Luke must’ve noticed too cause he winced, clearing his throat. “Let’s get your stuff from Kelly’s office. Maybe you’ll change your mind before we take off, and decide to say goodbye to Kat.”
Jason rode up in the elevator with Luke, and they found Kelly in her office already wearing a pair of jeans and a heavy sweater. Once they closed the door, Luke began pulling off the pieces of his tux and handed them over to Kelly so she could hang them up. Luke quickly tugged on his jeans and a pullover, and then sat down to slip a boot over his right foot.
He grinned looking over at Jason. “I’m never quite sure what I should be doing with my extra shoe or boot every time I buy a new pair.”
Despite Jason’s foul mood, a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Kelly was looking at Jason. “Where’s Kat?”
“Downstairs,” Jason answered irritably.
Kelly looked at Luke.
Luke sighed. “Kat’s still hanging out with the boyfriend. She hasn’t talked to Jason since before dinner.”
Kelly looked baffled. “That doesn’t seem like something Kat would do to you intentionally, Jason. There’s a reason she’s spent these last few days with all of us and hasn’t even brought up her boyfriend once. You’re sure something else hasn’t happened?”
Jason became thoughtful. “Nothing that I’m aware of.”
Kelly was still looking puzzled as they prepared to leave.
Leaving Luke’s tux and Kelly’s gown hanging in the office closet for convenience, Luke and Kelly gathered their belongings and coats while Jason picked up his overnight bag.
By the time they arrived downstairs, Jason was still indecisive about leaving without saying anything to Kat.
He finally sighed resignedly. “I’d better try to say goodbye.”
Kelly nodded her approval reaching for Jason’s overnight bag. “We’ll warm up the truck and meet you out front in ten minutes,” she said.
“Alright. Thanks guys.” Jason was already walking towards the party.
But when he reached the ballroom, Kat and her companion were nowhere in sight. Jason quickly circled the room, and after moving through the crowd a couple of times, he finally gave up.
At that moment, Sam Danielson walked up to him after making his way through the crowded room. “Hi, Jason. I saw that you were taking off. My wife and I are getting ready to leave pretty soon too.” Sam grimaced. “We’ll probably get a lot of calls tonight for accidents—because of all the idiots who’ll decide they need to drive despite the winter storm forecast.
Jason laughed, shaking Sam’s outstretched hand.
“Congratulations on your promotion,” Sam added, grinning.
“Thanks, Chief. It’s been good to see everyone again.” Jason peeked at his watch and took a final glance around the room. “I guess I’d better get moving. Luke and Kelly are outside waiting to drive me home.”
Sam stared into his eyes rather intently. “I’ve heard you’ve been living here for at least a month and yesterday was the first time I’ve seen you. Don’t be a stranger.”
Jason was a little sheepish when he nodded. “Nope, I’ll see you around town, for sure. Night, Sam.”
Jason turned and walked away from the ballroom.
Chapter Eleven
Kat and Mark had moved into the bar and were having a few more drinks together, when a woman and a man who both seemed strangely familiar sat down beside her and Mark.
“Kat? Is that you?”
Kat stared quizzically at the attractive woman who had long brown hair and deep blue eyes.
And then Kat blinked. “Ashley?” She looked over at the man sitting beside Ashley. “Brian?”
Both Ashley and Brian began to laugh.
“Wow. I never expected to see you again,” Brian said.
Kat looked back and forth from Ashley to Brian, and when she noticed the ring on Ashley’s finger, she grinned. “You’re together?”
“Sure are,” Brian answered smugly.
“It’s really good to see you, Kat,” said Ashley.
Looking hard at Ashley, Kat suddenly realized this wasn’t the Ashley she’d known as a teenager. Sure, she was self-assured and confident, but in an entirely different way. Her words actually sounded sincere.
“Wow. I think I even believe you. I’d sure like to know what’s been going on over the last fifteen years,” Kat muttered.
