A Mommy for Christmas

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  Holly chuckled. She pushed a playful palm against his chest and shifted positions, so she was astride him. She framed his face with her hands, kissed her way down his neck. “I’ve heard having sex can add years to your life,” she teased.

  Travis ran his palms down her spine, loving the shape of her body and the satin of her skin. “We’re about to find out.”

  She caught her breath as he kissed her once more, then captured her breasts with his hands. “You’re really going to make love to me again?”

  “Yes,” Travis said, “I am.”

  HOLLY ONLY MEANT TO cuddle with Travis for a few minutes after their second bout of truly magnificent lovemaking, before going next door to her own home and her own bed. But she must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew it was four in the morning and his phone was ringing.

  Travis reached for it. “Hello?” He listened. “Sure. We’ll be right there. Don’t worry about it. I’ll get her.”

  “The kids?” Holly guessed as soon as he hung up.

  “They woke up. Sophie’s happy, but Tristan, Tucker and Mia have decided they don’t like sleeping over at someone else’s house if we aren’t there.”

  Holly grabbed her clothes and began to dress while Travis filled her in. “Apparently, Alexis called you first and couldn’t get an answer over at your place.”

  Uh-oh. Holly flushed in embarrassment. “Do you think she suspects…that we…”

  Travis shrugged, unconcerned. “Why would she? Up to now, the two of us have been just friends.”

  But Alexis was a veteran matchmaker and had told her point-blank that she sensed something more was on the way, Holly thought worriedly. She put on her sweater, then realized it was inside out and had to take it off again. She righted the garment, then struggled into it again. “I don’t want people knowing.”

  Travis stepped behind her to help her with the zipper on her skirt. “That we’re bed buddies? Don’t worry. They won’t hear it from me.”

  Unfortunately, it wasn’t that simple, Holly soon discovered. No sooner had she and Travis walked in the door than Grady lifted a brow and sent a questioning look Travis’s way. Was it that obvious, what they had been doing? She supposed so, given how relaxed and glowing they both appeared. Never mind that they had on the exact same clothes they’d worn to the party. That probably wouldn’t have happened if she’d been at home sleeping in her own bed when the call came.

  Mia ran to Travis, demanding to be picked up. “I had a bad dream, Daddy.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, sweetheart. What was it about?” he asked compassionately.

  “Santa Claus. He said he couldn’t bring me a mommy.”

  At least they were getting the gist of what was plausible and what wasn’t, Holly thought, slightly encouraged.

  “But I told him I really really wanted one and he still said no! And that was when I started crying and waked up,” Mia continued, with a sharp exhalation.

  Sophie joined them. She tugged on Travis’s pant leg. “So I told Mia that maybe Santa could bring us a mommy, after all.”

  “Honey,” he said, looking pained. He hunkered down to meet both of them on their level, and went on in a low, understanding voice, as firm as it was gentle. “We’ve gone over this. It’s not going to happen.”

  Tears of outrage rolled down Mia’s cheeks. She began to wail.

  “How about I go ahead and put her and Sophie in the SUV?” Travis raised his voice to be heard above the din.

  Now that she was actually here, Holly noted, nonplussed, her sons seemed more interested in playing with Savannah McCabe’s building block set than actually departing. “I’ll get their coats on and meet you at the car,” Holly promised. At that, Tucker and Tristan, began to cry.

  Savannah and Kayla cried because everyone else was crying.

  And that was the end to Holly and Travis’s evening.

  HOLLY’S PHONE RANG SHORTLY after one the following afternoon.

  “How are things over there?” Travis asked.

  “I’m great,” Holly said. Still filled with that postcoital glow, she had breezed through her slated chores and activities, all the while thinking about when and where she and Travis might have a chance to hook up again. “Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for Tucker and Tristan.” She cringed as a fight threatened to break out over a favorite toy, and she headed that way.

  The twins saw her coming with That Look, and the ruckus promptly quieted, thus avoiding the fifth time-out of the day so far.

  Holly edged away, still keeping an eye on the boys, and continued in a voice only Travis could hear, “The twins never went back to sleep.”

  “Nor did Sophie and Mia,” he murmured in commiseration.

  Relaxing at the knowledge that he was always there for her, on those rough parenting days, Holly continued, “I was going to take Tucker and Tristan shopping, but something tells me it’s not the right time to have them in a store—any store—selecting gifts. Never mind waiting in line at the cash register.”

  Travis chuckled. The masculine rumble warmed her insides. “They’re a little cranky, I take it?”

  “A lot, actually,” she admitted. “Yours, too?”

  “Ohhh yes. I think we’re up to half a dozen time-outs so far, with more to come unless we change the mood around here.”

  “Gotcha.”

  “Think yours might be up for a little drive to look at Christmas decorations?”

  Holly did a double take. “In broad daylight?”

  “Desperate times call for desperate measures. And while the lights won’t be on, they’ll be able to see other things, like Santa’s sleigh, and mangers.”

  It wasn’t the first time the two of them had loaded all their kids in his nine-passenger SUV, but now that they had slept together, the event took on new meaning. It seemed more intimate somehow. Although it shouldn’t, Holly told herself firmly. They had agreed last night that the sex between them was merely an extension of their close friendship, nothing more.

