Texan for the Holidays

by Victoria Chancellor

  “Clarissa can spin a good tale.”

  James nodded. “I think with your dramatic demonstration, the point was made. I doubt we’ll hear any more from disgruntled lawyers or nosy old biddies. I’m sure the article in the Leader will be fact-based. Plus, they’ll have those photos.”

  “Ah, yes. I’d like to see those.”

  James moved closer, gently removed the pillow from Scarlett’s arms and framed her face with his hands. “You’ll have to stay in order to see those photos.”

  “I know.” She paused and pulled his hands down to hold hers. Her fingers were cold as he wrapped her in his heat. “I’d planned to leave tomorrow,” she finally said, “but my plans aren’t firm.”

  James smiled again. “That’s good, because I think I finally figured this out.”

  She tilted her head. The towel turban threatened to slip off, and she adjusted it while he retrieved the two bags.

  “This first very tasteful bag is what I bought for you either for Christmas, if I could talk you into staying, or as a going away gift, in case you decided to leave for California before the twenty-fifth.” He held up a dark green bag with a dangling pinecone and plaid ribbons. “Very nice package.”

  “Yes, very tasteful.”

  He held up the other bag, one with a jovial Frosty the Snowman, chirping cardinals and scampering bunnies, with cartoonish evergreens in the background. He’d paid all of a dollar for the bag, and it showed. “Not as tasteful,” he admitted.

  “I suppose not.”

  “I bought it today. There’s another gift inside. The thing is, you have to choose.”

  “Just based on the gift bag?”

  “No, I don’t suppose that would be fair, would it?” He sat the bags on the couch and took her hands again. “Today, when you and the other ‘floozys’ marched on the courthouse, I wasn’t sure what was up. As usual, you had me guessing. I’ve never really known anyone like you. I never thought I could have a relationship with a woman when I didn’t even know her name.”

  He paused, then resisted the urge to pull her close and stop talking, because he wasn’t sure if his words would be right. If they would be enough.

  “I didn’t realize until after the event was finished that I’d never really asked you the right question. All of a sudden, I saw the situation from your perspective. I knew that I was asking you to make a life-altering decision without all the information.”

  “What information?” she whispered.

  He looked at their joined hands, then back into her cautious, hopeful green eyes. “I love you. I love you without knowing your real name, without any assurances that you’ll be here tomorrow, without any promises or expectations. I love you because I do, and there’s not a thing you could do to change how I feel.”

  “Oh, James,” she started to say, but then her eyes filled with tears. James felt himself blinking, too. He looked down at the bags, then let go of her hands to hold them up.

  “The thing is, you can have this tasteful gift, or you can take a chance on what’s in this silly bag. It will be a surprise, but it comes with my heart.”

  “If it comes with your heart, that’s the one I want.” She reached for the second bag, but he held on.

  “This is the gift I should have given you, regardless of Christmas or your leaving or anything, because it comes with my love.”

  She reached into the bag and pulled out a box, then opened it. Inside was a jewelers box. Scarlett gasped a little as she opened the hinged lid.

  A delicate engagement ring and wedding band nestled together on white velvet. The ring reminded him of Scarlett because of the star-shaped setting, the combination of round and marquis diamonds and the small rubies nestled between. The band alternated diamonds and rubies.

  “It’s a set. I’m willing to give you time, but this is for a wedding, not just an engagement. I wanted you to know that. I’m looking for forever. With you.”

  “Oh, James,” she sighed again.

  He took the engagement ring out of the box. “Will you accept this, knowing that it means you’ll be stuck here in Brody’s Crossing forever, even after you get your car repaired? Even if you have a great job waiting for you in California?”

  “I thought a lot about us. About what I wanted. I realized that the dream job in L.A. was just that—a dream. I never dealt with the reality of the situation. I wanted to move out there, get celebrity clients, and be able to tell my family how successful I was.”

  Scarlett shook her head and the turban slipped again. “That wasn’t a very mature attitude, I know, but I think I was reacting as a child. Not as an adult. Once I got here, people treated me as an individual. It was amazing. It was…liberating. For the first time in my life, I truly feel like a grown-up.”

  “Sometimes it takes a while,” he murmured. “When I married before, it was because I thought the time was right, the bride was right. We had the right kinds of jobs and life was supposed to be great. Then I discovered what was really important to me, and climbing the ladder of success wasn’t it.”

  “The same thing happened to me in Brody’s Crossing. Here, I became an adult. Here, I learned to love.”

  “The town?”

  Scarlett laughed. “No, you! I love you.”

  He wrapped her in his arms, holding her tight. “Did you just figure that out?”

  “No, I knew days ago.” She pulled back a little and wiped another tear from her eye. “I knew right away that I was falling in love with you, but I tried really hard not to. I knew I was leaving. I told myself you’d break my heart.”

