Willow Creek Christmas

by Graison, Lily

  Sophie Ann stared at the wall, her forehead wrinkling. "At what?"

  "The mirror."

  "Oh." She narrowed her eyes. "What ya see in there?"

  "Me." Noah turned his attention back to the mirror. It had been a long time since he'd spent any time looking into it but he found himself glancing at it every day now. Every time he walked past it, his attention was drawn to the man staring back at him.

  That man wasn't the same one who left Charleston twelve years ago and drifted across the country, lost, alone and broken hearted. He wasn't even the same man he was after settling down in Willow Creek. He'd changed since Keri and her kids came into his life and he knew letting go of the past was the only way to enjoy his future.

  He'd done pretty good so far doing just that but looking in the mirror told him one thing still remained. He raised his hand and rubbed his palm against his bearded jaw. He hadn't seen the whole of his face in so long, he could barely remember what he looked like anymore. Allowing Keri to trim it had taken every ounce of courage he had. He'd done it for no other reason than he could tell she wanted him to. And as much as it had terrified him at the time, her kissing him afterwards had been worth it. That one kiss had altered every aspect of his life.

  The last bit of the old him was still lingering, though. It was there on his face. His gaze was drawn to the scar. It had changed his life in so many ways, but now as he looked at it, he had to ask why. Keri was right when she said the scar didn't define him, that it shouldn't be a reason to hide forever. He needed to put his past behind him once and for all but that old fear still lived inside his head. The need to hide and stay secluded from everything and everyone had enough hold he was almost scared to let it go.

  Sophie Ann shifted at his side and he looked back down at her. She was staring at him inquisitively, the expression on her face telling him she had no idea what he found so fascinating. When she met his eyes, her eyebrows rose. "You forget what you look like?" she asked.

  "I think maybe I have."

  She smiled, her blue eyes wide and bright. "You could see better if you shaved." She shifted and leaned her head to one side. "My other pa never had hair on his face. My ma said it made her nose itch when he kissed her so she always made him cut his whiskers off."

  "Is that right?" Noah looked back at the mirror. Keri had never said anything that indicated she didn't like the beard. She'd not hesitated to cut it, seemed eager to do it now that he thought about it, but he'd thought it was because it was so long and bushy. Was it because she didn't like it at all?

  He looked back down at Sophie Ann, her head still tilted to one side as she stared at him. "Think I should get rid of it, then?"

  She nodded her head, her curls bouncing around her shoulders. "Yeah." She straightened her back, the look on her face turning serious. "Want me to help you do it?"

  Noah laughed. "Depends on what you plan to do to help." He found out a second later when she turned her head toward the kitchen and yelled, "Ma! Noah needs help shaving off his whiskers."

  He heard something fall in the kitchen, a muttered string of words, then Keri poked her head around the doorway. "Everything all right in there?" he asked, smiling when he saw how pink her cheeks were. She stepped into the room wiping her hands on that sorry excuse for an apron she liked to wear and said, "I dropped a pot."

  She took two steps toward him, a questioning look in her eyes. "What's Sophie Ann yelling about?"

  "She thinks I should shave."

  Her eyes widened a bit. "Does she?"

  "You don't like whiskers," Sophie Ann said. "Remember?" Keri's cheeks turned from pink to red. "I'm gonna help him shave. What do I do?"

  Keri chuckled. "Draw some water. That's the safest thing."

  When Sophie Ann ran toward the kitchen, Keri crossed the room to him. "What brought all this on?"

  Noah shrugged, unwilling to tell her where his mind had been wandering lately. "It's been a while since I've shaved. How steady is your hand?"

  "You trust me with a razor that close to your neck?"

  Noah nodded. "I trust you."

  Sophie Ann walked back into the room, each step slow and measured, water sloshing to the floor every time she moved. Keri laughed and took the cup she was holding from her. "I think we'll need more than this," she said. "Let's go find something a bit bigger."

  Aaron laid the book in his hand down and stood, shaking his head while looking at him. "She cut my pa once when she shaved him."

