by Robyn Carr
“You got it.” And when she’d gone to the kitchen, Jack said to Ian, “And you?”
“Schnapps, thanks.”
Jack put a couple of drinks on the bar. “You take advantage of the holiday special at the Haircuts R Us store?”
“Funny. I thought you talked when they talked, shut up when they didn’t?”
“We read faces, too. You’re completely un-miserable—a new look for you.”
“I took Marcie to see the truck parade,” he said. “You ever see that truck parade?”
“Couple of times. Mel and my sister took the baby over, but I had a full house tonight. That damn tree—been bringing ’em in from miles away. I’m expecting the wise men to pop in here any second.”
“It’s not a bad-looking tree,” Ian said.
“Thanks, but it’s going to be smaller next year. Mel’s set on a big tree like that, but you have no idea what a pain in the butt it was. Almost had to rent a flatbed to bring it home.”
Ian chuckled and took a sip of his drink. “What got you up here, Jack? To Virgin River?”
“After twenty in the Marines? I was just looking for some peace and quiet so I could catch my breath. And think.”
“That a fact? And here I thought it was an original idea.”
Jack laughed. “Well, then Melinda showed up, and now peace and quiet is a thing of the past.”
“That’s a rough spot you got yourself in,” Ian observed.
“Yeah,” Jack said. “Beautiful blonde in my bed every morning when I wake up. I’m telling you, the suffering just won’t end.” There was a quick flash of a grin, and before Ian could think of a comeback, Marcie was sitting up beside him.
“All’s well,” she reported. She took a slow sip of her brandy and made a sigh of pleasure. “Very nice, Jack.”
“I don’t know when you’re headed home, Marcie, but there’s a Christmas Eve thing going on here. Since there’s no church open in town and Preacher closes up on Christmas Day to have it with his family, on Christmas Eve the townsfolk are having a candlelight gathering around the tree.”
“Really? What time?”
“Won’t be a midnight mass, that’s for sure,” he laughed. “Mostly ranchers and farmers around here—they start early in the morning, even on Christmas. Last I heard it was scheduled for eight o’clock for about an hour. I’m taking the family to Sacramento for the holidays, so we’ll miss it. But if you’re still here, stop by.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said.
The brandy and schnapps didn’t keep them warm all the way home and when they arrived, Ian first stoked the fire, getting it going before walking Marcie out to the facilities. They both remained in jackets and boots until the cabin heated up a little. Marcie finally spread her sleeping bag over the couch. She took off her boots, but left her clothes on, wrapping herself up in her bag to try to generate some warmth.
Ian was just unrolling his pallet and about to pull off his boots when she said, softly, “Thank you for a wonderful night, Ian. It’s the best night I’ve had in…years.” And then he heard her yawn.
He didn’t move; couldn’t breathe. There was an odd sensation filling his chest, a gathering of moisture in his eyes. He wanted to say, No, thank you! But he couldn’t trust himself to form the words. She had no idea how it changed him inside—in his head and heart—just to have someone to talk to, to laugh with. The scrappiest little girl on the playground, like an angel come to draw him out, made him feel for the first time in such a long time, as if he was living instead of merely existing. It was a gift he was sure he didn’t deserve, especially after sealing himself off from the world as he had. And after trying to scare her away.
Trouble was, he didn’t know if he could go back to his old, silent, anonymous ways. And yet, he didn’t have anything else. The reality was, he had this cabin and about a couple thousand dollars that would have to last all winter. There was no hidden bank account, no benefit checks, no retirement. He could put the property up for sale, but there probably wouldn’t be a buyer, maybe for years. He didn’t have things to sell or barter.
He could beg her to stay, but he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to even build her an indoor bathroom. He’d let himself get down to practically nothing, enjoying the deprivation on some screwed-up level. Then Marcie showed up and suddenly he felt like a rich man.
