Christmas in Cancun

by KaLyn Cooper

  Not lifting his eyes from the top of Addi’s head, Jack said, “Isn’t she just the most precious thing you’ve ever seen?”

  “Yes. She’s beautiful and a true princess. Now, back to the mother.” Mateo was determined to learn more, but Jack didn’t have much to tell. He’d like to get to know Jillian quite a bit more.

  “She is blonde, no? And beautiful to have created such a gorgeous baby? Her father, not so handsome.”

  Mateo was right. Jimmy was not what anyone would call handsome. He was a big soft teddy bear with a heart the size of the ocean he loved to explore. He had gotten their grandfather’s Black Irish dark hair that turned auburn in the summer. The ruddy complexion that often burned under the Caribbean sun was shared by Gramps and Jimmy but never deterred them from their annual quest for those damn Mayan statues.

  Jack was the complete opposite. He’d inherited their Mexican grandmother’s high cheekbones and aristocratic features, but their father’s light-colored hair. He’d been a true towhead as a child. His skin would bronze and hair turned nearly white every summer as he drove the boat around the area tourist hawkers had officially named the Riviera Maya while Gramps and Jimmy poured over ancient texts and oceanic charts.

  He’d seen one of those maps last night in Jillian’s boxes. He’d need to get them out of his car at some point this morning.

  Jack’s cell phone rang. “You got her for a few? I need to take this.”

  “I can handle the princess. Don’t be long, or I’ll burn your omelet.”

  Jack nodded as he answered the call from the office.

  Chapter Five

  Addi was splashing in the bathtub and giggling loudly in Jillian’s dream. They were both soaked from her water play, but nothing could dampen her unconditional love for her daughter.

  “Unka Dak, ’gen.” Jillian struggled to decode the toddler’s speech, but before she could, the rumbling baritone voice that followed shook her to the core. Another giggle instantly trailed.

  Jillian startled awake with that instinctive mother-danger sense. Her heart was pounding as she fought to untangle herself from the sheets while frantically glancing around the unfamiliar room.

  Then her gaze landed on the crib.

  Empty.

  Her sleep-deprived brain finally kicked started. She was in Mexico. The man at the airport had taken her baby.

  Kidnapped.

  No, that wasn’t right. She was at the Girard compound. That man had been Jack.

  She leaped to the side of the crib and stared at rumpled sheets tangled with her baby’s favorite blanket. The one she was never without.

  Her baby was…gone.

  “’gen.” The half word was followed by more giggling.

  Jillian spun toward the open wall onto the courtyard and watched big hands toss her tiny child up in the air a few inches, catch her securely, and drop her into the water only to her chin.

  “You are insatiable, Addison Girard.” The low voice resonated within Jillian. The words “you are insatiable” bounced between her brain and her heart…then dove much lower as if he’d said those words to her.

  Jillian stood, unable to move from the shadows of her darkened bedroom. Her gaze was riveted to the magnificent bare-chested man as he played with her daughter in the bright sunlight. Rivulets of water created streams over perfect pecs and found paths through a light dusting of blond chest hair that she wouldn’t have seen except for the sparkling reflection of the sun off the droplets lucky enough to become snagged.

  “’gen, Unka Dak.” Jillian discerned the phrase this time. Her daughter was begging to do it again from her Uncle Jack.

  I’d beg Jack to do it again too.

  Jillian slapped her hand over her mouth, not that she’d spoken a single word. What the heck was wrong with her? She’d never been like this before, not even with Jimmy. Sure, it’d been a long time since she’d had sex, but this was ridiculous. On the other hand, she’d never been this close to a half-naked man with a body like Jack’s.

  As his shoulder and bicep moved, a green frog carrying the trident seemed to crawl up his arm. She almost screamed until she realized it was a tattoo.

  Heart still pounding, she watched her daughter play with this stranger and truly enjoy being with him. He must have come into their room and gotten Addi.

  Oh God forgive me, I didn’t hear her.

