A Mommy for Christmas

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

“They taste awesome!” Tucker said with a yawn.

  Tristan rubbed his eyes sleepily. “Especially the ones with chocolate kisses in the middle!”

  Travis leaned down to kiss and hug each child in turn. Holly did the same. The feel of familial love in the room intensified. “You go to sleep now,” Holly told the kids. “Tomorrow is a school day. The last one before vacation.”

  “’Night,” the kids mumbled.

  Travis followed Holly out of the twins’ room, where all four children were now bedded down for the night. She shut the door. Together, they returned to the kitchen.

  “I can’t believe this mess,” Holly murmured, looking overwhelmed by the extensive cleanup that lay ahead of them. Confectioner’s sugar and frosting seemed to be everywhere, as were a myriad of crumbs and cookie cutters, bowls, spoons, and baking pans.

  Travis knew they would handle this the way they handled every difficulty that came their way—with speed and efficiency.

  In the meantime, he had a goal of his own to achieve. He peered at her closely. “I think you’ve got something in your hair.”

  “What?”

  “Stand over here.” He positioned her a little to the left, with her back to the counter. He tucked a hand beneath her chin as he inspected the golden-brown strands covering one ear. “Now, look up.”

  Perplexed, Holly did. And then she chuckled. “Mistletoe.”

  “By golly, you’re right.” Travis grinned mischievously. “It is! And you know what that means. By custom, men kiss the women standing under it.”

  Holly opened her mouth and his lips covered hers. Heat and gentleness combined with the taste of sweet confection and woman. And although Travis knew that Holly probably felt this was the last thing they should be doing tonight, he didn’t care. He wanted her. She wanted him. It had been too long since either of them had felt this happy or alive. So, if a little kiss here and there—actually a lot of stolen kisses here and there—were what it took to keep the flame alive, then—

  “Mommy?” Tucker interrupted.

  “Whatcha doin?” Tristan inquired.

  “We need water,” Sophie said.

  “Can we have more cookies?” Mia asked.

  Holly unhooked her arms from around Travis’s neck and stepped back.

  “We were kissing underneath the mistletoe,” Travis explained.

  Sophie’s tiny brows furrowed as she observed them, “When grown-ups kiss all the time, it means they are getting married. Daddy, are you and Holly getting married? Because if you do, then she would be our mommy for real, wouldn’t she?”

  Travis and Holly exchanged looks again. For the first time that he could remember, both of them were speechless.

  “But that can’t happen,” Tucker interjected, eager to put his two cents in as well. “Remember?”

  Tristan propped his hands on his pajama-clad hips. “That’s right. We already got a daddy and he’s coming to see us on Saturday!”

  “SO THE EVENING ENDED, just like that?” Grady asked the next morning, after Travis had brought his friends up to speed.

  Travis helped himself to one of the breakfast burritos in the center of the conference table, where the guys had gathered to check the status on One Trinity River Place and brainstorm on how to land their next big project—the proposed opera hall.

  Travis had told them he’d decided to follow their advice and pursue Holly. He now readily admitted to himself he wanted her long term. And he was equally certain, if she were honest, she wanted him the same way, too.

  The trouble was, she kept letting every little stumbling block get in the way of that happening.

  One minute she’d be kissing him and making love with him like there was no tomorrow. The next, she’d be telling him they had to cool it, and showing him the door….

  Aware that his friends were waiting for the continuation of the story of last night’s events, Travis related, “Holly said the kids were too wound up to be able to sleep in the same room last night, which was probably true, since they all had way too much sugar during the cookie-making extravaganza. So she sent me home with the girls, put her boys to bed and handled the clean-up alone.”

  Dan shook his head. “You’re right—that is a bad sign. Especially if the kitchen was as much of an unholy mess as you said.”

  “It was. It definitely was.”

  Jack popped open his coffee. “Do you think she might have feelings for Cliff?”

  Travis’s gut clenched. “She says she doesn’t.”

  “Yeah, but she hasn’t seen him again yet, either,” said Jack, whose ex-wife had run off with a previous husband, leaving him and their infant daughter behind.