Just when he felt ready to open his mouth to say something like, No, Marcie—it was you who made it perfect, he heard a soft snore come from her side of the room. It made him shake his head and chuckle silently. She slept well on that lumpy sofa; she was at peace here when she should be annoyed by all the inconveniences.
They were alike in that way, he realized. She was as able to make do as he was, yet in Marcie’s life there was so much more—family, work, friends, real living.
Quietly he traded his jeans for sweats and got down on his pallet in front of the fire. But sleep was far away. All he could think about was how real his life had suddenly become, how vast and full of possibilities when just two weeks ago an unending sameness had stretched out in front of him. Forever. It had been so long since he’d even thought about what might come next for him, and sometimes it seemed there never would be a next.
Old habits die hard—he thought this might be a good time to ignore her, reject her, hope that he’d get beyond this emotion real fast. But he knew he wasn’t going to do that. No. He would allow this to happen to him for a little while. She’d fill him up with goodness before she left; he’d tackle what to do with all those feelings later. Ian decided he could think of her as a Christmas gift. A beautiful little glimpse of what life could have been.
It was a long while before he slept. Not long after he nodded off, he felt something and opened his eyes. She was beside him on the floor by the stove, wrapped in her sleeping bag, red hair all crazy from sleep. “I got cold, even with the sleeping bag,” she said.
“I’ll feed the fire,” Ian replied, sitting up and slipping a couple of logs into the stove. Then he lay back down, giving her room on the pallet beside him and, pulling her close, said, “Come here, little girl. Let me get you warm.”
“Hmm. That’s what I need.”
“And what I need,” he said, giving her a kiss against her temple.
“Can I tell you something?”
He laughed. “Marcie, aren’t you tired of talking yet?”
She completely ignored him. “It’s about that whole wedding thing,” she said. “You know, with Shelly?”
“I’m not thinking about that right now,” he said, pulling her closer against him.
“I know, but I just wanted to say—I’ve been in four weddings, including my own. Brides—all of them, at one point or another—have that moment, that meltdown, when it’s all about them and their wedding. It’s easy to forget it’s about the marriage, but not about the wedding. But reality sets in real quick.” She yawned. “Some brides are worse than others, but Shelly probably didn’t mean what she said.”
He was quiet for a moment, not even able to conjure a memory or image of Shelly. He asked, “Four?”
“Hmm?”
“Four weddings?”
“Uh-huh. And a godmother twice, and I’m going to be one again in March—my friend Mable is having a boy, her first.”
He gave a snort of laughter. “You have a friend named Mable?”
“Uh-huh. She thinks it was her mother’s revenge for making her sick during pregnancy. We all call her Maybe. She’s married to William, who we call Will. They’re Maybe Will to everyone.”
“You’re connected to a lot of people. That makes me happy, knowing that,” he said.
She snuggled closer. “And now I’m connected to you, too. That makes me happy.” She yawned again. “But here’s what I wanted to tell you, Ian. That thing with Shelly? I think maybe you dodged a bullet there.”
He laughed softly, pulled her closer still. Oh yeah, he thought. He wasn’t meant to end up with Shelly.
�
�I’ll be quiet now,” she said.
“Good.”
When Ian had allowed himself to think about Marcie, his vision had been one of loneliness and despair. That’s because he didn’t know her as Abigail Adams, the sassy, indefatigable, positive woman she was; because he’d never let himself know.
He couldn’t see as far from the top of his mountain as he thought he could.
Thirteen
M arcie felt something on her hair and woke to look into Ian’s rich brown eyes. Dawn was barely lighting the cabin and he was running his big hand over her curls. “Morning,” she said sleepily.
He didn’t say anything. He just lowered his lips to hers and touched them gently, sweetly. She felt the brush of his beard, the soft flesh of his lips and let her eyes drop closed. He moved over her mouth for a moment. She moaned and slipped an arm around his neck, holding him there.
He pulled back just a little and whispered, “We’re snowed in, honey.”