  She continued to chastise herself for not being there for her daughter. But, lately, Addi would sometimes play in her bed if she awoke extremely early then fall back asleep until six.

  Addi splashed water at Jack. “You little dickens.” He speared her tummy with his nose and she giggled, again. He was good with her. So protective, yet playful. She wondered if he was like that with women. Or in bed.

  Addi, like her, didn’t take to men, but Jack seemed to have cast a spell over her daughter the moment they met last night. Children had a sixth sense about people and knew who they could trust. Someday Jillian hoped to be able to trust another man the way she’d trusted Jimmy.

  Jillian’s stomach growled, and she looked at the clock on the nightstand. Oh my gosh, it’s nearly seven. Addi needs to eat breakfast. And Jillian had to get her day started. She was already running late, and there were so many things to do. She’d start with the man who had entered her room without permission and taken her child.

  She headed toward the pool but looked down at her skimpy camisole and short shorts. Thank goodness she’d brought a light robe. She dug quickly through her suitcase and found the light green wrap, slipping it on while heading out the wall of open glass doors. It wasn’t the red suit jacket she wore to meetings with the dean, but it was a cloak of armor to face a man. It held all her emotions encased and her heart protected. She was going to rip Jack Girard a new one for giving her a near heart attack, and then she’d thank him for his consideration and babysitting efforts.

  The moment Jillian stepped from under the deep shaded area in front of her room, Addison saw her and called, “Mommy.” Jillian couldn’t stop the instant smile that broke her resolve. Jack had made her baby so happy.

  Jillian squinted in the overpowering sunlight then shaded her eyes with her hand. She needed to say something to Jack but couldn’t stop staring at him. He was staring right back behind mirrored sunglasses.

  Addi slapped her hands on the water, splashing Jack’s face. “Mommy, Mommy. Up.”

  When she knelt, her robe fell to the sides of her thighs. She bent and leaned over the water, reaching for her daughter.

  She heard Jack’s quick intake of breath and looked down at her chest where she was flashing him more than she was comfortable showing any man, least of all her brother-in-law. She leaned back and pulled the robe across her breasts, then tightened the belt.

  “How about I bring her out to you?” Jack said as he stood in the knee-deep water. He’d been sitting on the bottom of the pool. As he rose, water sluiced over toned leg muscles, and his board shorts slid down narrow hips. Jillian held her breath wondering if they were going to fall off. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the line of darker hair that ran from his belly button to the waistline of the tan shorts.

  “I’m sorry if we woke you.” Jack’s deep voice forced her gaze to his face. His mouth twitched at the corners.

  “Huh?” Get it together and breathe. Jillian had forgotten everything she was going to say to this man.

  “I heard Addi stirring just before six and knew you’d had a long day yesterday, so I thought I’d let you sleep a while more.” The slash of white teeth in the sun-browned face shoved away any thoughts of scolding him.

  “Uh, thank you.” She held out her hands, and a very wet Addison slid into them. She pulled her baby to her chest and gave her a kiss, forcing her gaze away from the powerful man in front of her.

  It was then Jillian noticed the pink-stained onesie clinging to Addi’s slightly rounded belly. Jillian looked around to see if anyone else had seen her in that thing. She’d brought beautiful clothes for h
er daughter to wear around her family and cute little bathing suits.

  “She was covered in fruit juice, so I figured a plunge in the pool was more fun than staying sticky.” Jack shrugged sheepishly.

  “So, you gave her fruit juice?”

  “No. Mateo, he’s our cook, he gave her a bowl of fruit and milk. She gobbled down some crackers, too, and even ate part of my omelet.” Her gaze followed his hand as he reached over and stroked Addi’s hair, his fingers so close she could see the callouses on them. “She’s a hungry little thing in the morning.”

  “Yes, she is.” Jillian’s stomach decided to announce her own desire for food.

