Countdown to First Night: Winter's HeartSnowbound at New YearA Kiss at Midnight

by Jillian Hart

“Yes, she is.”

  He needed to find a way to spend more time with Anna. She needed security. She had a terrific nanny. She had Tansy and she had him during every free moment of his day. But she needed more. The way he had needed more at her age. His mother hadn’t been a drug addict, just nonexistent. She’d never liked Colorado so she stayed gone as much as possible and left his upbringing to his father and a succession of nannies.

  His dad had died young. Jake had pretty much been on his own since his teen years. He wondered if Jolie ever thought about how similar their lives really were.

  Jake watched as his niece stood at the base of a slide, not really wanting to go, but maybe thinking about it.

  “Cassie said you have custody. I didn’t know.”

  “It isn’t common knowledge.”

  “I see.” But she didn’t. He could see the questions forming, and knew she wouldn’t ask.

  “My stepsister is a drug addict,” he finally said. “Right now she’s living in a halfway house in Denver. She didn’t have any other family to take Anna, so I petitioned the court for custody. I didn’t want her lost in the system.”

  “She can’t speak?”

  “No, she can’t. She’s hearing impaired, but with hearing aids she’s gained some hearing. Being born deaf, she never learned to speak.” He watched Anna take a step up the ladder of the slide. “I should go help her.”

  “I’ll come with you.”

  They walked to the play area together. Children ran, playing and laughing. Moms tried to keep track of their offspring and keep some semblance of order. Anna moved back when another child pushed through to take a turn on the slide. Jake wanted to yank the boy up by the collar, but he also didn’t want to be attacked by moms.

  He wasn’t a dad. He hadn’t really planned on being one. But it was easy to love Anna and want to protect her. He’d learned quickly that he would hurt someone for her.

  “Go ahead, kiddo.” Jake stepped close to his niece, shielding her, giving her a minute to think about the ladder. She signed with lightning speed and he laughed. “No, I’m too big. You go and I’ll be right here.”

  Jolie stepped close. She smelled like herbal shampoo and flowery lotion. She squatted to Anna’s level. “I’ll wait at the bottom for you and your uncle Jake can help you climb.”

  Anna smiled big. Man, he loved that smile. For a long time he’d thought she might never smile. She’d been through a lot with his stepsister. From what he’d been told, Anna had been homeless at times. She’d been left with people she didn’t know. Her father was a man who sometimes drifted into her life. And she was afraid of him. That was the thing Jake knew most about Anna’s dad.

  But she was adjusting. Jake made sure she felt safe. She even sometimes laughed now. A few months ago she’d known very few signs, so she basically had no communication skills other than what she’d made up.

  She signed to him now.

  “She said I should buy you an ice-cream cone.” Jake cleared his throat, well aware a child was pushing his buttons.

  “I love ice cream.” Jolie looked up. “I’m sorry, it slipped out. I’m not trying to get ice cream out of you.”

  “It might break the bank.” He lifted Anna onto the ladder. “Better get down there. She’s expecting you to catch her.”

  Jolie walked to the end of the slide and waited. As Anna came down she held out her arms. His niece slid right into her embrace and Jolie hugged her tight. Yeah, for that he’d buy her ice cream and more.

  “Time for that ice-cream cone, Ms. Godwin?”

  “No, I really can’t. I have a lot to do today.”

  “Like what?” He smiled at Anna, who now stood next to Jolie. “You’ll break her heart if you don’t have ice cream with us. And you’ll break Cassie’s heart, because she’s behind you eavesdropping.”

  She turned quickly and of course Cassie wasn’t there. “That wasn’t nice.”

  “You’re right. But we would like for you to stay.”

  He should have let it go. He didn’t have to beg a woman to spend time with him. He really didn’t have to use a kid to get the job done. At the moment, he would have done just about anything to get Jolie to have an ice-cream cone with him. Or with Anna.

