“Really,” she said, annoyed.
“How in the world did he manage that?” Nate asked.
“Well, a lot of phone calls while he was working. He talked to each one of us every day, sometimes several times a day. But with very few exceptions, we were assigned certain nights. We thought those were the days he didn’t have to leave town. I should have known where I stood in the line. I was getting Mondays and Tuesdays. The woman he decided was the real one in his life was getting the weekends—Saturdays and Sundays. She dumped him, of course, when she discovered Ms. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Three days a week must be the trump, huh?”
“Holy cow,” Nate said. “He didn’t even need a house or apartment! He had all his nights covered!”
“You know, I’m not impressed by his ability to pull it off.”
“Of course you’re not,” Nate said. “But if you just think about it, he had quite a scam going. Did he take you lots of places? Buy you nice things?”
“He couldn’t do either,” she explained. “First of all, he couldn’t risk being seen out and about with a woman, since one of the other women or their friends might run into him. So he said he was so tired, and after a week of being on the road and eating in restaurants, he enjoyed staying home.”
“Where you could cook for him,” Nate stated.
She pursed her lips, narrowed her eyes and nodded. “He did buy me a hot-water heater when mine went out,” she admitted. “He might’ve needed that hot shower,” she muttered.
“The man’s a genius,” Nate said. Then upon studying her face, he said, “Oh he’s a bastard, but you have to give him some credit for all the planning and subterfuge that—”
“I give him no credit,” she said harshly.
He grabbed her hand then, pulled her closer and said, “Of course not. No credit. He should be killed. But I’m glad he didn’t choose you. What if he’d chosen you? Can you imagine? We’d never meet and fall in love!”
She was so stunned that she pulled back on the reins and stopped her horse. “Are we in love?” she asked.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m just getting started here—there’s lots of potential. And he doesn’t deserve you. I, however, deserve you. And will take you anywhere you want. And I’m going to hold your hand the whole time. I’ll feed you cookies and kiss your neck in public.”
“People will think I’m your girlfriend.”
“That’s what I want people to think. I’m going to start right away. We’re going to go out. We’ll drive into town to look at Christmas decorations, go to Virgin River to check out the tree and have some of Preacher’s dinner, and then I’m going to take you to a nice restaurant on the weekend. And anything else you feel like doing.”
“Why?” she asked.
“I want everyone to know you’re with me. I want everyone to know you’re not Sundays and Mondays—you’re every day.”
Again she pulled back on the reins and stopped her horse. “What’s sexier than a string bikini, Nathaniel?”
“Are you kidding me?” He reined in beside her. His voice grew quiet and serious. He rubbed a knuckle down her cheek, over her jaw, gazing into her dark eyes. “Denim turns me on. Long legs in jeans and boots astride a big horse, making him dance to subtle commands. A rough workshirt under a down vest, feeding a newborn foal with a bottle because the mare isn’t responding.” He threaded his fingers into her hair and said, “Silk, instead of cotton candy. A fire on a cold, snowy night. A woman in my arms, soft and content, happy with the same things that make me happy. Help making homemade pizza—that turns me on. A woman who knows how to deliver a calf when there’s trouble—that blows my horn. A woman who can muck out a stall and then fall into the fresh hay and let me fall right on top of her. I’d like to try that real soon.”
Her eyes clouded a bit. “Are you just leading me on? Because when Ed pulled his trick, my brothers wanted to kill him, but I wouldn’t let them. You? If you’re lying, I’m going to let them. You’ll suffer before you die.”
“I’m not lying, Annie. And you know it.”
“Well, okay, then answer this—if you like me, why haven’t you liked someone before me? Because these hills are full of girls just like me—sturdy farm girls who have pulled their share of foals from the dams, fed them and kept them warm and—”
“No, there aren’t,” he said. “I’ve been looking. Just like you, I haven’t had a whole lot of dates because there really wasn’t anyone like you. You’re one of a kind, Annie McKenzie. I’m sorry you don’t seem to know that. But now that I’ve found you, we need to date…and a whole lot more.”
