldn’t you rather go to the Ace in the Hole with your friends than to Daisy’s with me?”

  “Let me see—reminiscing about high school football with a bunch of washed-up jocks or making conversation with a pretty girl?” He winked at her. “It seems like a no-brainer to me.”

  “Great,” Natalie said, a little too enthusiastically.

  Then she leaned in to give Kayla a quick hug and whisper in her ear. “I’ll call you tomorrow to hear all of the juicy details, so make sure there are some juicy details.”

  Chapter Four

  “She’s not very subtle, is she?” Trey asked Kayla, after her friend had gone.

  “Not at all,” she agreed. “And if you want to skip the hot chocolate—”

  “I don’t want to skip the hot chocolate,” he told her.

  “Okay.”

  It was one little word—barely two syllables—which made it hard for him to read her tone to know what she was thinking. But her spine was stiff and her hands stuffed deep in the pockets of her jacket, clear indications that she was neither behind her friend’s machinations nor pleased by them.

  “Do you want to skip the hot chocolate?” he asked her.

  Her hesitation was so brief it was barely noticeable before she replied, “I never say no to hot chocolate.”

  Despite her words, he suspected that she wanted to but couldn’t think of a way to graciously extricate herself from the situation that had been set up by her friend.

  Was she avoiding him? Was she uneasy because of what had happened between them in the summer? He couldn’t blame her if she was, especially since they hadn’t ever talked about that night. Not since that first day, anyway, before he’d had a chance to really remember what happened.

  He didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable around him. Aside from the fact that her brother was one of his best friends, Rust Creek Falls was a small town, and it was inevitable that they would bump into one another. For that reason alone, they needed to clear the air between them.

  “I’d offer to drive, but I walked over,” he told her.

  His grandparents’ boarding house being centrally located, there wasn’t anything in the town that wasn’t within walking distance. Which included Daisy’s Donuts, only a block over from the high school.

  “We’ll go in my truck,” she said, because driving was preferable to walking even that short distance in the frigid temperatures that prevailed in Montana in December.

  She unlocked the doors with the electronic key fob, and he followed her to the driver’s side and opened the door to help her in. It was a big truck, and she had to step up onto the running board first. He cupped her elbow, to ensure she didn’t lose her balance, and she murmured a quiet “Thanks.”

  By the time he’d buckled himself into the passenger side, she had the truck in gear. Either she was really craving hot chocolate or she didn’t want to be alone with him for a minute longer than necessary. He suspected it was the latter.

  He wasn’t sure if she was sending mixed signals or if he was just having trouble deciphering them. When he’d stepped out of the community center earlier that afternoon and saw her walking past, he’d been sincerely pleased to see her. His blood had immediately heated and his heart had pounded hard and fast inside his chest. And he’d thought that she was happy to see him, too.

  In that first moment, when their eyes had met, he was sure there had been a spark in her blue gaze and a smile on her lips. Then her smile had faltered, as if she wasn’t sure that she should be happy to see him. Which confirmed to him that they needed to talk about the Fourth of July.

  As she parked in front of Daisy’s Donuts, he realized this probably wasn’t the place to do so. Not unless they wanted to announce their secret to all of Rust Creek Falls, which he was fairly certain neither of them did.

  “Why don’t you grab a table while I get our drinks?” he suggested.

  “Okay,” she agreed.

  “Any special requests?” He glanced at the board. “Dark chocolate? White chocolate? Peppermint? Caramel?”

  “Regular,” she said. “With extra whipped cream.”

  “You got it.”

  He decided to have the same and added a couple of gingerbread cookies to the order, too.

  “I thought you might be hungry,” he told her, setting the plate of cookies between them. “Considering that I ate all of your popcorn.”

  “I’m not hungry,” she said, accepting the mug he slid across the table to her. “But I love gingerbread cookies. My mother used to make a ton of them at Christmastime, but there were never any left when company came over because Kristen and I used to sneak down to the kitchen and eat all of them.”

  “You said she used to make them,” he noted. “She doesn’t anymore?”

  “She makes us do it now. She decided that since we eat most of them anyway, we should know how to make them.”

