JACK'S CHRISTMAS MISSION

by Beverly Barton

  "After watching your dog giving birth, I'm sure Wendy will have a million and one questions for me." Peggy Jo had hoped she could postpone any in-depth discussions about the birds and the bees until Wendy was older. "She's never been curious about where babies come from, and I haven't rushed into explaining something she hasn't asked about."

  "One of the advantages of living on a farm is that your children learn quite young about birth and death. Shane and Molly have witnessed the births of puppies and kittens, as well as calves and colts." Betsy squeezed Peggy Jo's shoulder. "Don't worry about having to explain things to Wendy. You'll do just fine. But remember to keep it simple. Don't give her more information than she needs."

  When he returned, Jack slammed the front door with his hip, shook the last dusting of snow from his hair and wiped his feet on the hooked rug in the foyer.

  "Where do I put these?" He held up his duffel bag and Peggy Jo's burgundy leather overnight case and clothes bag.

  "We put Hetty in the bedroom Darrel's mother used when she lived with us," Betsy said. "It's down the hall and to your right. First door. And my sewing room is the very last door on the left."

  "Want some help?" Peggy Jo asked, needing an excuse to speak to Jack alone.

  "Maybe you should come with me," he replied. "I might get lost."

  Betsy giggled. Hetty rolled her eyes heavenward.

  "Excuse me for a few minutes." Peggy Jo quickly escaped before either woman had a chance to comment.

  When they were safely down the hall, away from the living room, Jack dropped the bags to the floor and pressed her up against the wall. His mouth hovered over hers, warm and damp.

  With his nose almost touching hers, he said, "I don't like the sleeping arrangements."

  She placed her hands on his chest. "Neither do I, but I don't want to have to explain to Wendy why you and I are sleeping together any more than Betsy wants to explain it to her children."

  "Yeah, I know. I understand. But I still don't like it."

  He kissed her. Fast and furious. Mouths devouring. Tongues thrusting. When they broke apart, Peggy Jo sucked in several deep breaths. Jack Parker had become an addictive drug to her. The more she had, the more she wanted. How would she ever survive the withdrawal symptoms once he went away?

  * * *

  After a huge supper of fried chicken, corn on the cob, fried potatoes, butter beans, cornbread and a blackberry cobbler, Peggy Jo helped Betsy clean up the kitchen, while Hetty retreated on her crutches to her favorite chair in the den.

  "Mommy, may I go with Shane and Molly back to the barn to check on Boots's babies?" Wendy asked.

  "I'll go with them," Darrel said.

  Peggy Jo nodded. "Sure, sweetpea."

  Dom Shea shook Darrel's hand then nodded to Betsy. "I want to thank you folks for your hospitality. I enjoyed my stay here."

  "Please, come back anytime for a visit, Dom," Betsy said.

  "Thank you, ma'am. I just might do that." Dom's smile curved his wide, full lips and crinkled the fine lines around his black eyes. "It would be worth the drive over from Atlanta just to eat one of your fabulous meals."

  "Jack, don't you want to come with us to see Boots and her puppies?" Wendy asked.

  "I sure do," Jack replied. "Let me see Dom off, then I'll meet y'all in the barn."

  Darrel hustled the children into the mud room to put on their coats, while Jack and Dom got their jackets from the hall tree in the foyer before going outside to Dom's car. Jack knew his fellow Dundee agent had a long drive ahead of him if he wanted to make it to his sister's in San Antonio by the next night.

  "Thanks for postponing your Christmas plans," Jack said. "You could have pulled rank and gotten another agent to fill in for you."

  "No problem. Working holidays is sometimes just part of the job."

  "Yeah, well, I appreciate it all the same."

  Dom opened the trunk, tossed his bag inside and looked up at the dark night sky. "You know, worse things could happen to a man than getting married, settling down and having a couple of kids."

  Jack laughed. "Is this Domingo Shea, the confirmed bachelor speaking?"

  "Yeah, yeah, I know. But I didn't say the white picket fence thing was for me, I just said a man could do worse. Darrel Mitchell seems like a might happy man. And my brother-in-law, Rico, is happier now than he was when he was single."

  "What's your point?"

  Dom shrugged. "Wendy's a terrific kid."

