“It’s spooky with no decorations and no lights except for the television screen.”
“You can go back anytime you want.”
“Nope. I’m in.”
“Am I supposed to ring the doorbell?”
Jo thought about the instructions she’d read. “No. Just leave the package by the front door, where he’ll find it in the morning, was what the instructions were.”
“Good. Maybe he’ll never know we were here.” Russ stepped on the sagging wooden steps and they creaked. “Damn. Stay off the—”
“Too late,” Jo said as she followed him up, the steps squeaking with every movement she made.
“Then let’s get the hell out of here,” Russ said, dumping the package by the door and grabbing Jo’s hand as he started back down the steps.
Jo’s foot hit a patch of ice as she started after Russ, and if he hadn’t been holding her hand she would have fallen. Instead, her ankle twisted underneath her, and she cried out.
“Jo?” Russ grabbed her by both elbows.
“I’m okay.” Her ankle hurt like hell, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. “Let’s go.”
The door of the house banged open. “Whoever’s out there, I have a shotgun pointed right at your heart!”
“I’m gonna kill Steve,” Russ muttered, shoving Jo behind him as he faced the porch. “Merry Christmas, Mr. Barnes. We left a package for you there by the door. We’ll be goin’ now.”
“The hell you will! Come closer so I can see who you are. A package, indeed. Probably one of them stink bombs.”
Russ didn’t budge. “No, sir, it’s a present from Steve and Claire Gibson.”
Jo peeked around his arm, but she couldn’t see much except a dim outline of a thin man standing in the darkened doorway. She couldn’t tell if he was holding a shotgun or not.
“Steve Gibson?” Hector snorted. “That hooligan giving me a present? That’ll be the day! And who’re you? Santy Claus?”
“I’m his little brother, Russ.”
“Oh, yeah. I remember you, too, you little twerp, picking up bad habits from all the older kids. I’m surprised you and your brother aren’t in jail someplace.”
“Steve turned out real good, but you’re right about me. I probably should be in jail by now. Have a good holiday, Mr. Barnes.” Russ started to turn around. “Wait! You’re not going anywhere until I open this thing. If it’s going to explode or spray me with something, I want you still in the neighborhood when I call the cops.”
“Oh, for crying out loud.” Russ blew out a breath. “I’ll do better than that. I’ll come up on your porch, so I’ll get the same treatment meant for you.” He turned to Jo. “Stay here.”
“In your dreams.”
“Jo—”
“I’ve been dying to know what’s in that package. Now get going.” Despite the throbbing pain in her ankle, she followed him back up the walk, being careful not to limp.
“You got a bulb in that porch light of yours?” Russ asked as he mounted the steps.
“Nope. Don’t need one. I got all the light I need inside, and I don’t care if people on the outside can see or not.”
“What a sweetheart,” Jo murmured, joining Russ on the porch.
“So you’re gonna unwrap this exploding present in the dark?” Russ asked.
As the shadowy figure in the doorway remained silent, only the voices from the television could be heard. “Guess I’ll have to take it inside,” Hector said at last.
“Good. Then we’ll be leaving,” Russ said.
“No. You come in, too. Just don’t touch anything.”
“Look, Mr. Barnes, we really have to be—”
“We’d be glad to come in,” Jo said, giving Russ a little shove forward. She’d heard something in Hector’s voice, a faint note of eagerness at the prospect of having company.
Besides, she really wanted to see what Steve and Claire had picked out for this guy.
With the bulky package under one arm, Hector walked inside. He flicked a wall switch and a lamp came on beside the sofa. “Shut the door behind you. Don’t need to heat the neighborhood.”
Jo didn’t think the neighborhood would get very warm from the heat in this house. Hector had on a heavy sweatshirt with the hood pulled up and what must have been two layers of sweatpants, judging from how thick his legs looked in relation to his thin hands and face. Jo figured his age to be anywhere between sixty and ninety, but his eyes were the eyes of Methuselah.