“Be warned,” she said. “I’m not casual about this stuff.”
“Me, neither,” he said.
After they put up the horses’ tack and brushed them down, when it was time to change for dinner, he suggested they share a shower.
“I don’t think so, Nate. Not yet,” she said. “Does my door lock?” And he laughed at her.
On the way to Arcata they enjoyed the multicolored Christmas lights all along the coastal towns and up into the mountains. The Arcata square was decorated with lights, lit-up trees and a life-size nativity scene. Many of the shop windows were also decorated and filled with Christmas ornaments, gaily dressed mannequins and animated toys. Just as he’d promised, he held her hand everywhere they went. He had chosen an Italian restaurant on the square, and as it happened, it was one of her favorites. It boasted homemade pasta, robust red wine and excellent tiramisu.
“When are your brothers and their families arriving?” he asked over dinner.
“Tomorrow,” she said. “By the way, you’re invited to dinner. Please be cool around my brothers and don’t give anything away. They haven’t grown up at all since you knew them, despite the fact they have sons of their own.”
“I’ll be cool, all right,” he promised. “Don’t you worry.” And then he grinned.
Five
It was a successful date, proved by the way they were in each other’s arms, kissing deeply, before they were even in his house. It was still early enough to get in a good, long session of kissing on that soft, deep, inviting couch, and they fell on it together, taking turns helping each other out of boots and jackets without hardly breaking the kiss. Within moments they were in their favorite position on that great sofa, lined up against each other, exploring the inner softness of their mouths. Her body grew predictably supple and soft while his grew more urgent and hard.
Nathaniel whispered, “Annie. Come to my bed.”
And she said, “No.”
“No?” he answered weakly. “Annie, you don’t mean that.”
“I do mean it. No.”
“But you kiss me like you’re ready. Why not?”
She pushed herself up on the couch just slightly so she could look at his eyes. “We’ve only known each other three weeks, for starters.”
“I’ve kind of known you my whole life, even if I haven’t known you since you got your braces off. But I’ve known you intensely for three weeks.”
“We knew each other superficially for one week and intensely for the next two weeks. I might require a little more than that.”
“Why?”
“Because I just broke up with Ed. Six months ago. It isn’t that long.”
“It’s forever,” he said. “I should have made you forget he ever existed by now.”
“I think in another couple of weeks, I will have forgotten. And I’d kind of like to know how you feel after you’ve had your chance to lie on the beach surrounded by beautiful bodies in very small bathing suits.”
“Oh, that. Listen, that’s not even part of the equation,” he said. “Really. That trip has nothing to do with how I feel.”
“It has to do with how I feel,” she said.
“Annie, if I hadn’t made arrangements for this vacation long before I met you, I sure wouldn’t plan it now. And it was a lot more than wanting to be lost in bikinis, believe me. It was a very convenient,
very convincing plan, so I wouldn’t find myself held hostage on a cruise ship with all my sisters and their kids. I explained—my brothers-in-law are great, but when their wives are around…”
“They have to act like husbands and fathers?”
“As opposed to regular guys,” he clarified with a nod. “We’ve been on a couple of fishing trips together and I’m telling you, these guys are the best. They are my brothers. But when my sisters and the kids are around…”
“Husbands and fathers,” she said helpfully again.
“But I’m not,” he said. “I’m bored out of my mind. The only reprieve I get is a brandy and cigar with my dad and a conversation about veterinary medicine. Come on, don’t you feel sorry for me? It’s murder.”
“So, you’re not looking forward to seeing all your old buds?” she asked.
“That? Sure, that’ll be great. We used to study together several nights a week. And then after graduation, we went off in all directions. This was a great idea Jerry had, but I can think of things I’d rather do.” He lifted one eyebrow and grinned lasciviously.
