“Mama says Daddy is watching over us from heaven. Whenever I have to go to the hospital, she tells me he’s there helping the doctors know what to do.”
“I’m sure he is,” Aidan murmured. He must have sensed her presence because he looked up and met her gaze. His eyes were filled with compassion and a warmth she didn’t want to see.
Something inside her seemed to soften and stretch like caramels left out in the sun.
Don’t read anything into it, she warned herself. He only felt sorry for the poor widow with the sick little girl.
“Here you are, honey,” she said, her tone more abrupt than she intended as she handed Maddie her coat. She didn’t look at him as she helped her daughter stick her arms through the sleeves and then her hands into the mittens.
“Let’s go through the mudroom. My coat is there,” Aidan said when Maddie was bundled up. He led the way toward the kitchen, where Sue was rolling out what looked like pastry dough.
“It smells de-lish-ous in here!” Maddie exclaimed. Eliza had to agree as the comforting smell of carrots and onions and chicken seeped into the air.
“Oh, trust me, it will be,” Sue declared. She seemed to be back to her old self. Her features had lost that wan, pinched look of earlier when her migraine had attacked. “I’m making my famous chicken pot pie. Seemed just the thing for a snowy day and it’s always been one of Aidan’s favorites.”
“Yours is even better than my pop’s, but if you tell him so, I’ll deny it to my dying breath.”
She rolled her eyes. “As if I would ever say such a thing to that sweet Dermot!”
“What did I tell you about my pop and women? Doesn’t matter if they’re seven or seventy,” Aidan said to Eliza, startling a smile out of her.
“I’ll have to get his recipe when he’s here,” Sue said, pretending not to hear the exchange. “Never hurts to try something a new way.”
“Why mess with perfection?” Aidan countered as he headed into the mudroom. He emerged a moment later, shrugging into the sheepskin-lined leather ranch jacket she had seen him in earlier.
Sexy Geek with a side of cowboy. How was a girl supposed to resist that?
“Are you ladies ready?” he asked.
“Yes! I can’t wait to see the horses!” Maddie declared.
When they walked outside, the air didn’t feel as cold as she might have expected, maybe because of the cloud cover and because the wind had died down. The lake shone blue, a vivid contrast to the snow all around. From here, she could clearly see the shape of the nearby cove, just like its eponymous snow angel.
Through her research on the area before deciding to take the job at the inn, she had learned that Lake Haven rarely froze completely because of its depth and because of all the geothermal activity in the area feeding warm water into it. The minerals in the water gave it the lovely color.
Whatever the reason, it made for a beautiful scene in the twilight.
From here, she could also see lights begin to twinkle from the clustered buildings of Haven Point up the shoreline. In the fading remains of a stormy winter day, the pretty little town looked warm and inviting.
The walk hadn’t been cleared since the snowfall resumed in the afternoon and walking through it took effort. Maddie struggled for only a moment before Aidan picked her up and settled her on his shoulders, much to her glee.
She said something to him Eliza couldn’t hear and they laughed together. The sound warmed her even more than her wool coat.
She inhaled deeply of air scented with pine and snow and resolved to simply enjoy the moment. Whatever her reservations about working for Aidan Caine—the tangled past she doubted he even knew about, her pride that balked at taking a job offered out of pity, this silly schoolgirl attraction—she couldn’t deny that Maddie seemed happy here.
When they reached the barn, he opened a small door next to the huge double doors and set Maddie down inside before reaching a hand out to help Eliza over a patch of ice. He wore leather gloves but she could swear she felt the heat of his skin through them.
She quickly pulled her hand away and looked around the cavernous space.
Through her thirty-one years on the planet, she had spent very little time inside of barns. If someone ever asked her to design the perfect barn, however, she would have pointed him in the direction of this aging building at Snow Angel Cove.
Made of weathered wood with a traditional gambrel roof, the barn smelled of hay and horses and dust. A mouse-fat calico tabby sidled out of view as soon as they spotted it but a black-and-white border collie wandered immediately over to them, long, busy tail wagging.
“Oh,” Maddie exclaimed, shrinking away from the creature. She loved horses but dogs, on the other hand, freaked her out a little.
“It’s okay,” Aidan assured her. “He won’t hurt you. This is Argus. He’s the king of the barn.”
“Really?”
“Well, he thinks he is, anyway. He bosses everybody around. But he’s really gentle. I promise, he won’t hurt you.”
Her daughter didn’t look completely convinced but because her middle name should have been Spunky, she petted the dog’s head with ginger care then giggled when the dog licked her, his tail wagging even harder.
“Mama, I think Argus likes me.”
“Looks like it.” She knelt down to pet the dog, too, and was rewarded with a nuzzle and a lick.
“Did he come with the ranch?” she asked.
“No. He’s Sue and Jim’s baby. Goes everywhere with them.”
“Do you have a dog?” Maddie asked.