  Noah raised an eyebrow. "Bad?"

  "He bled a bit."

  He smiled. "Well, as long as your ma doesn't cut too deep, I may be all right."

  Sophie ran back into the room. "Ma said for me to come get ya. You gotta sit at the table."

  Noah grabbed his old shaving kit from the chest at the foot of the bed and followed her back into the kitchen. Keri set a bowl of water on the table and glanced his way. "You have a razor?"

  He showed her the kit, then set it on the table.

  "Are you sure you want to do this?"

  "As sure as I was the day I let you trim it."

  She smiled. "Well let's do it before you change your mind."

  There wasn't time to protest even if he had wanted to. Once Keri started preparing to shave him, there was no way to stop her. Sophie Ann must have been right. Keri apparently didn't like the beard at all if her haste to get him shaved was any indication. She had him in a chair, his straight razor sharpened, a cloth tucked under his neck and a good lather going in a cup before it fully sunk in what he was about to do. He met her gaze once she picked the razor back up. She looked as nervous as he felt. He winked at her and leaned his head back. "Don't cut off anything I might need later on."

  He closed his eyes the moment she touched him. Memories from the past twelve years played inside his head like moving pictures as Keri slowly scraped away what remained of the man he'd let himself become. He let go of the pain Isabelle had caused and knew the only reason it still hurt was because he let it hurt and every taunt and odd look he received over the years was forgotten as if they'd never been. Keri and those kids made the hurt seem trivial now.

  When Keri finally said, "I'm done," long minutes later, he opened his eyes and looked up at her. She was smiling, her wet hands running across the smooth skin along his jaw line. Aaron stepped up beside him and handed him the mirror from the wall. He was almost scared to look but took the mirror, held it in front of him, and saw his entire, bare face for the first time in twelve years.

  He should have left the beard on.

  The scar was the only thing he saw. It would be the only thing anyone else saw, too. He'd forgotten how crooked it was, how wide toward his jaw. The jagged white line slashed across his cheek as noticeable now as it had been when the cut had been fresh.

  Keri touched him, the back of her fingers sliding across the scar until he lowered the mirror. Aaron and Sophie Ann were gone, their voices a soft whisper from the other room. "I'll add the decision to shave to the others I've regretted in my life."

  "It'll grow back."

  She was still touching him, her fingers a gentle caress against his face. The look in her eyes showed him nothing more than he was used to seeing when he looked at her. "Not quick enough."

  "That's what I'm hoping." She smiled and leaned down, kissed him so tenderly his heart raced as if she'd been in his arms and he'd taken his time kissing her. She nuzzled the side of his face, the softness of her skin and the warmth of her breath heating his flesh before she left whisper soft kisses along his jaw. "For what its worth, you're still as handsome a man as you were twenty minutes ago, but if you want to grow the beard back, I'll suffer through the nose tickling."

  He smiled, then turned his head to look at her. "Well, I guess I better give you as many tickle free kisses as I can before it grows back."

  "You can start now," she said, her smile lighting up her eyes. "And make it quick before Aaron or Sophie Ann decide to come back."

  He chuckled and reach
ed out to cup the side of her face. "If you insist."

  * * * *

  The morning was cold, the ground frozen, but for once, the sky was blue. A few patches of snow still lingered under the trees but other than that, and the frigid temperature, it looked as sunny as any spring day.

  Keri smiled at Noah when he helped her down from the wagon, his hands lingering on her waist longer than usual. "Hurry back," he whispered, the smile on his face letting her know immediately he had plans for her today. Thoughts of what those plans might be heated her blood. They only had one more day to themselves before school let out for the month long Christmas break and from the look on Noah's face it would be one neither of them would ever forget.

  "I'll be back in a second." She hurriedly ushered Aaron and Sophie Ann to the school house, stumbling once before making it to the steps. She could hear Noah's laughter long after Laurel greeted them at the door. "Good morning, Laurel."

  Laurel ushered them inside and waved at Noah before closing the door. "To be so pretty out, I don't think I've felt it so cold."

