Daddy by Christmas

by Patricia Thayer

  “I don’t think so, Saunders. First thing, I don’t like you tossing my name around as if we’re friends.” He glared at Preston. “Secondly, Jarrett McKane and my company just agreed on a rather lucrative property deal. Nothing you say is going to change a thing.” He took a step closer to Preston. “So I suggest you do what Jarrett asked, because I also heard you threaten your daughter. And believe me, you don’t want to mess with me.”

  Her father looked at Mia. “Margaret, are you going to allow this?”

  Mia knew he wouldn’t stop trying to control her. “Yes.” She fought tears that it had to come to this. “Please don’t contact me again.”

  If Preston was surprised, he hid it. “Your mother is going to be so disappointed.”

  “Please tell Mother that she’s more than welcome to visit her grandson.”

  Preston Saunders started for the door, but stopped and looked back at her. “I wouldn’t act so smug if I were you, Margaret, not with your past. There’s a lot of things that could come out I’m sure you’d like to keep buried.” He nodded to Jarrett. “I’m sure your friends would be interested to know their sweet Mia isn’t so innocent.” He turned and walked out the door.

  Mia felt the heat climb to her face and those dark years came rushing back, threatening to consume her, take away everything she’d made good in her life.

  “Mia, are you okay?”

  She nodded and put on a smile.

  Neil looked at Jarrett. “I think I’ll leave you two alone to talk.” He turned to Mia. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mia. I hope we get a chance to talk later.” With a nod, Neil Fulton walked out, leaving her with Jarrett.

  She looked at him, saw his questioning look, then burst into tears and ran out of the room, too.

  Two hours later, Mia was back at her apartment. She fed BJ, and, after putting him down to nap, she dragged her suitcase from the closet and began to pack.

  Okay, she was a coward. But when it came to a protecting her son, she’d do anything, go anywhere. She wasn’t sure if her father would bring her past out in court. Would he even take her to court?

  Mia sank to the sofa. After all these years, all the things she’d accomplished, she’d turned her life around, and still her past had caught up with her. And she couldn’t trust anyone to love her if they found out the truth about her.

  She brushed away a tear. “Brad, I wish you were here to help me.”

  She stood and looked around. There wasn’t much worth taking with her, except the baby things. She needed some boxes and went to the stairwell to get some. She found two. As she returned to her apartment, Trace McKane got off the elevator. She couldn’t avoid him.

  He smiled. “Hey, Mia. Have you seen Jarrett?”

  She shook her head. “Not since earlier.”

  Trace played with his cowboy hat in his hands. “I hear you talked with your father. I hope that went well.”

  “He’s leaving town, and I hope it’s the end of it.” She motioned to her apartment. “I’d better get inside to BJ.”

  He glanced at the boxes as he walked with her. “So you’re getting ready to move out to the cottage? Maybe I can take some things out today.”

  She couldn’t make eye contact as she backed up to her apartment door. “Look, Trace, I appreciate you and Kira offering us a place to live, but I’ve decided to move back to Denver for school.”

  Before Trace could say anything, the sound of BJ’s cry distracted them. She hurried inside and got her son back to sleep, then returned to the living room. Trace was waiting.

  “I know it isn’t any of my business, but are you leaving because of my brother?”

  She shook her head. “No, it’s me. I feel it’s for the best.”

  He watched her. “I’m not buying it. I know you have feelings for Jarrett, and the guy’s crazy about you. What’s the real reason?”

  She couldn’t deny it. She was totally in love with Jarrett. “I don’t think it will work out. My father will probably try and cause more trouble.” She glanced away. “There are things in my past.” She shook her head. “A time in my life when I didn’t care much about myself. I did things I’m not proud of.”

  “All of us have those times. Jarrett and I have a lot of bad history. We really haven’t been brothers until the last few years.” He studied her. “And Kira and I had our share of rough times, too. It took her years to tell me she’d had a baby when she was fifteen. She gave him up.”

