A Very Crimson Christmas (Crimson, Colorado 4)

by Michelle Major

  No other way to describe it, Natalie had kissed him senseless. He loved it, loved her. The buzz he felt had nothing to do with the beer he’d had earlier. They joined Natalie’s friends—his friends—at a grouping of high-top tables in front of the bar.

  Everyone cheered for Natalie, but Liam got the real thrill as she clasped more tightly to his hand. In front of her friends. As if they were together. For real.

  This was it. His real life, the life he’d never known he wanted.

  It was normal in a way Liam had dismissed for the past ten years. He’d been so busy helping his father build an empire, then working harder to break free from that empire. He’d traveled, partied, worked around the clock. Whatever he thought it would take to outrun the voices in his head. The ones that told him no matter how much money and power he had, he wasn’t good enough. But in Crimson, with its quaint charm and everyday activities, he felt at peace.

  “You a Broncos fan?” Noah Crawford asked.

  “Giants.” Liam took a pull from his beer.

  “I won’t hold that against you.”

  Liam laughed and they talked football and Super Bowl predictions.

  Noah grabbed hold of Katie as she walked by, looping his arm around her neck and scrubbing her head with his knuckles, big brother–style. Liam saw her cringe against the contact, but Noah didn’t seem to notice. “Katie doesn’t miss a game. And she makes the best blue-and-orange cookies for Sundays during the season. Don’t sell any to this guy, Bug. He’s a Giants fan.”

  Katie pulled herself out of his grasp. “Liam is one of my new favorite customers. He doesn’t call me annoying nicknames that I grew out of years ago.”

  “I appreciate that,” Liam said, and she gave him a grateful smile.

  “But I’m your all-time favorite, right? Even with the nickname?” Noah chucked her on the shoulder and her smile went tight.

  “How long are you in town, Noah?” she asked.

  “Probably through New Year’s. My mom is upset that Emily is staying on the East Coast for the holidays.” He turned to Liam. “My sister married Thomas Whitaker last year. You know any of them?”

  Liam gave a low whistle under his breath. “I think everyone knows the Whitakers.” They were an old-school political dynasty family from Connecticut, a version of the Kennedys with less tragedy and scandal. “I’ve met Thomas a few times. He’s the second-oldest brother?”

  Noah nodded. “He’s got the same political ambitions as his father. Who knows, my sister could end up First Lady some day.”

  “Is she happy?” Katie asked suddenly.

  “She’s living the dream. Of course she’s happy.” Noah looked confused by the question. Liam would have felt that same way a few weeks ago, but now he understood what she meant.

  Sara called Katie over to where the women stood at the corner of the bar, and she seemed relieved for an excuse to walk away from Noah.

  “Did you two date at some point?” Liam asked when she’d gone.

  Noah laughed, almost choking on his beer. “Katie and me? Are you kidding? No way.”

  “Right. She’s gorgeous, fun, apparently loves football and is an incredible baker. I can see why she wouldn’t hold any appeal.”

  Noah looked almost surprised by Liam’s description of the bakery owner. “It’s not that she isn’t appealing. Katie and I have been buds since high school. I dated her best friend back then and Katie was just...Katie. I don’t think of her like that.”

  “Well, someone’s bound to,” Liam said with a shrug. “Whoever it is will be a lucky guy.”

  “Sure,” Noah agreed absently. “A lucky guy for sure.”

  Logan and Josh joined them and the conversation turned to ski conditions in Aspen and the renovation project Logan was finishing. Liam thought about asking him to look at the farmhouse. Since Ruth wanted to stay there, he’d make sure it was state-of-the-art and accessible for all her needs as her health inevitably deteriorated. They’d given up her room at the assisted living center because she was more determined than ever to live in her own house.

  Ruth had always been a master at getting what she wanted. His gaze caught on Natalie and he wondered with a start how much of the circumstances of his return to Crimson had been orchestrated by his former nanny. For all he knew, the disappearance of the money had been her way of ensuring he’d come to town to check things out. He certainly wouldn’t put it past her.

