Montana Mavericks Christmas

by Susan Mallery

  “This is beautiful.”

  “Let me take your coat. I’ll light a fire, then give you a tour.”

  His fingers lingered on her collar and brushed her neck. She looked over her shoulder at him, and he could see she was as aware of him as he was of her, especially now that they were alone and without their twins requiring attention. He would have kissed her then, but he didn’t want her to think he’d brought her here for that.

  After he hung their coats in the foyer closet and set a match to kindling under the log, he motioned to the few steps leading upstairs. Berber carpet lined them and the upstairs hallway. First he showed her the two guest rooms and bath, then he guided her to the master suite.

  Her eyes grew wide as she took in the four-poster, king-size bed, the double dresser and chest with hand carvings on the drawers. There was a sitting area with a love seat, oval coffee table and wing chair. Beyond that she could glimpse a large bathroom. “It has a whirlpool tub,” he noted.

  But Leah didn’t seem interested in examining it. Instead she wandered around the room and stopped by the dresser. Then she picked up a sterling-silver picture frame. “Is this your wife?”

  “Yes.”

  “She’s very pretty. What was her name?”

  “Gwen.”

  Still holding the picture, Leah asked, “When did you lose her?”

  “Five years ago.”

  Gently, Leah set the frame back down. “How?”

  Memories came rushing back and he suddenly felt as if he had something to protect. “It was an accident, but I don’t want to talk about it, Leah. That’s not why I brought you here.”

  Crossing the room, she stood in front of him, her face tilted up. “Just why did you bring me here, Jeremy?”

  Three

  Leah had her own ideas about why Jeremy had driven her to his house. Yes, he’d wanted to give her a break from the twins, but she also wondered if he was trying to convince her that there were advantages to marrying him. He obviously didn’t want to talk about his wife or his marriage, and she could give him some space on that. Maybe eventually he’d tell her on his own. Still, she wanted to know what he was thinking.

  She waited for his answer.

  Looking almost like a boy who’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, he admitted, “I wanted you to see how comfortable you and the twins could be here.”

  Glancing around again at the beautiful furnishings, she didn’t beat around the bush. “Pretty furniture in a beautiful house won’t change my mind. I have to know in my heart that I’m doing the right thing.”

  “This wasn’t meant to be some kind of bribe.” His tone was as defensive as his stance.

  “I know it wasn’t, but it was meant to be a lure.”

  A tension-filled pause stretched between them, and he didn’t deny it. Rather, he headed for the door, motioning her to follow. “Come on, I’ll warm up some cider.”

  Although she followed him to the kitchen, he avoided her gaze. With quick economical movements, he heated the cider and filled two mugs, then they returned to the living room sofa and sat facing the fireplace.

  After a few silent minutes while they sipped cider, Jeremy set down his mug and stared straight ahead into the leaping flames. “When my wife found out she was pregnant, we picked out the plans for this house. She was five months along when she was killed in a automobile accident.”

  Quickly, Leah set down her mug and touched his arm. “Jeremy, I’m sorry.” He’d not only lost a wife, but a child, and her heart went out to him.

  With his eyes still averted, he went on. “My life as I knew it crumbled. Since then I’ve worked, mostly, and spent very little time here.”

  Turning toward her then, he captured her hand. “But now we have twins. I want to hear their laughter echoing off of these walls. I want to see them playing outside. I want to watch them opening their presents on Christmas morning. I want to be a real father to them, not just see them for vacations once a year. And with all that, I want to get closer to you.”

  The green of his eyes beckoned her to lean toward him, and after a few moments she did…instinctively…as if she belonged close to him. As he slipped his arm around her, she breathed in the scent of him, saw the yearning in his eyes and felt it in herself. His lips touched hers, and the fire between them burned away hesitation and doubts and thoughts of everything other than now. His tongue coaxed her lips apart, and she found herself wanting to get as close as she could get, wanting to know him in a meaningful way.

