by Karin Tabke
He nodded. As they entered the quaint town, Kim perked up. She felt like she was in the Swiss Alps, with a dash of Norman Rockwell tossed in to spice it up. Snow covered the roads. Residents were out shoveling, and they waved their mittened hands and smiled as they drove by. It was a gem amongst the High Sierras, and as they continued farther down the road, Kim felt a warmth she had never experienced before. She shook it off. They rounded the center of town, which circled around a skating rink and a huge gazebo decked out to look like a large manger scene, and she twisted and turned to take in all of the sights. She saw Esmeralda’s pass by them on the left, where it overlooked the frozen Reindeer Lake. “Hey, you just passed Esmeralda’s!” She winced as a jagged spear of pain jabbed her in the right temple. Gingerly she touched the lump there and hissed in a breath. The road ahead seemed to tip to the left before righting itself.
“I’m taking you down to the Urgent Care first. You need to have your head checked out. You were unconscious when I got to you.”
She didn’t argue. “My head hurts.”
“The doc will give you something for it.”
Kim nodded and suddenly felt very tired. “I don’t remember skidding off the road.”
“I watched you. I’d give you a perfect ten for form and speed.”
Five
EVERGREEN URGENT CARE WAS JUST A LITTLE FARTHER down the road, at the end of town. Ricco looked over at Kim as she fought off fatigue. He doubted she had more than a minor bump on the head, but he didn’t want to take any chances. A few minutes later he pulled into one of only four cleared spots in the snow-covered parking lot of the small medical center. He cast a glance at his passenger before he killed the engine. She was hunched over, her head resting in her hand.
He came around to Kim’s side and opened the door to help her out. She opened up like a Siamese attack fish, flinging his hand away. She stumbled out of the raised truck and stalked past him, stumbling in the snow. He had half a mind to let her face plant in it, but he grabbed her elbow and hauled her backward, the inertia slamming her against his chest. He let out a loud whoosh. Her soft curves tensed against him, and as he hurried to right her, his hand grazed her right breast. Kim straightened, her blue eyes narrowed, and Ricco grinned, lifting his hands in surrender. “That wasn’t on purpose.”
Kim turned and, with a much more maneuvered stride, made her way to the front door of the mini ER.
“Oh, my God! Ricco!” Trina Vey screamed, startling the two elderly folks sitting in the small waiting area. She hurled her little self from her chair behind the receptionist’s desk and jumped right into his arms. Ricco laughed and gathered her to him, spinning her around. “Ricco! You’re home!” she cried. Just then another shriek came from the doorway leading to the examination rooms.
“Ricco!” Ricco grinned and set Trina down only to find his oldest sister, Elle, in his arms. He hugged her long and hard, then pulled back from her and grinned wider. Elle took his face in her hands and planted a big kiss on one cheek, then the other, then she pulled him to her again. Of all of his sisters, she was the one he could talk to the easiest. Maybe it was because she was the oldest and had had her share of heartache. “It seems you go for longer and longer these days.”
“I do it on purpose. Your welcomes were getting lame!”
“Hah! If I didn’t have to share you with every other woman in this town, maybe I wouldn’t be so lame!” She grinned, her perfect smile dazzling. It was good to see her smile. She had too much to frown about.
“How’s my boy doing?” Ricco asked.
Her face lost its humor, and a sudden frown creased the worry lines in her face. “He’s twelve and thinks he knows everything. How do you think? He needs his father, Ricco.”
Ricco pulled Elle close to him and kissed the top of her head. “I know. I’ll speak with him.”
“He couldn’t sleep last night. He can’t wait to see you. It’s been too long.”
Guilt washed over Ricco. Maybe it was time for him to come home. “You tell him I’ll see him tonight, and he’d better have some answers for me. He’s not too old for me to take him over my knee.”
Humor returned to Elle’s face. “I’ll pay good money to see that. The boy needs a good swift kick in the butt.”
A soft cough beside Ricco reminded him why he was there. “Oh, hell, Elle, I have a patient for you.” He pulled Kim forward. “Kimberly Michaels, she was driving the Indy 500 along 82 and she forgot about the snow. She crashed and burned.”
