Memories: A Husband to RememberNew Year's Daddy (Hqn)

by Jackson, Lisa

  “Damn,” Travis growled, his eyes searching the woods, his feet and hands nearly frozen despite his insulated boots and gloves. That hardheaded woman! Her image came to mind, her dark hair, warm brown eyes, smiling full lips. Oh, God, he couldn’t lose her. Frantic, he plowed forward. Somewhere out here, somewhere in this damned wilderness, were his wife and kid. He only hoped they were still alive.

  *

  “Bryan!” Shivering from the cold, Ronni rode as darkness began to creep over the mountains. She had two choices—to keep searching or ride back. She couldn’t stop for any length of time and build an ice cave because the horses wouldn’t survive. She’d followed Sam’s broken trail for over two miles, up a canyon and down a draw to the trickle of a creek flowing sluggishly between icy shores. When the trail had given out, she’d let Sam pick his way, hoping that the horse would understand and locate the boy. So far, it hadn’t worked.

  Be with him, please, keep him safe, she prayed, then squinted. For a second she thought she was seeing things, creating a happy mirage in her mind—a mirage of her stepson propped up against the spreading bows of a fir tree, but as Sam trudged through the drifts, she made out a navy jacket and a body… Swallowing hard, she yelled out. “Bryan? Are you okay?”

  The body moved. She let out her breath. Bryan turned, waved frantically, and her heart soared.

  “Oh, honey,” she cried, jumping from Sam’s broad back and taking the last steps through the snow on her own. “Are you all right?”

  He managed to look sheepish though his teeth were chattering and his face was red from the cold. “Twisted my ankle when Sam spooked and I fell off,” he admitted. “Can’t walk and I was in so much pain, it hurt to ride, so, um, I, uh, stopped to rest and…Sam took off on me.” His lip trembled, either from the cold or some strong emotion. “Guess I’m not much of a cowboy.”

  “That’s not such a crime, is it?”

  He stared down at his hands, his young pride bowed.

  “Don’t worry about it. You’re all right now. We’re going to get you home and warm and safe and…” She saw the doubt in his eyes and took his gloved hand in hers. “I know it’s been rough and that your dad and I have been so wrapped up in each other that we inadvertently left you out, but you have to know that both of us love you so much. Your dad…he’s frantic with worry and…” Rocking back on her heels, she looked him squarely in the eye. “I believe we can work this out—all of us. But if you’re unhappy, if you think that Amy and I don’t belong in your family, well, then maybe something will change.”

  “Meaning?” he asked suspiciously.

  “Meaning that I’d be willing to move out, at least for a while, until you and your dad figure out what’s best for you two.”

  “You’re serious?” he asked, disbelief threading into his hoarse voice.

  Her heart nearly broke at the sound of hope in his words. “Yep,” she admitted, then slapped him gently on the leg. “But first things first. We have to find a way to get you out of here. Can you ride?”

  “I—I think so.”

  “Good, ’cause there’s not much light left. We’ll ride back close to the stream, follow it downhill and we should either end up in town or at some shelter, an old logging camp or mine or something.” She paused to try to call on her walkie-talkie, but the battery had worn down and she couldn’t reach anyone. She set off flares in the small hope that someone who was still searching the mountain might come across their trail.

  “Okay, let’s go.” Helping him hobble to Sam, she acted as a brace. He winced as he climbed into the saddle, but eventually they were both mounted, the wind was at their backs and with the gray leading, they headed downward. Ronni crossed her fingers as they rode and hoped that they would find civilization before the horses or Bryan gave out.

  *

  Travis couldn’t believe his eyes. The sizzling red light of a flare guided him and he shouted, his voice ringing through the woods. He followed the light from the small beacon, but when he reached the sputtering embers, he found himself alone. Gritting his teeth, he stared at the ground. There was a fresh trail broken by two horses. One that came down the ridge to the stream base, the other following along the dark, near-frozen water. With a flashlight he checked the depth of snow in the trails and decided to follow the stream. He plunged forward, yelling and hoping beyond hope that his family was safe. “Bryan! Veronica!”

  “Travis?” Ronni’s voice was faint but sure and he raced forward, plunging through the stream, running and mindful of nothing other than seeing his son and wife again. Tears burned in his eyes, the dark forest rushed past in a blur, and as he rounded a bend, he saw them, two dark shapes on horseback. Ronni was off her mount in a second, running to him, flinging herself into his arms, sobbing in relief.

