He glanced across the table at her and she looked back at him, giving him a small smile that told him she’d missed him too. He’d give anything to pick her up and carry her to his bedroom right now. But for now, he’d content himself with just listening to her laugh.
Soon they finished eating and the girls pushed away from the table.
“C’mon, Becky. Let’s go watch a movie.”
“Hey, just a minute,” Bridget said. “You guys don’t get out of work that easily. Put your dishes in the dishwasher.”
Leslie eagerly gathered her dishes, placing her utensils and glass on top of her plate. On the way to the dishwasher, she bumped against a chair and stumbled, sending her glass to the tile floor where it shattered into a hundred pieces.
“Damn it, Leslie, I’ve told you a hundred times to leave the dishes alone.”
He regretted his words immediately. Leslie lowered her head in guilt and embarrassment while Rebecca stared at him in confusion, not understanding the reason for his outburst. But the look of disappointment Bridget gave him was like a punch to the gut.
“It’s my fault, Jack, not Leslie’s. I asked the girls to help,” she said quietly.
He couldn’t look at her. “She could cut her foot on the broken glass. They both could. I have to get the broom. Stay right there, both of you! Don’t move!”
His hands shook with anger as he grabbed the broom and dustpan from the closet. He was angry at Bridget for not understanding that Leslie couldn’t handle even simple household chores. Mostly he was angry at himself for letting it get to him. And for showing everyone how much her limitations upset him.
He swept the broken chunks of glass into the dustpan and dumped them in the garbage. Neither of the girls had moved and Bridget stood off to one side, watching warily. He stooped to give Leslie a kiss and then pulled Rebecca in for a hug as well.
“I’m sorry I yelled. I yell when I’m afraid and I was afraid one of you would step on the broken glass and cut your feet. I’m sorry, girls.”
“It’s okay, Jack,” Rebecca said.
“It’s okay, Daddy.”
He kissed both of them, unable to speak. No, it wasn’t okay. It was never okay to yell at them.
Finally, he found his voice. “Why don’t you go watch your movie now? You can use my office.”
“Okay, Daddy.”
They left the kitchen, Rebecca throwing a worried glance over her shoulder at him. He closed his eyes in misery. Damn it, he hadn’t wanted to lose it like that.
He grabbed the broom once more and gave the floor another sweep to make sure he hadn’t missed any tiny shards of glass. He was aware of Bridget’s eyes on him the entire time, even as she cleared the table and washed the chili pot.
“Are you okay?” she asked after a long silence.
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“It’s just a glass, Jack. No one was hurt.”
“I know.” He couldn’t look at her. He finished sweeping and threw the debris into the garbage.
“Jack, please, I don’t want to fight anymore.”
At last he looked at her. He took a deep breath. “I don’t want to fight with you either.” He held out his arms. “Come here.”
She walked into his arms. He held her tight, her cheek resting against his chest. He listened to her uneven breathing, as if she were struggling not to cry. He wondered if she could feel the pounding of his heart.
Nothing had been resolved. They’d come to truce, a decision to agree to disagree. How long would it take before they clashed again?
He held her a little tighter.
* * *
The following Sunday, one week before Christmas, Mavis’s church held a children’s Christmas concert. The children reenacted the Nativity, sang carols and then were each given a bag of goodies. Bridget sang all the old carols with the rest of the congregation. It had been a long time since she’d been in church. The joy she received from the simple ceremony brought tears to her eyes. Mavis reached across Rebecca and squeezed her hand. Her mother’s smile told her she understood.
It was the first time she and her mother were truly in sync.
Celia had invited them to her house after church for lunch. It had been years since she’d spent Christmas with her family. For too many of those years she’d worked over the busy Christmas season, catering Christmas parties and New Year’s Eve celebrations. This year she’d help Mavis cook Christmas dinner and enjoy the holidays with her daughter and her family. Joy filled her heart at the thought.