  "Yeah, she is."

  "You're the kind of man who'd make a great father."

  "Whoa … hold on just a minute," Jack protested. "Just because Peggy Jo and I… We've known each other only one month."

  Dom patted Jack on the back. "Yeah. Sure." Dom slammed the truck lid. "I'm going to head out. I may run into some bad weather between here and Little Rock. I want to make as much time tonight as I can. I can always crash once I get to Marta and Rico's."

  "Have a good Christmas."

  Jack shook Dom's hand, and when his fellow agent backed out of the driveway, he turned and went toward the barn, all the while his mind processing their brief conversation. What was it with Dom? If he didn't know better, Jack would think the guy had encouraged him to get married. Hell, he wasn't going to get married! Not ole love-'em-and-leave-'em Jack Parker. He'd had a few close calls before, but had always managed to come to his senses.

  Yeah, but Peggy Jo was different from any of those other women. With her it was more than just liking her and enjoying sex with her. The woman was unique. He admired her more than any woman he'd ever known. And he respected her. She was no weak clinging vine, no manipulative gold digger, and certainly not the hard-nosed, man-hating feminist he had thought she was. She was strong, brave, loving, generous. Damn, he sounded like a lovesick teenager. No wonder Dom had gotten the wrong idea. Was it that obvious to everybody how he felt about Peggy Jo?

  "Jack, Jack, come here." Wendy ran out of the barn and came to meet him. She grabbed his hand and tugged. "Come on. You've got to see Boots's babies. They're eating their supper. They're so cute."

  He clasped Wendy's hand securely in his and followed her to the barn. "Maybe you can talk your mama into letting you have one of the puppies for a Christmas present."

  "All these puppies are sold to other boys and girls," Wendy said. "And I've already got Fur Ball. I don't think Mommy would let me have two pets." She tugged on Jack's hand again, leading him into the barn. "Besides, I've already asked for an awful lot of stuff for Christmas. But I told that Santa Claus we saw at the mall that if I could have one very special present, I'd give up all my other gifts."

  Boots, a golden retriever, lay in the hay in one of the barn stalls, four tiny puppies sucking away on her tits. Wendy joined Shane and Molly, the three children forming a semicircle around the new mother and her babies.

  "Okay, kids," Darrel said. "I think it's time we let Boots have a little privacy. Molly, you and Wendy go back to the house with Jack, while Shane and I bring the horses in from the pasture." He glanced at Jack. "They're predicting about three or four inches of snow for tonight. It'll be the first white Christmas we've seen in a while."

  "Come on, girls." Jack put Wendy and Molly on either side of him and grasped their little hands securely.

  On the walk back to the house, little Molly Mitchell jabbered away about Christmas and Santa Claus with the excitement most kids her age felt on the day before Christmas Eve. Suddenly she stopped, moved around in front of Jack so she could see Wendy and asked, "Did you tell him—" she glanced up at Jack "—what you wished for, what you want most this Christmas?"

  "No, I didn't tell him," Wendy said. "I told you that I didn't tell anybody except that Santa Claus in the mall."

  "Christmas wishes aren't like regular wishes," Molly said. "If you tell a Christmas wish, it will still come true."

  "Don't you think Santa Claus will get me what I asked for? Doesn't he bring you the presents you want?" Wendy asked.

  "Yeah, that's true," Molly sa
id. "But if you tell him—" she pointed at Jack "—he can make your wish come true and that way you can still have all the presents from Santa Claus, too."

  "Want to tell me?" Jack asked.

  "Maybe." Wendy seemed to be deep in thought.

  Molly jerked on Jack's hand. "It's cold out here."

  "Yes, it is," Jack replied, then hurried them through the yard and onto the back porch.

  They entered the house through the mud room and quickly removed their coats and hung them on the wall racks. When Molly rushed into the kitchen, Jack grabbed Wendy's shirttail and pulled her toward him.

  "Hey, kiddo, are you going to tell me your Christmas wish?"

  She shrugged her little shoulders, then peeped up at Jack. "Well, it's sort of a test for Santa Claus," she admitted. "If I get my Christmas wish, the present I want most in the world, then I'll know he's real. But if I don't get my wish, then I'll know there's no such thing as Santa Claus or magic or happily-ever-after. Just like Mommy said."