Elle turned dark brown eyes up to Kim. “You’ve got quite a shiner growing there.” She looked to Trina and said, “Get her signed in and send her back ASAP.”
“I don’t have my wallet with my insurance info in it,” Kim said.
Elle smiled, took her hand, and patted it. “This is Evergreen, Miss Michaels. We treat anyone who is hurting, with or without insurance information. Just sign the treatment and release part and fill in your name and address, and we’ll fix you right up.”
Ricco watched Kim do the necessary paperwork, while Trina made cow eyes at him. He grinned back. He loved coming home, and when his three weeks were up he always felt the same torn feeling. The boy in him wanted to stay and pretend it was Christmas all year long, but the man in him thirsted for adventure. Maybe one day he’d have it both ways. But until then? His gaze swept the petite blonde next to him. He liked the way her hair hung loose and thick down past her shoulders. He remembered all too well the way his hands had fit around the smooth cradle of her hips. The way her full breasts had plumped up when he pressed his lips to them, their pink tips pebbling under his tongue. Her ice princess act didn’t fool him. It might have if he hadn’t experienced firsthand the heat he’d stoked in her.
“Ricco!” both Trina and Elle said.
He shook his head and focused on his eldest sister. “Yeah, sure, what do you need?”
Elle scowled and put her hands on her hips, and he watched Kim watch the interaction. “I said I’ll take your friend back now.”
“Oh, yeah, sure.”
Trina popped up and slipped her hand along his arm, hugging it to her ample breast. He cocked his head and took a closer look. Trina had added something since the last time he’d seen her. She grinned up at him and said, “Do you like them?”
He watched Kim flash him a scowl as Elle led her into the exam area, shutting the door behind them. Ricco grinned down at Trina. “I thought they looked pretty good the way they were.”
She smiled and pressed her new girls more firmly against him. “I know you like full-figured women, so I—”
Ricco shushed her with two fingers to her lips. “I like all shapes and sizes, and I told you, you’re my best friend’s little sister. That puts you on the When Hell Freezes Over list.” He patted her arm and removed it from him. “What happened to you and Lance?”
Trina wrinkled her pert little nose and said, “He’s at Davis with his sheep!”
Ricco grinned. “So he got into the vet program, did he?”
“Yes, and he told me to wait for him. I doubt that will happen.”
Ricco chuckled, “Tri, he’s less then two hours away, and he wants to come back here and practice.”
“Jimmy says there isn’t going to be a town after this blizzard. My mom is driving into Reno three times a week as it is. She’s at the Legacy, and even then she said we might just have to sell the house.”
“We’re getting the roads cleared, Tri, the tourists will come and spend just like they do every year.”
“The last few years they came too late.” She sighed and went to her desk, where she began to enter Kim’s information into the computer.
“How was the Thanksgiving trade?”
She looked up and smiled, then looked back to the form. “The usual, but we both know it’s now or never, do or die.”
Ricco looked toward the door where Elle had taken Kim and nodded. “Do or die.” And he had a bad feeling.
• • •
“TELL
ME WHAT HAPPENED, MISS MICHAELS,” ELLE URGED after she took Kim’s blood pressure.
“I was driving in from Reno, and I guess I was blinded by the snow. The next thing I remember, I was in my car in the snow and Ricco was there.”
Elle shone a light into her eyes at an angle and nodded. She poked and prodded around her head. “Any headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness?”
“I have a hell of a migraine right now, and coming in here I felt a little dizzy.”
“Did you lose consciousness?”
“Ricco said I was out when he got to me.”
Elle jotted notes into a file and nodded. Without looking up, she asked, “Is that how you met Ricco?”
“He-I-ah—” Kim couldn’t tell this woman, who was obviously the mother of Ricco’s twelve-year-old son but, by the lack of a wedding band, not his wife, that she’d spent a hot and heavy night with him at the Legacy. As Kim thought of the absurdity of the situation, her rancor rose. He was just like every other Don Juan out there. But worse. He had a kid! And to think she had contemplated giving him another spin for shits and giggles.
“That’s okay, I know how he is. I get the same response all the time.”