Jack’s truck was in Celia and Gavin’s yard when they arrived. She shouldn’t really be surprised since Jack was Gavin’s brother, but this was the first time Celia had invited them to her house together. Was this her way of publicly acknowledging their relationship?
Celia’s house was filled with the irresistible aroma of fresh baked bread that made Bridget’s stomach rumble in hunger when she entered.
She kissed her sister’s cheek.
“That smells so good. I’m starved.”
Celia laughed. “I’m nervous cooking for you. It’s hard to compete with a professional chef. I have the feeling you’ll be critiquing my work.”
“Don’t be silly. I’ll be too busy stuffing my face.” She lowered her voice. “I didn’t know Jack was coming.”
“Didn’t I tell you?” Celia grinned, knowing full well she hadn’t. “He and Jane and Leslie are in the living room. Why don’t you say hello?”
“Are you sure you don’t need help with something in the kitchen?”
“No, everything’s under control.” She pushed her toward the door. “Go. Enjoy.”
As soon as she entered the living room Leslie saw her and ran into her arms. She stooped to hug the little girl.
“Hi, sweetheart. Merry Christmas. Just five more sleeps.”
She held out her chubby hand, her fingers spread wide. “Five more sleeps.”
“You haven’t told me what you want for Christmas,” Bridget said.
Leslie giggled. “It’s a secret.”
“If it’s a secret how am I supposed to know what to get for you?” she teased. She’d already purchased a baking set for Leslie. Now when she made cookies she could use her own bowls and her own cookie sheet.
“You’ll know,” Leslie said sagely before running off to greet Rebecca. Bridget stared after her, wondering what that was about.
“Hi.”
She turned to see Jack standing in front of her, looking even more handsome than usual in a dress shirt and sport jacket rather than his customary denim.
“Hi. Merry Christmas.” She lightly kissed his cheek, aware that her whole family, and his, was watching. The spicy scent of his aftershave made her want to bury her nose in his neck and wrap herself around him.
“Merry Christmas. Did you enjoy the concert?”
“I did, very much. I was surprised Leslie wasn’t up on stage.”
A shadow clouded his face. “Bridget, you know she couldn’t participate in something like that.”
She wanted to ask why Leslie couldn’t sing a few Christmas carols with the other kids, but she didn’t want to get into it with him here in front of everyone, especially not today.
Instead she simply smiled. “Maybe I’ll teach her a few carols. We can sing when we bake cookies.”
He laughed softly. “She’d like that.”
Celia called everyone to the dining room for lunch. She steered Bridget to the chair next to Jack. He pulled out her seat for her and she sat. Next to her, Jane grasped her hand.
“It’s so nice to have the whole family together for Christmas, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.”
Jane smiled. “I’m sure it’s just the first of many we’ll have together.”
Bridget simply smiled. Jane seemed to think she and Jack were together permanently, a couple. She wished she could be as sure where their relationship was headed.
Gavin passed a plate of baked ham to Jack. “I heard you bought a new hor
se.”
“Yeah, a three-year-old mare in foal.” He stabbed a piece of ham and set it on his plate. “I bought her from a breeder near Williston.”
Rebecca’s head came up sharply. “In foal? You mean she’s going to have a baby?”
“Yeah, she is. It should arrive around the first week in March.”
“Wow.” Her eyes were round with excitement. “Can I watch the baby being born?”
He glanced at Bridget. “What do you think?”
“Sure, why not?”
“These things have a tendency to happen in the middle of the night, so don’t get your hopes up. But if it’s possible, I’ll give you a call.”
“Great! I can hardly wait.”
He helped himself to mashed potatoes. “I was thinking, with this foal coming so close to the beginning of my busy season, I could use some help looking after it.”
“Really?”
Bridget glanced at him under her lashes. Was this his subtle way of enticing Rebecca to stay in Paradise?