  Uh-oh, this would never do. Getting Wendy to accept the possibility that Santa Claus might be real hadn't been easy, even though she'd been eager to believe. He supposed he should find out what present she had her heart set on and then make sure she got it. Even if it meant a last-minute trip into town tomorrow. He just prayed the item wasn't something that had already sold out.

  "So, how about sharing your wish with me. That way, I can put in a good word with Santa."

  "Oh, Jack, you're funny. You don't know Santa."

  "Maybe not, but I can help you wish, can't I? Two of us wishing for the same thing should help make it happen."

  "I guess … but if I tell you, you've got to promise not to tell Mommy, not until the wish comes true, of course."

  Jack crossed his heart. "I promise."

  "Okay." Wendy inhaled deeply, let out her breath and said in a rush, "I wish that you'd marry my mommy, so you could be my daddy."

  * * *

  Chapter 17

  « ^ »

  Christmas Eve on the Mitchell farm reminded Jack of something out of an old movie. An honest-to-God real family, who were laughing and loving and enjoying being together at a season meant for family togetherness. Wasn't this what everyone really wanted? It sure as hell was what little Wendy Riley wanted. After her great revelation last night, he hadn't thought of much else. How could he and Peggy Jo explain to this child, who had just begun to believe in magic and miracles, that she wasn't going to get her Christmas wish?

  "Get bundled up, kids," Betsy said. "Daddy's ready for y'all to go outside and build a snowman!"

  "Yippee!" Shane shouted.

  "I wanna put on his nose and eyes this year," Molly whined.

  "I'm sure Daddy will let everyone take part in putting the snowman together," Betsy said. "And if you're good and don't argue, I'll make some snow cream."

  "What's snow cream?" Wendy asked.

  "It's like ice cream, silly," Molly said. "Only it's made out of snow."

  Jack glanced at Peggy Jo, who stood at the sink. She looked rather domestic in one of Betsy's aprons. If he told her so, she'd probably slap him. He wondered if she had missed him as much last night as he had missed her. He'd grown accustomed to their nightly lovemaking sessions and to waking up with her beside him.

  "Why don't you go with them, Betsy?" Hetty suggested. "I can take care of things in here in the kitchen until you get back. You can bring some snow in with you and make the snow cream later."

  "Thanks. That's a wonderful idea." Betsy removed her apron and hung it on the back of a nearby chair. "Peggy Jo, do you and Jack want to come with us?"

  Peggy Jo opened her mouth to reply, but before she could speak, Jack said, "We'll catch up with y'all in a few minutes."

  Betsy smiled, then hurried the children into the mud room to bundle up for their afternoon adventure. The minute the back door slammed shut, Jack nodded, motioning for Peggy Jo to come with him.

  "Hetty, I'll be right back," Peggy Jo said.

  "Uh-huh."

  Hetty gave Jack a suspicious look, and he responded with a sly grin. Peggy Jo followed him out of the kitchen and into the hall. As soon as they were halfway down the hall, he eased her up against the wall outside the powder room and kissed her. She draped her arms around his neck.

  "Miss me last night?" He nuzzled her neck.

  "I never dreamed sex could be so addictive," she admitted.

  "Then you did miss me."

  She rubbed against him seductively, and his sex hardened instantly. "How about a quickie in the bathroom?" she asked.

  Jack backed her several feet down the wall and through the open door, straight into the powder room. Keeping one hand on her hip, he reached behind him to close and lock the door. She fumbled with his belt buckle, finally loosening it, then unzipped his jeans. The moment she reached inside his briefs and touched him, he thought the top of his head would blow off. He'd nearly climaxed just from the feel of her fingers on his sex.

  "Do you have a condom?" she asked, as she hurriedly removed her apron, then her jeans and panties.

  "Do bees make honey?"

  He whipped a foil packet from his back pocket and prepared himself, then closed the commode lid, sat down and pulled her to him. She straddled his hips and sat on his lap, easing herself down and onto his erection. With a hot, thrusting kiss, he captured the moan of pleasure as it escaped from her lips. He gripped her hips and began a slow, steady rhythm. They kissed and touched. She unbuttoned his shirt and ran her hands over his chest. He groaned. She whimpered. He growled. She moaned. Within minutes the pace quickened to a frantic undulating dance as they mated with animalistic fury. His release came first, then hers followed seconds later. She dropped her head to his shoulder and he hugged her fiercely to him.