Ashley grinned and Brian began laughing hard.
“That’s a long story,” Brian answered, when he finally quit laughing. “I don’t think you’ve changed at all. Ashley and I have only been married for a few years.”
Ashley continued. “And we have a beautiful new son.” Reaching for her purse, she brought out some pictures from inside and passed them around.
“This is my friend Mark,” Kat said, turning to Mark after they’d finished looking at the pictures. “Mark, I met Ashley and Brian fifteen years ago, when I was here on vacation with my parents.”
The conversation continued with a lot of laughter, and Kat finally felt comfortable leaving Mark on his own. Mark was in an intense conversation with them about the advertising business. Coincidentally, Brian owned his own local advertising firm and had been one of the coordinators of the auction today. Ashley worked with Brian and she was responsible for finding sponsors for events as well as setting up publicity.
Kat felt like a chapter of her life was ending when she left the bar to seek out Jason. It was time to be brave and figure out where she stood with him.
But when Kat returned to the ballroom, Jason was nowhere in sight.
Baffled, she began looking for Luke and Kelly and realized they must’ve decided to leave. Kelly had mentioned earlier that she and Luke needed to make a trip into town to retrieve what they’d ordered for Christmas Eve before the winter weather arrived.
Stopping in her steps, she suddenly moaned out loud. “Oh, no.” Hadn’t Jason told her he’d be catching a ride home with them?
She was making her way through the crowd for about the twentieth time when she finally saw a familiar face. What was the name of the police chief? Sam Danielson, she finally remembered.
“Sam?” she asked, walking up to him. He must’ve been ready to leave the party, because he was carrying a couple of coats.
“Hello,” Sam answered, looking slightly puzzled. “That’s right. It’s Kat, isn’t it?”
“I’m surprised you remembered,” she answered, smiling.
“I have the kind of job where you have to be good at remembering names and faces,” he said, grinning. “What can I do for you?”
“Have you seen Jason Matthews? Or even Luke and Kelly? I can’t seem to find them anywhere.”
“I just talked to Jason not more than twenty minutes ago. Kelly and Luke were waiting for him outside in the truck, and they were ready to take him home.” Sam made a motion to the windows. “The snow’s beginning to come in, so they thought they should get a move on.”
Kat stared out through the window in dismay. She hadn’t even noticed it was snowing.
“I think that Jason might’ve been looking for you,” Sam continued gruffly. “You might want to give him a call.”
She gave him a rueful smile. “Thank you, Sam. I think I’ll do that. You and your family have a lovely Christmas.”
“The same for you, Kat,” Sam answered grinning before he continued walking through the crowd.
At least she and Jason had exchanged numbers, she thought with relief, moving out into the lobby where it was much quieter. Pulling her phone from her purse, she slipped the card with his number from her wallet and plugged the number into her phone.
Oh, no, she thought with dismay, she wasn’t getting a signal. Kelly had warned her that cell phones didn’t always work so well here at Dragonfly Pointe.
She dropped her phone back into her purse.
Now what? She bit down on her lip looking through the windows at the wet snow coming down outside. There wasn’t a whole lot of acc
umulation.
Yet.
For a moment she thought about trying to call Jason on the landline.
But that’s right, he didn’t have a landline—he was using a cell phone too.
An idea sprung into her mind
And then she decided why not, rushing toward the elevator.
It would be much better to confront him in person.
She’d go up to her room and change clothes first, and put on her warmest coat and boots.
* * * * *
Thirty minutes later, Kat was driving her compact Mitsubishi though Crystal Rock on the way to Jason’s cottage.
She was pretty good at finding her way around town, despite the fact she hadn’t visited here in such a long time. Of course, driving along with Luke and Kelly the other day when they’d decided to pick out Jason’s Christmas tree was helping her remember the route.
