Merry Christmas, Baby Maverick!

by Brenda Harlen

  Her tone was prim but the pulse point at the base of her jaw was racing. Satisfied by this proof that she wasn’t as unaffected as she wanted him to believe, he backed off. “That’ll work,” he agreed. “For now.”

  The system of shared labor did work well, and they chatted while they wrapped. Their conversation was mostly easy and casual, but every once in a while, he’d allow his hand to brush against hers, or his knee to bump hers beneath the table. And every time they touched, her breath would catch and her gaze would slide away, reassuring him that the feelings churning inside him weren’t entirely one-sided.

  “I’m always impressed by the generosity of people at this time of year,” he noted. “Even those folks who don’t have a lot to give manage to make a contribution.”

  “You’re right,” Kayla agreed. “The year of the flood, when so many local families were struggling, Nina started the Tree of Hope to ensure that everyone in town had a holiday meal and presents under their tree. The response of the community was overwhelming.”

  “Nina Crawford?”

  Kayla nodded. “Actually, she’s Nina Traub now.”

  He’d grown up knowing about the feud between the Crawfords and the Traubs, although no one seemed to know for sure what had caused the rift between the families. Regardless of the origins, the animosity had endured through generations and escalated further when Nathan Crawford and Colin Traub both ran for the vacant mayoral seat after the flood. How Nathan’s sister had ended up married to Colin’s brother was a mystery to a lot of people, but their union showed promise of being the first step toward mending the rift between the families.

  “The Tree of Hope is just one example of how the people of Rust Creek Falls look out for one another,” she continued.

  “I don’t think I ever realized how much they did until I saw the way everyone pitched in and worked together after the flood.”

  “We had a lot of help from our Thunder Canyon neighbors, too,” she reminded him. “And the money and publicity that Lissa brought in through Bootstraps was invaluable.”

  He nodded. “But looking around the town, I don’t think anyone who wasn’t here to see the devastation would ever guess how badly the town was hit.”

  “We’re doing okay now.”

  “Better than okay, from what I’ve heard, since Maverick Manor opened its doors.”

  “Nate and Callie have big plans for their place, but I don’t think the Thunder Canyon Resort needs to worry about its clientele heading this way.”

  “Have you ever been to the resort?” Trey asked.

  She shook her head.

  “You should come for a visit sometime.”

  Kayla wasn’t sure if his statement was a general comment or an invitation, so she kept her response equally vague. “I’ve thought about it,” she said. “In fact, I had considered doing some Christmas shopping that way.”

  “I wish you had come to Thunder Canyon,” he said. “It would have been nice to spend some time with you without our every step being examined under the microscope of public opinion.”

  “Such is life in a small town,” she said, glancing at the door to see Kristen and Ryan enter the hall.

  “I didn’t think you were going to make it,” Kayla said to her sister.

  “We didn’t, either,” Kristen admitted. “And I was exhausted after our final performance this week, but we both wanted to help out.”

  “There’s no shortage of help,” Trey said. “But still plenty to do—especially if you have more wrapping experience than I do.”

  “How long have you guys been here?” Kristen asked.

  “When I arrived, around seven-thirty, Trey was already here,” Kayla told her.

  “Which means you both must be ready for a break,” Kristen decided. “Why don’t Ryan and I take over for a little while so that you and Trey can take a walk to stretch your legs and get some fresh air?”

  “Isn’t it a little cold outside for an evening stroll?”

  “Not if you bundle up,” Kristen said.

  Trey glanced from Kristen to her sister and back again. “Why do you want us to go for a walk?”

  “Because Kayla needs to talk to you.”

  He looked at Kayla. “Can’t we talk here?”

  “No,” Kristen said firmly, leaving her fiancé looking as confused as Trey felt. “Kayla needs to speak with you privately.”

  He looked at Kayla; she glared at her sister then offered him a halfhearted shrug.

  “O-kay,” he decided, pushing his chair away from the table.

  Kayla did the same, sliding her arms into the sleeves of the ski jacket she’d draped over her chair.

  It was frigid outside, and she shoved her hands into the pockets and tucked her chin into the collar of her jacket.

  “It’s going to snow,” Trey said, pulling on his gloves.

  “It’s December in Montana,” she agreed. “The odds are definitely in favor of more white stuff.”

  He chuckled at that. “So where are we walking to?”

  “There’s really nowhere to go.”

  “Then maybe you should just tell me why your sister was so determined to get us out of the community center so we could talk.”

  “Because she doesn’t know how to mind her own business,” Kayla grumbled.

  But she knew her sister was right—Trey needed to know about the baby. And she needed to be the one to tell him.

  “That’s a little cryptic,” he noted.

  “I told you that Kristen knows what happened the night of the wedding,” she reminded him.

  He nodded.

  “Well, she thought I should talk to you about...”

  “About?” he prompted.

  But her attention had been snagged by the approach of another couple. “I didn’t know Forrest and Angie were in town.”