“Good.”
“I was jealous of Bobby, you know,” Ian said, petting her hair back along her temple, moving it over her ear.
“Be careful, Ian—you’re talking about ‘it.’”
“I’m ready to tell you anything you want to know. We were all a little jealous of Bobby. He had something real special with you. You sent him panties.”
Her cheeks warmed in spite of herself. Her eyes got very round. “He showed you?”
Ian chuckled. “He showed everyone. Very skimpy panties. I think they were lime-green with black lace or something.”
“I cannot believe he showed you!”
“He was proud of them. He kept them tucked in his inside pocket like a good-luck charm.”
“They were perfectly clean, I’ll have you know.”
“Aw, that almost comes as a disappointment,” Ian said, chuckling. “They should have had your scent on them.”
“They had Tide and Downy on them!”
“And you sent him that picture—on the motorcycle.”
She put her hands over her face. In muffled tones she muttered, “I’m mortified.” He pulled her hands away and lightly kissed her again. “So the night I almost froze to death was actually the second time you’ve seen me in my underwear.”
“Technically, I’ve seen your underwear a ton of times. I came home a couple of times to see your cute little rump sticking out of the covers, not to mention all that underwear on my tub, drying out,” he said. “And I’d trade my life to see you in your underwear again.”
Her eyes got round for a minute, but then she smiled slightly and a little laugh escaped her. “I’ve heard some interesting come-ons in my limited experience, but that’s a new one. Tell me, do I have to shoot you after you peek?”
“What if I told you, you might have to shoot me to stop me? Would that scare you?”
“You don’t scare me, Ian. I know you’d protect me from anything. Even yourself.”
He pressed kisses all over her face and she held his face in her hands while he did so. His breathing came faster, rougher. “I want you to know something,” he said in a whisper. “Something like this happening with us—it didn’t cross my mind until—”
She waited. Finally she said, “Until?”
“Until you came back. This doesn’t have to happen, Marcie. Tell me if you don’t want to—”
“Oh, Ian.” She laughed. “You talk too much!”
The gold flecks in his eyes gleamed and he came down on her mouth harder, slipping an arm under her while he kissed her with heat, slipping his tongue into her mouth. Her other arm went around him, pulling him against her and, with a will of its own, her body arched against his, hungry. Not just starved in general, but for Ian, to whom she’d bonded herself in so many ways.
Without breaking their kiss, his hands began to rove over her breasts, hips, thighs. He slipped a big hand under her sweater to touch her breast and sighed against her lips as he did so. Then he helped her out of her sweater and his big hands were on the snap of her jeans, slipping them down over her hips, her knees, until finally they were off. He tugged his T-shirt over his head, leaving him in just those soft sweats, and he stared down at her small body. “God above,” he said in a reverent whisper.
“Is this how you looked at me when you were saving my life? When you got me out of my clothes and warmed me?”
He shook his head, a naughty smile on his lips. “There was no funny business. This time, there’s definitely going to be funny business.”
“Good,” she said, letting her eyes drift closed again. “Good.”
He kissed her around her neck, shoulders, chest, biceps, tummy. All the while he ran a thumb under the elastic of a very small panty. “How do you feel about me chewing off your underwear?” he asked.
She sucked in a breath, shuddered. “I can always get new underwear…”
It made him laugh deep in his throat. This was what he loved best—her playfulness. Or maybe it was her small body, appearing fragile, but not. Or was it the fire on her head and the flashing green eyes? It might be quicker to list the things he didn’t love, if he could think of any at all.
He made the bra disappear first, finding her nipples with his tongue, loving the sounds she made as he pampered her. Then he dropped his head to her belly and taking the elastic of her panties in his teeth, he dragged them down over her hips. He pulled them the rest of the way with a trembling hand and had his lips against hers again. He kissed her deeply, filling his hands with her hips, her smooth butt. “A natural redhead…”
“Ah, how could you doubt me?” she asked breathlessly. “Especially after a couple of weeks in the woods…”
“Marcie, baby, I gotta have a taste. I have to.”
