“What is it, sweetheart?” He climbed out of bed, walked up behind her and pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her.
“It feels right…having him here.” She leaned against him, holding his arms to her. “Is that weird?”
He gave her a quick squeeze. “If it is, then I must be weird, too. I think he fits right in.”
“What if he wakes up and gets scared?”
He kissed the top of her head. “We’ll hear him. That monitor you bought has both sound and visual. Now, come to bed,” he whispered as he nuzzled the sweet, warm curve of her neck.
“Maybe we should shut the door.”
Rein thought a moment, shrugged, and complied with his wife’s wish. He agreed that he wasn’t yet ready for that talk. He was halfway back to the bed, where Liberty had dropped her robe and lay in her next-to-nothing gown. He’d been thinking for the better part of two hours of how he’d peel it off her.
“Wait.” She pointed to the door. “Maybe open it a little…so we can hear.”
Rein eyed her, finding this new side of his wife—usually uninhibited when it came to their lovemaking—quite interesting.
With a sigh and a definite semi, Rein returned to the door. “He seemed pretty zonked to me, sweetheart, but if it makes you feel more at ease….” The matter of how wide to leave the door open was the strangest foreplay Rein had ever experienced. “How about there?” He’d positioned it according to her instructions for at least the third time. He looked back at Liberty who now lay on her side. She had a wicked smile. It dawned on him then that she’d been playing him with the dexterity of a maestro.
He narrowed his gaze, hooked his thumbs in his boxer briefs and stripped, pleased when her eyes widened at his already firm erection. He crawled over the bed, and she accepted him with a kiss unlike any they’d ever shared. He was about to take things to the next level when Liberty’s hand came between their lips.
“Sssh, did you hear something?” Her eyes searched the ceiling as she lay beneath him.
“Probably the wind,” he spoke through her lovely fingers. His mouth barred from her face, he chose to focus on another set of his wife’s best features. He felt her body relax, succumbing to his touch, pressing her hips to his. He revisited her mouth, never tiring of the sounds she made in her throat when he gave her pleasure.
“Baby,” she whispered in his ear.
He braced on his elbows. “I didn’t hear anything.”
Liberty chuckled as she drew back the covers. “That was meant for you,” she purred, trailing her finger down his chest.
Wasting no time, he found his way under the covers. The freedom of not having to concern themselves with protection was some of the best sex he’d had with Liberty—and after their whirlwind, erotically-charged summer affair, that said a lot.
He lifted her hips to meet him, her sighs tripping his heart as he entered slowly, pausing to relish the sheer connection they shared.
“Do you think we should shut off the light? Just in case?” she whispered, her hips already moving in languid rhythm to his.
Rein had already begun the descent into sexual bliss. “No time,” he said, groaning softly as he plunged deep, and began the syncopated dance as old as time. “You feel amazing, sweetheart.” Rein’s body was tight with need. Part of him delighted in his fantasy of seeing her belly swollen with his child. The idea made him horny as hell and that fever produced an adrenaline-driven passion that nearly consumed him at times.
Her fingers clawed the flesh of his ass. Her face upturned, holding his gaze, as though willing conception to happen. Daring the universe not to ignore this pure love between them.
Her mouth dropped open with what was usually followed by a loud and seductive mention of his name as she reached her climax. He pressed a finger to her lips and smiled, replacing it with a fierce kiss that toppled both of them over the edge in a duet of soft groans and muted sighs.
“I’m thirsty.”
Rein rolled to his side, making certain they were covered. “Uh, okay, buddy. We’ll get you some water. How will that be?”
The small boy stood in the open doorway, his tiny fist rubbing at his eyes. Rein realized his boxer briefs lay on the floor where he’d shimmied out of them. He shot a look at Liberty for assistance.
“Just a sec, I’ll help you,” Liberty said.
She tugged her gown around her hips and he realized how intense their lovemaking had been. She reached for her robe draped at the end of the bed.
Rein made a mental note to stick a pair of fresh skivvies under the mattress for just such emergencies.
Crisis averted. The young child didn’t seem to be shocked or traumatized.