Finally, she found herself travelling over the bridge leading to the homes that had been built along the Stone Lake shoreline. But the conditions were a lot worse on the road than she’d thought they’d be. Slipping and sliding a little to the left first, Kat spun the steering wheel to the right, and the car went sliding sideways further to the left instead of moving forward.
She breathed a sigh of relief once she was back on the right side of the road again. But now the visibility was worsening, and not only were the windows of her car fogging up, the snow was icing up the windshield as fast as the wipers could clear it off.
Kat was squinting as she tried to stare through the windshield. She could barely make out the road that veered off to the left that they’d followed yesterday. As soon as she started driving down the road after making the turn, she was worried that she’d made a big mistake when she heard the tires begin to spin. The accumulation of snow on the main road hadn’t seemed nearly as bad, probably because of the whipping wind clearing it off. Still, Kat slowly plugged onward.
But then what she was most afraid of happening did. Her car was not the best vehicle to drive on the snow since it was low to the ground. Sliding off a little to the right, the front wheels of the car sunk down low as the car dropped off into a ditch from the narrow road.
“Oh, no,” she moaned. “I’m stuck.” Dropping her head, she banged it on the steering wheel out of frustration.
Now, what? she asked herself. Pulling her phone from her purse, she glanced at the screen and sighed.
Still no signal.
She stared through the window trying to remember how close she was to Jason’s cottage.
It couldn’t be too far, she figured. What other option did she have? Normally, she’d wait in the car if there was a chance that an emergency vehicle would drive by.
But not out here.
Cranking the heat on high, she warmed herself up to hot before she tugged on her hat and slipped her hands into her gloves. At least she’d remembered to bring them along. She’d worn a heavy sweatshirt underneath her coat, and thankfully she’d even put on her warmest pair of boots.
She took in a deep breath and opened the door.
Whoa she thought as she began fighting the wind. It was a lot colder out here than she’d expected.
Fifteen minutes later, she felt like she’d been walking forever when she finally saw the mailbox belonging to a house. But as far as she could see, there weren’t any lights visible inside or out. Maybe this was someone’s seasonal cabin, she decided, moving onward.
Five minutes later, she was beginning to get worried when she didn’t come across any other signs of habitation along the road. Her teeth were chattering now, and she could barely feel her feet even wearing her warmest boots.
“Why didn’t I pay more attention when we were driving along the road yesterday?” she half-muttered and babbled at the same time.
“Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeooooooooooowww,” sounded out from the ground beside her feet.
Kat looked down.
Whipping his tail through the air and looking none the worse for wear, a chubby black cat was standing there.
“Kitty?” Kat asked. “Is that you? Jason must be worried to death.” Kat was serious when she continued, “You don’t happen to know how to get to the cottage, do you?”
“Meeeooow,” Kitty answered.
And turning into the path she’d left in the snow, Kitty began leading the way.
Although her eyelashes were nearly frozen, Kat blinked and began to follow. “Alright.” Had Kitty really understood?
She sure had, Kat thought with relief when five minutes later the cottage finally came into view. She could see through the large bay window that the lights for the Christmas tree were lit, and the house seemed to be beckoning the two of them from afar.
Bending down, Kat picked up Kitty, who promptly began to snuggle and purr as Kat began trudging through the deep snow covering the driveway towards the front door.
Chapter Twelve
Jason had changed into a pair of sweats, but he was still standing shirtless in the living room staring sullenly out at the accumulating snow through the window. It was starting to come down hard and he was beginning to feel a little concerned about Kitty. Unwittingly, he’d let her out when he’d arrived home because he’d been brooding about Kat when he’d walked inside through the front door.
Why had he decided he needed to leave the party? Why hadn’t he stuck around and fought for what he wanted? If something like this had happened before he’d lost his hand, Jason probably wouldn’t have acted as stupidly as he had tonight.
It was time to face facts: he was a lot more damaged by the loss of his hand than he’d been willing to admit.
In fact, right now, he kind of wanted to cry.
Imagine that.