  Jolie reached for Anna’s hand and the child let her take it. “For Anna, I’ll stay for ice cream and then I have to go.”

  “What do you have to do on New Year’s Eve?” he asked as they walked back to the table. He motioned their waitress over.

  “I’m signed up to paint faces for an hour, remember? And then there are a few exhibits I want to see.” Jolie slid into the booth opposite the two of them.

  Anna tugged on Jake’s sleeve. She signed fast, her eyes big. He could have ignored her, not asked the question, but she tugged at his sleeve again, insisting.

  He should tell her no. There were things a child didn’t get, wouldn’t understand. Shoot, half of what he felt at the moment, he didn’t understand.

  The waitress took their order and left. He cleared his throat and glanced down. Anna’s eyes were on Jolie and her little fingers flew again.

  “Anna would like to know.” He watched her sign and then switched his attention to Jolie. “We would like to know if you’d join us for an early dinner and then ice skating. I promised her skating before she goes to bed and I go to the party.”

  He knew he’d put Jolie on the spot. Who could say no to Anna? Obviously he couldn’t. And he should have. He should have told her that Ms. Godwin had other things to do and that he needed to get back to work. Instead, he was letting a five-year-old child arrange his social life.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  JAKE WILD LOOKED ABOUT as cornered as a man could look. But Jolie’s gaze didn’t linger on Jake. Not really.

  But only because looking at Jake turned her inside out. Anna made things easier. Anna was a little girl wanting to do fun things. And Jolie remembered how it felt to be a little girl who wanted so much.

  She was the last person Jake Wild wanted to spend time with. Anna didn’t know that. Anna, with her big eyes and flashing fingers.

  “She says she won’t let you fall.” Jake grinned and that grin undid all Jolie’s reservations.

  “Of course she’ll go!” Cassie picked that moment to jump into their conversation. “I don’t even know what the two of you are planning, but the answer has to be yes. It’s New Year’s Eve.”

  “Cass,” Jolie began, but Cassie scooted her over. Her niece and nephew sat at the table next to theirs. “I didn’t see you.”

  “Of course you didn’t and stop making excuses. You find things to fill your time and you need to learn to relax. Jake has a staff to oversee the art displays at the lodge. You’re going to face paint for an hour.”

  Jolie remembered the final payment she’d sent to Jake Wild. The relief at having returned every dime of his money. She remembered that day thinking he was finally out of her life for good. And then last year she’d kissed him.

  He had kissed her back and then he’d backed away and it was as if it never happened. She didn’t want a repeat of the kiss for either of them.

  Really.

  A sharp elbow jabbed her ribs. She moved away from Cassie, in case there happened to be a repeat.

  “Okay.” Her voice? Her answer? She opened her mouth to retract it, but Anna’s hands were flying again.

  Jake looked from his niece back to Jolie. “She said we’ll have corn dogs.”

  “Corn dogs sound wonderful.”

  Jake’s dark eyebrows arched. “Yes, every woman enjoys corn dogs for dinner.”

  “If they don’t, they should,” she countered.

  “Let’s stop the chitchat and get down to planning,” Cassie said as the waitress returned with their ice cream.

  “Planning?” Jak
e looked and sounded perplexed.

  Jolie thought it had to be about time for her to escape. She couldn’t, not with Cassie sitting on the outside of the booth, blocking her in.

  “The date.” Cassie handed Jolie a sundae smothered with hot fudge and peanut butter. “That looks fattening.”

  “It looks wonderful.” Jolie watched Anna, who had ordered the same, dig in. “This isn’t a date.”

  “Ice-skating lessons,” Jake agreed. “That’s all.” His eyes twinkled, and she wondered how she would escape this evening with her heart intact.

  She concentrated on the sundae. Her traitorous mind kept replaying being held in his arms.

  “What are you wearing to the ball?” Cassie prodded, taking the conversation in a new direction.

  “I told you I’m not going.”

  Jake handed Anna a napkin and pointed to the chocolate on her chin. Did he really care if she went?