Unlike Rein.
He released a sigh, checked the door to make sure the two had gone before scrambling out of bed and wiggling back into his underwear. He dove under the covers just as the pair returned. Liberty carried a small glass of water and a book.
“Okay, get up in there.” She put the glass on the nightstand.
Rein watched, unsure how he felt about this. After all, this wasn’t his kid. Cody giggled as the mattress bounced and he crawled to Liberty’s pillow and lay down.
“Uh…” he managed to get out before the little boy turned to him with a wide grin.
“Wrestling is fun. I’ve seen it on T.V.,” Cody said.
Rein caught Liberty’s smile.
“Just one story,” she remarked. “Then it’s back to bed.”
“Can we wrestle?”
“No,” he and Liberty replied in unison.
“What we mean is, you are too young—” She looked to him for support.
“And we have a very busy day tomorrow. You’ll need your sleep if you want to see the horses.”
Liberty puffed up her pillows and sat on the bed, crossing her ankles. She drew Cody under her arm.
“What is this story?”
“Well, it’s about a little boy. Only he’s a baby. It’s called A Cowboy’s Christmas, and it’s one of Mr. Mackenzie’s favorite books from when he was little.”
Cody looked over Liberty’s arm at Rein, his expression indicating he couldn’t envision Rein ever being small.
Rein turned on his side, tucking his arm under his head as he listened to his wife read the timeless story that Jed used to read every Christmas at the holiday parties he gave at the Kinnison ranch. Though he’d been older than Cody, he cherished those times, tucking them deep inside. Many years had gone by after Jed’s death when the tattered book sat on a shelf in his uncle’s library. Fortunately, the book was spared any damage from the arsonist’s fire that nearly claimed Liberty as well as Wyatt’s then-pregnant wife, Aimee. It had been Liberty’s quick thinking, her fierce loyalty to her newly found stepbrothers—Wyatt and Dalton—that had given her the courage to go back to Vegas and testify against her former boss at a club where she’d once danced. At first, Rein hadn’t trusted her. She was different than any woman he’d known. She’d worn her dark hair streaked with neon blue and coated her eyes in heavy makeup. Her goth look was only exceeded by her snarly, independent attitude which he would come to understand after hearing about her childhood.
Their courtship—as it were—had been rocky, akin to a made for TV movie or perhaps a juicy novel. But all had turned out well and now, after two years of married bliss, both were ready—more than ready—to start their family. Having been an only child, he wanted a big, boisterous, chaotic family. He was pulled from his thoughts at the sound of Liberty’s voice.
“What you do for the least of them, you do unto me.” She paused. “The end.”
Rein’s lids drooped heavily. He started when he felt a tap on his shoulder.
“Can you carry him back to bed?” she mouthed.
Blinking a few times to awaken his brain, he gave her a quick nod.
Pulling the boy from where he’d snuggled in next to his wife, Rein marveled how little he weighed. He tucked him in his arms, cradling him against his chest. Cody’s
little body felt so small, so vulnerable. How could someone, especially a mother, disregard such a precious gift?
The little boy yawned as Rein tucked the covers around him. He’d made the bed himself, slightly lower to the ground to accommodate short legs. He’d used a cattle brand to burn the Kinnison logo into the wooden bed frame.
Cody turned on his side and snuggled into his pillow.
Rein started to leave.
“Is it okay if I call you daddy… just while I’m here?”
The voice with its whisper-soft request stopped Rein in his tracks. He glanced back, meeting the blue eyes looking up at him. Rein kneeled by the bed. His heart squeezed when the boy's tiny hand darted from beneath the blanket and touched his.
“Cody, you understand I’m not your father. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be proud to be your dad.”
The child seemed to ponder his words. “I’ll only do it when I’m here. Miss Ellie likes it better when I call you Mr. and Mrs. Mackenzie.”
Rein nodded. He didn’t want to upset the protocol Ellie had implemented, but this was his home. “Tell you what--around here, you can call us mom and dad, okay? Would that make you feel better?”
Cody nodded.