  Nate commented, “I think she’s ticked off about the idea of you spending New Year’s Eve with a woman who will have paid for the pleasure of your company.”

  That hadn’t occurred to Travis. The silent auction at the Kimball was the following evening.

  “You ask me, you got yourself in a heap of trouble saying yes to that,” Nate continued, with the authority of the only lifelong bachelor in the group, and hence, the one with the most dating experience.

  Grady kicked back in his chair with a take-out serving of hash brown potato cakes. “I agree. It may be for a good cause, but it’s a bad move for any guy trying to land himself a bride.”

  Travis held up a warning hand. “I never said I was trying to get her to marry me.” At least not in the traditional sense.

  Dan grinned. “You will,” he predicted. “Just watch.”

  Judging by the looks on their faces, everyone else in the room seemed to agree.

  “In the meantime,” Jack said with a companionable nudge, “I’ve got a thought on how you should handle this whole New Year’s Eve dilemma.”

  Travis didn’t deny the bachelor auction was a problem. But first, they had an even bigger obstacle looming.

  “ARE YOU OKAY?” TRAVIS ASKED Holly, as they stood in her formal living room, Saturday afternoon.

  In the adjacent kitchen, Tucker and Tristan were dressed in button up shirts, V-necked sweater vests, corduroy pants and brown leather shoes. Their blond hair was combed, teeth brushed, faces washed. They sat side by side at the kitchen table, diligently drawing and coloring Christmas pictures for their daddy. Their favorite Christmas music played softly on the portable stereo, adding to the aura of tranquility.

  Holly was wearing black slacks and a matching turtleneck sweater. Outwardly, she knew she looked good. Inside, she felt sick.

  “You’re awfully pale,” Travis noted gently.

  Glad he had agreed to be there with her to lend moral support, Holly pretended an ease she couldn’t begin to really feel. “I’m fine.” She wanted to believe so, anyway.

  They heard a car pull up outside.

  Holly tensed, despite herself. She drew a deep breath and headed for the foyer. Travis was right behind her. Through the transom windows beside her front door, she could see Cliff stepping out of a chauffeured limousine, two elaborately wrapped presents in hand.

  Her ex looked just as he had the last time she had seen him. Polished, professional, slickly urbane. He spoke to the driver, who apparently intended to spend the time parked at her front curb, then headed up the walk.

  Holly opened the door. Made introductions. Travis and Cliff sized each other up, neither apparently liking what he saw.

  The tension in the foyer grew thicker. “The boys?” Cliff asked.

  “Are waiting to meet you.” Heart thudding uncomfortably in her chest, Holly led the way to the kitchen.

  Tristan and Tucker looked up.

  At such close proximity, it was apparent they were in the same room with their biological father. In addition to their fair hair and skin, there was a certain similarity of eyebrow, the jut of their chins, the angle of their cheeks and the shape of their ears.

  “I see you are coloring,” Cliff said.

  The boys—suddenly speechless—ducked their heads and nodded.

  Cliff sat do
wn and Holly served the coffee.

  Travis made himself as innocuous as a fly on the wall.

  Cliff offered the presents to the boys. They opened them with none of their usual enthusiasm, but seemed happy enough with their miniature truck and car sets, once they were out of the packaging.

  “Are you going to be here for Christmas?” Tucker asked, racing a dump truck on the table in front of him.

  Tristan mimicked his brother’s play. “Because our bestest friends want a mommy for Christmas. And we told them we already had a daddy,” he said. He looked up at Cliff intently. “So are you going to be here?”

  “In Texas?” Cliff smiled, seemingly unaware he was being put to the test by his sons. “No. I already have plans to go skiing in Zurich over the holidays, before I start work again on January second.”

  The boys stared at him uncomprehendingly, then put their new toys aside and went back to coloring solemnly.

  The conversation continued a few more minutes.

  Finally, Cliff stood, looking as if he had already tired of the effort to play daddy. “I think I’ve seen what I need to,” he told Holly surreptitiously.