  “He’s all right. He’s gonna be all right,” she said over and over again, and Travis, still holding on to her, approached his son.

  With tears in his eyes, he looked up at his boy. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again,” he said, blinking and sniffing. “I was worried sick about you.”

  Bryan fought a losing battle with tears.

  “Don’t you know I love you?” Travis said. “That I’d do anything to make you happy? God, Bryan…” His words faltered and he felt Ronni slip out of his embrace.

  “Dad—” Bryan’s voice cracked as he slid off the horse. Travis held him close, afraid that his son would disappear again. The sheer terror of losing him washed over him in an icy wave.

  “We’re a family, son. All of us. Just because I love Ronni and Amy doesn’t mean I love you less. If you only knew how scared I was, if you only knew how much I care about you and your happiness.”

  “I’m sorry—”

  “Shh. We’re gonna work this out.” Travis looked at Ronni over his son’s shoulder. “All of us.”

  Bryan nodded against his chest, then glanced over his shoulder to his new stepmother. Through his tears, he offered her a small smile. “Thanks,” he said gruffly, his chin angling upward again. “I—I was stupid.”

  “I love you,” she said simply and he squeezed his eyes shut. “I will love you as my own son, if you’ll have me. And I won’t stand in the way of your relationship with your dad or your real mom. Never.”

  He stared at her a second and then to Travis’s surprise, he reached forward and hugged her. “I’m sorry for everything I said, everything I thought…I…”

  “Shh, it’s all right. Let’s get out of here and get you home.”

  He blinked hard and nodded. “’Kay, Mom,” he whispered, wiping the back of his glove under his nose, and Travis felt the scars in his heart begin to heal.

  *

  The surprise party was over, the guests, rounded up by invitation from Shelly and Vic, had long since left. Balloons and streamers still rose to the ceiling of the lodge and the Christmas tree was lit, but the surprise wedding reception/New Year’s Eve party had ended and Ronni kicked off her shoes. Two bottles of champagne still rested in a bucket of ice. “Here’s to us,” Travis said, clicking his glass to hers. “All four of us.”

  “To us,” she agreed and took a swallow. The past couple of days had been a whirlwind. The blizzard had ended and finally, they were a family again. Bryan had only sprained his ankle and didn’t even have to use crutches. He’d finally accepted Ronni and Amy to the point that Amy tagged after him wherever he went. He’d quit talking about moving away and had even deigned to meet some kids from the local church group. There was hope, Ronni sensed, and there was happiness.

  Travis slipped his arm around her waist. “So what’s your New Year’s resolution?” he asked and she smiled.

  “Well, Amy’s is that she’s going to be good so she can keep you as her daddy.” She reached into her pocket and dragged out a scrap of red paper with childish handwriting. “I think Bryan helped her with it.”

  “A smart girl,” Travis said, his eyes misting as he read the note.

  “And Bryan said he wanted to learn how
to ride a horse, snowboard and play an electric guitar.”

  Travis winced. “Electric? Why not acoustic?”

  “And he’s agreed to visit his mother at least once a year. Maybe twice.”

  “That’s progress.”

  “I think so. Vic and Shelly plan to have another baby,” Ronni said.

  “And you?”

  “I thought I might go along with my sister. It sounds good, you know.”

  “What? To have another baby?”

  “Our baby, half sibling to each of our kids. Kind of a knot to hold us together.”

  “Do we need one?”

  She laughed and sipped the champagne. “Suppose not, but it would be nice.”

  “I guess so.” He nuzzled her neck and caught a glimpse of Bryan and Amy staring down at them through the rails of the landing.

  “I’m not talking about right away,” she said. “We need time to grow as a family, just the four of us.”

  A muffled bark from the area of the kitchen made her laugh. “Okay, just the six of us,” she amended. “But, by the end of the year…”

  “It could be a possibility.” Travis’s eyes sparkled.

  “So right now I resolve that I’ll be the best mother in the world to our two kids and the best wife on this earth to you.”

  “Hear, hear.” He started to take a sip, but she caught his wrist.

  “Not so fast, mister. What’s your resolution?”

  “Mine?” His grin stretched wide. “That’s easy.” He set his glass on the mantel and circled her waist with his strong arms. Intense eyes stared down at her. “I’m going to love you forever, Ronni,” he vowed, saying the words that she’d longed to hear ever since first meeting him. “My resolution isn’t for a year, it’s for the rest of our lives.”