  Jack chuckled. “Takes after her momma.” He grinned before he turned away and walked to a portable phone laying on a lounge with rumpled sheets. “What do you want for breakfast? Mateo will cook Addi’s mother anything she wants. I think he’s fallen in love with your daughter.”

  He must have read her startled look because he added, “The old cook has been with our family for over thirty years. He loves kids. Probably why he has eight of his own and at least four grandchildren.”

  Eight children? Jillian was the only daughter of an only daughter. She would have loved siblings, but not that many.

  “Mateo, Addi’s mother would like…” He looked at her for her order.

  “I don’t eat much, but I desperately need lots of coffee.”

  “Coffee for sure,” Jack said into the phone. “I could use another cup or two also, and Lilly will be up and around any minute. Levi had a late night, and he and Mother have to work some this morning. Better send a pot down now and keep it coming. We’ll eat at the dining area down here.”

  There was a pause on his end before Jack said, “Yeah. Sounds good.”

  Jack set the phone on the side table and announced, “They’ll bring breakfast down in about ten minutes.” He pointed to a long dining table in the corner under the first floor balcony that ran the length of the L-shaped house. In the daylight, Jillian now saw that four rooms, two in each part of the house, opened onto the lower level where they now stood. In front of each room was an outdoor double bed with a huge pillow roll and a small table next to a chair.

  She might like to sleep out there one night. With the doors open, she’d still hear Addi. Heck, she might even move her crib out there. The solid balcony above would protect them if it rained.

  She glanced up and saw a second balcony above that one, again running the length and width of the house. “Wow. How big is this place?”

  “About ten thousand square feet.” Jack looked around as if taking inventory. “We have four bedrooms on this lower level where we children stay. The main level has a formal dining room and living room, the kitchen, and my office, which used to be the library. I guess it still is since the books are there.”

  He pointed to the adjacent side. “The master suite takes up that whole floor.” Looking up, he added, “The third level has four more bedrooms and a recreation room.” In unison they turned toward the courtyard. “On the far side is the pool house. It has three bedrooms. That’s where Lilly and her boys are staying.”

  “And her husband?”

  “Divorced. At least I think the divorce has gone through.”

  Her gaze continued to the right, where a path led over the dune.

  “There’s a large palapa on the beach with two lounges and some hammocks under a pergola. If you want sun a little closer, yet away from the pool—Lilly’s boys get pretty rambunctious—there’s a sun deck over the garage.”

  “Was this a hotel or something?” Jillian couldn’t believe how this place was all about sun and water.

  “No. Gramps built the main house as an escape from Chicago. This is where he met Grams. She was from Isla Mujeres, an island—”

  “I know where the Isle of Women is located. I want to rent a boat and go there. I’m very familiar with the geography of this entire area. My thesis is based on the folktales translated from the Mayan into ancient Spanish.” She looked down at her bare feet. “It’s how Jimmy and I met.”

  “But your area is anthropology. Jimmy was getting a masters in business.”

  She looked him square in the face. “No. He wasn’t. He was a semester away from a masters of science in archeology. His thesis was on Mayan symbols, specifically about the stolen goddesses on Isla Mujeres. He lied to your mother so he could stay in school.”

  Jack looked amused. He chuckled. Then he couldn’t contain his laughter and roared. That made Addi laugh too. His bold, deep laughter mixed with Addi’s high tinkling was like a song sung in harmony that Jillian had never heard, but she instantly loved the melody.

  But she couldn’t figure out what she’d said that was so amusing. “What’s so funny?”

  “I didn’t think he had it in him to defy Mother. Good for him.” He visibly tamped down his laugh and added, “Mother would have yanked him out of college and thrown his ass into a box at the corporate office if she’d had even a clue what he was studying.”

  “He told me that, but I didn’t believe him.” Jillian now worried what Addi’s grandmother was capable of doing. She sounded ruthless.

  “Oh, she would have done it.” Jack glanced in the direction of the master suite. “She considered Gramps’ obsession with the idols absolutely ridiculous.”

  “Why?”

