Damn it. Sylvie was right.
Ava should at least let Sylvie call him.
She was just about to tell her daughter to go ahead and get her phone, when she had another idea.
Why not just bundle Sylvie up and head out to Dare’s house?
Oh, please.
Bad idea. Because...crazy. Totally and completely insane.
How could she even be considering such a thing?
It could so easily backfire on her—which wouldn’t be the end of the world if she had only herself to consider.
But there was Sylvie. If Dare didn’t appreciate Ava showing up out of nowhere on Christmas Eve, that could be tough on Sylvie.
But then again, no.
Dare would never hurt Sylvie. Whatever his response to Ava, even if he’d already come to the conclusion that she wasn’t worth the pain she’d caused him, he would be careful of Sylvie’s tender heart.
“Mommy. Are you okay? You don’t look so good.”
Ava rearranged her expression into something vaguely resembling a smile. “I have an idea. You just said you want to wish Darius a Merry Christmas...”
Sylvie’s mouth formed a soft O. “Yes,” she whispered prayerfully. “Yes, I do.”
“Do you want to do that now, tonight?”
Sylvie gulped and nodded, eyes bright with growing hope. “Yes!”
“Well, all right then. Why don’t we drive out to his place?”
Sylvie popped to a sitting position. “Mommy, you mean it? Right now?”
“Right now. But remember, we aren’t invited and we will be surprising him. He might not even be there. And if he is, it’s very possible he will be busy, and we will just say Merry Christmas and then come right back home.”
Sylvie’s head bobbed up and down so fast it was almost comical. “I know we might not see him. I know he might be busy. I just want to try, Mom. If he’s not there, I won’t cry about it or anything. If he’s busy, I will just say Merry Christmas and we can come home.”
Were these the kinds of promises a seven-year-old could reasonably be expected to keep? Ava wasn’t sure.
But the choice was already made. She’d held out hope to Sylvie. She couldn’t snatch it back now.
* * *
It was snowing, the white flakes small and tight, hurling themselves wildly against the windshield. Ava played the radio, one Christmas carol after another. Intermittently, from the backseat, Sylvie sang along.
When they pulled up at Dare’s house, the porch light was on. A wreath of pine and cedar boughs hung on the door. At the festive sight, Ava had to gulp down a surge of emotion.
She turned off the engine, ending “Frosty the Snowman” in midverse. In the backseat, Sylvie unhooked the belts on her booster. Ava unlocked all the doors, and Sylvie pushed hers open.
Ava got out, too. The snow was still falling. Ava tipped up her head and caught a few flakes on her tongue. Sylvie’s mitten brushed her fingers. Ava took her hand. They went up the steps together, and Ava rang the bell. Deep in the house somewhere, Daisy barked.
“That’s his dog,” Sylvie whispered, as though they were on a secret mission and no one could be allowed to hear. “Her name is Daisy. She’s a good dog. Darius told me all about her—and if he’s gone, won’t she be lonely?”
“There’s a guy named Corky who has a house close by. He works for Darius. I’m sure he’ll check in on Daisy if Darius isn’t here to do that.”
“Good. Because, Mommy, I don’t think Darius is home.”
“Should we ring again?”
Sylvie pushed the bell that time. The sound echoed on the other side of the door. Daisy barked some more.
But no lights popped on inside, no footsteps approached.
Ava peered through the sidelight. The tree was out of the bucket, up on a stand. Even through the shadows, she caught the shine of ornaments, the gleam of a star on top. The sight cheered her.
But then Sylvie said in her smallest voice, “Mom. He’s not here.”
Ava squeezed her mittened hand. “Sorry, baby.” Sylvie’s lower lip trembled. Ava bent and scooped her up into her arms. “I’ll give you his number in the morning. You can call and wish him a happy Christmas.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Sylvie laid her head on Ava’s shoulder.
Ava carried her down the steps to the car.
On the way home, they left the radio off. The snow fell harder, the flakes growing larger, spinning out of the night toward them as they rolled down the dark road. In the backseat, Sylvie was quiet.
Ava glanced at her in the rearview mirror to see if she’d fallen asleep. But her eyes were open. She stared out her side window at the snow whirling by.
Twenty minutes after they left Dare’s dark house, Ava turned the Suburban onto their well-lit street. She saw the F-150 at the same time Sylvie did, and the heart she’d thought she’d lost turned over in her chest.
“Mom!” Sylvie’s voice rang with excitement. “It’s Darius. That’s his truck at our house!”
* * *
He wore jeans and boots and a heavy jacket—and that cowboy hat he’d worn the first night Ava went to his house.