“Yeah, really. I thought maybe you could spend some extra time at the ranch, and when the foal gets a little older, I’ll teach you how to get it used to a halter.” He casually cut the meat on his plate, but Bridget caught the tension in his shoulders.
A slow smile spread across Rebecca’s face. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
His shoulders relaxed. “Good. We’ll talk about it more once the foal is born.”
Bridget tried to concentrate on her meal, but barely noticed what she ate. He was giving Rebecca a reason to stay, one that spoke loud and clear to her daughter. She wondered if it would work.
When lunch was over she helped Celia clean up while Gavin and Jack set up tables for cards and games. Leslie pulled on Jack’s arm.
“Now, Daddy?”
He grinned at her. “Okay. Let’s do it now.”
“What are we doing?” Gavin asked.
Jack turned to his nephew. “Mike, there’s something in the back of my truck. Could you bring it in, please?”
“Sure.” Mike grabbed a jacket and sprinted out the door, as curious as the rest of them as to the mysterious something in Jack’s truck.
“Leslie and I purchased a Christmas gift for someone and she’s too excited to wait until Christmas Day to give it away.”
“Are you sure it’s just Leslie who couldn’t wait?” Gavin teased.
He grinned. “Maybe I’m a little impatient too.” He turned to Rebecca. “I hope you don’t mind that we didn’t wrap it. We couldn’t find a box that would fit.”
She stared at him. “You bought something for me? What is it?”
At that moment Mike came through the door carrying a western saddle. It was tooled leather in a warm chestnut brown and decorated with silver studs. Bridget knew nothing about saddles but this one looked like a beauty to her. Mike set the saddle on the floor and Rebecca ran her hand reverently over it.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered.
“A horsewoman like you deserves her own saddle,” Jack said.
The look Rebecca gave Jack told Bridget that she appreciated his words almost as much as she did the gift. She ran into his arms crying.
“It’s beautiful, Jack. I couldn’t have asked for a better gift. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart.”
“I picked it!” Leslie said.
Rebecca laughed through her tears. “You did? You picked the best saddle ever. Thank you so much.” She hugged Leslie tightly.
“Welcome, Becky.”
Bridget’s throat clogged with tears as she watched the girls. The thoughtfulness of Jack’s gift staggered her. It was the perfect gift for Rebecca, one he’d chosen with care and love.
She met Jack’s gaze and he smiled at her. She smiled back. She loved him. Maybe she’d never stopped loving him.
It was so simple. She loved him, and she loved Leslie. Though he’d never put it in so many words, she knew Jack loved her and Rebecca as well. Why weren’t they a family?
Rebecca would come around. In the last four months Jack had been more of a father to her than Ben had been in fifteen years. Surely she could see that. She wanted nothing more than to lie with Jack every night and wake up in his arms every morning. They had their differences, especially when it came to Leslie, but they’d work them out.
“It’s a perfect gift, Jack,” she said. “Thank you.”
His eyes were filled with tenderness. “You’re welcome.”
* * *
They sang Christmas carols on the short drive back to Paradise later that evening, the three of them crowded together on the bench seat of Mavis’s truck. As Bridget turned off the highway, Rebecca touched her arm.
“Maybe staying in Paradise wouldn’t be so bad,” she said.
She glanced at her daughter in surprise. “You mean that?”
Rebecca leaned against her grandmother, and Mavis put her arm around her. “I like having my family around.”
“So do I, sweetheart.”
She wanted to jump up and down in joy, shouting to the world that she was staying in Paradise where she belonged. She contented herself with a quick squeeze of Rebecca’s hand.
A strange car was parked in the lot when they pulled up to the motel. A prickle of unease skittered up her back.
“Do you know who that is, Mom?” she asked.
“No, I don’t recognize the car.” Mavis peered through the windshield. “I think there’s someone behind the wheel. It’s probably someone looking for a room.”
“But we turned off the vacancy sign before we left. I don’t like this,” she said. “Maybe we should go back to Celia’s.”