  His tongue stroked her mouth, drawing a moan from her. As she slid her fingers into his hair, she loved the soft, springy feel of it. The passion that he’d drawn from her that night nine months ago bloomed and opened once more until she knew she was falling in love with this man…knew that he was much more than the father of her children. He was strong and caring, and over the past few days he’d shown her such tender kindness. Tears came to her eyes whenever she thought about it. Should she think about staying and living on the res? Should she consider marrying Jeremy?

  But what about discovering where she truly belonged? What about her dreams? What about true love?

  She believed him when he said he wanted to be a father to Brooke and Adam. But what kind of husband would he be? She did have deep feelings for him, but did Jeremy have feelings for her? Or did he simply want her to warm his bed? Her heart sinking, she considered the possibility that he merely wanted a replacement for the family he’d lost.

  That thought broke through the haze of desire. That thought broke the hypnotic quality of his kiss. If she was only a replacement…

  She stiffened and pulled away.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, his breathing ragged.

  Her pulse was still pounding and her skin tingled with the sensations that lingered, reminding her Jeremy wasn’t only the father of her children, but a man she could love with all her heart.

  She slid away from him to give both of them breathing space. “I think you should take me back to the res.”

  “Why?”

  His gaze was probing and he wanted an honest answer. “Because kissing you confuses me.”

  He cocked his head and amusement twinkled in his eyes. “Maybe the confusion would go away if we kissed longer or more often.”

  She had to smile. “When I’m confused, I stop what I’m doing.”

  Taking her braid in his hand, he rubbed his thumb across the silky ends of her hair. “I think we’ll have to change that strategy.” Then he slipped his hand behind her neck, brought her toward him, and kissed her forehead. “Are you sure you want to leave?” he murmured.

  It would be so easy to give in to this magnetic pull toward him, but she owed herself and her children and her mother much more than giving in to impulse or thinking about today rather than the future. “I need to go back to Laughing Horse, Jeremy.”

  Gazing down at her, he finally nodded. “I’ll take you home.”

  Jeremy didn’t seem angry as they drove back to the reservation, but he did seem distant. The twins had changed their lives, and she supposed he had as many thoughts to wrestle with as she did.

  When they entered Leah’s house, they could smell something cooking. Bessie was ladling soup into plastic containers. “You can freeze this,” she said cheerfully. “Then you’ll have it when you need it. Brooke’s still sleeping and I gave Adam a bottle. They’re both perfect angels. But you did get a phone call from Jenny McCallum. She wants you to call her back as soon as you get in.”

  Jeremy said, “I’ll look in on Brooke and Adam.”

  By the time he returned to the kitchen, Leah was just hanging up the phone. “Jenny wants me to go to the Christmas Eve pageant tomorrow night at the elementary school.”

  “Does she know about the twins?” Jeremy asked.

  “Bessie filled her in,” Leah said with a smile. “I think she wants me there for moral support. She and Sara were supposed to sing a duet, and now obviously Sara can’t. I think Jenny’s scare
d to be performing on her own.”

  “Would you like to go?” Jeremy asked.

  “I don’t want to leave the twins again, but I feel as if I should be there for her.”

  “We’ll take the twins. Then you won’t have to worry about them.”

  “Oh, I don’t know if we should. It will be cold.”

  “We’ll bundle them up,” he assured her. “I’ll even put a blanket over them if that will make you feel better. I promise you, we can keep them warm and they’ll be fine. You can feed Brooke when you need to and we’ll take a bottle for Adam. They’ll probably sleep through the whole thing.”

  With a nod of her head, Bessie seconded his motion. “Jeremy’s right. It will do you good to go. You can’t hibernate just because you’re a new mother. After all, tomorrow night’s Christmas Eve.”

  Christmas Eve. One of the holiest nights of the year. She had already been blessed with a Christmas miracle. This season would always be special because of Brooke and Adam.

  “I would like to go,” Leah decided, giving in because she really did want to see Jenny perform.

  Jeremy checked his watch. “I have to go—rounds at the hospital.”

  Walking him to the door, Leah said, “Thank you for taking me out today. It was a nice break.”

  He didn’t say anything, just lifted her chin, brushed his lips against hers, and then opened the door and left.