More and more this past year, all he’d been doing is sinking his time into work, trying without success to ignore the inconvenience of his missing hand. No wonder his parents had been so concerned for him the last time he’d stopped by for a visit. When he’d told them he wouldn’t have time to come home for Christmas this year, they’d been totally freaked out.
So what if he’d been promoted to colonel years earlier than even his dad and his grandfather had? What good was his life without anyone to share it with? And it had hit him hard when he’d realized Kat was the only woman he’d ever really considered settling down with.
He put his hand over his forehead. There was no doubt about it, he was definitely depressed.
Jason jumped when there was a sudden knock on the front door.
“Who in the…?”
He shook his head dazedly rushing into the entryway. Maybe there was an emergency on the road?
His eyes went wide when he opened the front door. “Kat? And Kitty?”
Jason could see they’d been battling the weather because they both appeared to be frozen, and he quickly yanked Kat through the doorway.
After Kat let Kitty jump for her arms, Jason continued to drag her towards the fireplace so she could warm herself up.
She pulled off her mittens and stuffed them into her coat pocket before reaching out her hands to thaw them near the warmth of the fire.
“Get those damp clothes off,” he growled, when her teeth finally quit chattering. “I’ll get you something dry to wear,” he added, running through the living room and climbing up the staircase.
Shuffling through his dresser drawers, he pulled out a pair of sweats and a sweatshirt along with a heavy pair of socks.
By the time he came back downstairs, she’d stripped down to barely nothing.
Damn, she was so beautiful.
“Stop it,” he mumbled. “You’re being stupid.” This wasn’t the time to be having those kinds of thoughts.
Kat gave him a side glance, still shivering hard. “What was that you said?” she muttered.
“Nothing,” he growled. “Put these on,” Jason ordered. “I’ll go get you a towel for your hair. It’s drenched.”
“Oh, no. My beautiful hairdo,” Kat cried out laying her hands over her head. “It’s all
messed up. When I think about all the time she took at the salon…”
Jason halted on his way into the bathroom, spinning around. She’d nearly been frozen to death and all she was concerned about was her hair?
All of sudden, Jason began to laugh. He looked at the expression on her face again, he could swear she was ready to cry, and it made him laugh even harder.
She put her hands on her hips and stuck out her tongue.
Finally, Kat was laughing too, probably recognizing the absurdity of it all.
“We need to talk,” Jason said abruptly.
“Why do you think I’m here?”
Jason glanced through the window and grinned. “Maybe you felt like going for a drive?”
Kat snorted.
Jason laughed softly as his eyes traveled down from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. The animal print T-shirt and boys’ boxer briefs Kat was wearing reminded him of the bathing suit she’d worn when they’d been teenagers at the beach.
He cleared his throat in an effort to subdue the thoughts he was envisioning in his mind. “Let me get some towels for your hair.”
When he returned with the towels, Kat had dressed into the clothes he’d handed over earlier and was sitting on top of the ottoman positioned in front of his leather chair. Jason dropped into the chair and began drying Kat’s hair while she sat gazing into the fire.
“Okay,” Kat said, pulling the towel from his hands and wrapping it around her hair. She turned around on the ottoman and stared into his eyes. “Is there a reason you didn’t come back and talk to me again after we were done eating today?”
Jason grinned wryly. “No. Not at all. I kind of got side tracked a little.”
“With the women?” she asked, sounding irritable.
Jason grimaced. “You saw that? I’ve gotta warn you, I get a lot of that when I’m dressed in my uniform. In fact I kind of hate wearing a uniform in public. Not only do most of us get hit on by women, but there are a bunch of nut jobs out there who go out of their way to pick fights with military people.”
Kat looked thoughtful, and then nodded her apparent understanding. “I figured it was something like that. I read somewhere too that people in the military try to avoid wearing uniforms on commercial airlines, and even at government offices overseas to avoid being targets for terrorism.”
Two Hearts Christmas Wish Page 12