Kim looked up at the woman’s calm face. “And you don’t have a problem with that?”
Elle shrugged and took out a little hammer from her white jacket pocket. “Relax back. I’m just going to lightly tap your knee to check your reflexes.” As she tapped Kim in the right knee, Elle said, “Ricco’s affairs don’t bother me.”
Kim squinched her eyes. “I’d kick his ass!”
Elle laughed. “I used to be able to kick Riccito’s ass. But now if I tried, he’d kick my ass.”
“Why do you call him ‘little Ricky’?”
Elle stiffened and hit Kim’s left knee a tad bit harder then she had the right. Kim’s reflex nearly kicked her in the chest. “He’s named after his father.”
Kim nodded and decided by Elle’s change in tone that she should stay away from the subject. Instead she got to work on the reason for her visit to Evergreen. “So, are you the only doctor here?”
“I’m a PA. Dr. Juarez is the regular doc. We had to let Dr. Newman go.”
“Did he do something wrong?”
“She wanted more action. This last year there’s been a slow, steady exodus from Evergreen.”
“Why?”
Elle shrugged and put a thermometer in Kim’s mouth. Just as it beeped, Elle nodded. Satisfied with the readout, she answered, “Bad weather five years in a row, but mostly panic. The general economy is on the verge of recession, and when that happens, people stop spending. We live and die by holiday cheer. Kind of hard to keep a second doctor on when there’s no cash to pay them.”
“What will the town do?”’
Elle sat down and jotted more notes down in the folder. “Some fancy-ass developer has made an offer to buy the town lock, stock, and barrel. Like that’s going to happen.”
“Was it a good offer?”
“Doesn’t matter. This town is held together by more than tinsel. We’ve weathered a lot worse over the years and we’re still here. I have no doubt we’ll weather this storm as well.”
Kim nodded. Well, that answered her burning question. Did the town have the heart to fight for themselves? The answer was plain. “Well, I hope it all works out.”
Elle smiled. “Have no doubt. Now, Miss Michaels, you have a slight concussion. I could send you to Reno or down to Auburn for an MRI, but you look fine, and the headache will subside. I’ll prescribe something for that. In fact…” She scooted over to a cabinet and opened a drawer. She pulled out a few samples and handed them to Kim. “Here. The apothecary isn’t open right now. Jules’ll be down at the lake this time of day, ice fishing. I’ll give you a prescription for more, though. Where are you staying?”
“Esmeralda’s B&B.”
Elle grinned. “Excellent choice. Put some ice on that lump and take one of these when you get to your room. Make sure to rest. If anything begins to feel worse, call me. If I’m not here, Ricco can find me.”
Kim took the packet and thanked her.
As she walked back into the waiting area, she found Trina, along with two other young women, hanging on Ricco’s every word. Their gooey cow eyes made Kim want to smack someone. Ricco looked up, smiling when he saw her. She scowled. What a Casanova! He slept with her, then flirted outrageously with these women while the mother of his child looked on. And she didn’t mind?
What the hell kind of place was this?
He looked past her to Elle, who had followed her out. “Will she live?”
“She’ll live. Take her over to Ezzy’s and get her tucked into bed.” Ricco lit up and nodded, coming toward Kim with his hand extended. Kim slapped it away. “Don’t touch me,” she hissed.
“Can you give her some of those nice pills, Elle?”
“The pills I gave her will do the trick.”
“Great. Thanks.” He winked and said over his shoulder, “I’ll see you at dinner tonight?”
“Wild horses couldn’t keep me away.”
“Good. And tell ’Tonio he’d better watch out.”
She laughed, “Are you kidding? That boy has been counting the minutes!”
Kim stalked past Ricco to the door. She flung it open, pushed through the hard chill of the air that hit her like a wall, and walked to the city-owned pickup. She just didn’t get it. Philandering lover and father of your child comes home, flirts with women under your nose, and you don’t have a problem with it? A sudden creepy feeling overcame Kim. Were they polygamists? Did he have other women and children around town? Ricco opened the door for her, but she didn’t give him the chance to help her into the cab. Instead she glared at him, daring him to touch her. He backed off.
