Leaving Bluestone

by Fredrick, MJ

  ***

  “He’s perfect,” Lily said as she looked at the bundle in Trinity’s arms. She’d watched her friend’s face when she came in, looking for any sign of sorrow, but she saw nothing more than tiredness and joy.

  Their son Kaden had Leo’s dark hair and long lashes, but his mother’s nose and chin, and his little lips moved in a sucking motion, though his eyes were closed.

  “Want to hold him?” Trinity asked, though clearly she didn’t want to give him up.

  “I would love to, just for a moment.” Lily moved closer to the bed and gingerly took the baby into her arms. She was surprised by how little he weighed, and turned to smile over her shoulder at Quinn, who watched her with a strange expression, like he’d been pole-axed. “You want to hold him, Quinn?” Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to see him holding the baby. Holding their baby. What would he think if he could really read her mind?

  His gaze met hers, and for a moment she thought maybe he did know what she was thinking. “I’ll wait until he’s bigger. They scare me when they’re that little.”

  “No shit,” Leo said with a heartfelt sigh. “I’d forgotten how little they are.”

  “What does Max think of his new brother?” Lily asked, stroking a finger over the soft skin of Kaden’s hand.

  “He’s in love, oddly enough for a ten-year-old. My folks had to drag him out of here with all kinds of bribes.”

  “And you get to go home tomorrow?” Lily asked Trinity.

  Trinity nodded, her gaze on Kaden as if she feared he would disappear.

  “If you need anything, let me know. I won’t make a pest of myself, I promise,” she added when she saw Quinn open his mouth.

  “That’s not what I was going to say. I was going to say you need to get some rest after this weekend.”

  Lily passed Kaden back to his mother, whose face instantly relaxed. “Quinn. This weekend was nothing compared to giving birth.”

  He grunted.

  “Sure you don’t want to hold him, Quinn?” Trinity asked sweetly.

  “Ask me in a couple of months.” He straightened and reached a hand to Lily. “We should let them get some rest, and you need to eat.”

  Lily opened her mouth to protest, but of course he was right.

  “I want to hear about the fair,” Trinity protested. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to help.”

  “Oh, yeah, I’m going to hold that against you,” Lily said, bending over to hug her friend quickly. “I’ll come by the house. I’ll text first so I don’t wake anyone up, okay?”

  Leo nodded, his shoulders loosening as he rose to shake Quinn’s hand. “That would be good. Be careful going home.”

  To Lily’s surprise, Quinn crossed over, kissed the top of Trinity’s head, curved a hand over Kaden’s, then turned to escort Lily out.

  Once they were in the hall, she gripped his shoulders and pressed a hard kiss on his mouth.

  “What was that for?” he demanded, his hands resting on her waist belying his tone.

  “For bringing me. For caring about Trinity.”

  “She’s going to be fine. And why wouldn’t I? She’s my best friend’s wife, and your best friend.”

  “Leo’s your best friend?”

  “Next to you.”

  Her breath tangled in her throat and she stared at him through suddenly blurry eyes. “You’re going to be fine, too.” She stepped back, grabbed his hand and led him down the hall. “Now feed me.”

  ***

  “What the hell am I going to get Lily for Christmas?” Quinn muttered to Leo the following week when Leo came into the bar. Lily was at Trinity’s so he felt safe enough with the topic.

  “I got Trinity a diamond necklace.”

  “Yeah, well, she’s your wife and she just gave birth to your son. I haven’t even told Lily I love her.”

  “Well, there’s your present right there.”

  “Sure. That’s what she wants. A few words. That would cement me as the cheapest man in the world.”

  “Do you love her?”

  “Yeah, I do,” he said without hesitation.

  “And your guilt over the whole Gerry thing?”

  “Getting past it, as far as she’s concerned, anyway. And I’m getting better about this place, too.”

  “So you’re staying.”

  Quinn shook his head. “Right now I just want to get through Christmas and do the right thing.”

  “Well, what about a romantic weekend? Take her some place nice—maybe some place warm, where you can get her in a bathing suit—and say it there.”

