I'll Be Home for Christmas

by Barbara J. Scott

  He lifted his hands, palms out. “No. Oh no. No force here. I want you to be my plus-one. I’m asking you to go with me . . . as my date.”

  She couldn’t breathe for a moment. “You want me to go with you to this thing . . . on a date?”

  “Yes, I want you to go with me to the open house as my date. No plus-one, no force, no thing. Just you and me, one-on-one, together.”

  “In your parents’ home with lots of other important people milling around.”

  “It’s a big place. And we don’t have to stay long. I can show you where I grew up. And on the way, I can show you some of the subdivisions we’ve built.”

  Amy stopped so fast that he skidded toward her, his hands grabbing her arms. “Are you asking me on this so-called date so you can sway me a bit more by showing me some fancy neighborhoods?”

  Dan dropped his hands as if she’d caught fire. “Uh . . . no. I just thought—”

  “I know what you thought. I think I’m busy Sunday.”

  “Amy.”

  “Dan.”

  He looked so flustered, she almost laughed. But Sophie’s warnings flashed code red in her head. “My sisters think you’re trying to sweet-talk me into selling, but I don’t want to believe that.”

  “Then don’t believe it.” The confusion left his face as he advanced toward her again. Leaning close, he said, “If I really wanted to sweet-talk you, I’d be doing a better job than this. I just want to go out with you.”

  She didn’t know what to believe, but the way he looked at her with those tiger eyes gave her hope and sent a warm shiver down her backbone. She should tell him to get in his expensive SUV and hit the road. But before she could utter that brush-off, her heart got in front of her good sense.

  “What time Sunday?”

  “You’re going?”

  Well, he did seem genuinely surprised. “I said, what time?”

  “I’ll pick you up after church. We’ll take our time. We don’t have to be the first ones there.”

  “Dress?” she asked.

  “Dress?” He looked so cute when he got confused.

  “What should I wear? Dressy or casual?”

  He squinted. “My sister wears cocktail-type stuff.”

  She didn’t have cocktail-type stuff with her. Not that she’d ever been one to dress up much anyway. “Okay,” she said, wondering what she would wear. With three sisters to help her, that shouldn’t be too difficult.

  “You’re going with me?”

  “Yes. But if I ever find out you’re doing this as a ploy to sway me, Dan Wentworth, I will not be a happy woman.”

  He did that leaning-in thing again. “Oh, it’s a ploy, all right. A ploy to get you alone.”

  And with that, he turned and headed to his vehicle, a big grin plastered on his face. When Amy turned back toward the house, she saw Bella and Sarah standing on the porch, both of them grinning.

  Dan didn’t know what had come over him. He hadn’t planned on asking Amy to go to the Wentworth open house, but somehow his mouth had popped the question before his brain could catch up.

  His mother and sister would demand explanations since, in spite of their pointed invitations, he rarely brought a date to any of the social events they put together. But bringing a woman he’d just met to this particular event would make their eyes bug right out of their heads. They’d corner him, demanding details, and they’d probably scare Amy right back to the car.

  No, that wouldn’t happen. Amy could hold her own with anyone, and she’d do it with boots on.

  She’s a client, he practiced on the way back to town. Just thought she’d enjoy seeing some of our properties. She’s a friend. We’re working on a possible contract for the land that’s been in her family for generations.

  “She’s a Tucker.”

  That would shut them all up. They’d know what that meant since his dad really wanted this sale to go through. But he couldn’t tell his family that Amy was the only Tucker who still wanted to sell. They’d take it the wrong way.

  Just as Amy had earlier.

  To Dan’s way of thinking, however, this wasn’t about land anymore. This was about an interesting, pretty woman who’d captured his attention the minute she’d stepped out of her beat-up old car. And his heart soon after.

  He couldn’t tell his family that either.

  Chapter Nine

  I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Amy stared at herself in the mirror. “I can’t do this.”

  She tried to brush past her three sisters, but Bella grabbed her arm and spun her back around. “Amy, you look great. Mom’s dress fits you perfectly since Sarah took it in a bit.”