  He nudged the plate toward her, silently urging her to take a cookie. She broke the leg off one, popped it into her mouth.

  “Good?”

  She nodded.

  “My grandmother used to make gingerbread houses—one for each of the grandkids to decorate. When I think back, she must have spent a fortune on candy, and we ate more than we put o
n the buildings.” He broke a piece off the other cookie, sampled it. “I wonder if she’d make one for me this year, if I asked.”

  “I’m sure she’d make anything you wanted,” Kayla said.

  “What makes you say that?” he asked curiously.

  “Three words.” She broke off the gingerbread boy’s other leg. “Vanilla almond fudge.”

  He smiled, thinking of the plate he’d found on his bedside table—neatly wrapped in plastic and tied with a bow. “She does spoil me,” he admitted.

  Kayla smiled back, and their eyes held for a brief second before she quickly dropped her gaze away.

  The group of teenagers who had been sitting nearby got up from their table, put on their coats, hats and gloves and headed out the door. There were still other customers around, but no one close enough that he needed to worry about their conversation being overheard.

  “Did I do something wrong?”

  She looked up again. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “But I get the feeling that you’re not very happy to see me back in town.”

  She sipped her cocoa and shrugged. “Your coming back doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

  “Maybe it does,” he said. “Because I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I left Rust Creek Falls in the summer.”

  She blinked. “You haven’t?”

  “I haven’t,” he confirmed, holding her gaze.

  “Oh.”

  He waited a beat, but she didn’t say anything more. “It would be nice to hear that you’ve thought about me, too...if you have.”

  She glanced away, color filling her cheeks. “I have.”

  “And the night of the wedding?” he prompted.

  He watched, intrigued, as the pink in her cheeks deepened.

  “You mean the night we were both drinking the spiked punch?” she asked.

  “Is that the only reason you started talking to me that night?”

  “Probably,” she admitted. “I mean—I would have wanted to talk to you, but I wouldn’t have had the nerve to start a conversation.”

  “And the kiss? Was that because of the punch, too?”

  “You kissed me,” she said indignantly.

  “You kissed back pretty good,” he told her.

  She remained silent, probably because she couldn’t deny it.

  “And then you went back to my room with me,” he prompted further.

  She nodded slowly, almost reluctantly.

  “Are you sorry that you did?”

  She kept her gaze averted from his, but she shook her head.

  “I’m not sorry, either,” he told her. “The only thing I regret is that it took me so long to remember what happened.”

  “Lots of people had memory lapses after that night—because of the punch,” she said.

  “Do you really think that what happened between us only happened because of the punch?”

  “Don’t you?”

  He frowned at her question. “I don’t know how drunk you were, but I can assure you, there isn’t enough alcohol in the world to make me get naked with a woman I’m not attracted to.”

  Her perfectly arched brows drew together. “You were attracted...to me?”

  “Why do you find that so hard to believe?”

  “I’m the quiet one. Kristen’s the pretty one.”

  “You’re identical twins.”

  She lifted a shoulder. “You seem to be able to tell us apart.”

  “There are some subtle differences,” he acknowledged. “Your eyes are a little bit darker, your bottom lip is just a little bit fuller and you have a mole on the top of your left earlobe.”

  “I never would have guessed you were so observant,” she said, blushing a little.

  “I didn’t realize how much I observed you,” he admitted. “Are you worried now that I’m a stalker?”

  She shook her head. “No, I’m not worried you’re a stalker.”

  “Then you should trust me when I say that you’re a beautiful woman, Kayla. Beautiful, sweet, smart and sexy.”

  “Sexy?”

  “Incredibly sexy,” he assured her.

  She folded her arms over her chest. “Is that what this is about?”

  “What?” he asked warily.

  “You figure that since I fell into your bed so easily that night, I’d be eager to do so again. Is that the real reason you wanted to see me?”

  He held up his hands as his head spun with the effort of following her convoluted logic. “Whoa! Wait a minute.”

  “You wait a minute,” she said. “I’m not so pathetic that I’m willing to go home with any guy who says a few kind words to me.”

  His jaw dropped. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about your apparent effort to lure me back into your bed.”