They drove back to the B&B in silence. As he parked, then made to get out of the cab, she stopped him with a hand on his arm. Looking directly at him, she said, “I need to make something crystal clear to you, Mr. Maza. I want no further interaction with you. On any level. And I expect you to respect that.”
Ricco sat silent. His dark eyes widened incrementally in surprise, and his full lips tightened, barely noticeable. She could tell he was not happy with her mandate. It was probably the first of his life. “I want your word you’ll forget we ever met.”
He nodded. “You’ve got a deal.” He opened the door, shut it, then walked up the cleared stone steps to the log-cabin-style B&B. Kim shoved open the door and followed him.
The minute she entered the warmth of the inn, the familiar scent of baked ginger assailed her senses. She smiled. Big. Gingersnaps. Her favorite cookies. Every year, as a special treat at Christmastime, Gran had baked them for Kim. Her mother had always told her they would make her chubby, but Gran had shooed her mother and father away the few times they’d stuck around, telling them both to stop nagging the child.
As if some type of weight had been lifted from her shoulders, Kim felt her muscles relax. The tension eased from her body as the comforting memories took over.
“Ricco, you’re home!!” Another high-pitched female scream. Dear Lord, this was getting ridiculous! Kim closed the heavy oak-and-beveled-glass door behind her and stepped all the way into the open entryway.
“Ezzy!” Giggles and kissing sounds erupted from down the hall, followed by a crying baby. Oh, great, another one of his kids? Kim walked farther into the inn and looked down a short hallway, where Ricco turned with a very pregnant, petite, red-haired woman in her mid-to late-thirties in one arm and a toddler in the other. He was grinning ear to ear.
She was in the twilight zone.
“Kim, this is Esmeralda.” He hugged the beaming woman to him and dropped a kiss on her forehead. He lifted the little girl, all decked out in pink and white, and planted a big kiss on her cheek. She giggled and reached her chubby little hands to his face. Ricco smiled like a proud papa. “And this is my big girl, Krista!” He nuzzled the baby in the belly, and she screamed in delight. Esmeralda sm
iled and smacked at Ricco, then waddled toward Kim. “I’m so happy you made it. Elle called and told me what happened to you. You’re so lucky.” Kim looked down at Esmeralda’s right hand. No ring.
She scowled up at Ricco and was about to tell him he was a creep when Esmeralda said to him, “You need to go see Antonio. He’s missed you, and Elle is having fits about it.” She turned back to Kim. “C’mon up to the room I prepared for you. The fire is warming it up, and Denny just brought your purse and luggage from your rental. It’s over at Santa’s Workshop. Ben’s already called the rental company. I can’t believe even with chains they let you take that out in this storm. I thought 80 was closed.” Her incessant prattling soothed Kim in a weird, staccato way. She supposed when she went to the bathroom the entire town would know in a matter of a few minutes.
Before going up to her room, Kim looked over her shoulder to Ricco, who stood cooing at the little girl in his arms. He was completely oblivious to Kim. The baby was blond and had her mother’s hazel eyes. Neither Ricco nor Esmeralda had blond hair. Maybe somebody had come around while Riccito had been tomcatting around somewhere else. Served him right.
Kim grinned and let out a big, long breath when she opened the door to her lodgings. She could not have asked for a more comfortable amenity-laden room. This was so going to do. Taking up the center was a big four-poster bed, carved out of rough-hewn wood smoothed and polished to a satin luster. The thick mattress and comforter were heaped with masses of gem-colored pillows and looked more inviting than her own. She just wanted to shuck her clothes and sink into what she knew would be heaven on earth. A small desk of the same wood was snuggled into one corner, and in the other a stone fireplace crackled invitingly. Up against the other wall was a hewn armoire, whose doors were carved with reindeer and snowflakes. Tiffany-type lamps adorned each of the nightstands. A large alpaca rug covered most of the hand-cut, wide-slat hardwood floor. Kim looked up to the high, slanted ceiling of exposed cedar. A slowly turning, old-fashioned palm fan rotated the warm air. A large picture window overlooked the main street. It was picture perfect. “I love it!” Kimberly gushed. And she did. She could hide in this room forever.