  Natalie glanced at her watch then over to him. He said goodbye to the group and they headed out, holding hands as they walked through the quiet streets to his SUV. Again, the normalcy of the moment made his heart surge. This is what had been missing in his life. Normal.

  As he turned the key in the ignition, his phone began to ding. He dug it out of his pocket. Service could be spotty in some parts of town, and he quickly realized the increasingly urgent texts from Tanner had been coming in over the past half hour.

  “Everything okay?” Natalie asked.

  He read the messages, his gut tightening, then threw the car into gear. “We’ve got to get to the farmhouse now.”

  Natalie turned, suddenly alert. “What’s the matter? Is it Ruth? Austin?”

  “It’s Brad Holt,” he said as he took a sharp turn, fishtailing a little on the fresh dusting of snow that had fallen. “Your ex-husband picked tonight for his big return.”

  * * *

  Natalie didn’t wait for the SUV to come to a complete stop before she opened the door and ran toward the farmhouse. She heard Liam calling to her but kept moving forward. The image of Brad with Austin and her not in the picture had taken hold in her mind and wouldn’t let go.

  Liam had tried to talk to her on the short ride from downtown to the house, but she’d barely heard anything he’d said, couldn’t process the reassurances. This was, to her mind, the worst of all possible scenarios. The house of cards she’d so carefully constructed tumbling down around her.

  Tanner opened the front door just as she came up the porch steps. “Everything’s under control,” he said, his voice soothing. “A completely normal visit.”

  Natalie pushed passed him and headed for the main living area. Nothing about her ex-husband showing up right before Christmas was normal. Her mother must have told him Liam was in town and that she’d seen Natalie with him. The thought of an easy mark would motivate Brad more than anything else.

  She stopped short when she saw Brad, Austin and Ruth seated around the kitchen table, each holding a hand of cards. Brad was still handsome in that rangy way he had, but he looked pale, his eyes shifting back and forth nervously between Austin and Ruth. Blood roared through Natalie’s head as she charged forward.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Without thinking she slapped her ex-husband’s cards onto the table. “He’s nine, Brad. Too early for poker or blackjack or whatever else you’re teaching.”

  “Mom!” Austin yelled her name, and she turned. His eyes were wide with shock, twin spots of color bright on his cheeks. “I was showing him how to play crazy eights.”

  Silence crackled in the room like the flames of a bonfire. It was clear Austin was waiting for her to explain herself, why she was acting like a lunatic in front of a father he’d seen only a handful of times in the past five years. How to explain that she was trying to protect him? Could a child understand that sometimes the greatest danger came from people you wanted to love the most?

  “Sorry, bud,” she whispered. “I...I didn’t realize.”

  Ruth set a gentle hand on her arm. “You and Austin are safe here. Always.” She glanced at Brad, narrowed her eyes. “From any threat.”

  “What are you talking about, Miss Ruth?” Austin carefully placed his cards on the table, facedown as if they would resume the game once things got worked out. “My dad is here to visit for Christmas. He brought me a gift.” His e
yes strayed to an unwrapped package on the counter. A Thomas & Friends backpack. Natalie sighed. Austin hadn’t been interested in trains since preschool, which was probably the last time Brad had spent any time with the boy.

  Ruth opened her mouth, glanced at Natalie.

  “Austin, it’s almost ten. Way past your bedtime,” Natalie said.

  “No,” the boy whined. “Dad is here. You can’t make me go to bed, Mom. He’s my parent, too. Doesn’t he get a say?”

  She clamped her hand to her stomach. Those words sliced her open.

  “Lighten up, Nat. It’s the holidays. Don’t be a grinch.” She felt the menace of Brad’s smile, a silent acknowledgment of the subtle shifting of power. She knew he would exploit it to his advantage.

  Before she could argue, Liam stepped forward from where he and Tanner stood at the edge of the room. “Austin, you heard your mother.” They all turned at the tone of command in Liam’s voice. She’d seen him angry, laughing, passionate. A full range of emotions. But this was different, powerful and commanding. As he stood there it was easy to see him as the head of his company, a captain of industry, in charge of all he could see. And he was using that power to support her. It took her breath away.

