She slid off the bed to her feet and then gasped when pain shot through her left leg, at the same time she became aware of a steady, insistent throbbing in her arm.
Oh. Right. Memories flowed back of tumbling down the back stairs at Raven’s Nest the previous morning, of looking at those queasiness-inducing X-rays in Jake Dalton’s office, of Carson driving her home and fixing mac and cheese for her kids and wrapping her last-minute presents.
He must have put the coffee on. But what about the rest of those smells that had her stomach grumbling? And the kids must be up by now, especially on Christmas Eve morning. How long had he been coping with them on his own?
She wouldn’t know until she went downstairs, she thought. She hopped to her bathroom to wash up and change, fiercely wishing she could stand under a hot pulsing shower right now. She spent a frustrating ten minutes trying to pull her hair into a ponytail with only one hand before she gave up and just ended up brushing it out and holding it away from her face with a red bandeau that matched her shirt.
She headed back through her bedroom and opened the door, only to be confronted with a sign on the wall opposite her room in big, bold, black lettering.
“Do not tackle the stairs,” it read, with the second word underlined three times. “I will take you down.”
Jenna gazed at the note as she balanced on one foot in her doorway. She supposed she could call down to him, but then she remembered those moments in his strong arms, how she had fought the urge the entire way up the stairs to nestle into that hard chest, to throw her arms around his neck and hold tight.
She felt entirely too delicate, too cherished, in his arms and she didn’t want to become accustomed to the sensation, not when he would be returning to California and real life anytime now.
She carefully scooted down the stairs then hopped into the kitchen. The closer she went to the home’s center, the more her mouth watered from the smells emanating from it.
She paused in the doorway, astonished at the sight of all her children sitting at the table while Carson stood at the microwave, removing a dish from it.
“Wow. What’s all this?”
Carson looked up and his handsome features twisted into a glare. “What are you doing down the stairs? Didn’t you read the sign?”
“I did. It just smelled too delicious down here, I had to follow my nose.”
“Mom, Santa Claus is coming tonight!” Kip gushed, his features glowing like a hundred Christmas trees.
“Santa!” Jolie exclaimed, and banged her spoon on the tray of her high chair.
Her little girl was even dressed, in a holiday sweater and jeans. Warmth soaked her when she realized Carson must have found her clothes, changed her out of her pajamas and her wet diaper, then brought her down here for breakfast.
She gazed at him, looking strong and masculine in this kitchen full of children, and her heart did a long, slow roll in her chest.
Oh, she was in deep, deep trouble with him.
“I know.” Jenna smiled at all her children. “Can you believe it’s really here?”
They all grinned back at her, even Hayden. For the first time, she had a look at their plates and was astonished at what she saw—muffins and ham and some egg concoction that looked vaguely familiar.
“How did you do all this?” she asked Carson. “I thought you didn’t cook.”
“I don’t. But I’m pretty mean with a microwave. When I was trying to figure out what to fix for breakfast this morning, I remembered all that delicious leftover food at Raven’s Nest from the Hertzogs visit, so the kids and I made a quick trip up the hill to raid the refrigerator and freezer.”
She had slept through it all? She couldn’t quite take it in.
“Did you know Carson has a swimming pool and a hot tub right inside his house?” Hayden said.
“I did know that. I saw it when I was cooking for him and his guests.”
“He says we can use it anytime we want,” Drew said. “Even today. Can we, Mom?”
She had a vivid memory of the day not even a week ago when he had all but ordered her to keep her children off his property. And now he was inviting them to use his pool whenever they wanted? She couldn’t quite adjust to the shift.
“That’s very kind of Mr. McRaven.”
“So can we go?” Kip added his voice to the chorus.
She thought of all the things she had planned for Christmas Eve. Swimming at Raven’s Nest wasn’t even close to showing up on the list. On the other hand, they seemed almost as excited about the idea as they did about Christmas morning.
