Montana Secret Santa

by Debra Salonen

  “If by seeing, you mean sleeping with him, then, yes.”

  “He told you that?”

  “No. I used my spidey-brother sense.”

  She didn’t believe him.

  “He may have accidentally mentioned it when Gracie called to give him hell for being alone on Christmas. She thought he sounded sad.” He shrugged. “It’s hard to tell with Jonah. Sad and focused on his next discovery look a lot alike.”

  Not to someone who gives a damn. “Well, he’s wrong about my motivation. And I’m going to kick his ass when I see him.” She started to dial him again but stopped. “Did you say he was alone for Christmas? He wasn’t with you and your parents in Florida?”

  He slapped his hand across his mouth. “Oops.”

  She narrowed her eyes and leaned close. “I need directions.”

  “To?”

  “San Jose. Or wherever the hell he lives.” She snapped her fingers. “Now. I’m taking the first flight out.”

  His jaw dropped. “But… wait… Jonah led me to believe you might move back in so I can go home to Denver. I have a job. A life.”

  She put one hand to her lips in mock surprise. “Boy genius is oh for two. What do you know? Maybe he’s not as smart as he thinks. And, sorry, Daniel, but the dogs are all yours.”

  Daniel had the wisdom to hold his tongue until after she’d made her arrangements before offering a word of advice. “Be prepared to scale the gate. When he’s in the lab, he completely zones out. If not for a fully stocked zombie apocalypse kitchen, he’d probably starve to death.”

  “Is there a code?”

  He rattled off a string of numbers, which she typed into an app on her phone. “But he might have changed it. He can get a little paranoid when he’s working on something top secret. There’s a fine line between genius and crazy, you know.”

  “You just described my family. I think I’ve got this one covered.” When she walked to the counter to grab her hat, gloves, and bag, she spotted the black envelope Jonah had left behind. She dug the matching one from the side pocket of her purse. “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-eight. Why?”

  “You’re probably too old for her, but I hate to let these tickets go to waste.” She handed him the envelopes. “I’ll text you my new intern’s contact info. This party would be a great introduction to Marietta’s movers and shakers—the people who pay Blue Sky Promotions’ bills. It may not interest you, but the food is supposed to be phenomenal.”

  He seemed on the verge of trying to defend his character from her obviously low first impression, but he closed his mouth and shrugged. “Fine. I’ll call my office and arrange to work online until Dad can get here or Jonah surfaces—whichever comes first.”

  *

  Jonah kicked the metal stool beside his work bench and felt a tiny bit of satisfaction watching it tip, balance for a heartbeat, then clatter to the floor.

  He gave up trying to think and walked across the room to the corner office he called his sanctuary. He’d left his phone there on purpose. His one rule while working on a new project was no outside distractions.

  Too bad he couldn’t leave the lovesick idiot part of his brain at the door.

  He picked up the phone and checked. Twelve texts. Could be worse.

  He opened the app.

  Oh, shit.

  Ten were from Krista. Mom’s usual airplane emoji and her wish that he “have a safe flight.” The most recent was from Daniel.

  “No stopping her. FYI. How can one little dog shit so much?”

  He scratched his head. “Does Bindi have the runs?” He knew Krista’s family had been at the house on Christmas day. Maybe they gave her rich table scraps.

  He quickly typed. “Make her cooked chicken and rice. Really helps with diarrhea.”

  A string of emojis that included a pile of poop, a happy face with tears gushing, a unicorn, and an airplane came in two seconds later.

  Jonah hit call. “What’s with the hieroglyphics?”

  “What are you doing out of your think tank?”

  My brain tanked.

  “Taking a break. Food, you know. Does Bindi have the runs?”

  “How would I know?”

  “You’re her dog-sitter. That means you walk all the dogs at least once a day at which time Bindi will do her thing and you will clean it up. Hence you know how much output she puts out. Didn’t Krista give you the schedule I made up?”

  “No, dork. She didn’t. She was too busy sobbing her heart out.”

  “What? Why?”