  Quinn could picture it, Lily in a two-piece that would accent her curves, walking out of the waves, coming toward him, maybe drinking a drink with a little umbrella in it. He’d seen her in a bathing suit this summer, when she’d gone water skiing with her folks, and had berated himself for being turned on by something so innocent.

  He shook his head. “I couldn’t get that woman out of this town with a shoehorn, not with the carnival coming up.”

  “Just for a weekend?”

  “You’ve met Lily, right? She’d be stressed all weekend over the things she wasn’t getting done.”

  “Then plan it the weekend afterwards. God, Quinn, do I have to do all your thinking for you?”

  Quinn scowled. “Don’t you have a baby to get home to?”

  “If I go home, I’m kicking your girlfriend out.”

  “I got no problem with that.”

  “All right. Good night. Think about what I said.”

  Now that he had that picture in his head, he couldn’t think of anything else.

  A few minutes later Lily came in, and when she kissed him, she smelled like baby Kaden. He wasn’t too creepy to be turned on by that, was he? It was just biological, the need to see her round with his child.

  If he followed Leo’s advice, he would have to wait two months to tell her he loved her.

  Unless he told her now and waited until their vacation to ask her to marry him.

  The thought rocked him back on his heels and he stared at her for a long moment. Marry him. Jesus, he hadn’t even told her he loved her. That was a huge leap. He’d never even thought about marriage, really, about the permanence of it.

  She angled her head, looking up at him curiously. “What’s wrong?”

  “I want to close the bar and make love to you right here,” he said.

  Her eyes widened, and she hopped over the bar and slid into his arms. He took a deep breath of her, the scent of her and the baby and the outdoors, and angled his mouth over hers, both arms wrapped tightly around her. He was vaguely aware of the cheers that went up from the bar’s patrons as she melted against him.

  “Now that’s what I like to see. My daughter softening up the bartender. Does this mean drinks are on the house?”

  Quinn dropped his hands from Lily so fast she swayed where she stood. Heat rushed to his face as he turned to face Luke Prater across his bar.

  “Sir,” he managed, willing the images he’d just had of this man’s daughter to vanish from his brain. Damn it, they just hung there on the edges, taunting him.

  “Give me a whiskey, neat. That was a hell of a trip coming up here.”

  “You could have flown,” Lily said, flipping up the pass-through to walk from behind the bar and kiss her mother’s cheek, then her father’s. “I would’ve come to get you from Brainerd.”

  Her mother shuddered. “No thanks. I’ll take a glass of red wine,” she told Quinn. “Shiraz, if you have it.”

  He did, in fact, have it, thanks to Lily, who’d bought a couple of bottles and stashed them for her mother.

  “So was that kiss for something special?” her father asked as Quinn passed him his drink. When Quinn handed Lily a glass of Coke, the older man’s eyebrows went up. “We aren’t celebrating a baby, are we?”

  Lily choked. “God, no. Not ours, anyway. Trinity and Leo just had one. I just came from there.” She turned back to her parents. “Are Will and JoAnn on
the way?”

  “They’ll be here tomorrow. Sarah was getting carsick, so they had to take it easy.”

  “Did you eat?” Quinn asked. “I know Lily hasn’t.”

  “We did, about two hours ago. I don’t suppose you have anything sweet back there.” Vivian Prater nodded toward the kitchen.

  “No, sorry. I could send someone out for some pie at the diner.”

  Vivian’s eyes brightened, and Quinn not only saw where Lily got her beauty, but where she got her bad eating habits. He beckoned Linda, Beth’s younger sister and his occasional bus-girl, and sent her to the diner for a whole pie, then turned to take Lily’s order.

  When he moved away, Vivian nudged her daughter. “He’s even sexier than I remember.”

  “Mom.” Lily blushed.

  “So are there any new developments? I mean, that kiss was celebrating something, wasn’t it?”

  “Not really. The public displays are new. And rare.” She caught Quinn’s gaze and he smiled. She grinned back as the heat from the kiss slid through her again. “So tell me about your trip.”

  ***

  “You smell good,” Quinn said, nuzzling against her in his bed that night. She’d showered, so she no longer smelled like Kaden, but she did smell like his soap and shampoo, and that got him every time.