  Sophie’s gaze moved over the red satin dress with the black portrait collar. A fifties-style that they were pretty sure their mother had made from an old pattern she’d found in the attic; the dress had been one of her mother’s favorites. A lush, black velvet collar, flared skirt of shimmering satin, and a matching black bow sashed at the waist that made Amy look even slimmer than she already was.

  She blinked away the tears threatening to ruin the makeup her sisters had slapped on her earlier. “I can’t wear Mama’s dress. It doesn’t feel right.”

  “You look so much like her,” Jo-Jo said. “She’d want you to wear it. This is a fancy event. You need to look the part.”

  “And what part is that?” she asked, suddenly scared. Afraid of the feelings she’d developed for Dan the Developer. “I shouldn’t even be going. I don’t know him that well.”

  “You know what you need to know,” Sophie replied. “You yourself said he’s a good man.”

  “But he’s trying to buy us out,” Amy reminded her sisters.

  “Not if you tell him no,” Jo-Jo said, hope shining in her eyes. “We want to keep this place. You know that.”

  “So you can refuse to sell, and I’ll be outvoted,” she told them. Turning serious, she added, “I’ll be okay if you do that. Y’all know that, right?”

  Sophie picked up the black shawl someone had found in their mother’s closet. “We understand we have that right, but it would be nice to have your blessing since you’re our big sister.”

  Bella reached for Amy’s hand. “What’s holding you back, Amy? Do you hate the farm so much that you’d really sell it just to make yourself feel better?”

  Amy looked from one to the other. “I don’t know. I thought I hated it. But . . . I remember the good times, too. This dress, like everything else around here, has brought it all back. Mama wore this to a Christmas party not long before Tuck left for the last time.”

  Bella touched Amy’s upswept hair and tugged a few curls loose to cascade down her neck. “Don’t let the memories from the past ruin the dreams of the future. Mom wants us to be happy. Go and be happy with Dan, even if it’s just for a couple of hours. Let this dress be your beacon, not your albatross.”

  Amy plopped down on the bed, the full skirt cascading out around her like a big red heart. “I’m scared. Dan . . . does things to me.”

  “Makes your heart beat faster?” Bella asked with a knowing smile.

  “Makes you smile a lot,” Jo-Jo added, her gaze dreamy.

  “Makes you want to settle down and cuddle up,” Sophie supplied to finish things off. “We all know the feeling.”

  “Yes,” she finally admitted. “But I loved Tim. I’m not sure I’m ready to take a risk like that again. It’s crazy.”

  “Not so crazy,” Jo-Jo said. “I think this Christmas together is meant to be. God brought us together here where we grew up for a reason.”

  “For four hunky reasons,” Bella said, the levity of her comment making them all laugh.

  “For all the best reasons,” Jo-Jo added. “We belong here.”

  “I don’t know,” Amy said. “But . . . I do know I want to see Dan today and get to know him better. Timothy—”

  “Will be fine,” Sophie said. “He’s with the guys, having the time of his life. He won’t even miss you.”

  Am
y stood and straightened her shiny skirt. “Thank you. All of you.”

  “Group hug,” Bella called.

  They all huddled around Amy, making her feel warm and loved, protecting her in a way she’d long ago forgotten possible while they whispered a prayer asking God to guide all of them.

  When her sisters broke free, she looked in the mirror one more time. “Okay. Today, I decide one way or another. Just to get you all off my back, if nothing else.”

  “And then we celebrate Christmas together,” Joanna whispered. “No matter what.”

  “No matter what,” she replied.

  No matter how I feel about Dan Wentworth.

  Dan couldn’t stop staring at her.

  “You look amazing,” he said after he helped Amy into his Escalade. He’d practically had to lift her, but in typical Amy fashion, she’d brushed him off and held tight to the convenient handle over the passenger-side window, hopping right up onto the big leather seat.

  She’d smiled at him, her hair trying to escape the intricate clamp holding it in a luscious pile on top of her head.