He rose from the front step as Ava swung into the driveway. She hit the brake and pressed the remote. The garage door started rolling up.
“Mom, unlock my door.” Sylvie popped her belts open.
Darius was coming down the steps toward them. Ava punched the door locks, and Sylvie jumped out and ran to him.
They met in the middle of the snow-covered lawn. Ava rolled down the passenger window. And then she just sat there, the car idling, the garage door wide open in front of her, watching as Dare scooped Sylvie high and whirled her around. Happy little-girl laughter rang out, and the poms on her wool cap bounced as she spun.
Then he took her by the waist and hitched her over his head to sit on his shoulders. She laughed again, grabbed his hat and plunked it on her own head over her wool cap. The hat was so big, it covered half of her face, which only caused her to laugh some more.
He came and leaned in the passenger window—or at least, he did it as best he could with a seven-year-old on his back.
Their eyes met. Something inside her kindled and flared.
“I just wanted to stop by,” he said in that deep voice that haunted her dreams. “To wish you two a Merry Christmas.”
“And we went to your house to wish you a Merry Christmas!” Sylvie crowed in delight at the sheer wonderfulness of that. The big hat wobbled on her too-small head. She put up a hand to hold it in place. “But you weren’t there. Because you were here at our house.”
“Oh, yes I was.” He never took his eyes off Ava.
“How about some hot chocolate?” Ava offered, breathless and eager and not caring in the least that he would hear the longing in her voice, see the light of hope and love in her eyes.
“I’m in,” he said.
“Me too!” cried Sylvie.
Inside, they piled their coats and hats and wool scarves on the hall tree and got out of their boots. And then they trooped to the kitchen, where Ava made cocoa and Sylvie seemed driven to share every moment of her life since the last time she’d seen Dare. She chattered away about her playdate with Annabelle, the Christmas party at her day care, how well her stitches were healing and the deliciousness of the cream-filled donuts she’d enjoyed while at Gramma Kate’s the other day.
At ten thirty, Ava cut into the monologue. “Tomorrow’s a big day, and it’s way
past your bedtime.”
“I know, Mommy—and I was wondering if maybe Darius can come up and tuck me in?”
A week ago, such a suggestion would have had Ava flipping out internally and firmly saying no.
But tonight, she simply turned to Dare. “What do you think?”
He gave her that smile again, the one that warmed her from the inside out. “Happy to.” He scooped Sylvie up. “Give your mom a kiss.” He dipped her sideways. She giggled and smacked a slightly sticky kiss onto Ava’s cheek. “Off we go.” And he aimed Sylvie like a rocket and headed for the stairs.
“Brush your teeth!” Ava called after them.
“I will, Mom!” Sylvie waved good-night as they vanished from sight.
* * *
Ava was there at the foot of the stairs when Dare came down twenty minutes later.
On the last step, he paused. Waiting. For her to reach out.
And she did. She held out her hand to him. He took that last step and gathered her into his arms.
Heaven. He felt so good all around her. The manly scent of him thrilled her. And then he kissed her, a slow one, wet and hot and endlessly sweet.
“A kiss at the foot of the stairs,” he said when he finally lifted his head, “even though Sylvie might peek down and see us. This is real progress.”
“You think so?”
“Oh, yeah. We’ve come a long way.”
“God. I missed you so much.”
“And I missed you.”
“I... Oh, Dare, in case you haven’t figured it out already, I want to try again.”
He held her gaze so steadily. “Yes.”
She breathed a slow breath of joy and relief. “That’s the word. The best word. When we were kids, that day by the lockers, you said—”
“—that someday you would say yes to me.”
Gladness filled her. “You do remember.”
“All of it. Every word.”
“Well, then. Yes. Yes, Dare. See? I am saying it. I’m saying it to you.”
He stroked her cheek, smoothed her hair. “I swore to myself that I would be patient. And I wasn’t. I couldn’t stop pushing you for more than you wanted to give me. And the other night, I should have tried harder to get through to you.”
“No. You needed to go. You needed to walk away and let me finally have to face my life without you. It was time for me to admit what we really are to each other, to be ready to stand up for what we might have together. I’m glad you forced me to get to work on that—well, I mean, now that you’re here, now you’ve said yes to me, I’m glad. But the last few days...?”
“Not so good?”
“Worse. It’s been completely craptastic, facing all my shortcomings and praying that someday I would have the nerve to go to you and ask you for one more chance.” She took his hand again.
He let her lead him to the bedroom, where she shut and locked the door.