The furnishings in the living room were sparse, but everything seemed spotless, including the dozens of framed pictures that covered the walls and every flat surface. Jo quickly realized they were all of the same person, beginning when he was a little boy and working up to a faded eight-by-ten color photograph of him as a young man in uniform.
Hector didn’t ask them to sit down or offer any refreshment. He just stood holding his present and gazing at it.
“Where do you keep that shotgun, Mr. Barnes?” Russ asked.
“What?” Hector glanced up at Russ.
“I don’t see a shotgun leanin’ by the front door.”
“Oh. It’s not...there.”
No shotgun, Jo decided, and relaxed a little. “Aren’t you going to open your present?”
“It’s probably a big package of toilet paper, just like the kind I had to pick off the bushes when you hooligans used to tee-pee the house.”
“One way to find out.” Russ shifted his weight and fiddled with the zipper on his coat.
“I guess so.” Hector seemed to be prolonging the surprise.
Jo wondered if he was secretly savoring the chance to open a present for the first time in years. As Hector slowly began to undo the wrapping, Jo watched in fascination as a large teddy bear emerged. She couldn’t think of a single thing less appropriate for a man like Hector.
Hector stared at the stuffed animal. He opened his mouth a couple of times, as if to say something, but apparently he was struck dumb by the strangeness of the gift. “It’s a joke, right?” he said. “They’re making fun of me.”
Russ looked as puzzled as Hector. “Steve and Claire never do that at Christmas. They always try real hard to give people somethin’ they can use.”
“And they thought I could use a teddy bear?”
Jo caught sight of a sealed envelope tied with a ribbon to the bear’s paw. “Maybe they explain it in the card,” she said.
Holding the bear in one arm, Hector untied the ribbon and opened the card. It was an awkward maneuver, one he could have accomplished better by putting down the bear.
Then Jo realized he was enjoying the feel of the stuffed toy. Maybe this wasn’t such a dumb gift, after all. She remembered the big panda she’d had as a little girl, and how many times she’d drawn comfort from hugging that soft body. People didn’t necessarily outgrow that need, especially if they were all alone.
Her gaze met Russ’s. He must have been thinking the same thoughts, because he smiled at her. She smiled back. Another Christmas success. The moment grew as understanding flowed between them. Then the current changed to something far more erotic, and Jo decided she’d better return her attention to Hector.
Hector’s lips moved as he read the message inside the card. “Huh,” he said, glancing at Russ. Then he read the card again.
“Does the note explain the present?” Jo asked.
“Kind of.” All the belligerence had gone out of Hector’s voice. “Well, I’d have to say it does.”
“Why did they give you the bear?” Russ asked.
Hector tucked the card back inside the envelope before looking at Russ. “Alan always did love Christmas,” he said.
“Excuse me?” Russ looked bewildered.
“Is Alan the person in the pictures?” Jo asked gently.
Hector’s gaze swept the room, and what was almost a smile touched his face. “Yes, that’s my Alan.”
She didn’t need any more information to know that Alan had died, probably in the militar
y, and Hector had completely closed down. No more Christmases, no more joy, no more delight in children. He’d scuttled back so far into his cave, that people weren’t welcome. Even a pet would have been too much of an intrusion. But a stuffed bear offered comfort without making any demands.
The way Hector was holding on to that bear, Jo didn’t think he’d put it down for quite a while. Gradually she became aware that the opening of It’s a Wonderful Life was playing on television.
She took a chance and gestured toward the set. “I watch that movie every Christmas Eve.”
Hector peered at the television as if he’d forgotten it was turned on. “Oh, yeah.” He grabbed a remote. “Sure don’t need that claptrap on.”
“Don’t turn it off just yet,” Jo said. “Watch a little of it It’s a great movie.”
With the remote in one hand and the bear still clutched in his other arm, Hector looked at her.
“I really recommend it,” Jo said.
“Yeah, and who are you, anyway?” Hector said.
“She’s with me,” Russ said, coming over to put an arm around Jo.