  If Travis married again, as she suspected he eventually would, she knew that he’d want everlasting romantic love to be the basis of the union. And, Holly was beginning to realize, if it ever happened for her, she wanted real romance and enduring love this time, too. So as good as it currently was between her and Travis, it was based purely on friendship and physical passion. Long-term, she wanted what she had never had—the real deal.

  “So what do you say?” Travis pressed.

  Holly smiled and hazarded another look at her sleep-deprived children. “I know where you’re going with this.”

  “It’s one way to get them to nap,” he admitted.

  Half an hour and three long, winding tours around their North Richland Hills neighborhood later, all four of the children were sound asleep. Travis turned into his driveway and cut the motor. “Now for the real trick,” he whispered, as Holly went ahead to open the door to her house.

  Slowly, Travis eased Tucker out of his booster seat and carried him into the house, up the stairs, while she waited at the car in case anyone woke up. Travis returned and managed to lift Tristan out, too. Then Mia and Sophia. At last, all four preschoolers were napping soundly in their beds. Travis met Holly in the patch of grass between their driveways. “Mission accomplished,” he said with a smile.

  Holly nodded. A little disappointed that she hadn’t thought to ask him to put his girls down for a nap at her house, so Travis and she could hang out together, she asked, “Want to get together later?”

  “Actually…” He paused as Mrs. Ruley’s car turned into the driveway and parked next to his.

  Disappointment filtered through Holly at the sight of their shared weekday nanny getting out of her car. “You’ve got plans?”

  He nodded. “For this afternoon.”

  To her frustration, he offered nothing more.

  Holly had noticed Travis was more dressed up than usual. Instead of his weekend attire of jeans and a polo shirt, he was wearing brown dre
ss slacks, a checkered button down shirt and loafers. She had attributed his care with grooming to what had happened between them the night before. She was in nicer than usual clothing, too. Obviously, though, his attire wasn’t due to anything related to her. The fact that she had thought it was embarrassed her. Who was it that said sex changes everything? In their case, clearly it hadn’t!

  Still, this complication—if that was even what it was—shouldn’t prevent her from seeking out Travis’s company. “About dinner…?” she suggested cheerfully.

  Again, Travis’s guard was up. “I was going to ask Mrs. Ruley to do that for me and put the girls down early. But if you want the boys to come over and join them at my place…to give you a little extra time to yourself…”

  “No. Honestly. That’s fine. I need to get the twins down early tonight, too, since tomorrow is a school day. And after they are asleep I’ll be getting the paints together for the McCabe nursery mural, which I’m starting tomorrow.”

  Travis paused, looking conflicted, but giving her no further information about his undisclosed plans. “If you change your mind…”

  Feeling foolish for having assumed too much, as well as a little hurt, she found herself backing away. Wasn’t this what had happened with Cliff? Things had seemed fine, better than fine, then one day…they weren’t. One day without warning she had turned into a complication in his life Cliff didn’t want or need.

  Holly swallowed. “I’ll let you know.” But even as she spoke, she knew she would not change her mind, or impose on Travis any more that day.

  TRAVIS FELT BAD ABOUT the way things had ended with Holly. He could see he had flummoxed and disappointed her, and part of it was his fault. He should have come up with a plausible excuse for his absence. Not that he had to check in with her about where he was going or who he was seeing. They didn’t need to ask each other’s permission to do anything.

  And honestly, if he and Holly hadn’t made love for the first time last night, she probably wouldn’t have given Mrs. Ruley’s presence at his place a second thought. They were both free to pay the nanny overtime whenever they found the need, provided their sitter had time in her schedule.

  But normally, especially at Christmastime, when there was so much extra to be done, he would have asked Holly in advance if she wanted to share in their nanny’s services.

  The reason he hadn’t was because he didn’t want to tell her where he was really going. After all, he had no idea how she’d react about him going downtown to talk to the P.I. he had hired to do the extensive background check on Cliff Baxter. So he planned to keep mum about all this unless the situation warranted her direct involvement.

  Fortunately, Laura Tillman was right on time and waiting for him at her office. As Travis expected, the statuesque redhead got right down to business. “As I told you earlier in the week, the initial check on Cliff Baxter turned up nothing. He’s as financially solvent as ever, still working for the same investment banking firm he was when he and Holly were married, although now he’s a vice president. He’s an only child, with the rest of his family deceased.” She looked down at her dossier. “He’s been in London, but is in the process of moving back to Connecticut, and has been spending some time reconnecting with a few of the friends he left behind—like his old college roommate, Simon Armstrong, an insurance exec who lives in Dallas.”

  Nothing there, Travis thought in frustration. He drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. “What about his love life? Were you able to find out anything there?” Or in other words, did he want Holly back?

  Laura drew a couple of black-and-white photographs out of a file folder. “My associate in the Connecticut area took these.”

  It was the first picture Travis had ever seen of Holly’s ex. By the time he’d gotten to know her, the divorce was final, and she’d put all reminders of the man away. She’d never gotten any out to show her kids, because at three and a half, they had accepted the fact they didn’t have a daddy—only a mommy—and she hadn’t been forced to go down that road. Although one day soon they were going to have to engage in that discussion.