She laughed at him. “Still, I’m not ready. Not till after your Club Med vacation.”
“It’s not Club Med, I told you. Are you waiting for me to say I love you, because if you’re waiting for that, I—”
She put a finger to his lips and shushed him. “Don’t go out on a limb here, Nathaniel.”
“I’ll call the travel agent in the morning and get you a ticket,” he said. “Come with me.”
She laughed, actually pleased by the offer. “My goodness, you’ll go to a lot of trouble and expense for sex.”
“For you,” he clarified. “Not just for sex, for you.”
“I am kind of impressed, but no thank you.”
“Why not?”
“Ordinarily, if it were another time of year, I would, but not this time. Plus, I don’t get to be with the whole family that often. The boys have it worked out that they do either Thanksgiving or Christmas with our side, the other holiday with their wives’ side. So it’s been a couple of years since we’ve all done Christmas together and I love that. My mom and I knock ourselves out to make it great.”
He kissed her deeply. He pressed her down into the sofa with his body and held her hands at her sides, entwining his fingers with hers. “How about if I decide not to go on that vacation?”
“That you’ve paid for? To see your old best friends from school? Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Then come with me.”
“No.”
“Then I won’t go,” he said.
“You have to go. This is important, Nathaniel. You should get away, broaden your horizons. You’ve probably forgotten how much you miss your friends, how much you’d like to see a hundred tiny bikinis on perfect women. You have to go. I’m kind of interested in what you’ll be like when you come back.”
He thought about this for a few seconds. “Okay, then,” he whispered. “A compromise.”
“Hmm?”
“I’ll go to the stupid beach without you, my virtuous girlfriend, you’ll have Christmas with your family, and tonight you come to my bed.”
She laughed. “No. Not till you’ve passed your time with the bikinis. And the women vets you used to date. Are they pretty?”
“Tina and Cindy? Oh, yeah, very pretty, but like I said, we were better as study partners. Honey, I’ve completely lost interest in bikinis. Unless you want to put one on for me just for fun.”
“I don’t know that that will ever happen.”
“Annie, I’m not interested in bikinis. Not now. I’m only interested in you. Hey! This doesn’t have anything to do with skinny Susanna, does it? Because I’m not all weirded out by Ed, who’s really much stranger than Susanna.”
She shook her head. “The only thing about Susanna that I still have to get over is that she was beautiful, feminine, small—except for her apparently exceptional boobs—and fancy, while I’m flat-footed and can cut the head off a chicken. But I’m working on that.”
“They weren’t real,” he said. “She bought herself a pair for her twenty-first birthday. I’d much rather touch smaller real ones.”
She kissed him, a short one on the lips. “Well, Nathaniel, if this works out, I like your chances.” Then she grinned at him.
He was quiet for a moment and his eyes were serious, burning into hers. “You know, if I hadn’t already paid for the whole damn thing, I’d cancel that trip. It’s not what I want right now.”
“Hey, I want you to go, and you’ll have a good time. I’m not really worried about the bikinis. Not that much.”
He pressed himself against her, proof that he was still all turned on. “It turns out three weeks is enough time for me,” he said. “I’d rather just not go.”
She put a hand against his cheek and smiled at him. “Even a grand gesture like that wouldn’t get you lucky tonight.”
He shook his head. “I don’t want to be away from you for ten days. I barely found you. What if stupid Ed comes around and somehow proves to you that he’s worth another chance?”
“Can’t happen,” she said. “I hardly remember what he looks like. I’ll be right here when you get back.”
“What if I get so lonely and distraught I make love to some big-breasted nymphomaniac while I’m down there and come back to you all innocent, lying about it, just to teach you a terrible lesson?”
“I’d know.”
“You didn’t know with Ed,” he reminded her.