He ruffled the little boy’s shaggy brown hair. “Okay, pardner, it’s time to sleep. Horses don’t take kindly to grumpy little boys.”
Cody grinned.
Rein got to the door and looked back. “G’night, Cody.”
“Night, Dad.”
Tears stung the back of Rein’s eyes and he nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat.
Chapter Two
Liberty awoke to the welcoming scent of coffee and pancakes. She lay a moment in the dusky light of morning and listened to the muted conversation wafting up the stairs from the kitchen. It’d been over a week since Cody had come into their lives with an ease that both delighted and terrified Liberty. An unbridled peal of giggling caused her to grin. Not wanting to be left out, she climbed from bed, slipped on her jeans, some cozy socks, and a roomy sweatshirt, and then headed downstairs. She paused at the kitchen door, listening to the conversation between Rein and Cody. Her heart squeezed as she entered and observed the sight before her.
Cody stood on a small stepstool, his little body wrapped in an apron with strings that wrapped three times around him. Rein, at his side in T-shirt and jeans, was carefully instructing him in the art of cooking pancakes. “You boys are up awfully early this morning.” She was drawn to the coffee pot, helping herself to a steaming mug of motivation.
“Dad’s showing me how to make pancakes.”
Dad? The reference brought an unexpected flip to her heart, followed by a world of caution. They’d be wise to remember that this was a temporary situation. As much as she wanted to, it wasn’t wise to give her heart so completely to this little boy. Eventually, he’d be leaving. It wouldn’t be fair to any of them.
Rein glanced over his shoulder and caught her staring at them. As if on cue, Cody turned, mirroring Rein’s questioning look.
It was startling to think how quickly it seemed they’d bonded. Already Cody had picked up on some of Rein’s habits. Coupled with the fact they both had blue eyes and bright smiles, it was difficult to remember he wasn’t theirs.
She cleared her throat, mentally scolding herself for imagining the similarities. “So, is breakfast almost ready?” She slid onto one of the stools at the end of the massive kitchen island Rein had designed. They’d both wanted the kitchen to be big enough for family gatherings.
Rein plucked Cody up under the arms and, to a squeal of delight, plopped him on a stool next to Liberty. With a light-hearted demeanor that she’d not seen in weeks, Rein served up three plates of pancakes with bacon on the side.
He put a short cup of milk in front of Cody and, bringing over the carafe, leaned down to give Liberty a kiss before refilling her cup.
“Good morning, beautiful,” he said quietly, before kissing her again.
“It appears to be,” she replied, searching his eyes.
“It is now.” He sat on the other side of Cody and proceeded to cut up the child’s pancakes. “I promised Cody we’d take him this week to see Santa. Heard something about him coming in on Thursday at the town square.” He tossed Cody a grin as he slathered the boy’s pancakes with syrup. “Only the real stuff around here, buddy.”
The bond between them had been instant. Liberty wasn’t sure how it was that her husband so readily compartmentalized his emotions when it came to the little boy. She loved seeing Rein having such fun with Cody, but she feared it was going to be difficult for him when it came time for Cody to leave. Perhaps for everyone. She wondered how other foster families managed the emotional risk. “What’s on the agenda for the day, guys?” she asked, eying the two.
“I heard Hank is flying into Billings around noon. Clay is heading down with Julie to pick him up.”
“What about the boys?” Liberty asked. The new manager of Betty’s upcoming bakery enterprise, Julie had recently moved to End of the Line after a dangerously abusive marriage. Now single, it appeared that her newly rekindled relationship with Hank Richardson was getting serious.
“Sally’s got them today. She needs some help going through a couple of closets. She seems to be on a cleaning spree. Chris and Kyle are her manpower.”
Liberty gasped and checked the clock. “Oh, my gosh, I forgot that I’m supposed to meet with her today. She wanted to ask my thoughts on color schemes and décor for the nursery.”
Rein’s attention was focused on Cody. It was as though the little guy had never before eaten pancakes. “Whoa, slow down, buddy. There’s more if you want them.”
Liberty waited a beat. “So I guess you’re taking the day off, then?”