  “I would never break your heart.”

  “When you asked me twice to stay, you never said you loved me. You only said you wanted me around.”

  He held her close again. “I’m sorry, Scarlett. I wasn’t expecting to fall in love. I didn’t recognize our love until I was forced to focus on what was truly important to me. And trust me, it wasn’t my career, or sitting on the bench this week, or anything that Milton Bastine could threaten. It was you, and this community, and my family. You’re a part of us, Scarlett. You belong here forever.”

  “Then I’ll stay right here, with you.”

  He slipped the engagement ring on her finger. It was too large, and they’d have to take it back to get it sized, but for now, they sat and admired the sparkle. Scarlett wrapped a rubber band around the shank so the ring wouldn’t fall off her hand, then twined her arms around his neck.

  “I love you, James Brody. Let’s get married.”

  “Anytime you say.” He kissed her, giving her all the love he had inside, holding her tight and touching her everywhere he could reach. The robe parted and the towel fell to the floor as their kisses became hotter, as a sense of urgency overtook them.

  “Should we pull out the sofa bed?” she asked between kisses.

  “No. Too lumpy.” And he went on kissing her.

  His clothes were peeled away and her robe parted. At the last minute, he remembered protection, and held up the packet. “Do we need this?”

  She drew in a deep breath. “For now, I think. Maybe not too much longer.”

  “Whatever you think, but you need to know I want a family. Children, when you’re ready.”

  “You’ll be a wonderful father,” she said, stroking his jaw. “I just don’t want to give my family any reason to count the months from our wedding to the birth of our first child.”

  James smiled. “Fair enough.”

  Their kisses turned tender, the urgency tempered as they made love on Clarissa’s back room sofa. The position was awkward, but he silently promised that next time, they’d be in his comfortable bed once again. And then he thought no more of the awkward position or less-than-private setting as they soared together, sharing their love.

  Much later, he lifted his head and shifted on the couch so Scarlett wasn’t bearing all of his weight. The sun was setting, but he could still see her in the waning light. He smiled as he ran his fingers over her delicate features,
then through her…brown hair?

  He lifted a little more, looked again. Yes, her hair was brown. A lovely, warm shade of brown, with red and gold strands.

  She opened her eyes. “I took the color out.”

  “I see that. You’re a brunette.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Like that should have been a surprise to you.”

  It took him a moment to realize what she was implying, and then he couldn’t stop his blush. “Honestly, I never thought about…it. I mean, I didn’t really think about the color of—”

  She laughed and pulled him down. “You’re so cute when you’re embarrassed.”

  “Yeah, but don’t mention that to anyone else, okay? I’m supposed to be one tough attorney. My legal opponents should tremble in their wingtips.”

  Scarlett giggled. “You’re a pussycat and everyone in town knows it.”

  “I’m a tiger. A shark,” he claimed, acting indignant.

  “You’re my tiger,” she said, and kissed him again. They didn’t come up for air for a long time.

  Later, when the room was dark and the night silent, Scarlett asked, “What’s in the other bag?”

  “Tonight, you just get me. And the ring.”

  She seemed to think about it a minute, then nodded. “That’s enough for me.”

  Epilogue

  Saturday, December 29, 2007

  James’s parents had been wonderful about welcoming her into the family. Scarlett glanced around the cozy kitchen, where she and James had looked out of the bay window and eaten breakfast, and knew that she’d finally found the place where she belonged. Maybe not in this exact house, maybe not on a ranch right now, but in the greater community filled with family and friends.

  And hope for the future. She was working her way into a partnership with Clarissa and would eventually buy out the older lady when she was ready to retire. In the meantime, Scarlett was working on retiring the pink smocks.

  Carolyn Brody came back to check the sausage pinwheels she’d made for an appetizer, before they ate a belated Christmas dinner a little later today. Christmas had actually been four days before, but since Scarlett’s parents were here now, they were celebrating again.

  “My father isn’t giving James a hard time, is he?” she asked Carolyn.

  “No, not at all. You know James. He can talk to anyone.

  I think your parents are quite taken with him, if I do say so myself.”

  Scarlett smiled. “They’re probably glad to have a lawyer in the family, since they already have a doctor and an accountant.”

  “And a stylist,” his mother reminded her.

  “Yeah, but there’s not much demand for that in my family.”

  “I don’t know. I heard you give your mother some advice on her hair.” Carolyn leaned close. “Much needed, I might add. You could do wonders with her style.”

  Scarlett laughed. James poked his head in the doorway. “Are you about ready? We want to open gifts.”

  “Sure. Let me put these on a tray and we’ll be right in.” The pinwheels smelled absolutely delicious as Carolyn removed them from the baking sheets. Maybe James’s mother would teach her to bake things that didn’t come from a mix.