  Mia remembered Jenna saying she had an older brother. “That must have been hard for her.”

  He nodded. “I was married to her and she never told me. When I finally found out, of course I was hurt. Not over what she did at fifteen and alone, but because she didn’t trust me enough to tell me. We almost split up over it.”

  She couldn’t imagine Trace and Kira not together. “I just have so much baggage. I can’t keep dumping it on Jarrett.”

  Trace smiled. “Do you see the man complaining? He’s crazy about you and BJ. Besides, Jarrett isn’t an angel, either. There’s plenty of women around town that will attest to that.”

  She wasn’t sure what to say, then suddenly she blurted out. “I love him too much to hurt him.”

  He turned serious. “A few years ago, I would have told you to walk away from Jarrett, that you were too good for him. But he’s changed. Give him a chance to prove that he’s the man you need.”

  By about five that night, Jarrett wasn’t sure what he was doing. Things hadn’t turned out as he’d planned. He’d charged in to help, but in the end he didn’t get the girl.

  He knew that talking with her father had taken its toll on Mia. But he also thought that she’d rush into his arms when it was over. Instead, she’d run out the door, right out of his life.

  He’d tried calling her several times, but she didn’t answer. How could he tell her how he felt in a phone message?

  After Mia’s rejection, he’d spent the day with Neil going over the changes in the project. That was the reason he’d called this meeting of the tenants. They were going to be a big part of this and he wanted to make sure everyone agreed to his proposal.

  He’d hoped to see Mia when he walked into the community room, but she wasn’t there. As he made his way to the front, the room grew quiet and everyone turned to him.

  “Good evening, everyone.” He glanced around, realizing how many of the tenants he’d gotten to know these past months. He’d shared meals and holidays with these people.

  “I know you’ve all wondered why I called this meeting. Well, as of a few hours ago, I finalized and signed the contracts for the new factory to be built. So the construction is scheduled to start in the early spring.” The tenants exchanged glances, but didn’t say anything. “Since we last gathered, there have been some changes to the plans. Neil Fulton has agreed to build further back on the property. I feel this is a better solution for all of us.”

  “You mean for you,” someone said.

  “Just hear me out.” He took a breath. “First of all, when I say the factory will be relocated on the back of the property that means the apartment buildings won’t be torn down. Instead, the vacant building will be used to house Fulton’s corporate offices, and this building will be remodeled and left as Mountain View Apartments.”

  Jarrett raised his hand to quiet the suddenly noisy group. “Of course, there’s going to be a lot of construction noise during the remodeling. So I’m going to compensate you all with lower rents for the next six months.”

  Joe stood. “Wait, we don’t have to move out by March?”

  “No. Unless you want to. But it’s a better investment for me to keep the building open. We’re in an era of recycling, so I want to bring these apartments back to their original state by painting and repairing the structure. The kitchens and baths will be updated, of course, with new appliances and fixtures. So what I need to know is, how do you feel about continuing to live here?”

  Cheers went up in the room.

  Joe got out of h
is chair again. “How much more will it cost us in rent?”

  “Since you all lived here at the worst time, you shouldn’t have to pay any extra once things improve. So there won’t be any increase in rent for any of the tenants living here now.”

  “We’ll need to get it writing,” a familiar voice called out from the back of the room.

  Heart pounding, Jarrett looked toward the doorway. Mia was standing there behind BJ’s stroller. She looked tired, but as beautiful as usual.

  “I can do that,” he offered. “Anything else you need?”

  Mia didn’t take her eyes off Jarrett as she moved along the side of the tables. She had so many things she needed to say to him. Maybe this wasn’t the place, but she had to see him. She had to give this one last chance. For both of them.

  “A good handyman on the premises,” she went on.

  “Someone who can take care of emergencies.” Nola came over, took the stroller as Mia continued to the front of the room. She stopped in front of Jarrett. “Someone we can count on.”