  What in heaven’s name did that mean? she wondered, more anxious than ever. And angry, too, that this cold, heartless man had the potential to come back into their lives and turn their world upside down, on what seemed to be a whim.

  Cliff inhaled deeply, looking all the more serious. “I want to think about this, talk to the people close to me, and then get back to you via my attorney on Monday.”

  And I’d like you to stop acting like you get to come in here and call all the shots, Holly thought.

  Travis loomed at Holly’s side. Like an Old West cowboy riding to the rescue of his lady, he clapped an implacable hand on Cliff’s shoulder and steered the investment banker into the foyer. “Why don’t you just tell Holly what you have in mind now?” he growled.

  Yes, Holly thought. I’d like to know if I need a lawyer, too.

  Cliff looked Travis up and down. “I’m sure you mean well,” he said, his resentment obvious.

  Oh, Lord, Holly thought. Please don’t go there. This is Texas, after all. Travis was not a person to suffer fools or stand by and watch anyone he cared about get hurt.

  “No offense, but what I tell Holly—and when—is my decision.” And mine alone. And before I make my formal offer,” Cliff stated coolly, “it’s only good business to make sure everything is in perfect order. So, Holly. Monday at noon? Let’s meet at my attorney’s office.”

  “THAT WENT WELL,” HOLLY remarked with a roll of her eyes after Cliff had departed.

  Travis stood, watching Cliff’s limo pull away from the curb. Every inch of him seemed primed and ready for battle. He turned to her, exuding the combination of masculine strength and fearlessness she loved.

  With a rueful slant of his lips, he remarked, “I’ve got to tell you—I’m not usually a punch-somebody-out type of guy. But just now, I was severely tempted.”

  “Then that makes two of us,” Holly said, trembling with a mixture of anger and fear. She could live to be a hundred and she would never understand how someone could be so insensitive!

  In tandem, she and Travis shot a look into the kitchen. The twins were still coloring. Still unusually quiet.

  Things looked normal, on the outside.

  Holly couldn’t help but wonder what the boys were feeling on the inside.

  Certainly, there had been no instant rapport between Cliff and his sons. So if that was what he was looking for…

  “It’s going to be okay,” Travis told her, rubbing his hand up and down her spine.

  Holly gave in to the soothing ministrations, and rested her head on his shoulder. “I wish Cliff had just told me now what he has in mind,” she said with a sigh. Now she had to wait the whole damn weekend to find out.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Travis said firmly, as his hand stilled.

  Holly looked up and their gazes locked.

  “Together,” Travis promised, with the tenderness and compassion she had come to rely on more and more each day. “We’ll handle whatever comes our way.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “Go with me tonight,” Travis said, half an hour later, when talk had turned to plans for the rest of the day. Holly’s Saturday night loomed like the miserable experience it was destined to be. Not because she didn’t enjoy a quiet night alone, but this evening, the prospect of watching TV or unwinding in a relaxing bubble bath with a glass of wine held little appeal. Probably because she would be thinking of Travis, and the fervent bidding likely to be taking place for a date with him on New Year’s Eve.

  She couldn’t blame the women interested in him.

  The TV coverage of his daughter’s quest for a mommy had been heartrending. Everyone in Fort Worth who’d heard the story was hoping Travis would find the wife he needed, and the mommy his little girls were dreaming about. Holly was hoping, too, at least in theory.

  Reality was a little tougher to swallow.

  Before they’d made love, she had thought she would be okay if he ever fell in love again. Most of all, she wanted him—and his two little girls—to be happy.

  Now, she wasn’t sure.

  She only knew she wasn’t magnanimous enough to stand around idly while Travis was bid on by throngs of amorous women.

  Aware that he was waiting for her answer, she lifted a shoulder in a shrug. With difficulty, she put on her best poker face and looked Travis in the eye. “I’m not sure it’s appropriate to take a date to an event like that,” she told him matter-of-factly

  He grinned, as if sensing she was nowhere near that cool inside. He shot her an unexpectedly flirtatious glance, then murmured, “Probably not, if it was strictly a bachelor auction sort of deal. But they’re going to be bidding on all sorts of great stuff. Everything from dinners out to authentic lithographs of early Fort Worth. You might see something that would catch your fancy.”