  Later in the afternoon the clank of the mailbox lid closing alerted Leah to the mail’s arrival. Bessie had gone home and the twins were napping. Leah opened the door, thinking about what she’d wear to the Christmas pageant…thinking about seeing Jeremy again. Reaching for the mail, she recognized Christmas cards among a few other envelopes. As she brought the stack inside, she noticed that one envelope was rather official-looking. She glanced at the return address—the Museum of History Through the Ages, Washington, D.C. It was one of the museums to which she’d sent her résumé.

  Her heart raced as she went to the kitchen with the mail. Laying the stack on the counter, she opened the envelope and removed the letter, reading it quickly. The museum’s personnel director had examined her résumé and background with interest and was requesting an interview! The letter stated the personnel office would be closed until after the New Year, but that Leah should call soon after to set up a date if she was still interested.

  If she was still interested?

  She had dreamed of this opportunity all of her life. Of course she was interested.

  But then Leah thought of Jeremy and her growing feelings for him.

  What was she going to do?

  Strings of colorful paper chains, pictures children had drawn, as well as a tall Christmas tree decorated the school’s all-purpose room where rows of folding chairs had been set up to face the stage. Leah sat with Adam cuddled in her arms, a bit nervous about being here with Jeremy, who was sitting next to her, holding Brooke, his arm comfortably brushing Leah’s whenever he moved. In a town the size of Whitehorn, everyone knew everyone’s business whether it was their concern or not. But on Christmas Eve with parents focused more on their children than on what was going on around them, she felt relatively unnoticed. Lynn Taylor, Jenny and Sara’s teacher, had waved to her. Leah had had lunch with her and Jessica and Danielle a few times.

  All the pageant-goers had their gazes trained on the stage where the narrator was recounting the Christmas story. As the angel chorus came on stage, Jeremy exchanged a smile with Leah. Jenny and Sara were wearing white robes, silver wings and gold halos.

  Jeremy leaned close to Leah, his breath stirring the hair by her ear. “I can imagine Brooke and Adam up there.”

  When Leah turned to say she could imagine that, too, she found her face very close to Jeremy’s. She could smell his cologne and thought he’d never looked more handsome then he did tonight in casual navy trousers and a blue cable-knit sweater. Thinking about the letter in her kitchen drawer, she faced forward again. She had until after the New Year to make her decision.

  Giving her attention to the pageant, trying to temper her awareness of Jeremy’s broad shoulders and his musky scent, she watched intently as Jenny stepped forward to sing a solo. Sara stood to the side of the angel chorus.

  When Jenny glanced over her shoulder at Sara as if entreating her to come forward to sing with her, Sara just shook her head. Little Jenny suddenly looked petrified and stared at her mother and father who sat in the front row. Leah knew the five-year-old had rehearsed until the song was a part of her. They’d sung it together over and over again when Jenny had stayed on the reservation.

  When the pianist played the first bars of the song, Jenny didn’t begin. Her gaze met Leah’s, as though she were pleading with Leah to do something for her. There was only one thing Leah knew to do. Standing, with Adam in her arms, she moved closer to the chorus and began to softly sing the words. As soon as the first few notes filled the air, Jenny sang with her. After the first line, Leah stopped and Jenny kept singing, filling the auditorium with her clear, young voice gathering strength the longer she sang. Leah slipped back into her seat as Jenny’s voice rose high into the room and then ended to a burst of applause. The narrator continued with the story, and the wise men filed across the stage. When the curtain went down, the audience heartily applauded again.

  The lights came on, and Lynn Taylor approached Leah. “Thank you so much for starting Jenny off. When I saw her panic, I forgot the words, too!”

  “You have a beautiful voice,” Jeremy said to Leah.

  Leah felt her face flush with his compliment. “Thank you.” When Adam wriggled in her arms, she rocked him gently. Leah kissed his forehead.

  As Lynn gazed at the baby, there was longing in her expression. “What’s his name?”

  “Adam,” Leah and Jeremy said in unison.