  He studied her for a moment and nodded. “Do you think you’ll need someone just during the day or around the clock?”

  Those dark eyes locked on hers, and she wondered if he could read her mind, her heart. She could barely speak. “Oh, definitely around the clock. Do you know of anyone?”

  “Yeah, I’ve got just the guy for the job.” He took a step forward and she could feel everyone in the room hanging on their words.

  “Does he like children?”

  Jarrett didn’t even blink. “He loves children.” Then he smiled. “And pets.” He inched closer. “Does this suit you, Ms. Saunders?”

  She could only manage a nod.

  “Maybe we should go somewhere and discuss this further.”

  “Just kiss her,” someone yelled.

  A smile appeared across Jarrett’s face. “I’m also good at taking directions.”

  His head lowered to hers and he captured her mouth. This time whistles and cheers erupted. He kept it light, but he told her everything she needed to know. They might just have a chance.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  JARRETT wasn’t exactly crazy about having an audience when he was trying to talk to Mia. That was the reason he’d hurried her and BJ out of there and into his SUV.

  He ended up taking Mia to his house. Guaranteed privacy. He pulled in to his long driveway, opened the garage and drove in. Once the door shut behind the car, he reached for her hand.

  “We need to talk without being interrupted.” He brushed his lips across hers, then got out, took BJ out of the back and they walked inside through the kitchen.

  He looked down at the sleeping baby. “How soon before he needs to be fed?”

  “We have a few hours.”

  “Good.” He took her into the living room, only the outside light on the patio illuminating the space. Setting the baby’s carrier down on the rug at one end of the sofa, he turned on the gas fireplace and some soft music.

  “I haven’t been home much lately,” he told her. “I don’t have much to offer you.”

  “I don’t want anything.”

  He moved to turn on a lamp.

  “Please leave it off,” she asked. “It’s nice like this. It’s peaceful and the view is incredible.”

  With a nod, he took her hand and they sat down on the sofa. For a long time, they stared out the French doors watching the wintry scene. The snow on the ground lightened the area, illuminating the rows of bare trees that dotted the landscape.

  He began. “Tell me I haven’t messed up everything by coming after you today.”

  Mia squeezed his hand, trying to relay how she felt. She couldn’t look at him. Her father had nearly destroyed a lot of people and maybe the future of the town. “No. I’m just sorry you got caught in this mess.”

  “I don’t care about your past, Mia. Meeting your father explained a lot to me. I came to the hotel to support you. When Nola told me the truth about what your father had threatened, I couldn’t stand by and let him blackmail you.”

  “It’s only money,” she insisted. “I don’t care about that. It’s BJ I care about. I just didn’t want my son raised the way Brad and I were. In a house without love.”

  “You should have told your father to take a hike. My failure on the project would have saved the apartments.”

  “I couldn’t do that. You’ve worked too hard on bringing the factory to town. I didn’t want my father to destroy you.” She took another risk and confessed, “I care about you.”

  He reached for her, and she didn’t resist as he turned her in his arms so she was facing him. He pressed her head against his chest and she could feel the rapid beating of his heart.

  “And I care about you,” he informed her. Not just you, but BJ, too.” He touched her face, tilting her head back so she had to look at him.

  “I more than care, Mia. I love you.”

  Her breathing caught as her throat tightened with emotions. She couldn’t speak.

  “Crazy, huh?” He placed a soft kiss on her forehead, then on one eyelid, then the other. “I don’t know how or when it happened, I’m thinking the second I saw you.” He continued kissing his way down her cheek. “All I know is I couldn’t seem to stay away. I used every excuse I could to see you.” He placed a kiss against her ear and she shivered, resting her hand against his solid chest, trying to resist. “Then all those precious moments—when we shared the ultrasound of the baby, BJ’s birth.”

  Every word he spoke made her yearn for more. She wanted everything from this man. “I’m glad you were there with me, too.”