  Dragging his feet but unable to disobey, Austin pushed back from the table. At the same time Brad turned, pointed a finger at Liam. “This doesn’t concern you, Donovan.”

  “It does now,” Liam answered, unmoved.

  “It’s okay, Dad,” Austin said quickly. “I’m kind of tired. But I’ll see you tomorrow, right? You’re staying in town through Christmas?”

  “You bet.” Brad threw a glare in Natalie’s direction. “I’ve got things to keep me busy in town. We can spend lots of QT together.”

  “Will you come to my Christmas pageant?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it.”

  The hope in Austin’s face made Natalie want to cry. She knew that hope, lived with it for years. It had broken her heart more times than she could count. She didn’t want that for her son. There had been so many things given up for the sake of keeping Austin safe. How could it be wrecked so easily?

  Liam stepped behind her, his hand warm on her back just when she was about to lunge at her ex-husband. “Not worth it,” he whispered into her ear. “Not in front of Austin, anyway.”

  She closed her hand into a fist, her fingernails digging into the fleshy pad of her palm as she tried to regain control of her emotions. “I’ll make sure your dad gets the details for the pageant,” she told Austin. “But now it really is bedtime.”

  “I’ll walk him up,” Tanner volunteered. “I still have ‘Minecraft’ questions for you.” He pointed a finger at Austin.

  The boy gave Ruth a kiss and hug, fist-bumped Liam and hugged Natalie. She breathed in the scent of him, so familiar and precious to her. He took a step toward the hallway, then turned to his father, clearly unsure of how to say good-night to a parent he barely knew.

  In the end, Brad stuck out his hand and Austin awkwardly shook it. “’Night, sport.”

  Austin looked uncertain whether he liked the unfamiliar nickname. Then he smiled shyly. “’Night, Dad.”

  “Don’t do this,” Natalie said on an angry hiss of breath when she heard Austin pounding up the stairs. “You’re going to break his heart, Brad.”

  “How do you figure, Nat?” Brad flicked a glance at Liam then Ruth. “Got anything better than water to drink around here?”

  “Not for you,” Ruth said, crossing her arms over her chest.

  “He loves you.” Natalie threw her arms wide. “You haven’t done a damn thing for him his whole life and he loves you. When you take off without a word, it’s going to hurt him. The last time you swept into his life was different. He was younger and he doesn’t remember much. Now he knows. He understands the rejection on a different level.”

  “Spare me the pyschobabble.” Brad sank back into the chair. “Just because you and your mom are nut jobs—”

  “Enough.” Liam moved to stand directly in front of Brad’s chair. “I don’t know what point you were trying to make here tonight, but the show’s over. You need to leave. Now.”

  Brad shook his head. “My wife and I have some unfinished business.”

  “Ex-wife.”

  “I’ve got nothing to say to you, Brad.”

  “We’ll always be connected, Nat. Don’t try to deny it. If you want to keep my son tucked away in this little world you’ve created for him, there’s a price. Otherwise, it would be my pleasure to introduce him to the world beyond these mountains.”

  “I said get out.” Liam reached for Brad, who jumped out of the chair, sending it flying, and gave Liam a hard shove. Tanner rushed back into the room, but Natalie held up a hand before he intervened. She was going to handle her ex-husband this time.

  She stepped between Liam and Brad before either could take a swing. Pressing her hand against the hard wall of Liam’s chest, she felt his heart beating. “Not worth it,” she said, repeating his words from earlier. Then she faced her ex-husband. “Brad—”

  “I’m not going to let him order me around, Nat. If he wants—”

  “Ten thousand.” Ruth’s voice rang out, a slight tremble to it, making all three of them turn.

  She pointed a bony finger at Brad. “Another ten thousand dollars and you leave town tomorrow morning, after saying goodbye to Austin. For good, this time.”

  Natalie felt Liam step away, leaving her holding on to air. Her hand dropped along with her heart. “No,” she whispered. “Not this. Not now.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Now we’re talking, old lady. I knew you’d come through again eventually.”