“No. But my whole family does.” He gave Eliza a rueful look. “I forgot to mention when I was giving you the guest rundown that they’ll be bringing a miniature herd when they come. Dylan would never travel without his dog, Tucker, a black-and-tan coonhound, Andrew has a chihuahua named Tina and Lucy and Brendan each have little mutt purse pooches who are less than a year. Daisy and Max. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” Eliza assured him. She loved dogs and always had. When she was a girl, she’d had a Labrador retriever named Frisbee. She had adored that dog and grieved deeply when he died at thirteen, just before Eliza went off to college. She had dreamed of having a half-dozen pets when she had children—of which she had wanted a half-dozen more.
Life as a single working mother with an ill child had forced her to put that dream on hold. Maybe when they were settled somewhere permanently, she would consider it.
They spent a few more moments showering love on Argus until one of the horses made a raspberry sort of sound that made Maddie giggle.
“That’s Cinnamon,” Aidan said. “The gentlest horse in here. I got her specifically with Carter and Faith in mind.”
He had bought a horse strictly for the rare visit from his nephew and niece. She knew that shouldn’t touch her heart but she couldn’t seem to help it.
Which was the real Aidan? The tough businessman who ground up his competitors and sprinkled them on his espresso or the softie who bought a horse for his niece and nephew who might only visit him here a couple times a year?
“Oh,” Maddie breathed, her eyes wide as she approached the stall containing the red horse. Roan, Eliza thought it was called, though what did she know? She had absolutely no knowledge of horses, other than what she had seen watching Gunsmoke and The Rifleman reruns with her dad.
“She’s beautiful. The most beautiful horse in the whole wide world.”
Her daughter was obviously in love. She had her hands clasped together at her collarbone like the heroine of a melodrama and was gazing at Cinnamon with a rapt expression.
The horse was pretty, Eliza had to admit, with kind, gentle eyes. Even she could tell, though, that she was by no means the most elegant horse in the barn. Most of the half-dozen other horses she could see w
ere muscled and strong, especially a big black with a flowing gray mane.
“Bob says they’re all nice horses but he likes Cinnamon the best,” Maddie declared.
“Would you like to make friends?” Aidan asked. “I brought a couple of carrots from the kitchen. You can feed her some.”
Her daughter looked torn. “Bob doesn’t like carrots. How do I feed her?”
He took her hand and led her closer to the horse, then handed her the carrot. “Nothing to it. You just hold it out for her and Cinnamon will do all the work.”
“She might bite me, though.”
“Not this old girl, I promise.”
Eliza held her breath as Maddie hesitated for only a moment then offered up the carrot. Cinnamon lapped it out of her hand in one bite, with a grateful whinny.
Maddie giggled. “It tickles, Mama!”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Eliza said.
“I’ve got another carrot if you want a turn.”
Despite Aidan’s confidence that the horse wouldn’t bite, those teeth were big and she wasn’t at all eager to put her fingers within reach.
“I’m good. Thanks.”
“Okay, Maddie. Looks like you get to be the designated carrot-delivery girl. Here you go.”
He gave her another one and this time she held it out with more confidence. She even found the courage to pat the horse’s neck and was rewarded with a gentle head butt that made her giggle again.
“See? She likes you.”
“I like her, too,” Maddie announced, which wasn’t really news to anyone.
He chuckled. “I need to check on a couple of the other horses. We have one who’s going to foal in the next month. Are you two good staying here with Argus and Cinnamon?”
Eliza nodded. As he walked down to the far end of the barn, she tried not to watch him go, focusing instead on her daughter introducing Imaginary Bob to her new friend while the other horses whickered for attention and the somehow comforting scents of hay and horses swirled around them and dust motes floated in the air like gold flakes.
CHAPTER TEN
AIDAN TOOK HIS TIME checking on Jemma, their foaling mare, talking to her, making sure she had the special feed mix the vet had recommended.
He knew his efforts were completely unnecessary as Jim did an excellent job managing the horses, but it gave him a good excuse to keep a little distance between him and Eliza and to work on trying to rein in this crazy attraction he hadn’t been able to shake all day.
This stupid season—this time for family, for connection—was seriously messing with him, especially this year, when he had almost lost everything.
He didn’t want to be so drawn to her and her cute little girl.
Yes, Eliza Hayward was a lovely woman—soft, curvy, with an air of delicate vulnerability he found intensely appealing.
She made him want to take care of her, to tuck her close and protect her from the hardships of life—an impulse he knew was completely ridiculous, not to mention chauvinistic and also unnecessary. He had only known her a day but he already knew Eliza Hayward had a fierce independent streak and seemed to be doing a fine job of managing life on her own, including raising a child with health challenges.
He admired many things about her, including her willingness to jump right in where she saw a need—specifically decorating his Christmas tree.
He had never been so immediately and forcefully drawn to a woman. Even BethAnn the Betrayer had taken a few months to pierce through his natural defenses and gain his trust—and that had happened when he was a naive college student living far from the security of home and still raw and grieving from his mother’s death.
He wasn’t that dumb, hungry kid anymore. BethAnn had taught him to be cautious and vigilant, especially when it came to women who appeared sweet and needy on the outside but could be cold, calculating, soulless bitches beneath the fluttering eyelashes and shy smiles.