  “You heard my mom say she was making us breakfast in the morning?”

  Yeah, a mention of her mom did a lot for killing his libido. “I did. Not sure how I feel about them knowing we’re sleeping together. You’re sure your dad won’t dump me under the ice?”

  “Who knew you were so old-fashioned?” she teased, wriggling beneath him and winding her arms around his neck.

  He was, he realized. Old-fashioned enough that he didn’t want to tell her he loved her when they were in bed, not the first time, anyway. He wanted it to be special, significant. Maybe Christmas Eve, if he could get her alone. But for now, he had her alone, and he knew just what he wanted to do.

  ***

  Quinn tried very hard not to squirm at breakfast the following morning. Sitting across from a man after making love to his daughter was a new and unsettling feeling. And he knew Luke knew, because Christ, Lily didn’t stop touching him, and smiling at him, those smiles and touches that used to be just between them.

  And Luke watched, not saying anything. Quinn wasn’t going to be able to eat his pancakes, damn it, and he never got pancakes.

  He cleared his throat. “You must have gotten up early to go to the store.”

  “Oh, no, she travels stocked,” Luke said. “She doesn’t care to eat out, says her cooking’s better. And it is,” he added hastily when his wife smacked his shoulder with her spatula.

  “So the plan today,” Vivian said, serving Quinn his pancakes, “is to get Lily a tree. We’ll wait to decorate it until the kids get here, but I think we should get it today.”

  “Don’t we want to wait for the kids?” Lily asked. “I always remember going out to choose the tree.”

  “The weather’s supposed to get bad tonight,” Quinn said. “It may not clear before Christmas, so it could be your last chance.”

  “You’re going with us,” Vivian said, dropping into the chair beside him and patting his hand.

  “Oh, no, I—” He looked to Lily for help, but she was already tucking into her pancakes. “It’s a family thing.”

  “Quinn. One thing you need to know about us. We love including people, especially people who are important to our family. Now, the two of you make sure you dress warm. Luke is very picky about his tree.”

  ***

  Quinn hadn’t ridden in the backseat of a vehicle since he’d been in Afghanistan. He forced himself not to grip his knees as Luke drove them north to the nearest Christmas tree farm.

  “Don’t worry, son, I’ve driven on these roads since before you were born,” the older man said, catching Quinn’s gaze in the rearview mirror.

  “Yes, sir. I’m just not used to not driving.”

  “Gotcha. And you need to cut out that ‘sir’ crap. I’m Luke.”

  “Yes, s—. All right.” He couldn’t make himself call Lily’s father by his first name.

  “I get it. The military training. Hard to break. You doing okay these days?”

  “I’m doing just fine.”

  “Lily said you had a rough time of it after losing your friend. I’m sorry to hear that,” Vivian said, twisting in her seat to look at him.

  “Mom, maybe now’s not the best time to bring it up,” Lily murmured.

  “Right, of course. Today is about happy memories. Where did you grow up, Quinn? Did you go to Christmas tree farms?”

  “In Kansas, and we always had fake trees.” He hadn’t thought about that in years.

  Vivian wrinkled her nose. “Were you allergic?”

  “No, just cheap.”

  “If we have room in the truck, Quinn should get a tree for the bar,” Vivian suggested.

  Quinn could definitely see where Lily got her enthusiasm. “I don’t have any decorations.”

  “No problem there, we’ll put Will’s kids on the job when they get here.” She turned to her husband. “I hope the weather doesn’t delay them further.”

  “They should get here before it hits. It’s supposed to come in late this afternoon.”

  A small thrill rolled through Quinn’s stomach. While he was usually thoroughly sick of winter by the end of January, the first big storm got his juices pumping. And knowing tonight while it howled around them, he’d be in Lily’s little house, decorating a tree, which he hadn’t done since he was about ten. And then he’d take her to bed, snug against the cold.

  Jesus, when did he become this domestic-minded guy?

  Lily reached across the seat and twined her fingers through his, and he knew exactly when.