  “She grew up here but went to college in the USA. She met Dad in grad school. Mother thought Gramps needed to spend more time growing the company, but he was all about balance. He believed in 'work hard and play even harder'. Mother doesn’t do play.” Under his breath, he added, “Unless you can consider drinking hard as playing hard.”

  Jillian heard and again wondered about Addi’s grandmother.

  “Gramps was an amateur treasure hunter of sorts.” He ran both hands through his long hair, shoving it out of his face into a slicked-back look. “Those boxes of papers you brought—I promise I’ll get them out of my car for you shortly—they are the years of research Gramps did based on the diaries and journals passed down through Grams’ family. Our Chel ancestors lived on Isla Mujeres for centuries.”

  “I couldn’t have done my doctoral thesis without those. That reminds me, I need to rent a car…and a boat. Is there some place you can suggest?”

  “We have plenty of cars here. You don’t need to rent one.” He pointed to the garage. “We leave the keys in them so we know where they are. Just take one.”

  A middle-aged round woman in a stark white sundress embroidered with large red and yellow flowers appeared at Jack’s elbow, two cups and a thermal pot in hand. She set them on a nearby table then poured.

  “You leave the keys in the car?” Jillian knew her voice carried a little are-you-an-idiot tone to it.

  “This compound is extremely secure.” He gave her a condescending smirk. “We have a state-of-the-art security system that allows you to move around freely within the fence. Isn’t that right, Calita?” He smiled fully at the motherly-type woman.

  “Sí.” The woman’s smile was as brilliantly white as her dress. She handed Jillian a cup. “You and the bambino are very safe here.” She drilled a finger into Addi’s belly and received a little giggle in response.

  Jillian thanked Calita and breathed in the best-smelling coffee ever. She sipped, and her taste buds confirmed it. She couldn’t withhold the hum of satisfaction. She truly needed coffee, and the caffeine it brought, every morning.

  Calita handed Jack his coffee. “I’ll put this on the sideboard.” She pointed toward the shaded corner. “Is there anything else before I bring down the food?”

  “No, thank you, Calita.” His smile conveyed genuine affection for the woman.

  Jack looked at Jillian and continued, “The cars are tagged, so the gates will open automatically for you. As for a boat, where do you want to go and what do you want to do so I can figure out which of my boats we need to take.”

  “I can drive a boat,” Jillian quickly added. She needed it to fulfill a promi
se and didn’t need company.

  “I’ll take you anywhere you need to go. The Caribbean can fool you, and you aren’t insured to drive my boats. What is it you want to do? Sightseeing? Fishing? Do you dive? You mentioned Isla Mujeres. My boats go there every day.”

  “No, it’s…very personal…I need to…” She couldn’t say the words. Her throat had tightened too much.

  His face turned soft and concerned. “What is it, Jillian?” He touched her arm and caressed it slowly. “You can tell me. Just say it.”

  The feel of his hand stroking her bicep made her forget what she was going to say. Warmth radiated up her arm and to her heart.

  She forced in a deep breath. She could do this. Like he said, just say it.

  “Ashes.” She fought back the tears that had threatened to pour since she'd picked up the box and packed to bring it here.

  She lost the battle. As the first trickle ran down her cheeks, she managed to say, “Jimmy’s ashes.”

  Chapter Six

  Jack was too stunned to move his lips.

  Part of him wanted to take this beautiful woman in his arms, baby and all, and just hold her. Tell her everything would be all right because he’d see to it that nothing hurt her or made her cry again.

  The other part was reeling from the kick to the solar plexus. She had Jimmy’s ashes with her. Here. He looked around the square. Somewhere here. Maybe still in the boxes in his car.

  The memories of him and Jimmy were so close to the surface. He’d been thinking about his brother often since he found out Jillian and Addison were coming to Mexico to spend the Christmas holidays with his family. No, it was their family too.

  They had just been talking about Gramps, and Jack had nothing but warm, loving memories of the long, hot summers the three of them had spent right there during his teen years.