  “She got some bad news. Her mom is sick. Like not-long-for-this-world kind of sick.”

  Jonah jumped to his feet and started looking for what he’d need if he took this project back to Montana with him. He was nowhere near having a working prototype, but a couple of aspects would bear a closer look.

  “I was in the lab.”

  “I know.”

  “I didn’t take my phone.”

  “I know.”

  “Is it too late to call her?” The windows were all on the other side of the building. Did he even know what time of day it was?

  “Definitely.”

  “What time is it?”

  “Tomorrow. She should be there by now.”

  A schism of shock passed through his body. Losing a day wasn’t unusual when he was making progress, but this time he hadn’t come close to shrinking the container to a workable size for chocolates. And the cost for what he had mocked up was crazy. He’d blown it. He’d lost a day for nothing when the woman he loved needed him. She must hate him.

  “She’s coming here? To tell me off?”

  “Maybe. I didn’t get that impression, but she was in a hurry to leave. What do you know about her intern?”

  Her intern?

  “I’m supposed to take her to some fancy-dancy masked ball on New Year’s Eve.”

  “Daniel,” Jonah said in a tone his brother would recognize.

  “Yes?”

  “Go walk the dogs. Right now. I mean it.”

  He ended the call and dashed into the Japanese bath he’d designed after a visit to Tokyo. Normally, a hot soak, shave, and shower took an hour and included a peaceful meditative decompression. This time, he was in and out in less than ten minutes. Unfortunately, he’d forgotten to restock his closet before leaving for Montana. He kicked the pile of stinky jeans, T-shirt, and flannel hoody he’d worn for days on end. “Uh… no.”

  He wrapped the thick white towel around his waist and slid his feet into a pair of flip-flops his last girlfriend must have left behind. Hot pink with glitter stars and two sizes too small, but there was no way his bare feet could handle the pathway of decomposing granite between the house and the lab.

  He stepped outside, his senses bracing for winter before remembering it was in the mid-sixties and sunny. He hadn’t taken a dozen steps when he heard a loud “Humph” followed by low muttering of the female variety. He looked toward the eight-foot stucco wall of the enclosure, searching for movement amongst the bright green foliage until he spotted a figure in black yoga pants, a dark hoodie, and lace-up boots.

  Slight enough to be a boy, but his heart knew otherwise.

  A second later, he heard the siren. Right before the hooded figure looked up and cried, “Jonah.”

  *

  The community cop seemed unfazed by the odd sight he found when he opened the gate and drove into the compound to check on a possible breaking and entry. A naked man in a towel and pink flip-flops kissing a woman dressed for a Montana winter.

  “You’re certain she’s alone, sir?” asked the sixty-something former cop, whom Jonah had met at a couple of neighborhood association meetings.

  Jonah squeezed Krista to his side. “One hundred percent. I missed her multiple texts because I was in my lab. You know how I get.”

  The silver hair security guard nodded grimly. The man had had to kick in a door to get Jonah’s attention when a wildfire on the grassland that abutted the development ca
ught fire. Jonah had been oblivious to the evacuation order that sent all of his neighbors fleeing. Only this guard had thought to check the logbook to verify that Jonah had entered the property but hadn’t left.

  Jonah held out his free hand. “Thank you for checking. My brother gave Krista an old code.” Something Jonah would have to correct in the future. Being a rogue loner scientist who hid away from the world might have worked in the past, but no longer. He was a man with responsibilities and connections to the outside world. And, to his shock, he liked how that made him feel.

  Once the cop was gone and the heavy gate closed behind him, Jonah turned to pull Krista tight against him. So much to say but all he wanted to do was kiss her.

  “I missed you,” he said, as his lips touched hers.

  “You lied to me. You didn’t go to Florida.”

  He nodded. “I came here.”

  “You sent me a video.”

  “From my last visit there. A month ago. Sorry. I didn’t want you to worry.”

  “You missed Christmas with your family. What was so important you’d miss Christmas with your family?”