“We’ll have to see,” she said. “We’ve got to run to Idaho Falls to pick up Grandma today, remember?”
And she had to figure out how to pare down the Christmas feast she had planned to something more manageable for someone with a bum arm and a dicey ankle.
“Have you fed the animals?” she asked.
“Not yet,” Hayden said. “We were gonna do that after breakfast.”
“And speaking of which, here’s yours,” Carson said, setting a plate down in front of her with a dramatic flourish that made Drew and Kip giggle.
The boys finished eating just a few moments later and scraped their chairs back. “If we hurry and feed the animals, we’ll have more time to swim before we pick up Grandma,” Drew said.
Jenna decided not to point out she hadn’t yet agreed to the swim idea, though she could already see she would come across as a major grump if she said no for the sole reason that it hadn’t been in her plan.
The boys hurried into the mudroom to find their coveralls and boots, leaving her alone with Carson—except for Jolie, who jabbered away in her made-up language.
“Thanks so much for breakfast,” she said to Carson.
“That’s my line, isn’t it? You’re the one who fixed it in the first place. I only nuked it.”
They lapsed into silence and she was uncomfortable at the realization that her debt to him was growing by the minute.
“Carson, you don’t have to stay here today. We can handle things. I’m not disoriented from the concussion anymore. I know this isn’t the way you planned to spend your holidays.”
“I couldn’t have dreamed this scenario up in a million years,” he acknowledged. “But it’s not bad, either.”
She could see no equivocation in his expression and realized he was sincere.
“Well, the other factor is my mother-in-law. You might change your mind about sticking around.”
“Ah. The infamous Pat.”
She gave a heavy sigh. “She stays here every year, Carson. She has since Joe and I married and moved here. Even after she moved to an apartment in town, she always came back for the holidays. This was her home for thirty years. No matter how wonderful her assisted-living center in Idaho Falls might be, I just can’t leave her there by herself during the holidays.”
He studied her, then nodded. “Of course you can’t. So we’ll go get her.”
She expected an argument from him about how she didn’t need a houseguest when she was injured. His abrupt acceptance left her a bit disoriented. “Just like that? You have no idea what she’s like.”
“You’re her family and she’s part of yours. If you want her here, we’ll go get her. Are you up for a car ride to Idaho Falls? Even if I have the kids there, I’m not sure I can convince her to come with me if you’re not with us.”
She smiled suddenly and she would have kissed him if she could have reached him across the table.
“You’re a remarkable man, Carson McRaven. You hide that soft heart very well from the rest of the world.”
He looked astonished at her words and opened his mouth to argue but the phone rang before he could.
“That’s probably Dr. Dalton,” Carson said. “He called to check on you earlier. When I said you were still sleeping, he said he would call back to set up a time when he could stop by to see how you were doing.”
She had almost forgotten her injuries, the whole reason
Carson was there in the first place.
“I guess that’s something else we’ll have to fit in today,” she said as she took the phone from him.
She couldn’t help thinking how quickly and naturally they had slipped into a “we.” She needed to remind herself all day that Carson’s stay was only temporary.
No matter how much she was beginning to worry she wanted it to be otherwise.
“The swim was a brilliant idea,” Jenna said four hours later as Carson drove the Raven’s Nest’s Suburban on the winding ranch road between Pine Gulch and Idaho Falls.
“I have my moments.” He smiled at her and Jenna had to fight hard not to let it slip inside her heart. She would see if he still felt like grinning an hour from now after they picked up her mother-in-law.
The calm car ride was such an anomaly that she had to look in the backseat again to make sure the boys hadn’t jumped out a few stoplights ago. They weren’t sleeping but they all seemed relaxed, content to just look out the window or, in Drew’s case, to read a book.
That they weren’t bouncing off the interior walls of the Suburban was a minor miracle. Who knew a two-hour swim in Carson’s pool would turn them so mellow?