Boy, how she loved hearing that from Russ, with that note of pride in his voice. She loved his arm around her even more. It made the throbbing in her ankle seem unimportant.
Hector shrugged. “Whatever.”
“We’d best be going,” Russ said.
“Whatever,” Hector said again.
Russ guided Jo toward the door. “Merry Christmas, Mr. Barnes,” he said over his shoulder.
“Try the movie,” Jo said, trying not to limp. She noticed he hadn’t switched channels yet.
“I might. Then again, I might not. Close the door tight on your way out.”
When the door was closed behind them and they were standing on the front porch, Russ kept his arm around Jo and gave her a little squeeze. “You were great in there. I think he’s gonna watch that movie.”
“I hope so. Nobody should live that way. He might as well be dead.”
“That was his son in all those pictures, wasn’t it?”
Jo turned her face up to his. “Had to be. Did you see the way he was holding on to the teddy bear?”
“Like he didn’t want to ever let go.” His grip tightened a fraction. “I know exactly how he feels.”
Her breath caught at the tenderness in his expression.
“You do make it tough on a guy,” Russ murmured. Then he dipped his head and gave her a gentle kiss.
She held perfectly still to absorb the magic as his mouth caressed hers with restrained passion.
He lifted his lips a fraction and his breath tickled her face. “I don’t know what it is about you, lady, but I can’t seem to stay away.”
Warmth sluiced through her as she breathed in an intoxicating mixture of leather and aftershave. “Then don’t.”
“I sure never expected to be kissin’ a woman on old man Barnes’s front porch, either.” His lips were hungrier this time, his message more intimate.
She moaned softly and turned into his embrace.
“Break it up, you two,” called Hector from the doorway. “What sort of place do you think this is, carrying on like that?”
They separated and turned toward the door where Hector stood scowling at them while he held tight to his teddy bear.
“I don’t allow necking on my property,” Hector muttered, but his disapproving statement lost some of its punch when he delivered it holding on to a stuffed animal.
“I could have sworn there was some mistletoe tacked up there in the rafters,” Russ said.
“You know better than that! No mistletoe around this place!”
Russ grinned at him. “Maybe next year. Come on, Jo. Let’s go find us some mistletoe.”
“Merry Christmas, Mr. Barnes,” Jo called as Russ led her down the steps. “And a Happy New—oh.” She grimaced as she accidentally put all her weight on her bad ankle. “Happy New Year!” she finished brightly, trying to pretend nothing had happened.
The door closed behind them as Russ turned back to her. “Something’s wrong with you, isn’t it? Did you twist your ankle before?”
“I’m fine. Let’s just go.”
He released her hand. “Go ahead. I want to watch you walk, if everything’s so perfectly fine.”
“It is.” She started out bravely. “See? I’m—oh!” Pain sliced through her ankle as if somebody had jabbed a knife into it
Russ stepped forward and scooped her into his arms. “Oh, you’re just fine, all right. You sprained the heck out of your ankle, didn’t you? And you weren’t going to tell me.”
“I’m afraid you’ll take me home. I don’t want to go home, Russ.”
He headed for the sleigh. “We’ll talk about that in a minute.”
“Then let’s talk about you kissing me.” Being carried in his arms reminded her of the time he’d carried her into her bedroom. Maybe it was worth spraining an ankle to get held close like this. “Do you believe me now? That I made up the story about being married? I figured it was the best way to keep me from doing something stupid like that again, but now I realize that you’re different than I thought, and—”
“We’ll talk about all that later.” He reached the sleigh and lowered her carefully to the ground. “Hold on to the side of the sleigh while I clear you a space in the back.”
“Russ, I don’t want—”
His kiss, firm and thorough, ended her protest. “Now be quiet, Jo.”
“Okay.” If he’d keep on kissing her like that, she’d be willing to take a vow of complete silence.
“We only have two more stops to make, anyway.” He hoisted the remaining packages out of the back and carried them around to Jo’s side of the front seat. Then he grabbed the blankets she’d been wrapping up in and tossed them in the sleigh bed.