  "Me either." Keri helped Sophie Ann remove her coat and stuffed her small gloves into the pockets, then hung it on one of the pegs by the door. The kids were already rambunctious. Knowing it was their last day of school for a while left them all a bit wild.

  Laurel tried to get them to settle down and turned to look back at Keri when they paid her no mind. She shook her head while laughing. "Looks as if I'm in for a hair raising day."

  The sound of shattering glass and the report of a fired gun echoing in the street nearly stopped Keri's heart and pulled a startled scream from everyone inside the school building. Everyone but Laurel. The look on the school teacher's face was one Keri would remember until her last breath. The horror and disbelief shining in Laurel's amber eyes caused Keri's heart to slam against her ribcage, her breath to leave her lungs in a swoosh that left her dizzy and her knees wobbly.

  And the sight of Laurel's blood staining her pretty yellow dress caused Keri's screams to ring out the loudest.

  Chapter Thirty

  Noah ran toward the school, the gun shots coming from inside the saloon ignored. His heart was in his throat, bile churning in his stomach as he reached the steps, the screams coming from inside nearly deafening him. The fear of what he'd see once he made it inside the little building made his limbs so weak he could barely climb the stairs.

  He flung open the door, his heart stopping for a brief moment as he saw Laurel and Keri both on the ground. It took long seconds to realize Keri was moving. That the blood on her hands wasn't her own. The relief he felt didn't last. Laurel was gasping for air, the front of her dress stained a ruddy brown. The bullet that shattered the window had hit her.

  "Noah! What do I do?"

  Keri's frantic question snapped him out of his daze and he crossed to where they were and sank to his knees. He grabbed Keri's hands and placed them over Laurel's wound. "Hold your hands here. Don't let go." He stood, his gaze darting to those looking back at him, their tear-streaked faces causing his heart to pinch inside his chest.

  Broken glass littered the floor in front of the window. Fate had a way of reminding you how precious life really was and that stray bullet from the saloon was a major wake up call.

  Noah spotted Holden's daughter, Alexandra, Laurel's stepdaughter, at the front of the small group of school kids, the redhead boy she was always fighting with had his arms wrapped around her while he tried to hold her still.

  Searching the faces looking up at him, he finally saw Aaron and Sophie Ann, both of them huddled against the wall with three more kids. He sighed in relief and met Aaron's eyes. "Keep Sophie Ann with you," he said. "And stay right where you are. I'll be back in a minute."

  He waited for Aaron to acknowledge him before leaning back down and placing a hand on Keri's shoulder. "I'm going after Dr. Reid. I'll be right back."

  She threw him a look so full of fear it tightened his chest. He didn't even think when he leaned over and kissed her. It was quick, brief, but enough to ease his mind a bit. Leaving her and the kids behind as the sound of gunshots still echoed through the streets was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do.

  Stepping out of the school with the occasional wild shots still pinging across town had his nerves on edge. He could hear the marshal yelling and searched him out, finally catching a glimpse of him tucked in between two buildings, his rifle raised and pointed toward the saloon.

  Noah hurried down the steps, keeping his head low and made it back to his wagon just as another shot flew across the street, the sound of breaking glass once again causing screams to ring out in town. Whoever was in that saloon shooting into the street deserved an ass kicking and he hoped Morgan gave it to him.

  He waited for a lull, then raced across the road and ducked into the doctor’s office. Dr. Reid was stuffing things into a black bag and turned wide eyes his way when he slammed the door shut behind him.

  "A stray bullet hit the school teacher," he said. "Looked pretty bad to me."

  The doctor nodded, snapped the bag shut and lifted it from the table and crossed the room. "Lead the way."

  They were crossing the street when all hell broke loose. Shots rang out nonstop, yelling echoing off the buildings. Noah turned, saw two men run from the saloon still shooting, and he felt his blood heat as rage clawed at his chest. He knew those two, his gaze landing on the wiry, brown haired fellow in front. It was the same bastard who'd broke into his cabin, the man who'd attacked Keri. A man he'd wished he'd killed the day the son of a bitch dared to touch her.