  Scarlett grabbed a tray of carrots, celery and broccoli with ranch dressing—another staple Texas finger food she loved—and carried it into the living room. Carolyn followed with the sausage pinwheels.

  They settled next to their men. Scarlett curled up on the floor near the tree so she could pass out gifts, while James sat in a dining chair dragged into the living room. He smiled and plopped her Santa hat on her brown curls. The red had all come out, and she’d added just a tiny touch of strawberry-blond highlights around her face.

  The white Christmas lights sparkled on the diamond-and-ruby engagement ring, now sized properly and looking right at home on her finger. She smiled whenever she saw it. She couldn’t wait to add the ruby-and-diamond band. They’d set the wedding date in April, when James claimed Texas came alive with wildflowers and green grass and endless blue skies. She didn’t care as long as they were together, but she humored him because it was important to him that she love Texas.

  She passed out gifts and received some from her parents and siblings. As usual, they tried to be practical, and succeeded marginally. How many gloves, scarves, slippers and wallets did one person need? They might never completely understand her, but she was learning to live with that. Maybe someday she’d let them know more about who she was rather than being so defensive.

  Maybe the first step would be to use her real name. She was about to make the big announcement when James handed her a familiar dark green gift bag with a pinecone embellishment.

  “I thought I wasn’t getting this gift?” she said.

  “You couldn’t have it then. Now you can.”

  She tore out the tissue and reached inside for a white cardboard box. She removed the lid to see a pretty silver sun smiling at her. The long silver chain would look perfect with her sweaters. It was something she would have chosen for herself, and she was touched that he knew her so well.

  James leaned close, whispering so only she could hear. “I bought it when I became obsessed with that belly button ring. You know, the moon and star.” She nodded. “At the time, I fantasized about seeing you naked, wearing the sun, moon and stars and nothing else.” He kissed her neck, just below her ear. “I still do.”

  She sure wished he wouldn’t say things like that when other people were around. All she wanted to do was jump him now, and she still had to sit through dinner with her parents and his! “Hold that thought,” she whispered.

  “Hey, you two aren’t newlyweds yet,” her father joked.

  James’s father laughed. “They get that way,” he said. His speech was only slightly slurred. She’d really started to like his quiet ways. He’d taken her around the barn one Sunday afternoon and told her the names of all the animals.

  Carolyn Brody sprang up from her chair. “Appetizers, anyone?”

  “Oh, wait. First, I have something to say.” Scarlett stood and gave James’s hand a squeeze. This was going to be harder than she’d thought. “When I came here, I was simply Scarlett. No last name. I was never happy with my first or middle name. Sorry, Mom, but being named after an old lady in a black robe was a little much.”

  “It’s a nice name! A meaningful name!” Her mother turned to the Brodys. “We named all our children after people we admired, people who were successful in their professions. Our oldest is Jonas Salk Hancock, and he’s a doctor, and our other daughter is Margaret Mead Hancock, but she ended up being an accountant rather than a scientist And then—”

  “Yeah, well, it wasn’t me,” Scarlett said, interrupting before her mother said the dreaded name. “Or at least, it wasn’t the me I was trying to be. It took this trip and getting stranded here in Brody’s Crossing to figure out who I really am.”

  She paused and took a deep breath. “The truth is, I’m not Scarlett anymore.” She fluffed her brown hair. “The color is gone and so is the persona. I’m not going to California to be a stylist to the stars, because I’ve found the place where I belong.”

  This was the hard part. “So, from now on, I want all of you to know that you can call me by my real name…” she swallowed and felt a little nauseous “…Sandra Day Hancock.”

  The room was silent for a long moment, then James started to laugh. “You were supposed to be an attorney and a Supreme Court judge?”

  “Hey, this isn’t funny,” she said, and swatted his arm. At least she was marrying an attorney who would someday, probably, be a judge.

  He pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her, likely so she wouldn’t swat him again. “Darlin’,” he said in a heavy Texas drawl, “you might be named after an old lady in a black robe, but to me, you’ll always be the red-hot love of my life, Scarlett.”

  He kissed her in front of her parents and his, until his father chuckled and hers cleared his throat. “And come April, you’
ll be a Brody. You can be Sandra Day Hancock Brody, or Sandra Brody, or Sandy Brody or Scarlett Brody. Or you can reinvent yourself however you like, just as long as you remember that we belong together.”

  She fumed for a moment, then put her arms around his neck. “Okay, I’ll think about it,” she agreed, and kissed him back.

  She was beginning to feel more and more like a soft, lovable Sandy and less like a hard-edged Scarlett by the minute, and that was just fine with her.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-1022-0

  TEXAN FOR THE HOLIDAYS

  Copyright © 2007 by Victoria Chancellor Huffstutler.

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