  Kissing was going to have to wait. He took her hand and reversed directions. “I’ll show you.”

  He paused at the fork in the path. “Would you mind if I got dressed first?” He held up both hands. “Complete transparency. I promise. I just—”

  She cut him off with a kiss that nearly stopped his heart. Her hands on his bare chest brought instant fire. His body answered—much too obviously. Her right hand dropped and caressed him lightly. “It’s comforting to know you missed me, too. But, you’re right. We have to clear the air. So much has happened since you left.”

  Her voice cracked. He pulled her to him fiercely, wishing with all his heart he’d been confident enough in his own gifts to have stayed in Montana, instead of trying to prove his worth by making the one gift she’d wished for.

  “The lab’s open. Make yourself at home. I’ll be right back.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Krista paused with her hand on the lever-type doorknob. She was running on fumes. Her initial outrage—a convenient diversion from the panic and shock of her parents’ announcement—had disappeared during the plane change in Salt Lake City. She wasn’t mad or hurt, anymore. Just confused.

  How did a man as loving and giving and generous as she knew Jonah to be suddenly turn his back on family, friends, community and dogs to hide out in this cold bleak place?

  She opened the door and walked inside to look around. Her breath caught in the back of the throat. Idyllic was the first word that came to mind. Bird sounds told her the outdoors was invited into this strangely beautiful sanctuary. A hummingbird zipped by, so close she nearly flinched. She tracked its flight to a red globe suspended in a carefully pruned oak tree, its low, gnarly branches draped above a rock garden adorned with succulents such as she’d never seen before—even in her mother’s garden in the Hollywood hills.

  Mom. The dull ache in the middle of her chest returned. Tears prickled bitterly behind her eyes.

  “Later,” she murmured, walking across the garden setting to a second door. Her shock from seeing the inner sanctuary paled compared to her reaction to the too bright, too sterile, too Dr. No for her taste lab.

  Straight ahead, behind a wall of glass, a dozen or more chrome work benches mingled with machines of every sort and description—most equipped with large hoses to suck away any aerated debris, she assumed—and four or five computer stations. Apparently, Jonah brought in assistants to work on a project when he needed them.

  Only one station appeared to be in use at the moment, but from this distance she couldn’t see what sort of project might have grabbed his attention. Although, if Daniel was right, she knew. A box for her.

  She would have wept if she had any tears left in her.

  She wasn’t ready to look behind that door. Instead, she turned to the left where she spotted a kitchen that would have made Martha Stewart swoon. Just beyond that was a door marked Private. She walked to it and turned the handle, half-expecting it to be locked. After all, this was Jonah’s inner sanctum, his private cathedral-slash-think tank, wasn’t it?

  Her jaw dropped the moment she walked inside.

  The desk was old. Not antique necessarily, but dark wood that showed scuffs and scratches—even an initial or two gouged in one leg. An expensive ergonomic chair—similar to one she’d coveted but couldn’t afford—sat at an angle with a large gray and white stuffed English sheep dog with glasses in the seat. A bit of whimsy she never would have expected.

  She wandered closer to a series of “free floating” glass shelves filled with trophies, awards, and framed photographs. On the wall behind the cabinet hung his degrees and academic honors. Her mouth went dry. She’d read his bio the day they met, but the long string of accomplishments someone provided to Wikipedia didn’t hold the same impact as this wall.

  “A bit of an overkill, wouldn’t you say? Mom collaborated with my interior designer.” His chuckle was meant to poke fun at his display of ego, she assumed. “Never give two women with an agenda free reign of your checkbook.”

  She pivoted on the heel of her hiking boots, her backpack throwing her slightly off balance. If she’d felt overdressed before, now, seeing him in board shorts, a simple, gray silk T-shirt, and sandals made her wonder if she’d gone through a time warp. “It’s winter, you know.”

  “Welcome to my world.” He made a sweeping gesture. “Literally.” He crossed the room to a door that had been left ajar. “I used to call this my favorite spot in the whole place.”