  Epilogue

  THE CLOCK STRUCK twelve.

  “Happy New Year!” Amy sang out, proudly displaying a front tooth that wobbled precariously on her bottom gums.

  “Same to you,” Ronni said with a yawn. She hugged her daughter as Bryan clomped down the stairs. The first signs of stubble covered his upper lip and his voice cracked whenever he talked. “Where’s your father?” she asked. “I didn’t think he wanted to miss this.”

  “In the bedroom,” Bryan and Amy said in unison, then exchanged knowing glances.

  “I should have guessed.” Ronni pushed herself from the couch and walked past the embers of the fire in the grate to the master bedroom where Travis was reaching into the bassinet.

  “You wake her and I’ll strangle you,” Ronni warned, but it was too late. Travis, fascinated with his two-month-old daughter, picked up the infant and held her close.

  “Happy New Year,” he whispered to Andrea and she made little sucking motions with her lips. With a proud smile, he looked up at his wife and winked. “You know she’s the most beautiful baby in the world, don’t you?”

  Ronni grinned. “Don’t tell Shelly. She thinks Kevin’s got that award all sewed up.”

  “Well, she’s wrong. Besides, he’s bald.”

  “He’s only two weeks old,” Ronni said, but laughed when she thought of her sister and small family all tucked into the caretaker’s house on the lake. Victor was working for Travis full-time and had added two bedrooms and a bath to the house where Ronni and Shelly had grown up. Now, all their lives had settled into a comfortable, contented routine. Ronni had moved from her little cabin and rented it to a young couple. She’d transferred her business to an old storage building near the lodge and the horses had moved, as well, to new stables Travis had insisted upon building. Bryan had learned to snowboard this season and had reconciled himself to having a stepmother and a few new siblings. He even called his mother in France every once in a while and planned to visit her again this summer, as he did last.

  Amy, growing by leaps and bounds, was in seventh heaven with her new sister, two dogs and Lucy’s half-grown colt, and Ronni was happier than she’d ever been in her life.

  “I guess you’re right,” she admitted, gazing down at her infant daughter’s precious face. “She’s probably the prettiest baby ever born.”

  A thunder of footsteps announced Amy’s arrival.

  Andrea blinked and stretched a little fist, as her father, reached forward, grabbed the belt surrounding Ronni’s waist and pulled her close.

  “Aren’t we gonna have champagne?” Amy demanded.

  “Your mother and I are. You’ll have to settle for sparkling cider. You, too,” he added when Bryan poked his head into the room.

  “I know, Dad,” he said and Ronni smiled inwardly at the familiarity and love that had grown between father and son. Bryan was starting to talk about cars and getting his driving permit and some girl name Julie and Travis, bless him, was handling being a father of a teenager.

  “We’ll be there in a minute,” Travis promised. “You guys find the corkscrew.”

  Amy was off on her new mission with Bryan in tow. “Now,” Travis said, shifting the baby so that she wouldn’t get squeezed, “I just wanted to make our private New Year’s resolution.”

  “Oh? And what is that?”

  “That we have a baby every year.”

  She laughed. “Only if you go through pregnancy, gain thirty pounds and then suffer with labor.”

  “Spoilsport.”

  “How about we have one this year and then decide?”

  “As long as we can have at least one more.”

  “Mmm, I might be able to be convinced.”

  “I was hoping…” He loosened the belt of her robe and touched her breasts.

  “Watch out,” she warned, kissing him. “You might be getting yourself into big trouble.”

  “That’s what I’m aiming for,” he whispered, brushing his lips across her ear.

  At that moment Andrea decided to wake up and let out a squawk loud enough to rouse the dead in three counties. Amy and her dogs thundered back toward the room. Ronni quickly adjusted her clothing.

  “Later,” she said, taking the baby from her husband’s arms.

  “I’m counting on it.”

  She grinned and winked. “Good. I think we’ll both have to learn a little patience.”

  “No problem,” he drawled. “The way I figure it, we’ve got the rest of our lives.”

  *

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  ISBN-13: 9781460323823

  MEMORIES

  Copyright © 2014 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  The publisher acknowledges the copyright holder

  of the individual works as follows:

  A HUSBAND TO REMEMBER

  Copyright © 1993 by Susan Crose

  NEW YEAR’S DADDY

  Copyright © 1995 by Susan Crose

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