  When her breathing slowed enough for her to speak, Peggy Jo said, "We'd better get out of here before someone catches us."

  He laughed. "You think Hetty's going to come looking for you?"

  "Not Hetty, but one of the children might come back in or—"

  "Then we'd better clean up, put our clothes on and get out of here." He released her so she could stand. When she turned her back to him, he swatted her playfully on her behind. She glanced over her shoulder at him. "Anybody ever tell you that you've got a mighty fine ass, Miss Peggy Jo?"

  "If I wasn't so flattered by that comment, I'd accuse you of being a male chauvinist, which of course you know you are."

  They took turns at the sink, dressed quickly and sneaked out of the bathroom. The instant they came through the door, Jack grabbed her and kissed her again. No matter how many times he made love to her, he still wanted her. He wanted to hold her, kiss her, keep her close to him all the time.

  "Look, Wendy, they're kissing," Molly Mitchell cried out as the two little girls approached.

  Jack and Peggy Jo broke apart and faced their audience.

  "What are y'all doing back inside the house so soon?" he asked.

  "We came to get a hat and a scarf for our snowman," Molly said, then turned to her cousin. "I guess this means you're going to get your Christmas wish."

  Wendy's exuberant smile created a tight fist of pain in Jack's stomach. How the hell was he going to get out of this one? What could he say to Peggy Jo's daughter that would explain why he'd been kissing her mommy? To a child her age, kissing probably meant love and love meant marriage.

  "What Christmas wish is that?" Peggy Jo asked.

  "The one I told to that Santa Claus in the mall when you and Jack and me went shopping," Wendy said. "I told him that if I got my wish, I'd believe in Santa Claus forever. Oh, Mommy—" Wendy ran toward Peggy Jo and Jack "—I believe now. I really do believe." She grabbed Peggy Jo around the waist and hugged her, then turned to Jack and hugged him. "And I got my present a day early."

  Jack lifted Wendy onto his hip. "Darling, I think there's something I need to explain to you."

  "I wish someone would explain to me what's going on," Peggy Jo said.

 
Wendy wrapped her little arms around Jack's neck and kissed him on the cheek. "I love you, Jack." She looked at Peggy Jo. "Can I call him Daddy now?"

  "What?" Peggy Jo gasped.

  "Now that y'all are going to get married, Jack will be my daddy, won't he? That's what I wished for, for Christmas."

  "Oh, God!" Peggy Jo moaned.

  "Molly, why don't you go get the things you'll need for the snowman," Jack said. "Peggy Jo and I need to talk to Wendy."

  "About when you're going to get married?" Molly's big hazel eyes widened into sparkling circles.

  "About Wendy's Christmas wish," Peggy Jo said.

  "Okay." Molly winked at Wendy, then scurried down the hall.

  Jack nuzzled Wendy's nose. "Let's go in the living room."

  Jack carried Wendy. Peggy Jo followed. The three of them sat on the sofa, Wendy in the middle. What should he say? How did he even begin to explain to Wendy that his kissing Peggy Jo didn't mean what she thought it meant?

  "Wendy, you know I love you more than anything." Peggy Jo removed Wendy's hat and mittens and laid them in her lap. "I've tried to give you everything you needed and most of what you want. But I can't give you a daddy."

  "That's okay, Mommy, you didn't have to do anything. Santa did it." She looked up at Jack. "And you helped him, didn't you?"

  "Wendy, darling…" Jack was suddenly at a loss for words.

  "Jack and I are not getting married," Peggy Jo said.

  Wendy's smile turned into a frown. "But I saw you kissing Jack, and Molly said that mommies and daddies hug and kiss."

  Peggy Jo groaned. "Look, sweetpea, sometimes grownups hug and kiss just because they like each other, not because they plan to get married."

  "But I wished it!" Wendy jumped off the sofa and glared at the two adults. "I wished with all my might. And I promised that if I got this one special present, I would give up all my other presents."