  Like you? Holly thought wistfully to herself. The truth was, she didn’t know what she would have done that afternoon when Cliff visited, had Travis not been there. She didn’t know what she was going to do at Martin Shield’s office on Monday, either, since she had no idea what was going to happen then, but she had promised herself she wouldn’t spend the weekend brooding about it. So the two of them had joined forces, asking Mrs. Ruley if she would bring Travis’s girls over to Holly’s before she left. As soon as they had arrived, Holly and Travis had brought out the building blocks, wooden train set and miniature play sets and spread them out on the family room floor. All four kids were busy building their own Christmas village, complete with animal hospital, fire station, candy store, nursery school and family home. It was shaping up to be quite elaborate, and would keep them busy for some time.

  Meanwhile, Holly was working on preparing several days’ worth of dinners for her freezer and fridge, while Travis hung out and kept her company. “You’d be supporting a great cause…and be keeping me from having to show up to face all those women alone,” he said, continuing his pitch for the silent auction.

  She couldn’t help laughing at his droll tone. He might complain sometimes about having to go out, but once there, he was always able to enjoy himself in a social setting.

  “Who knows?” Travis watched her trim some string beans. “You might even find a great Christmas present for someone, if you haven’t finished your shopping yet.”

  “Actually—” Holly put a pan with water on the stove “—I…haven’t got anything for you yet.” Not that she hadn’t tried. Everything just felt either too impersonal or too intimate. Nothing she had looked at had been just right.

  “You see?” Travis sat on the stool opposite her and wordlessly took over the task of trimming the rest of the beans. “I bet they have power tools and all sorts of things.”

  Aware she wanted nothing more than to kiss him again, right then and there, Holly sent her glance heavenward. She went to the fridge and got out the ingredients for her next dis
h. “I’m not buying you a power tool. You have more than enough of those. You own a construction company, for Pete’s sake.”

  Travis grinned in a way that let her know he had been trying to get a reaction from her. “A shaving kit, then,” he prodded mischievously.

  Holly ran a hand over his exceptionally smooth jaw. His skin was warm and taut as he briefly turned his lips into the center of her palm, surreptitiously delivering a kiss she felt all the way down to her toes.

  She began to tingle all over. Christmas was definitely coming early this year, she thought. And they had four kids in plain view in the next room.

  She glided away, to retrieve a big, stainless steel mixing bowl. “You don’t seem to have any problems in the shaving department, either,” she chided him before placing onion, green pepper and celery into the food processor for a quick chop. “So whatever kind of razor you’re using…” She went back to the mixing bowl.

  Travis worked slowly and precisely on the green beans. He gave her another slow once-over that made her feel as if he was making love to her all over again. “Triple-bladed extra platinum blade with a precision swivel head, and gel shaving cream.”

  “Well, it’s doing a fine job,” Holly stated.

  He grinned and handed her the beans. “I’ll be sure and let the manufacturer know you approve.”

  Holly put them on the stove to steam.

  While Travis watched, she added bread crumbs, beaten eggs, ground turkey, diced tomatoes, salt and pepper, and the chopped vegetables to the bowl, then stirred it all together, and patted it into two loaves. One looked like a Christmas tree, the other a sleigh.

  “The kids are going to love this,” he said, as she slid them into the oven to bake.

  Holly sighed, stripped off the food prep gloves she’d used to mix the meat, and tossed them into the trash. “Well, after all this effort, I sure hope so.” She went to the sink to wash her hands.

  Travis joined her, his shoulder touching hers, their fingers brushing beneath the stream. “Trust me, you have nothing to worry about.” He winked.

  He even made cooking dinner sexy, Holly realized with a wistful sigh. Which was part of the problem. She had a lot to get done here in a short amount of time. She plucked a sack of potatoes out of the pantry and carried them back to the sink, inclined her head and gave him a telling look. “You’re getting me off track here.”