  She dropped her bag beside the desk and followed him to a Japanese bath. “Wow. I spent two months in Japan when I was fifteen. Mom was filming a movie and she decided the trip would be a great life experience for my sisters and me. Our brothers weren’t interested. Crazy, right? But I loved every minute.” She looked around. “This is gorgeous. I can see why you love it here.”

  He opened the exterior door, which led to a small, private garden. He stepped to a smooth concrete bench and motioned for her to sit.

  The concrete felt cool against her legs, but the sunlight filtering through the trees was warm. She shed another layer.

  “I didn’t say I love it, only that this was my favorite part. Actually, I’ve spent very little time in the house.”

  “Why? What’s wrong with it?”

  “Nothing. It just isn’t home.”

  “So, why’d you buy it?”

  He sat beside her, his thigh touching hers. The sizzle she’d come to expect leapt through her body. She stripped off her long-sleeve yoga pullover.

  “Taxes. Proximity to the Wa.L. plant. Privacy. The fact it’s patrolled,” he added dryly. “But mostly, because it had room for me to build my sanctuary. That’s what I called it in my mind. Everyone else calls it my lab.” He rubbed his palms together in a mad scientist sort of gesture. “The word has more of a Frankenstein air, doesn’t it?”

  She shrugged. “Lab sounds like a place where you work. Sanctuary sounds like a place you go to get away from the world.”

  He held up one finger then touched it to the tip of her nose. “Got it in one.”

  “So, you needed to get away from Marietta? That’s why you left?”

  To her surprise, he shook his head. “No.”

  She waited, her heart squeezed between all the worst-case scenarios she’d imagined on the flight here and all the possible-maybes he’d somehow managed to bring to life in her heart in such an impossibly short time.

  “I came back to fulfill your Secret Santa wish.”

  She blinked and shook her head. “My wish? What wish?”

  He blew out a breath that seemed both resigned and fatalistic. “Come on. I’ll show you.”

  He took her hand and, when they stood, he brought her knuckles to his lips. “I hope you won’t be too disappointed. I tried, but… failed.”

  The look on his face nearly crushed her heart. What did he expect he
r to do? Rebuke him for not accomplishing whatever he tried to do in a few short days? Was that what happened in his past relationships? She could see it—Jonah setting impossibly high standards that no genius in the world could reach in the timeframe he attached to the project.

  They returned to the lab via an exterior door she hadn’t noticed, bypassing his private office and bath. He led her to a u-shape workspace made up of two polished chrome tables and a computer station. A dustsheet made of some high-tech fiber covered a lumpy collection of objects on the largest table.

  He signed into the computer and tapped a key. The words Krista’s Chocolate Box burst on the screen in four-inch letters.

  She sucked in a gasp. “Sage’s chocolate delivery system? That’s what you came here to build? You thought that was my wish?”

  “I heard you tell several people this is what you needed to take Copper Mountain Chocolates—and Blue Sky Promotions—to the next level.”

  Her face went instantly hot. She wiggled her pink short-sleeve top over her head and dropped it on the seat of the tall lab stool. “I said that, but… oh, God, I’m such a self-absorbed idiot. In my defense, I come by it honestly. You should have seen my family in action. And you would have if I hadn’t planted this idea in your mind and you thought you needed to build me something to make my wish come true. But that’s really no excuse, is it?”

  “Excuse for what?”

  “For wasting your time. For sending you on a wild goose chase. For costing you who knows how many sleepless nights and wasted brain power that could have been used on something meaningful. Like finding a cure for Stage IV kidney disease.” Her voice cracked. “I’m so sorry, Jonah. You know that expression about not seeing the forest for the trees? That’s me. Blind to what’s important in life because I’m always so busy trying to impress my family by proving I can be successful on my own two feet—outside of show business.”

  She threw her arms around him and kissed him hard. “I don’t deserve this, Jonah. Whatever this is. You really, truly shouldn’t have.”

  He rested his forehead against her. “This is a bust. Take a look.”

  He yanked off the dust cover with a magician’s flourish.