  “I don’t wear dresses much,” she admitted after they were on the road.

  Outside, snow clouds gathered to the west, but the SUV’s heater blasted soft, warm air all around them.

  “You should,” he said, still in awe, not sure what was going on with his heart.

  They talked about a lot of things on the way to the open house, but Dan purposely didn’t mention the horse farm or how much he hoped she’d talked her sisters into selling. Today was not about that. Unusual for him to not talk about work, but then being around Amy and her family had changed him. He enjoyed the chance to get to know her while they chatted, and he tried to be honest with her about the life he’d had, growing up a Wentworth.

  When they pulled up to his parents’ house, Dan turned toward Amy. “Don’t let them intimidate you, okay? They’re really nice people.”

  She giggled at that. “This coming from their son. Are you always this polite?”

  “No,” he admitted. “I’m nervous, but only because my mom and sister are going to flip when they see you.”

  She touched her hair, panic in her eyes. “Why? Do I look frumpy? Old-fashioned?”

  Dan fell for her in that instant, completely. He took her hand and leaned across the seat. “No, darlin’. You look so beautiful, they’re gonna want to keep you.” Then he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Just be you, Amy.”

  “I hadn’t planned on being anyone else,” she said, relief in her eyes. “And . . . I can’t wait to see this place.”

  The estate was huge. Made of aged bricks and arched stone and wood entryways, the house shone with discreet decorations. The rounded front door, made of dark, heavy wood, was topped by an elegant stone balustrade. Inside, similar arched, wooden doorways graced the open foyer, and a curved staircase laced with intricate, black wrought iron held a garland of fresh evergreens and red ribbons. An enormous Christmas tree decorated with exotic ornaments and Kentucky charm stood in the marble entryway and shot up toward the stair railing. In the den, floor-to-ceiling windows gave a stunning view of the rolling hills and pastures.

  Amy couldn’t stop gawking. “Dan, this place is the real deal.”

  Dan grinned at her. “It’s home. It’s been updated and fancied up over the years, but the bones are solid. Underneath all this, it’s just home.”

  Amy thought about the farm and wondered how someone like Dan went from this to what he’d seen at their place. No wonder he wanted to level it. Before she could fret too much about that, Dan’s family swooped in and made her feel completely welcome. His mother, Bettye, petite and blonde, and his sister, Rachel, with brown hair highlighted in gold like Dan’s and hazel eyes like their father’s, handed her food and drink.

  Then Mr. Wentworth, gray-haired and debonair, smiled and talked politely to her. “Dan rarely brings home a date,” he said. “It’s so nice to see him with such a lovely woman.”

  “We’ll talk later,” Rachel said before taking off to corral one of her preschoolers.

  “Your dad asked me about our land,” Amy told Dan later when they decided to go for a walk around the property. He’d supplied her with a heavy coat borrowed—or stolen—from his sister and said he wanted her to see something.

  “And what did you tell him?”

  “I didn’t know what to tell him,” she admitted. “I said my sisters and I are going to decide after Christmas. I got the impression he doesn’t know they’ve done a one-eighty on this.”

  “I haven’t discussed it with him,” Dan said, holding her elbow to keep her steady on the rocky trail that worked its way between two fenced horse pastures. “He’ll know when I do.”

  Deciding to let that go since Dan had hinted at some contention between him and his father, Amy enjoyed the chilly, fresh air.

  They walked to the massive barn, and Dan showed her his gelding, Rudolph. “Because of his red nose,” he explained while she offered a treat to the big roan with the distinctive red marking.

  As they rounded a curve, Dan stopped her and tugged her close. “I wanted you to see this.”

  Amy took in the site of an old, hand-hewed, two-storied cabin set along a flowing creek, its deep front porch complete with two aged, wooden rocking chairs. A simple evergreen wreath hung on the heavy door, and a small cedar tree standing between the two rockers was decorated with what looked like hand-carved, wooden ornaments. A giant live oak stood near the cabin, its massive branches lifting out like a canopy over the house.