  “I didn’t lure you the first time,” he reminded her. “You were the one who approached me at the wedding. You were the one who rubbed your body against mine on the dance floor. And you were the one who said you’d go back to my room with me.”

  She dropped her face into her hands. “Ohmygod—I did do all of that, didn’t I? It was all my fault.”

  Her reaction seemed a little extreme to him, but she sounded so distraught, he couldn’t help wanting to console her. “I’m not sure there’s any need to assign blame,” he said. “Especially considering that I didn’t object to any of it.”

  “I really am pathetic.”

  He reached across the table and pulled her hands away from her face. “No, you’re not.”

  “I am,” she insisted. “I had such a crush on you in high school.”

  “You did?”

  “And you didn’t even know I existed.”

  “I knew you existed,” he said. “But you were Derek’s little sister.”

  She nodded. “And I guess...when you asked me to dance... I got caught up in the high school fantasy again.”

  “You had fantasies about me?” He was intrigued by the possibility.

  “You played the starring role in all of my romantic dreams.”

  “I’m flattered,” he told her sincerely. “But why are you telling me this now?”

  * * *

  Why was she telling him this? Kayla asked herself the same question.

  Because she was nervous, and she always babbled when she was nervous. Of course, now that she’d confided in him about her schoolgirl crush, she could add mortified to the list of emotions that were clouding her brain.

  “I’m trying to explain...and apologize.”

  “I don’t want an apology.”

  “But I threw myself at you,” she said miserably.

  And, as a result of her actions, she was now pregnant with his baby. Which was what she was trying to work up to telling him, but she was sure that when she did, he would hate her—and she really didn’t want him to hate her.

  “It wasn’t like that at all,” he assured her. “And even if it was, I was happy to catch you.”

  “I don’t usually...do what I did that night.”

  Trey was quiet for a minute before he finally said, “It seems obvious that you think that night was a mistake, and your brother would undoubtedly agree—after he pounded on me for taking advantage of you. And while I’m sorry you feel that way, I have no intention of telling anyone about what happened between us, if that’s what you’re worried about. As far as I’m concerned, it will be our little secret, okay?”

  His speech left her speechless. The words that Kayla had been struggling to put together into a coherent sentence faded from her mind. Tears clogged her throat, burned her eyes, as she shook her head.

  “I’m not sure that’s possible,”
she admitted.

  “You told somebody about that night?” he guessed.

  She nodded. “My sister.”

  “Oh.” He considered for a minute, then let out a weary sigh. “Well, I’m sure you can trust your sister to keep your secrets. Unless...”

  “Unless what?”

  “I’ve heard some speculation that she’s the Rust Creek Rambler,” he admitted.

  “She’s not.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “I’m sure,” she confirmed. “If she was the Rambler, I would know.”

  “Then our secret is safe,” he said again.

  She thought about the baby she carried, the tiny life that was even now fluttering in her belly. She’d managed to keep her pregnancy a secret from everyone—even her own family—for months. But she’d put on nine pounds already, and the bulky sweaters she’d been wearing wouldn’t hide the baby bump for much longer.

  You have to tell Trey.

  She opened her mouth to do so when her cousin, Caleb, came in with his wife, Mallory. They waved a greeting across the room before stepping up to the counter to order their drinks.

  When they took their beverages to the table behind Kayla and Trey, she knew that the opportunity to tell him about her pregnancy had slipped away.

  RUST CREEK RAMBLINGS: LIGHTS! CAMERAS! ACTIVIST!

  Lily Dalton, the town’s littlest matchmaker (though certainly not the only one!) has turned her talents toward a new vocation: acting. But when the sign-up sheet was posted for auditions for the elementary school’s production of The Nutcracker, the precocious third-grader refused to succumb to gender stereotypes. Uninterested in the traditional female parts, she insisted on auditioning for the title role—and won! The revised tale will undoubtedly be the highlight of this year’s holiday pageant...

  “I can’t believe I had to hear about your date with Trey Strickland from Natalie Crawford,” Kristen grumbled. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “It wasn’t a date,” Kayla pointed out. “And I didn’t have a chance to tell you, because this is the first time you’ve been home since Friday night.”