  “You have to. I bought you a ticket,” Cassie continued, and Jolie questioned why the two were friends. They were complete opposites, and yet here they were, nearly twenty-five years after that first day of preschool, still friends.

  Cassie had grown up with a silver spoon. Jolie joked that she had grown up with a plastic spoon. But she loved Cassie because Cassie had always been there for her. From preschool on, the two had been inseparable. Cassie had kept Jolie from feeling alone in the world. She’d made sure that Jolie had moments to remember. Jolie had been the friend Cassie knew she could always count on.

  “I’ll think about it, Cass.” She looked at her watch. “And now, I have to go.”

  “I’ll send a car for you. Would four o’clock work?” Jake stood, the way a gentleman would. Jolie slid out of the booth and stood in front of him.

  She glanced at her watch again. Four o’clock. That would give her a few hours to enjoy First Night in Snow Falls. She could see the art exhibit, paint faces and maybe try the snow maze.

  “That sounds good.”

  “We’ll be around town for a while. Maybe we’ll bump into each other again. I think Anna wants her face painted.”

  “She should definitely get her face painted.” Jolie waved at Anna. “See you later. Remember, I’ve never skated.”

  Anna signed something that made Jake smile. He signed back to his niece rather than answer with words. Anna giggled and signed. The two of them had a quick conversation that left everyone out of their little world, and convinced Jolie that she needed to learn this language.

  “What did she say?” Jolie asked when he turned his attention back to her.

  “I think I won’t tell.”

  “Oh. Maybe I’ll find out later.”

  “Maybe.” Jake’s stormy eyes met hers and she couldn’t think past those eyes, or how good it felt to stand in front of him.

  She glanced at her watch. “I should go.”

  Cassie stood to hug her goodbye. When she leaned in close, Jolie’s friend whispered, “Chicken.”

  “You betcha.”

  With that, Jolie hurried out of the restaurant, and away from temptation in the form of Jake Wild.

  * * *

  JAKE LEFT THE RESTAURANT a short time later. Anna had hold of his hand, so for the time being there was no conversation. Now that she knew sign language, she seemed to be making up for lost time. For years her mother had assumed she was developmentally delayed, or just didn’t want to talk.

  Selah had never bothered having Anna checked by a physician.

  It still made him angry. If he had his way, he’d keep permanent custody of his niece.

  Anna pulled her hand from his and signed. He answered by both signing and speaking, because both were important to her development at this point.

  “Yes, we can go through the maze. Let’s go to the library first and see if they’re having story time yet. Remember, the lady who writes books is here to read her stories.”

  Anna signed, “And face painting.”

  He wasn’t getting out of this. One way or another, Anna would include Jolie Godwin in their New Year’s festivities. He wondered if a five-year-old child could be in cahoots with his cousin and Cassie.

  He reached for Anna’s hand again.

  The sidewalks of Snow Falls were increasingly more crowded as they walked. The town had been planned years ago to be in the style of a European village. The streets were cobblestone. The sidewalks were brick and stone. The street lamps resembled gas lanterns of the Victorian era.

  Freshly fallen snow covered everything, making it more perfect than the event planners could have dreamed. He led Anna through the crowd, surprised when she pulled back. He turned and saw that her eyes were wide.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She shook her head but remained frozen to the spot.

  “Anna?”

  She signed, “My daddy.” He shook his head because he’d seen her father once, in court, and never again. And he couldn’t see the man here now.

  “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”

  Anna moved in close to his side.

  “You know that, right? You’re safe.”

  She nodded, but still those dark eyes darted back and forth.

  “Do you see him?”

  She shook her head.

  “Okay, we’ll go to the library, but if you see him, you let me know. Anna, please remember that I won’t let him hurt you.”

  She held tight to his hand. Jake scanned the crowd as they walked. Anna’s father wasn’t there, just as he hadn’t been there the other times she thought she’d seen him.