Just then the driver’s side door of the strange car opened and a man got out. She put the truck into reverse.
“Wait!” Rebecca shouted.
Bridget slammed on the brakes. Rebecca scrambled over Mavis in her haste to get out of the truck. She ran to the man and he picked her up and swung her around.
Recognition suddenly dawned.
“Oh my God. It’s Ben.”
Chapter Twenty
Bridget approached her ex-husband with caution. “What are you doing here, Ben?”
He looped an arm casually around Rebecca’s shoulders. “It’s nice to see you too, Bridget. I came to see my daughter for Christmas, of course. And you.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. If there was one lesson she’d finally learned, it was that he didn’t do anything without an ulterior motive. He had to expect a big payoff to induce him to travel hundreds of miles to a place he considered the back of beyond just five days before Christmas.
She wondered what he expected that payoff to be and if it involved their daughter.
Mavis produced her keys from her pocket. She looked about as happy to see Ben as Bridget felt. “It’s cold out here. Let’s go inside.”
“C’mon, Becky. Help me bring in some packages from the car,” Ben said.
A few moments later they were seated in Mavis’s living room. Rebecca sat on the floor, happily tearing Christmas wrapping paper from a box. She let out a gasp of surprise when an iPad was revealed.
“Oh Daddy, thank you! I’ve been wanting one of these forever, but Mom said it was too expensive.” She jumped up and threw her arms around him. “Thank you. I’m so glad you came.”
He ruffled her hair. “I’m glad I came too, Becky.” He handed her two more small boxes. “Here, these are for your mother and grandmother. Why don’t you pass them over so they can open them?”
Rebecca happily complied, delivering the two boxes with a big smile on her face. Bridget wondered how long it would take Ben to disappoint her daughter and wipe away her sunny smile.
“Open your present, Mom,” Rebecca said. “You too, Grandma. Let’s see what Dad got you.”
Bridget removed the ribbon on the box with trepidation. Why on earth would Ben have bought gifts for her and her mother? What possible motive could he have? What did he expect to gain?
“
It’s not going to explode, chéri,” Ben chuckled. She bristled at the use of his old pet name for her. She hadn’t been his darling for a long time.
She ripped open the rest of the wrapping paper, gasping when she discovered the gift underneath. A bottle of her favorite perfume, French and very expensive. She’d loved this perfume and had despaired a year and a half ago when she’d used the last of her precious stash and knew she couldn’t afford any more. Ben had bought her bottles of it a few times over the years. A remembrance of enthusiastic lovemaking after receiving a gift of this perfume popped unbidden into her head. He grinned as if reading her mind.
“See, Mom? Daddy remembered your favorite perfume!”
She forced a smile. “Yes, he did.” The question was why.
Mavis opened her present to reveal a beautiful and expensive-looking silk scarf. Her mother wasn’t exactly the silk scarf type, but it was a lovely gift nonetheless.
“Thank you, Ben,” Mavis said. “That was very thoughtful.”
She silently seethed. Trust Ben to come bearing expensive gifts. Where was he getting the money from? For two years she’d received the bare minimum in child support payments from him, if she received anything at all. Every time she’d asked him for money, for Rebecca’s tuition, her riding lessons, or for rent, he’d pleaded poverty. He was having as much trouble getting a job as she was, he’d said. No one wanted to hire a chef associated with a company that caused a massive food poisoning incident. She’d taken his comments in the spirit they were intended—as direct hits against her. She was the one responsible for the failure of their business and he wouldn’t let her forget it.
She’d had enough for one evening. She got to her feet.
“It’s getting late. Why don’t I get you settled in one of the motel rooms for the night?”
“Aw Mom, he just got here,” Rebecca pleaded.
“I’m sure your dad’s had a long day. You two can visit tomorrow.” She turned to Ben, her eyebrow raised in challenge. “Unless your dad has somewhere else he has to be tomorrow?”
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