  He ran his mouth over her jaw. “All I know is that when I thought you were leaving, I couldn’t let you go.”

  She gasped. “Oh, Jarrett,” she breathed, her body responding to his touch.

  He raised his head. “Hey, I’m pouring out my heart here and that’s all you have to say.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “I love you, too.”

  “You don’t sound happy about it.” He sat her up, stood and walked to the French door. “Maybe I’ve read the wrong signals here.”

  She hated seeing his hurt, but she wasn’t sure she could handle his rejection. She went to him. “You might change your mind when you learn about the things I’ve done.”

  “We’ve all done things. So you were hooked on prescription drugs, you already told me that. It’s not a problem now, is it?”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t tell you all of it. There was more.”

  He waited for her to speak.

  “I ran with a wild crowd in high school. You know how bored rich kids go out partying? We drank so to forget our rotten lives. A joke, huh?”

  “Not after meeting Preston.”

  Here was the hard part for her. “I had a drinking problem, Jarrett. My father was right, he helped me get out of several messes. The worst was one night when I left a party so drunk I ran my car into a tree. I wasn’t hurt, but my passenger was.”

  “How bad was he hurt?”

  “Thank God, it was nothing permanent, but he was in the hospital for a while. My father rescued me, paid off his family and the local police. Otherwise I might have gone to jail and have a police record, not be working on becoming a lawyer.”

  “How old were you?”

  “Seventeen.”

  “I was nineteen when I was stopped for drinking and driving. And because I was the local football star, I got off, too.” He took a step closer to her. “We were kids, Mia. We were given a second chance. What happened after that?”

  “Even that scare didn’t stop me. That’s when my father put me into rehab and I finally got sober.”

  “How long?”

  “It’s been ten years.” She released a breath. “I can’t drink alcohol, Jarrett.”

  “Do you feel the need to?”

  “I haven’t for a while, maybe when Brad died, and then when my father came to town…” She stopped. “I need to go back to meetings. It’s been a
while.”

  The last thing Jarrett had expected was to hear Mia say she was an alcoholic. His chest tightened as he tried to imagine what she had gone through. Her brother had been her only support. Now he wanted to be. “If you’d like, I’ll go with you.”

  She blinked and a tear fell. “Why, Jarrett?”

  “I’ve been trying to tell you, Mia Saunders. I love you. But for some crazy reason, you think you don’t deserve that. I guess I’m just going to have to prove it to you.”

  Jarrett lowered his head and captured her mouth. He swiftly deepened the kiss, drinking in her sweetness that made him so hungry for more. He ran his hands over her body, folding his palm over her lush breast. She moaned and moved against him.

  He broke off the kiss on a ragged breath. “Nothing matters but this. Not your past nor mine. It’s how I feel when you’re close to me. How wonderful it’s going to be when we finally make love. I love you, Mia.”

  She touched his jaw. “I love you too.”

  He smiled against her mouth. “Now those are the words that get my attention. And I never get tired of hearing them.” He kissed her again, and again, until he was desperate for her. “I want you, Mia.”

  She drew a needed breath. “I want to make love with you, too, Jarrett, but I can’t—”

  “I know it’s too soon.” He leaned his forehead against her and groaned. “It’s killing me, but I can wait.”

  She laid her head against his chest. “I may die before then,” she added, enjoying him touching her.

  “Then we’d better get married fast.”

  Jarrett felt her tense and she pulled back. “You want to get married?”

  He swallowed. “Did I forget to mention that?”

  She nodded.

  “I guess I should be more direct.” Of course, he hadn’t exactly been prepared for this moment. He didn’t even have a ring. Then he remembered his mother’s.

  “Just give me a second.” He gave her a quick kiss and hurried off down the hall to his bedroom. He opened the top drawer of his dresser, digging through some things until he found the keepsake box he had since he’d been a kid.