  “This has been in my family for generations,” he said. “It was my first renovation. I had to hire some experts to find matching logs to get it back to its original glory, but it’s perfect now. It has modern conveniences but historical essence.”

  “It’s beautiful,” Amy said, her heart opening when she heard the pride in his words. He might build opulent homes for other people, but his heart was clearly right here. Simple and timeless and steeped in history. “It’s so . . . Dan.”

  “I’ve never brought a woman here,” he said. “Buddies, friends and family, but never . . . someone special. My ex-wife didn’t like me working on this on weekends.”

  Amy stared at the cabin and then looked at him, the tears she’d so long fought off coming to the surface. “I didn’t know I was special.”

  “And that’s what makes you special,” he said.

  Then he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. Amy loved the way his lips felt on her skin. Dan was gentle and sure, and he made her feel safe. As his strength and confidence merged with her stubborn, steely resolve, Amy realized that she trusted Dan. She trusted him without any more doubt. She trusted him enough to cry in his arms and tell him how much she missed her daddy. And she trusted him enough to wonder out loud what she should do next.

  “For now, come inside out of the cold,” Dan said, leading her to the cabin door.

  Chapter Ten

  They entered the cabin and Dan gave Amy a quick tour. Everything from the old-fashioned kitchen with lacy, white curtains to the quaint bathroom to the iron headboards on the quilt-laden beds made this place a peaceful getaway.

  “My mom and sister helped me decorate it for Christmas,” he said. “For you, really.”

  “You decorated this for me?” Amy asked, touched to her core.

  “They didn’t know that, but yes. I wanted to impress you. I learned how to make real hot chocolate, too.”

  “Why?”

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  He’d started a fire and now it crackled to life. Coming to sit beside her on the tufted sofa, he put down his mug and touched her hair. “You and me, we’ve got this thing going on.”

  “This thing?” She smiled. “Is this thing kind of like the thing you invited me to today so you could get me here alone? Is that the thing you’re talking about?”

  “You know it.” He kissed her forehead.

  “And this has nothing to do with you hoping I’ll talk
my entire family into selling you our land?”

  He pulled back. “Is that what you think?”

  “It crossed my mind.”

  Dan straightened and placed his hands together. “Before you got here, I hoped you’d convince your sisters. Maybe even a little bit after you got here. But . . . Amy, I don’t care about that anymore.”

  Amy wondered if it even mattered whether he was using her or not. He was a man trying to do what he was good at—create amazing places for people to live and raise their families. Places with roots, like this cabin, like the horse farm where she and her sisters had grown up.

  “Look, I lost my first wife because I was so busy trying to prove myself to my old man,” he said. “I won’t go through that again. Building houses is one thing. Living in a solid home is another. Having you in my life is so much more important than having the Tucker land. And that’s where I’m at right now. Here with you.”

  Amy accepted that as the truth. She could see the sincerity in his eyes.

  When they started back to the main house, snow as light as spun silk began to fall.

  “I’d better get you back home or you’ll be forced to spend the night here with my family.”

  “I could handle that,” she said. “I’m not so sure you could, however.”

  “My mom and sister are dying to get you alone and quiz you about our relationship,” he admitted. “It’s terrifying.”

  When they got back to the house, Dan left her to put away the borrowed coat. Most of the guests were gone, so Dan’s father came to stand with her by the fireplace. “So I hear you’re willing to sell my son your acreage. Did you two seal the deal on that walk?”

  “Not yet,” she said, wishing he hadn’t put her on the spot. “We’ll let that rest until after Christmas.”

  Mr. Wentworth leaned close. “Dan did mention the possibility of buying just one share if all of you aren’t on board. After all, one sister with seventy-five acres is better than no acreage at all.” Then he took her hand. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Amy.”

  The heat of a burning blush, coupled with the fireplace behind her, made Amy feel a little ill. She’d misunderstood what Mr. Wentworth was implying. Seventy-five acres? If she decided to sell her part—something that had never entered her mind—she could take the money and run.