She arched slightly. “Oh, my,” she said. “Well, if you have to, you have to…” And her legs came apart slightly, making him growl.
He went down, parting her legs, burying his face in those red curls until he felt her fingers lock into his hair, felt her lunge against him and heard her panting cries. He rose somewhat reluctantly to capture her mouth again. “Honey, you’re ready for anything…”
“You,” she whispered. “You’re what I’m ready for.”
With one hand and a kick of his long legs, he was free of his sweats, planting himself between her legs. He tried to take it easy, finding her and entering slowly. But Marcie was in a hurry and lurched against him, pushing back. For a moment, when they were locked together, everything went still. With their eyes upon one another, their lips barely touching, they were quiet, motionless, just the breathing and the hot gaze between them, savoring their moment of joining. Then her eyes slowly drifted closed and her hips moved beneath him.
Ian covered her mouth in a hot, deep kiss and pumped his hips, holding on, waiting, moving gently, then fiercely, until he felt it all happen at once—her fingers on his shoulders, digging in, her pelvis thrust against him, her insides pulsing in a fabulous joy that left him drenched in hot liquid. And he made the moment count, letting it all go, being with her through the ecstasy.
He held her for a long, quiet time, his lips on her neck, her lips on his shoulder, their bodies rising and falling with rapid breathing, moist with perspiration, calming down, recovering. Finally she whispered in his ear, “What were you thinking while that happened, Ian?”
Before he could come up with an answer, the truth came out. “I was thinking, thank God I didn’t forget how that was done.”
She laughed, rubbing his back.
“What were you thinking?” he asked.
“I was thinking, thank God he didn’t forget how that was done.”
But he wasn’t laughing anymore. The look on his face was dreamy. He brushed her hair away from her brow. “You’re real special, Marcie,” he said. “I never saw this coming, but…” He couldn’t finish.
She put her palm against his cheek. “That’s nice, Ian. You’re awful special, too. And I let you get me naked when I’d been with you ten days.”
“You let me
do more than that.”
“I wanted you to make love to me. You must think I’m a bad girl—”
“You are a bad girl, the best bad girl that was ever born,” he said. “The meanest little carrottop on the playground. You’re the best thing that ever happened in my life, Marcie. I was dying—you knew that. You made a difference. It’s what you always intended to be—a difference.” He grinned. “Like Abigail.”
“Aw. That’s the nicest thing anyone ever said to me.”
He brushed her lips with his. “Am I crushing you?” he asked.
“No. And don’t move. I don’t want to lose the feeling of being part of you.”
He wanted to tell her she’d be a part of him for the rest of his life, but that might frighten her more than his roar. “I’d just like to spoil you for a little while, if that’s okay.”
“Sounds interesting. Just how will you spoil me, if I might ask?”
“Well, I’ll start by not digging us out of here too fast,” he said. “How does that sound?”
“Like heaven. Pure heaven.”
Ian and Marcie dressed somewhat reluctantly and headed outside to check out the snow and make a run to the outhouse. It was still coming down, softly, slowly, but not too deep on the ground yet.
She got her turn first, and she made it quick. Then Ian was allowed the facilities. When he came out, he found himself alone. She must have gone back to the warmth of the cabin in a hurry and he began to follow. Before he got five feet, a snowball hit him square in the face. He wiped it away to see her leaning out from behind a big tree, laughing. “Did I mention I was good in softball?” she asked through her laughter. “I pitched!”
The chase was on—Ian took after her with a roar that was answered by giggles. He was stronger and more sure in the snow, but she was agile and quick and managed to get off a few snowballs while he was in pursuit. She ran around trees, rounded the shed at least once, took a few snowballs in the back and retaliated. But the chase ended when she tripped on something under the snow and did a face-plant right into the soft white powder.