  It looked as if fate was going to give him a chance to rectify that mistake. Turning away from the school, he hurried down the sidewalk toward the saloon.

  * * * *

  Keri wiped her eyes against her sleeve, her hands still pressed against Laurel's shoulder like Noah had told her to do. Gun shots were still popping in the street and every second Noah was gone, the fear she felt increased.

  Laurel made a funny wheezing sound and Keri's heart kicked against her ribs. "Don't go to sleep, Laurel. Noah went to get Dr. Reid. He'll have you fixed up in no time."

  The school teacher blinked, her eyelids drooping a bit before she looked up at her. "Seeing a doctor twice in one day. Doesn't sound like I'll be okay." She smiled but there was despair shining in her eyes. "I'm pregnant."

  The words were whispered so softly, Keri barely heard them. Fear was etched on every tense inch of her face. "You'll be fine," she told her again. "And so will your baby." She tried to reassure her and knew she failed by the look on Laurel's face.

  Laurel's smile waned. "No one knows. I didn't even tell Holden I thought I was." Her eyes grew glassy. "I wanted to surprise him." She licked her lips, her eyelids fluttering again. "Don't let Dr. Reid tell him."

  "I won't."

  "Promise?" Laurel said. "He'll have a hard enough time dealing with me gone."

  Keri's eyes filled with tears again. "You're not going anywhere, Laurel. Dr. Reid will fix you right up. You and your baby will be just fine."

  The door opened the moment the words were out of her mouth and Keri sucked back a sob of relief at seeing the doctor walk through the door. He sank to his knees and pulled her hands away from the wound and all Keri could do was sit there and wonder why Noah hadn't come back inside.

  The minutes ticked by, the gunshots in the street finally stopping and Keri felt as if she were in a daze by the time Dr. Reid stood and peeked out the door. He turned and picked Laurel up, then said, "Hand me my bag." Keri did as he asked and stood, her legs cramping from sitting on them so long. "Thank you," he said. "I'll take her over to my office." He glanced around the room. "Are you okay here with the children?"

  Keri nodded and felt a languorous sort of numbness steal into her limbs when he left. The children were still crying, Alexandra Avery still fighting to be let loose and Keri knew the last thing Evan needed was a hysterical girl in his office.

  She crossed the room, gave a brief look to the red
head boy trying to hold Alexandra still, and didn't miss the anguish in his eyes as he held the crying blonde in his arms. For all the fighting the two did, he cared about this girl. It was written all over his face.

  Stopping in front of them, Keri smiled and reached out to try and comfort her but stopped when she noticed the blood on her hands. She lowered her arm. "She'll be all right," she said. "Dr. Reid will take care of her."

  "She can't die. My pa…." She cried harder, her blue eyes red and puffy.

  "Shhh…" Keri tried to soothe her and knew nothing would. Not until she knew her stepmother was all right. Keri gave the boy a look, knowing he'd try to calm Alexandra and finally stepped away from them to look at the others in the room. They were all huddled together in a small group and Keri's heart broke for them all.

  She crossed the room, sank to her knees again and felt the first bit of relief since the first shot was fired when Aaron and Sophie Ann flew into her arms. The others gathered close, their crying finally giving way to sniffles.

  The door flew open and Keri turned, her pulse leaping until she saw Abigail. The woman's face was etched in the same fear Keri knew her own showed.

  Abigail looked around the room, spotted Alexandra and crossed to her, folding her arms around her as the girl started crying harder. "Jesse, I need you to go get your horse and ride out to the Avery ranch and get Holden. Can you do that?"

  The boy stood and nodded. "Yes, ma'am. I'll be quick about it, too." He gave another look at Alexandra, his mouth opening as if he wanted to say something, but turned instead and left the school at a run.

  Long minutes ticked by, the noise in the street growing. Men were shouting but thankfully the gun shots had ceased. Keri waited for Noah to come back but when the shouting stopped and the sound of horses racing through the town grew distant, her fear grew. Where had he gone? Was he hurt as well?