  Travis didn’t envy Holly that. He had no clue what she was going to say or how she was going to explain to the twins that their father wanted to see them after a prolonged absence.

  “He’s a good-looking guy, isn’t he?” Laura remembered.

  Travis glanced up. He had an idea where she was going with this. She knew him well enough to realize he was suffering pangs of unaccustomed jealousy over this situation.

  But the truth was, Cliff was a good-looking man, in that elegant old money, boarding school kind of way. He had blond hair, like the twins, and the lean physique and year-round tan that came from spending summers yachting, and winters on the tennis courts and golf course.

  Next to him was a self-assured, late-thirty-something woman with dark hair and eyes. She was model thin, wearing an elegant business suit, and what looked to be real jewels.

  “That’s Penelope Kensington.”

  The name meant nothing to Travis.

  “She’s the founder and CEO of the London Doll Company. Started fifteen years ago and now famous worldwide?”

  Travis shrugged. His daughters liked dolls—the kind you could pick up at discount department stores.

  “Apparently, Penelope and Cliff have been quite the item for about six months now. She’s considering moving to the States to be with him.”

  Travis frowned. “Then why is he searching out Holly and the boys?”

  “Not sure. Rumor is he wants to marry her, but she wants kids and isn’t sure she is going to be able to have them.”

  Travis felt a sinking in his gut. “Tell me Cliff isn’t going to try and get his sons back in order to give them to another woman!”

  Laura Tillman shrugged, like the veteran P.I. she was. “It’s almost too cruel to contemplate, isn’t it?”

  But stranger things had happened, they both knew.

  HOLLY HEARD A CAR DOOR close at four o’clock. She looked out the window and saw Travis head inside his house. A couple of minutes later, he was at her front door. The expression on his face curiously introspective, he shoved his hands in the pockets of his pants. “How’s it going?”

  Still stinging over his perplexing behavior earlier, but trying to take it in stride, she attempted a casual attitude she couldn’t begin to feel. “Things are okay,” she reported matter-of-factly. “The twins woke up about half an hour ago and aren’t too cranky yet.”

  “Same with my girls,” Travis said, still looking as if he had much more on his mind than he wanted to say at that moment. “Mrs. Ruley made some gingerbread men and wants to know if the twins want to come over to help decorate ’em while you and I run a special errand.”

  Special errand. That sounded mysterious. The sexy, expectant glimmer in his eyes upped her pulse another notch.

  “And what would that be?” Holly murmured, as Tucker and Tristan appeared on either side of her, hanging off of her.

  “I’ll tell you later,” Travis said cryptically. He looked at her sons, asked cheerfully, “Want to come to our house and help decorate cookies?”

  “Sure!” Tristan and Tucker exclaimed.

  Travis knelt down far enough to scoop a twin in each strong arm, then headed off across the lawn. He called over his shoulder, “I’ll be right back!”

  Not sure what to make of his unusually high-handed manner, Holly brushed her hair and found her shoes. By the time she had located her house keys, he was back. “Ready to go?”

  The day was unusually warm for mid-December—almost seventy degrees. The Texas-blue skies were cloud-free, the breeze just strong enough to feel good.

  “Where are we going?” Holly stepped out beside him, happy to be with him once again.

  And where were you earlier? And why do I have the sense that something is going on you don’t necessarily want me to worry about?

  “To see the playhouse and spaceship in progress. They’re fully built—at least
I think they are—but we haven’t decided on paint colors, and I thought you might want to be involved with that.”

  “Absolutely.” Excitement welled within her, and along with that, a huge burst of Christmas spirit.

  Ten minutes later, they were in a large concrete building marked Carson Construction. Toward one end of the football-field-size warehouse was a clearing between sophisticated woodworking equipment and the custom cabinetry currently being constructed. He led her toward the stacks of premium wood and shelves of paint, wood stain and varnish.

  The playhouse and spaceship were beautifully built, a child’s dream. “What do you think?” Travis asked. “Did we get it right?”

  Holly turned to him, thrilled beyond measure. “The kids are going to be ecstatic. So much so I don’t know how we’ll ever top it.”

  “I imagine we’ll think of something next year,” Travis said with a satisfied smile. He retrieved the file folder left next to the works in progress, and handed it to her. Enclosed were photos of the spaceship and playhouse, inside and out, and a palette of colors to choose from. “If you don’t like any of those—all of which we have in stock—we can special order.”

  “No. This will be fine.”

  “Can you get me the specs by Tuesday? I know it’s a rush job, but the sooner we get this completed, the better I’ll feel.”

  “Me, too. No problem.” Holly shut the file and looked up at him.

  Because it was Sunday evening, they were the only two people there. The setting abruptly seemed intimate. To the point all she could think about was kissing him again.

  Unfortunately, judging by the hesitant look in his eyes and the frown on his face, he wasn’t thinking the same thing.

  Instead, he took her by the hand and led her over to the break area, with its chairs and tables and vending machines. “Want a soft drink?”