  Trey turned to follow the direction of her gaze. “They’re very involved with Presents for Patriots.”

  Kayla wasn’t surprised by this revelation. Forrest was one of six sons born to Bob and Ellie Traub but the only one who had opted for a career in the military rather than on the family ranch. Three years earlier, he’d returned from Iraq with a severely injured leg and PTSD. He’d gone to Thunder Canyon for treatment and therapy at the hospital there—although there was speculation that he’d wanted to escape all of the attention of being a hometown hero even more than he wanted to fix his leg. It was in Thunder Canyon that he’d met and fallen in love with Angie Anderson, and it warmed Kayla’s heart to see how sincerely happy and content Forrest was now that he’d found the right woman to share his life.

  They chatted with the war veteran and his wife for a few minutes before they continued into the hall. When the doors closed behind them, Kayla braced herself to speak once again. Then Bennett and Lucy Traub raced out of the community center, followed closely by their parents, Clay and Antonia.

  “This isn’t the easiest place to have a conversation, is it?” Trey asked when the Traubs had moved on.

  “Not tonight,” she agreed.

  “So maybe we should try something different,” he suggested, and lowered his head to touch his mouth to hers.

  He caught her off guard.

  Kayla had been so preoccupied thinking about the conversation they weren’t having that she didn’t realize his intention until he was kissing her. And then her brain shut down completely as her body melted against his.

  Trey wrapped his arms around her, holding her as close as their bulky outerwear would allow. She lifted her arms to link them behind his head, holding on to him as the world spun beneath her feet.

  It was funny—they couldn’t seem to have a two-minute conversation without being interrupted, but the kiss they shared went on and on, blissfully, endlessly. When Trey finally eased his
lips from hers, they were both breathless.

  “I wondered,” he said.

  “What did you wonder?”

  “If your lips would taste as I remembered.”

  “Do they?”

  “No,” he said. “They taste even better.”

  She felt her cheeks flush despite the chilly air. “I thought you wanted to forget about that night.”

  “I’m not sorry about what happened between us in the summer. I just wish we hadn’t rushed into bed.”

  “I’d guess that had more to do with the punch than either of us,” she said.

  “Or the chemistry between us.”

  “I thought the alcohol was responsible for the chemistry.”

  “Have you been drinking tonight?”

  She flushed. “Of course not.”

  “Because from where I’m standing, that kiss we just shared proves the sparks between us are real, and I’d like to spend some time with you while I’m in town over the holidays, so that we can get to know one another better, and maybe see where the chemistry leads us.”

  “But you’re only going to be in town for a few weeks,” she reminded him—reminded both of them.

  “Thunder Canyon isn’t that far away.”

  “And I’m sure there’s no shortage of women there.”

  “There’s not,” he agreed. “But I haven’t stopped thinking about you since July. I haven’t been out with another woman in all that time because I didn’t want to go out with anyone else.”

  His words stirred hope in her heart. If he really meant what he was saying, maybe they could build a relationship—except that anything they started to build now would be on a foundation of lies, or at least omission.

  Her baby—their baby—kicked inside her belly, a not-so-subtle reminder of that omission.

  “Trey...”

  “Just give us a chance,” he urged.

  “I want to,” she admitted. “But—”

  He touched his fingers to her lips. “It’s enough that you’re willing to give us a chance.”

  She shook her head. “There are things you don’t know. Things you need to know.”

  “We’ve got time to find out everything we need to know about one another,” he told her. “I don’t want to rush anything.”

  And she let herself be persuaded, because it was easier than telling him the truth.

  Or so she thought until she considered having to go back inside and face her sister. Because she knew Kristen would take one look at her and immediately know that she’d failed in her assigned task.

  “We should probably get back inside before people start whispering and my grandparents read about our disappearance from the gift-wrapping in Rust Creek Ramblings.”

  “They won’t read anything in the paper,” she told him.

  His brows lifted. “How can you be so certain?”

  Kayla wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that.

  “Is that what your sister wanted you to tell me?”

  “What?”

  “That you’re the Rust Creek Rambler.”

  She gasped, shocked as much by his casual delivery as the statement itself. “Why would you think that?”

  “The first clue was your assurance that Kristen wasn’t the Rust Creek Rambler. It occurred to me that the only way you could be so certain was if you knew the true identity of the Rambler. And then, when we saw Will and Jordyn Leigh at the diner, you made reference to their intoxicated nuptials—which was, coincidentally, the same phrase that was used in the ‘Ramblings’ column.”

  She was surprised that he’d figured it out. She’d been writing the column for three and a half years with no one, aside from the paper’s editor, being aware of her identity.

  “You’re right,” she admitted softly. “But no one else in town has ever shown any suspicion about me being the author of the column.”

  “Maybe because no one else has been paying close attention to you.”

  “Are you mad?”

  “Why would I be mad?”

  “Because I kept it from you.”

  “And everyone else in town.”