  She finally relaxed and was fairly skipping as they approached the library.

  “Would you like hot apple cider?” He led her inside.

  Anna shook her head and signed that her belly hurt. He gave her hand a light squeeze.

  “Because you ate too much ice cream.”

  They passed a long line of children waiting to buy a book that they could get signed by the author and then a line for face painting. He peered over the children and moms, looking for Jolie’s dark head.

  She stood behind a table, a child seated on a stool in front of her. He watched until Anna pulled his hand in another direction.

  “Don’t you want your face painted?”

  She smiled a little bigger and signed, asking him if he would get a superhero on his face. He gave in.

  “Yes, I’ll get my face painted. You can pick.”

  And then they were in line, waiting. He ignored a few looks from the women around them. Finally they were at the front of the line. Jolie looked up and smiled.

  “Is Anna ready to get her face painted?” She reached across the table to touch Anna’s hand.

  Anna signed and pointed at him. He met Jolie’s gaze, saw the twinkle in her dark eyes.

  “Is Uncle Jake getting his face painted?” Jolie asked Anna.

  Anna nodded rapidly and reached to flip through the book of designs. She found one of a superhero mask and pointed at the picture. Jolie chuckled.

  “I think that’s perfect. What picture do you want, Anna?”

  She picked a cat for herself.

  Jake took a seat on the stool because Anna insisted he go first. She stayed close to his side, her eyes trained on his face. Jolie rinsed her brushes and leaned in close. He could smell her floral perfume and mint gum as she worked.

  The brush stroked his cheek. She held his chin with her left hand, tilting his head. He closed his eyes because it was easier than watching her, the fall of dark hair, the way she bit her bottom lip when she concentrated and the tiniest flutter of a pulse at the base of her neck.

  Her hand moved up his jawline. He inhaled but kept his eyes closed. Face painting shouldn’t be foreplay, he thought. But her breath was soft, her hands gentle. She was
so close he could feel her as she moved to get a better angle.

  It would be good if the torture ended sooner than later. He opened his eyes and she looked away. Her lips were moist from wetting them with her tongue. He wanted to hold her close and kiss her breathless.

  She moved, bumping her hip against his knee. If it had been any other woman, he would have thought she’d done it on purpose, to drive him over the edge. But it was Jolie’s innocence that pushed his buttons.

  If ever a woman wasn’t after him, it was Jolie.

  “I’m almost done.” She dabbed more paint on his cheek. “There we go.”

  Anna made a sound, her voice rusty from lack of use, but he knew that sound as laughter.

  “What’s so funny?” he signed.

  She signed that he looked silly. He looked into the mirror that Jolie held up. Yeah, he guessed on a thirty-three-year-old man, a superhero mask might be a little over the top.

  “I feel like I should go rescue people,” he signed and spoke, for Anna’s benefit.

  “I think you do enough rescuing.” Jolie dabbed the brush in paint. “One more spot to fix.”

  He knew she was remembering the Christmas when he’d left a basket on their porch. It had been just a year after her mother’s death, a year before his father’s, and he’d heard people in town talking about what Jolie and her dad needed. He’d watched Jolie, just a kid, trying to hold on at school.

  “Who rescues you, superhero Jake Wild?” She put her brush in water and pink climbed her neck to her cheeks.

  Jake stepped off the stool and lifted Anna so that she could become a cat for the day. “If I’m a superhero, Jolie, I don’t need to be rescued.”

  Anna looked from Jolie to him and back to Jolie. Her smile had faded as she watched, listening to their conversation and probably sensing that the joking had ended.

  Or maybe the joke was on him, because he wanted to kiss Jolie Godwin right then and there, with the entire town of Snow Falls as witness.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  LONG AFTER JAKE LEFT with Anna, Jolie felt shaken. With hands that trembled she’d painted lady bugs, ponies, cats and cartoon characters on little faces. As her shift ended, she said a few hurried goodbyes and walked out of the library unsure of what she would do next.