  Ross Garrison, the attorney who handled Jenny McCallum’s trust fund, joined the group. He and Lynn were engaged. Draping his arm around his fiancé’s shoulders, he looked down at Adam tenderly. “I don’t know if we’re ready for this yet, but we are ready for the first step.”

  Lynn’s blue eyes sparkled with mischief as she whispered to Jeremy and Leah, “Ross and I are eloping as soon as we leave here. We just have to say goodbye to the children, then we’ll be on our way.”

  After Jeremy and Leah both congratulated them amid wishes for a merry Christmas, the couple headed for the stage.

  Leah peeked inside Brooke’s blanket to see if her little girl was still napping. She wasn’t. Her dark eyes stared up at Jeremy as if she knew he was her father. Leah’s heart ached as she thought of dreams and commitments and sacrifices and the decision she had to make.

  A few minutes later, Jessica and Sterling McCallum descended the three steps from the stage and came toward Leah and Jeremy. “We want to thank you for helping Jenny as you did. We weren’t sure what to do,” Sterling said, his voice deep with gratitude.

  Jessica smiled at Leah. “Jenny told me your Cheyenne nickname is Little Bird Who Sings. Now I can see why.”

  “When I was little, my mother told me I sang all the time. Now I usually just hum,” Leah responded with a laugh.

  Jessica looked from Leah to Jeremy, and Leah knew she didn’t have to tell her friend that Jeremy was the twins’ father. “May I hold one of the babies?”

  With a smile, Jeremy gave up Brooke. Jessica cooed over her for a few minutes, stroking the infant’s hair, letting her finger trail down her cheek.

  It wasn’t long before Danielle approached them. “The girls are talking with Lynn and Ross. At least Jenny is. Leah, she wants you to wait until she comes out here.”

  “How is Sara doing?” Leah asked gently.

  “I had a specialist check her out again and there’s nothing wrong with her physically. She just won’t talk, and I’m worried that the men who kidnapped her will find out who she is somehow. She’s the only one who can identify them.”

  Sterling McCallum explained, “Danielle and Sara will be staying with us ov
er Christmas.”

  With the added security at the ranch, Leah knew Sara and Danielle would be safe under Sterling’s care. “We’ll pray that the men are caught soon so you don’t have to worry,” Leah assured Danielle.

  Jenny and Sara came running down the steps from the stage and stood in front of Leah and Jessica, eager to take a peek at the twins. Leah let them, then, after hugs all around, Jeremy helped Leah into her coat. Bundling the twins carefully, they carried them out to the Jeep.

  On the drive back to the Laughing Horse Reservation, Brooke and Adam began fussing. By the time Jeremy parked, they were both proclaiming very loudly how hungry they were. Once inside the house Jeremy said, “I’ll feed Adam. You see to Brooke.”

  “Yes, sir,” Leah said with a mock salute.

  Looking chagrined for a moment he said, “I guess I’m just used to taking charge.”

  Leah gave Jeremy a smile that said she understood as she took Brooke into the bedroom. Yet Jeremy’s take-charge attitude was one of the reasons she had to be sure about any decision she made.

  An hour later the twins had been changed and fed and were now sleeping in their cradles. Jeremy seemed to simply enjoy watching them, reminding Leah that there was something she’d been wanting to ask him since the twins had been born. Adam’s Cheyenne features were obvious; Brooke’s a little less so, though she’d have an exotic look that would probably turn heads. Leah wondered how Jeremy felt about their Native American heritage. “What do you see when you look at them, Jeremy?”

  He seemed perplexed at her question. “I see my son and daughter.”

  “You don’t see children who are part White, part Northern Cheyenne and might not be accepted by either race?”

  His gaze locked on hers. “No. I see Brooke and Adam.”

  Though Leah had suspected Jeremy held no prejudice, she felt relief at his assurance. The Indians on the res didn’t accept outsiders easily. There had been talk about Jeremy Winters before he’d taken over for Kane at the clinic. But soon after his arrival, it was evident that Jeremy didn’t see Cheyenne or White. He saw patients who needed his care. He treated everyone as equals.