“I know. I’ve been thinking about that a lot because it’s been a real issue with me, that somehow I didn’t know. I think Ed wasn’t that important to me, or I would have been upset we had so little time together, and I wasn’t. Wouldn’t I have known something was off if he’d meant more to me? I don’t think I cared as much as I wanted to. Lord, I think I would have married him even knowing he’d only spend two nights a week with me.” She took a breath. “Maybe I would’ve married him because he’d only spend two nights a week with me.” She ran her fingernails through the hair at Nate’s temple. “But much as I fight it, Nathaniel, it’s different with you.” Then she smiled.
“In only three weeks?” he asked softly.
She was shaking her head. “It didn’t take three whole weeks.”
He took a breath, then groaned deeply just before he covered her mouth in a deep, hot, wet kiss that went on and on and on. When he finally lifted his lips from hers, he said, “Okay. We’ll do this your way. We’ll wait until you’re ready. And when it’s over and we’re together forever, don’t think you can boss me around like this.”
“You’ve got a deal,” she said, laughing.
Nathaniel called Annie twice before noon on Monday. First he wanted to know if there was anything he could bring to the farm. “I think we’re throwing a couple of big pans of lasagna in the oven for dinner, and Mom is busy making bread. How about bringing some good red wine?”
The next time he called, he said, “I know you work on Tuesday. I’m leaving Tuesday afternoon. So tonight, if I pass the brother test, will you come home with me for just a little while?”
“For just a little while. And don’t try that ‘I’m going into battle and you have to show your love before I leave’ trick. Okay?”
And he laughed.
That was the best part about Annie—her sense of humor. No, he thought—it was her beauty. Her dark red hair, her creamy, freckled complexion, her deep brown eyes. But then a smile came to his lips as he recalled how good she was on a horse. An accomplished equestrienne. And while she would not find the term sturdy at all complimentary, he admired that about her. Fortitude had always appealed to him. Sometimes when he was holding her, he felt like he was clinging to her as if she anchored him to the ground. She had no idea how unattractive flighty, timid, weak women were to him. Did such women make some men feel strong and capable? Because for Nathaniel, to be chosen by a woman of strength and confidence met needs he didn’t even know he had.
&nbs
p; He had calls to make, ranches to visit, patients to see, inoculations to administer, a couple of cows who had a fungus to look in on, breeding animals who would deliver early in the year to check. He phoned the vet from Eureka who would cover for him while he was away, paid a visit to a local winery to select a few bottles of good red and finally made his way to the McKenzie farm.
When he pulled in, the place almost resembled a fair in progress. Not one but two RVs were parked near the back of the house, which probably eliminated the need to borrow Annie’s house for the family. There were also trucks and snowmobiles on trailers. A bunch of cross-country skis leaned up against the back porch. The McKenzies were here to play. Kids ran around while several sat on the top rail of the corral. Inside the corral, Annie had a couple of young children mounted on her horses. She held the reins and led them around the corral while they held the saddle pommels. Four men—her brothers and father—leaned on the rail, watching.
Nate wandered up to the fence and leaned his forearms on the top rail with the rest of them. “So,” he said. “I’m here for the inspection.”
The man next to him turned and his mouth split into a huge grin. “Hey, man,” Beau McKenzie said. “I heard a rumor you were dating my sister. Good to see you, buddy.” He stuck out his hand. “This true? You and Annie? Because I can tell you things that will give you ultimate control over her!”
“Nathaniel Jensen,” the next man said. Brad McKenzie stuck out his hand. “I don’t think I’ve seen you in twenty years! You finally made it over five foot six, good for you.”
“Yeah, and beat the acne.” Nate laughed. “How you doing, pal?”
“Jim, any chance you remember this clown?” Beau asked his oldest brother.
“I just remember this squirt from football,” Jim McKenzie said, sticking out a hand. “Couldn’t tackle worth shit, but you sure could run.”
“I had to run,” Nate said. “If anyone had caught me, I’d be dead. I was the smallest kid on the team.”
That Holiday Feeling: Silver BellsThe Perfect HolidayUnder the Christmas Tree Page 24