  She nodded.

  “Actually, I’m more baffled—especially when I think about what was written in Ramblings about the two of us dancing together at the wedding.”

  She shrugged. “Several people saw us together. If I’d ignored that, it would have been suspicious. By mentioning it in the column, it deflected attention away from me as the possible author.”

  “Clever,” he noted. “So tell me, is your copy editing job real or just a cover?”

  “It’s real, but only part of what I do.”

  “You are full of surprises,” he told her. “But I’m not sure why it mattered so much to your sister that you tell me about your secret occupation.”

  “Kristen’s a big fan of open communication,” she told him. “But I wouldn’t be able to do my job if everyone knew that I was the Rambler, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t out me to the whole community.”

  “I think, if I’m going to keep such a big secret for you, I’m going to need something in return.”

  “What kind of something?” she asked warily.

  “Help with my Christmas shopping?” he suggested.

  She smiled. “You’ve got a deal.”

  * * *

  Kayla hadn’t seen Trey since their gift-wrapping at the community center. She’d been lying low on purpose—not just because she still hadn’t figured out how to tell him about the baby, but because she wanted to be able to tell her sister that she hadn’t seen him and, therefore, hadn’t had a chance to tell him.

  Apparently, she was a liar and a coward. And while she wasn’t particularly proud of her behavior, she consoled herself with the assurance that these were desperate times.

  Thursday afternoon she went into the newspaper office again to work on the Sunday edition of the paper and polish her own column. Unfortunately, the onset of winter meant that many residents were hunkered down indoors rather than creating and disseminating juicy headlines.

  There were rumors that Alistair Warren had spent several hours with the widow next door during a recent storm—“much longer than it would take to fill her firebox with wood” she’d heard from one source—but Kayla didn’t have much more than that for her column.

  She considered mentioning that Trey Strickland had recently been spotted at Crawford’s buying diapers, but putting his name into any context with babies hit a little too close to the secret she was keeping—and knew she couldn’t continue to keep for much longer.

  Already her mother was looking at her with that calculating gleam in her eye, as if she knew her daughter was hiding something from her. Kayla’s father—always preoccupied with ranch business—probably wouldn’t notice if she sat down at the breakfast table with a ring through her nose, but her mother had always had an uncanny sense when it came to every one of her five children.

  Kayla wanted to share the news of her baby with her family. She wasn’t particularly proud of the circumstances surrounding the conception, but she wasn’t ashamed of her baby. And the further she progressed in her pregnancy, the more she wanted to talk to her mother about being a mother, about the changes her body was going through and the confusing array of emotions she was experiencing. She wanted to share her thoughts and feelings with someone who had been through what she was going through right now.

  Kristen had been great—aside from the constant pressure to tell Trey—but her sister was so caught up in the excitement of being in love and planning her wedding, she couldn’t imagine the doubts and fears that overwhelmed Kayla.

  She so desperately wanted to do right by her baby, to give her child the life he or she deserved. Of course, Kristen kept insisting the bab
y was a he, despite the fact that the ultrasound photo gave nothing away.

  Kayla opened the zippered pocket inside her purse and carefully removed that photo now. At the time it was taken, her baby had measured about five inches long and weighed around seven ounces.

  “About the size of a bell pepper,” the technician had said, to help Kayla put the numbers into perspective.

  She’d also reassured the mother-to-be that baby had all the requisite parts—although the baby’s positioning didn’t reveal whether there were boy parts or girl parts—but it was the rapid beating of the tiny heart on the monitor that snagged Kayla’s attention and filled her own heart.

  She’d marveled at the baby’s movements on the screen, but she hadn’t been able to feel any of those movements inside her. Not until almost three weeks later.

  She was much more attuned to the tiny flutters and kicks now. Of course, the baby seemed most active when she was trying to sleep at night, but she didn’t mind. Alone in her room, she would put her hands on her belly and let herself think about the tiny person growing inside her.

  Her doctor had suggested that she start looking into childbirth classes. Kayla understood the wisdom of this advice, but she didn’t dare register for classes in Rust Creek Falls and she didn’t know that she’d be able to get to Kalispell every week to commit to classes there. Although Kalispell was a much bigger city than Rust Creek Falls, her encounter with Melba Strickland at the shopping mall had reminded her that she couldn’t count on anonymity there. Instead, she’d been reading everything she could find and had even been taking online classes about pregnancy and childbirth.

  As she traced the outline of her baby’s shape with her fingertip, she hoped her efforts were enough. She was so afraid of doing something wrong, of somehow screwing up this tiny, fragile life that was growing inside her.

  She wanted to show the picture to Trey; she wanted to talk about her hopes and dreams for their child and share her fears. Mostly, she wanted him to want to be part of their child’s life, because she didn’t want to raise their child alone. She wanted her baby to have two parents.

  The beep of her phone interrupted her thoughts. She carefully tucked the photo away again before checking the message from her sister.