Eliza had secrets. He hadn’t missed the shadows in her eyes or the way she carefully evaded certain topics, like her husband. In all likelihood, she was exactly as she appeared—a widow who had sustained some tough breaks lately.
Or she could be a con artist who had manipulated him and the events of the past twenty-four hours to her best advantage.
He couldn’t quite believe that one, but he would be a fool to let the magic and wonder of Christmas overshadow his own hard-won common sense.
He hadn’t been a fool in a long, long time.
Okay, he might have made a few irrational decisions during the summer—like purchasing three hundred acres on an Idaho lake, along with six commercial buildings and a factory he didn’t know what the hell to do with. But that had been a fluke, a medically induced anomaly. He was all better now, back on track, clearheaded and completely rational.
Maybe this attraction to Eliza—this yearning he also didn’t know what the hell to do with—was simply an unexpected side effect of that brush with mortality. Maybe she represented the world he had consciously given up when he set out to create the dynasty that would become Caine Tech.
Whatever the reason, he needed to keep his distance from her until his family arrived. After that, he would be so busy keeping all the Caines happy and entertained, not to mention avoiding Pop’s entirely too perceptive gaze, to have time to do something crazy like fall for a woman he barely knew.
He fed Jemma one of the apples he had also filched from the kitchen. “Here you go. There’s a good girl,” he murmured to her and received a nuzzle in return.
With a wish that all females could be so uncomplicated, he headed back to Eliza and Maddie. Eliza was on the bench in the middle of the barn petting Argus, who was clearly infatuated, while Maddie carried on an in-depth conversation with Cinnamon about Santa Claus and whether the horse might be able to talk on Christmas Eve, along with the rest of the animals.
He remembered his mother telling him and his brothers that old folk belief, that the magic of Christmas extended to animals being able to talk only on Christmas Eve. One year when he was about seven, he and Brendan had stayed up past midnight trying to get their big yellow Lab, Chester, to say something besides woof. Chester hadn’t been the brightest bulb on the tree under the best of circumstances and apparently Christmas Eve hadn’t suddenly endowed him with any particular linguistic skills.
“Are you ladies ready to head back to the house?”
Eliza nodded. “Come on, Maddie. Let’s put your mittens back on.”
“I don’t want to leave yet. Cinnamon is my second best friend now, after Bob.”
“You can visit her another day,” Eliza promised.
“Can I ride her sometime?”
“We’ll see,” Eliza said as she finished putting on the mittens. “Okay. We’re ready to go.”
He opened the door for them and immediately snowflakes swirled inside.
“It’s snowing again?” Maddie exclaimed. She sounded not quite as excited about the continuing storm as she had earlier in the day.
“Looks like it,” he answered.
Eliza lifted her face up to the flakes. “I can’t believe this. At least another two inches of snow fell in the half hour we were in the barn.”
“It’s supposed to taper off tonight.”
Maddie gamely trudged through the heavy snow for a few feet, until he reached down and lifted her up and onto his shoulders again. She didn’t weigh much, probably not even fifty pounds.
“Look how pretty it is,” she said, her voice soft and almost reverent. “The snowflakes look like little angels with parachutes.”
“If that’s the case,” her mother said from beside them, “you’ve got an angel on your nose.”
Maddie giggled and lifted her hand from his head. He couldn’t see her but he assumed the wriggling he felt beh
ind him came from her wiping it away.
“There. Is it gone?”
Eliza smiled softly at her daughter. Snowflakes tangled in her eyelashes and her pale pink beanie and the little pale freckles on her upper cheekbones. She was so lovely and he had a feeling she was completely oblivious to it, which somehow made her all the more appealing.
“That one is gone. You’ve got about four more all over your face.”
“Ack! Get off me, angels! Get off,” Maddie exclaimed with more giggles, which made Eliza smile.
He loved that about kids, he thought, as he led the way up the path to break a trail for Eliza. They had such a clear insight into the magic and wonder around them, a perspective that adults surrendered when worry over mortgages and car payments took over their imaginations.
When they neared the house, an unfamiliar beat-up pickup truck was parked under the porte cochere. He frowned, wondering who was crazy enough to brave the poor roads and snowy conditions. The pickup had a snowplow on it, half full of melting snow, and giant studded tires. Whoever was here must have plowed their way up the hill to Snow Angel Cove.
“Expecting somebody?” Eliza asked when they neared the house.
“Not that I know of. I suppose it could be someone with a delivery for Sue.”
“Great service, if it is.”
“Let’s find out.”
He opened the door leading into the mudroom and heard the sound of female voices coming from the kitchen. He swung Maddie off his shoulders to more of her giggles—man, a guy could get addicted to the sound of a kid laughing—then hung up his coat and the wool hat his physician insisted he wear against the elements. Eliza helped Maddie out of her coat and mittens and hung them and her own outerwear on a hook near his.
When Aidan went into the kitchen, he found Sue in the sitting room off the kitchen, along with the auburn-haired doctor from the emergency room and the woman who had come out of the store to help Eliza after the accident.
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