Jolie had fallen asleep in her car seat before they even drove onto Cold Creek Canyon Road and Jenna was feeling comfort-able herself, with jazz Christmas carols playing on the stereo and the heater sending out comforting warmth while the wipers beat back a light snowfall.
She fought sleep for a few more miles and jerked herself upright when she found herself dozing off.
“Go to sleep,” Carson said. “I’ll wake you up when we hit Idaho Falls so you can direct me to your mother-in-law’s place.”
True to his word, Carson nudged her awake a short time later and she gave him the address. After they pulled up to the elegant facility, they went inside to find Pat waiting on one of the chairs in the lobby of the assisted-living center with her walker and her small suitcase beside her.
“I thought you said two-thirty,” she said without preamble. Pat’s speech was only slightly slurred, though the left side of her face had been permanently paralyzed from the stroke’s aftereffects.
Jenna glanced at the clock above the office desk that said 2:45. “Sorry we’re a little late. Merry Christmas, Mom.” She limped forward carefully and kissed Pat’s wrinkled cheek.
Pat gazed at her cast and the cane she was using to stabilize herself. “What happened to you?”
“I had a little accident yesterday and slipped on some ice.”
“Didn’t your boys shovel the walk?” she asked, her tone accusatory.
Jenna was spared from having to tell her where the accident occurred by the boys’ impatience to greet their grandmother.
They all hugged her and Pat’s stern expression softened at the unfeigned affection from her grandchildren.
Suddenly her gaze landed on Carson, who had carried Jolie inside. “Who are you?” she asked abruptly.
His gaze met Jenna’s, a clear question in them. He was asking if he should lie about his identity to make the holiday run more smoothly for her, she realized. She was touched by the thought and even briefly entertained it, then discarded it. Beyond the fact that she couldn’t let her children see her trying to carry off a lie, it wouldn’t be fair to Carson to make him a party to that kind of deception.
“Mom, this is Carson McRaven. Our neighbor.”
Even though half of her face remained stoic and expressionless, the other half clearly showed her outrage. “What is he doing here?”
Jenna braced herself, hoping Pat didn’t cause a scene in front of the children. “He has been so wonderful to help us since my accident. We would have been lost without him.”
“Carson has a pool inside his house, Grandma,” Kip said cheerfully. He slipped his hand inside his grandmother’s curled-up left one. He was always grateful to have new ears, and besides that, Pat had always adored his chatter. “We went swimming there today and played water basketball and everything. I didn’t even have to hold on to the side the whole time. You should have seen me, Grandma.”
She looked torn for a moment, as if she wanted to continue expressing her outrage, but the other boys stepped in to talk to her and she let herself be distracted.
Jenna was quite certain she had never been so grateful for the shortened attention span that was another outcome of the stroke.
She just had to hope they could keep her distracted the rest of the evening from remembering just how much she despised Carson.
Chapter Fifteen
He had never imagined he would ever come so close to decking an old lady—especially a feeble, brain-injured one.
Two hours later, Carson sat at the kitchen table in Jenna’s kitchen listening to her mother-in-law’s scorching comments to Jenna about everything under the sun. Why were they having soup instead of the roast beef she had been expecting? Why were the rolls store-bought instead of Jenna’s famous flaky crescent rolls? Why was the cheesecake leftover pumpkin swirl instead of the raspberry Jenna knew she favored?
He had expected her nastiness to be aimed at him, and Pat hadn’t disappointed. He could handle her insults about his having more money than taste and how he was wasting his time with his eco-friendly ranching ideas. But when she started to turn her scathing comments in Jenna’s direction, his blood started a long, slow simmer.
He was going to have to say something. Jenna certainly was making no move to defend herself, even after Pat started in on how Kip needed a haircut and Hayden’s sweater had a small hole in it and didn’t Jenna know how to wash wool, after all these years?