  ***

  “Dad, that tree is perfect. It will fit in the truck and it will fit in the house. Remember, I don’t have high ceilings.” Lily wrapped her arms tighter about herself. It felt like the front was blowing in ahead of schedule, the air creeping beneath her layers of clothes and chilling her. She tugged her hat down more securely over her ears.

  A lot of people were out at the tree farm, probably trying to get ahead of the weather, too. But clearly a lot more had already been here, judging by the stumps.

  Luke stamped around the seven-footer, frowning as he inspected it from every angle. “What do you think, Quinn?”

  “I think it looks great, sir.” He winced when Luke glowered at him.

  “Fine. Then we’ll get that other one I wanted for Quinn’s bar. He’s got the ceilings.” He looked to Quinn for confirmation, and Lily watched Quinn nod helplessly. “I’ll cut this one, and Quinn, you can cut the other.”

  After they got the trees cut and carted over to have them baled for transport, Lily and Vivian ducked into the ornament shop.

  “We should get something special for this Christmas,” Vivian said. “What did you get Quinn for Christmas?”

  “A new rod and reel. There’s one he’s been talking about for a long time, and he loves fishing so much. It’s the one thing that made him happy for a long time.”

  “Now you do.”

  Lily blushed. “Mom.”

  “Don’t you see the way he looks at you?” Vivian pressed a hand to her heart. “Your dad would look at me like that, and I’d end up pregnant.”

  “Mom!”

  “Oh, fine. But pay attention. Oh, look! Pictures with Santa. I wish the kids were here. You and Quinn should have your picture taken with him. Look, he’s a perfect Santa.”

  Lily glanced at the man in the red suit and real beard, and for a moment was tempted. “Quinn is not the whimsical type. Thus the rod and reel, see?”

  “Let’s ask him.” Vivian turned as Quinn approached. “I said you and Lily should have your pictures taken with Santa.”

  “I don’t want my girl sitting on anyone else’s lap,” Quinn said, wrapping his hand over her hip and drawing her against
his side.

  “Your girl?” Lily laughed.

  He only lifted his eyebrows. “I thought we were going to let the kids make the decorations.”

  “We are, but I think you need one very special one to mark the occasion,” Vivian said.

  “What occasion?”

  “Your first Christmas together.”

  First. As in, there would be more. Lily hadn’t let her thoughts head that far in the future.

  “Here. Here’s one. Doesn’t this look like Quinn’s place?” Vivian asked. She held up a flat ceramic ornament shaped like a log cabin, and across the roof were the words, “Christmas is love.” “Perfect, don’t you think?”

  It actually really was. Lily swallowed. “Let’s get it and head home. I hear the wind picking up out there.”

  ***

  An unfamiliar truck was parked in front of Lily’s when they drove back, warmed by the coffee they’d bought from the tree farm, in paper to-go cups.

  “Will?” Lily asked her mom.

  Vivian frowned. “Not unless he has a new truck, and he would have told me.”

  Lily peered into the office. “I don’t see anyone inside. Well, they’ll come back, I’m sure. Let’s get the trees unloaded.”

  Getting Lily’s into her house took some maneuvering, because even though it had been one of the smaller trees, it was wide and took up space. Quinn and Luke had to move furniture and squeeze the tree into a corner so people could walk past it. That wouldn’t be easy with five extra people in the house.

  Then they drove the truck across the street to Quinn’s. Shouts went up as Quinn and Luke carried the tree inside. And then he heard a voice that raised the hair on the back of his neck.

  “Quinn! It’s gorgeous.”

  He turned and looked into his mother’s eyes.

  Chapter Twelve

  “I told you I didn’t want them here!” Quinn growled at Lily after pawning his mother and Liam and Tammy and their three girls off on the poor Praters and dragging Lily into his office.

  “I didn’t invite them, I swear. I talked to Tammy awhile back and said maybe they should come for Christmas, but then you didn’t want them here so I didn’t pursue it. I swear, Quinn.”

  He glowered at her, knowing she was telling the truth but feeling betrayed anyway. The peaceful holiday he’d envisioned, the time with Lily, all vanished.