They fell into each other’s arms. He claimed her lips in the sweetest, longest kiss. And when he lifted his head, it was only to swoop down and claim them all over again.
When they finally came up for air, he said, “I brought presents, but then I thought I should wait to ask you if that was okay. They’re out in my truck.”
“You always think of everything—and it’s more than okay. We’ll send Sylvie out to get them in the morning.”
He swore low, a reverent sound. “In the morning. Because I’m staying overnight?”
“Will you?”
“Hell, yes.”
She went on tiptoe for another kiss. “Also, I hope whatever Bravo is hosting Christmas dinner this year will forgive you if you beg off. Because I want you with us. Will you please come with Sylvie and me to the Seven Pines Mobile Home Park tomorrow to enjoy the Janko family holiday feast?”
“Best offer I’ve had in years.”
“I do believe that was another yes.”
He bent close. “Yes.” He breathed the beautiful word into her ear. “Yes.” He kissed it onto her cheek. “Yes.” He pressed it into her hair. “I love you, Ava. You probably won’t believe this, but I’ve compared every woman I’ve ever met to you.”
“No...”
“Yeah.”
“But Dare, I turned you down. We were only kids and you hardly knew me.”
“Doesn’t matter. There was just something about you. I never thought I’d get a chance with you. And the past few days, I’ve gone crazy thinking I blew it because I gave up and walked out.”
“You didn’t blow it. Not at all. And you didn’t give up. I mean, here you are, ready to try again. And as for me, well, I’ve been working up the nerve to go to you almost since I broke it off. I took the Blueberry presents to your place.”
“That was you?”
“Uh-huh. I should have left a note. But I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to beg you to come back to me. And then I chickened out and just put the box there on your porch and ran away.”
“Thank you.”
“For running away?”
He grinned. “No. For the ornaments. They inspired me to get off my ass and decorate my damn tree.”
She laughed. “I saw that you did. Tonight, I peeked in the window and there it was, all decked out in the front hall.”
“It’s pretty when it’s lit up.”
“I want to see that, your tree with all the lights on. Tomorrow, if the snow’s not too bad, we can stop by your place before we go to Seven Pines.”
“Good. I want so much from you, Ava. I want everything.”
“Yes.” She said it without hesitation.
“And to start, I want you out at my place more often.”
“And I will be. I promise. And Sylvie, too.” She studied his face. Never, ever would she get enough of looking at him. “What is it with you? I want to tell you everything, confess all my sins to you.”
“And I want to hear them. Are they X-rated?”
“No, those are my fantasies. I’ll share a few of those in a minute. But first...”
“Yeah?”
“I need to tell you...”
“What? Anything. Don’t hold back.”
“That day at my locker, back in high school?”
“Yeah?”
“That day I was terrified. I know I said I wasn’t, but oh, I really was.”
“You said I was dangerous to you...”
“And you were, but not for the reasons I gave you then, not because you were rich and I was poor, not because you went with one girl after another. Uh-uh. You were dangerous because I felt you could...” She sought the right word and found it. “...know me. I felt you could know me. You could see me. Really see me. And Dare, what you would see? It wouldn’t be all that great. Because I was not only scared, I was desperate. Desperate to somehow make a life where nothing bad could ever reach me again. So I told you no. I told you never. I thought that refusing you would keep me safe. I was wrong. Doubly wrong, because this Christmas, when I had another chance with you, I refused you all over again. And this time, I’ve had to face the truth. This time, I’ve had to learn the hard way that refusing you hurts more than all my fears combined. Refusing you is the same as cutting out my own heart. So I’m done with never. I want more than safety now, more than security, more than the things that money can buy. I want you, Dare. I love you, too. So much. Completely, with all of my heart.”
He cradled her face between his big hands and brushed another
kiss across her lips. “Damn. You mean it?”
“I do. I truly do.”
“Good. Because I’ve been waiting.”
“Oh, Dare. You don’t have to wait anymore.”
“I’m warning you. I’m not only talking about this Christmas, Ava.”
“I know you’re not.”
“I want the next one.”
“We’ll share them, Dare, you and me and Sylvie, too.”
“This year, and next year and the one after that...”
“They’re yours, Dare. Forever and always, you and me together, for all of our Christmases to come.”
* * * * *
Watch for Jody Bravo’s story,
THE LAWMAN’S CONVENIENT BRIDE,
coming soon, only from Harlequin Special Edition.
Keep reading for an excerpt from THE MORE MAVERICKS, THE MERRIER! by Brenda Harlen.
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A Bravo for Christmas Page 18