Jenna was unfailingly sweet. She just smiled at her mother-in-law or pretended not to hear the most scathing of her comments.
“You don’t really think that hairstyle is attractive, do you?” Pat said out of nowhere. “You look like you just climbed out of bed.”
That’s it. He couldn’t take anymore. He opened his mouth to tell the old bat her daughter-in-law was just about the most gorgeous female he had ever met, but Jenna caught his gaze and shook her head vigorously.
To his shock, she limped to the seat at the table where her mother-in-law sat, leaned down and wrapped her uninjured arm around Pat, hugging her close.
“Mom, I have to tell you how glad I am you could come out to the house with us for Christmas Eve. Remember how awful last Christmas was in the hospital? Isn’t it wonderful to be at The Wagon Wheel again, with family around?”
That seemed to stymie Pat. She opened her mouth then closed it again and let her grandchildren’s chatter fill the space where her nasty comments had been.
“I think everything’s ready. Pat, can you get the children settled in the dining room?”
The older woman nodded and took to the challenge willingly, making Carson wonder if perhaps she lashed out because of her own frustration in her limitations and was only looking for something to do with herself.
Still, he wasn’t inclined to quickly forgive her, not when he had seen the hurt Jenna had tried to hide at the woman’s comments.
“I’m so sorry.” Jenna turned to him when they were alone in the kitchen. “She seems to be having a particularly bad evening and you’re bearing the brunt of it. You don’t have to stay and put up with her abuse.”
He stopped her by pressing a finger to her mouth. She gazed at him, her green eyes huge, and he quickly dropped his hand but not before taking a guilty pleasure at the warmth and softness of her mouth against his skin.
“She’s hitting at you even harder. Why do you put up with her?”
Jenna glanced into the other room to make sure everyone was out of earshot. “She wasn’t like this a year ago, I promise you that.” She spoke in a low, distressed voice and he had to fight to keep from taking her in his arms. “I wish you could have known her before the stroke. She was sweet and funny. I just keep reminding myself of the woman she used to be.
He had never known anyone like Jenna, who loved so unconditionally and c
ould grit her teeth and smile in the midst of completely unwarranted harsh criticism.
“I promise, she’s also not like this all the time. It seems to me the really terrible days are followed by several days when things feel like they’re back to normal. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for tomorrow.”
She was the eternal optimist. He smiled, unable to help himself from leaning forward and kissing her forehead.
She blinked up at him, clearly as startled by the spontaneous gesture as he had been, but Hayden came into the kitchen and she backed away from him, her cheeks rosy from more than the heat in the kitchen.
To his relief, Pat stayed largely silent as they ate in the dining room, where the boys had set a festive table with a red checkered tablecloth and even Christmas bowls with entwined holly leaves around the edges.
Each of the three kinds of soup were divine and he would never have known it came from her freezer if he hadn’t helped her thaw it and stick it in Crock-Pots before they left for Idaho Falls.
After dinner, all of them helped with cleanup then they adjourned to the living room, where her busy, slightly lopsided tree gleamed against the windows.
He stoked up the fire while Pat took the easy chair and Hayden and Drew set up a card table.
The evening passed with astonishing speed as they sang Christmas carols and ate popcorn and played games of cards and Christmas charades.
“All right, that’s the last game,” Jenna finally said. Jolie had again begun to droop and even Kip had hidden a yawn or two behind his hand.
“There are four presents under the tree in green paper with gold bows. Hayden, can you find them and pass them out?”
“Present!” Jolie summoned enough energy to clap her hands.
“Can we open them?” Kip asked.
“Yes. Only this one, though. The rest have to wait until tomorrow.”
Kip and Drew buzzed with anticipation, though Hayden looked bored with the whole thing.
“You’re not excited?” Carson asked him in a man-to-man kind of tone.
He shrugged. “It’s just pajamas. She makes us some every year. Big deal.”
The Cowboy's Christmas Miracle Page 17