“Does that mean you’ll let me ride along while you make the last two deliveries?”
He folded one blanket and laid it in the bed of the sleigh. “I’ll decide that after I take a look at that ankle.”
She leaned closer. “I’m sure you could kiss it and make it better,” she said in a deliberately sultry tone.
He glanced up from his task of arranging the blankets into a nest for her. “Don’t think I haven’t thought of it.”
“That’s nice to know.”
“I swear, woman, you’d be able to break down the resolutions of a saint, and I ain’t no saint.”
“Glad to hear it. I don’t much care for saints, myself.”
He gave the blankets a final adjustment and walked back around the sleigh. “Well, I’m about as far from that as you can imagine. Now lean on me and I’Il try to hoist you in without disturbin’ your ankle too much.”
“I can probably climb in. In fact, I could probably ride in front.”
He took her in his strong arms. “Lean, woman. Let me do the maneuverin’ and just go with my movement.”
“I like the sound of that.” She relaxed against him.
“Damnation.” He got his arm under her hips. “You make a man think of nothin’ but...”
“But what?”
“I’m sure you know.” With a groan of effort he lifted her over the edge of the sleigh bed and laid her gently in the nest of blankets. “There.” He doubled a section of blanket and used great care to position her ankle on it. “I’ll try not to hit any bumps.”
“Do you need to know who the next gift goes to?”
“Nope. We’re gettin’ away from Hector’s, and then I’m gonna take a look at the damage before we go any further. The next stop after that might be the emergency room.”
“I don’t need an emergency room,” Jo called after him as he climbed up to the seat of the sleigh. I need you, she whispered into the darkness.
11
RUSS’S THOUGHTS zigzagged like a jackrabbit as he guided Blackie down the snowpacked road. He chose the route with as much care as possible so as not to make the ride too rough on Jo. Up ahead was a little side lane that led to a
dead end and some hiking trails. He could pull off there and take time to check Jo’s ankle. With no hazard lights on the sleigh, he didn’t want to stop someplace where they could get rear-ended in the dark.
And what else do you want to take time for, son? his conscience asked him. Damned if he hadn’t started believing that Jo might not be married, that she might have made up that husband of hers, like she said. It sounded as if she’d done it to keep herself from sleeping with him again, which made as much sense as the other possibility—that a woman like Jo would hitch up with a loser who’d leave her alone on Christmas.
Nothing about Jo made a lot of sense to him, to be honest. But then, he probably didn’t make much sense to her, either. He didn’t know the demons driving her, and she sure as hell didn’t know the ones driving him. She’d sworn to him that she wasn’t married, and she’d thrown away her wedding ring. Teetering on the edge of temptation as he was, those actions were enough to send him crashing into hell. But maybe it wasn’t even a sin.
The first order of business was finding out just how bad she’d hurt herself on that patch of ice. Hector Barnes would do well to put a lightbulb in the fixture on his front porch and shovel his steps better. Living like that was dangerous to Hector and dangerous to other folks, too.
Still, Russ couldn’t work up the same anger toward the old man that he’d enjoyed as a kid. The world had taken away the most important thing in Hector’s life, and he’d built a wall to keep people from his private heartache. Russ had no trouble understanding that
Looking at Hector was like looking in a fun-house mirror, and Russ wasn’t all that happy with what he saw. He had a powerful need to get that image out of his head. Kissing Jo sure did the trick. In fact, being with Jo seemed to get rid of those devils running around in his mind. It wasn’t a permanent solution, of course, but it was nice while it lasted.
He spied the lane and turned Blackie’s head so they cruised right into it with scarcely a ripple in the ride. Pine branches heavy with snow reached out over the roadway, turning it into a cozy little spot. Reining Blackie to a halt, Russ discovered his pulse jumping the same way it used to back in the days when he’d search out these darkened lanes with a girl in the truck seat next to him.
Santa in a Stetson Page 11