  Liam was still trying to process Ruth’s words when Brad made the comment. All the self-control he’d held on to since walking into the house shattered. He pushed Natalie out of the way and swung, leveling his fist into her ex-husband’s face with a satisfying thunk.

  Brad stumbled back, then came at him with a growl. Liam was momentarily distracted when Natalie got shoved to the ground in the process. Distracted long enough for Brad to land a punch before tackling Liam to the ground. He heard something break and Ruth’s scream, and then Brad was lifted off him.

  He scrambled to his feet, ready to go again, but Tanner held the other man tight. Brad struggled, and Tanner gripped him harder, twisting Brad’s arms behind his back. Liam hadn’t been joking when he said Tanner could handle anything.

  “Another ten thousand? This is where the money went?” He turned to Ruth. “You paid off her ex-husband?”

  “You haven’t heard the whole story, Liam.” Ruth met his gaze without apology.

  “And whose fault is that?” He looked at Natalie, who had gotten up off the floor as well and stood to one side of the table, her arms clenched to her sides. “You knew.” The words were a statement, not a question.

  She shook her head. “Not for sure.” But her eyes flicked away from his, telling him more than her words.

  “Dude, call off your bodyguard.” Brad winced as Tanner jerked his arms. The skin around his eye was already bruising. He’d have a full-blown shiner by morning. The thought that he’d put the mark there gave Liam some perverse satisfaction, tempered as he ran a hand over his own throbbing jaw.

  “Leave now, Brad.” When Brad would have protested, Liam held up a hand. “One more word from you and I’ll call the cops, and you can explain to them how you ended up with Ruth’s money.”

  “She gave it to me,” Brad protested. “She contacted me.”

  “Let him go,” Liam told Tanner, stepping closer. “I’m going to be watching you. If you come anywhere near her again, I will destroy you. Ruth is no longer part of whatever is going on between you and Natalie. It’s done.”

  Brad shook out his arms but backed away. “We’re not fini
shed,” he yelled at Natalie, ignoring Liam. “If you want to keep me out of Austin’s life so badly, you know what it will take. Maybe this well has run dry.” He pointed to Ruth, and Liam wanted to rip the finger off his hand. “But you’ll find another one, babe.” He nodded toward Liam while continuing to stare at Natalie. “I know how resourceful you can be.”

  “Get out.” Tanner pushed Brad toward the door, then followed him out of the room.

  “I’ll give you a call tomorrow, Nat. Tell Austin I’ll see him real soon.”

  Needing something to do with his hands so he didn’t wrap them around Brad’s neck, Liam stalked to the kitchen. He took out a liquor bottle from the cabinet above the refrigerator, poured at least two shots’ worth into a glass and downed it. The dark liquid burned his throat, making him hiss, but it didn’t wash away the taste of blood and hate in his mouth.

  All the things he hadn’t understood over the past few weeks fell into place at the same time his life rocked on its axis. Why hadn’t Natalie told him the situation with her ex-husband? He could have fixed it if he’d known. It killed him to think she still didn’t trust him. When he turned, Natalie was kneeling beside Ruth.

  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I didn’t realize it was that much. You should never have been involved in any of this.”

  “It’s fine, dearie.” Ruth patted Natalie’s head the same way she used to do to Liam when he was a boy.

  “No.” Both women turned to him as he spoke. He poured another drink, swallowed and came back to the kitchen table. “Nothing about this situation is fine. I’ll be calling the director of Evergreen in the morning.”

  Natalie’s face went ashen, her eyes wide and full of pain, guilt and disbelief.

  Join the club, he thought.

  “You will do no such thing.” Suddenly Ruth was no longer pushing eighty years old. It was twenty years ago and she was saying the exact words, in the exact tone, she’d used when Liam was ten and told her his plan to run away from home. The thought that someone had taken advantage of this woman who’d cared for him as if he belonged to her made his gut clench. The idea that Natalie had stood by and allowed it to happen ripped his chest right open.