“Huh?” Rein looked up at that. “I can’t. I promised Betty we’d try to get the bakery up and running for her holiday opening.” He glanced at Cody, then back to Liberty. “What’s your afternoon like?” he asked, seemingly aware suddenly that they now had a third person to consider in their daily lives. “I’ll take Cody in with me this morning and he can help me do some measuring. We could meet at the diner for lunch.”
Liberty saw where he was headed. “That could work. The planning committee is meeting after lunch at the diner to plan the Christmas Walk. He could come with me.”
Cody wrinkled his nose.
“I’m pretty sure there might be a candy cane in that for you somewhere, buddy.” Rein patted the young boy's shoulder.
They cleaned the kitchen and Liberty helped Cody dress in the only other outfit that was in his backpack—one she happened to recognize as back-to-school clothing they’d bought and donated for kids who lived at the shelter. Tucking him into his coat and mittens, she waved at the two as Rein buckled Cody into the car. He moved a few tools over from his truck. “See you at noon,” he called with a wave.
She watched from the door as they took off down the lane. She was learning quickly how one child could so quickly change your life. And Sally was about to take on two. With a sigh, she closed the door with her sights on a warm shower.
Later that day, she sat at her committee meeting for the Christmas Walk, helping to make final preparations for one of the most beloved of all events in End of the Line. Seated in the private party room at the diner was Aimee Kinnison, committee chairwoman; Rosie Waters from Rosie’s Antiques; Nan, the owner of Nan’s Sporting Goods; Betty from the café; and Liberty. Sally, very pregnant now with twins, had bowed out of the event planning this year, and Angelique was at home today with Sawyer, who was in the midst of teething.
“He’s adorable,” Aimee said as she looked lovingly at the little boy resting between two chairs they’d pushed together. He was fast asleep, and Liberty had put his coat over him. In truth, Cody looked like an angel with his soft brown hair curling around his face.
They’d chosen the café for its central location, and traditionally the room was quiet. Today, however, their meeting was challenged with the cac
ophony of drills and hammering from the renovation of the building next door.
“You know,” Rosie said above the din, “we could meet next time at the store. I should have thought of that sooner.”
Betty, who’d only just found a moment to join the group after the lunch crowd cleanup, shook her head. “I appreciate you all meeting here. I don’t like to leave Jerry alone after his stroke. I know it was mild and he’s really doing much better, but that day was… well, horrible, and I guess I like to stick close.”
“Oh, absolutely, honey,” Rosie said. “I understand.” She patted Betty’s arm.
Betty set a plate of fresh cookies in the middle of the table. “Besides, I need you all to taste these. It’s a recipe I found from Bernice, an old neighbor back in Iowa, before we moved out here. They’re called Snickerdoodles—kind of a cross between shortbread and a sugar cookie with a cinnamon sprinkle. They remind me of the holidays.” She glanced at her watch. “Oh, and…wait for it.” She held up her finger, garnering everyone’s attention, and the noise on the other side of the wall stopped almost as though on cue. “They always take a break at one-thirty.” She sighed. “Now we have approximately twenty-five minutes to go over things. I figure it keeps us on task, right?” She looked at the ladies.
Aimee grinned and nodded. “Now let’s see….”
At that moment, Cody, who’d been blissfully sleeping through the noise, awoke. He sat up, rubbed his eyes, and scanned the circle of women before looking up at Liberty. “Can we go home now?”
She looked down at his sleepy little, cherub-like face. It had been an extraordinary day for the little guy. Trudging off with Rein before eight a.m., then spending time with Betty’s husband Jerry, sitting on a stool and coloring while Rein prepped his workers for the day.
Liberty caught Aimee’s eye at Cody’s reference to going home. Aimee had thought she was pregnant a few months back, but the test turned out to be a false positive. She and Wyatt definitely wanted another child, and if Aimee had her way, she’d get a boy to carry on the Kinnison name.
“In a bit, Cody, we just need to discuss a few things, okay?”
All I Want for Christmas: A Kinnison Legacy Holiday novella Page 2
