Christmas in Winter Valley

by Jodi Thomas

  “I can drive home. I only live thirty minutes away from your place.”

  Elliot grinned. “Only your Jeep is miles away on dirt roads, and I don’t think either of us has enough energy left to make the trip in the dark.”

  “Good point. I’ll be your houseguest tonight, Mr. Holloway.”

  “You are welcome, Doctor. After all, you saved my brother’s life today.”

  They were both smiling when Tatum got back with the coffee. “What did I miss?” he asked.

  Hayley put her hand on his shoulder. “We’re both going back to the Maverick Ranch. Elliot is putting us up for the night.”

  The kid turned to Elliot. “You got room for both of us?”

  “I got room. You look like you could use a good bath, then I’ll have a hot meal waiting for you both. You pulled your weight, son.”

  On the way home Tatum fell asleep between them. They were both too tired to talk. It was only half past nine when they pulled up at the headquarters, but it felt like midnight.

  Elliot carried the kid in, and Dani took over from there. She stripped him and made him get in a bath, then she took all his clothes downstairs to wash. When she came back to his room, Tatum was wrapped in a towel as he ate the soup and sandwiches she’d left by his bed.

  Elliot watched from the doorway as she tucked the kid in. “Tatum, when you wake, find the kitchen and Dani will have breakfast for you. She’ll leave your clothes on this chair as soon as they’re finished.”

  But the boy’s eyes were already closed, and he still had half of a sandwich in his hand.

  In the hallway, Elliot asked if they should check on the doc and Dani reminded him that Hayley could take care of herself. “I loaned her one of my nightgowns.” The cook smiled. “It touched the floor on her. She’s a little thing, but she did a big job today.”

  When they were almost to the bottom of the stairs, he asked if the cousins got off all right.

  “Well. My boys took the girls to Lubbock and they wanted to see the sites.” The cook hesitated, then added, “Seems they had so much fun seeing the town they missed their flight. All flights tonight, in fact, so the boys are driving them to DFW. They should be back with your car by dawn if they drive all night.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” He had too much on his plate right now. “Tell them to spend the night somewhere after they drop the girls off at the airport. It’s the least I can do after they had to put up with those two all day.”

  “Will do. Do you need anything else? I’d like to turn in a bit earlier than usual. It’s been a long day for us all.”

  “I think that is a good idea. Good night, Dani.” He walked through the great room, turning out lights. When he glanced toward the kitchen, he saw she was doing the same thing. Tonight the household was closing down before the ten o’clock news.

  As he passed the closed doors of his office, he saw a thin line of light shining out. He’d forgotten all about the accountant coming in today.

  When he opened the door, all his senses came alive at once.

  There, sitting in his chair, was Jessica Brantley. His Jess. Her short blond hair was a mess, the top two buttons of her very proper blouse were undone and she seemed to have lost her shoes.

  For a moment, he thought it was simply a memory. A cruel end to a hell of a day. Then, he saw tiny changes in her. This wasn’t the girl who’d walked out on him, who’d refused to skip a semester and come home with him to help keep his family ranch running. This was a woman now in her late twenties. A professional engrossed in her work.

  This woman was polished to perfection. Her hair was a shade lighter thanks to highlights. Her delicate makeup helped to play up her eyes. As she stood, he noticed her clothes were cut to fit her exactly. She’d always had a model’s figure, but now it looked more refined, more toned.

  No words came. All these years he’d thought about what he’d say if he ever saw her again. How he’d yell or softly cut her to the quick. How he’d demand answers about how they could have loved so completely and broken so easily. But now nothing came. The memories of loving her when they were together slammed against the pain of hating her when she didn’t love him enough.

  She tapped her pencil on the desk and looked at him closely. Disapproval flashed in her green eyes before she hid it, and he realized how bad he must look.

  He was exactly the picture of what she’d said he’d become if he stayed in a small town, from his muddy boots to his uncombed hair. Suddenly, he didn’t want to see her. He just wanted to disappear. No—more accurately, he wanted her to disappear. She didn’t belong here. Jess no longer belonged in his world.

  Before he could turn around and make his tired muscles move, she faced him like an attorney presenting her case.

  “When your brother called asking my firm to help out with taxes, I knew there was a chance I’d run into you again, Elliot. I just didn’t think it would be this soon. While you’ve been running around the hills with your brother, I’ve been working and I think I can handle this mess within a week.”

  “Why’d you come?” He finally found his voice. Jess hadn’t mellowed with age. She was still as sharp and to the point as always. “I’m sure you’re one of the partners in that huge firm your daddy owns—surely there’s someone who could handle this job.”

  In his mind he’d remembered only the good over the years, only the happy times, but now he saw what she was. No—what they had been. He’d been attracted to her beauty and her quick mind. From the time they’d met at eighteen, she’d made all the plans. She was the reason he’d majored in business. The reason they’d decided to wait until they graduated to get married. He’d loved her. He’d wanted to be together. But she’d insisted everything in their lives had to have an order.

  It was never his way, or their way. It was always Jess’s way. She set the pace. She set the rules. She set the goals.

  They’d both wanted degrees in business. Hers in accounting and his in management. Of course, they’d planned to take jobs in Houston with her father’s firm as soon as they graduated. In ten years, they’d either be running the place, or would have moved on to New York, to bigger things. She’d set the plan for their lives, and Elliot hadn’t doubted for a moment that their dreams would come true.

  The only thing she couldn’t control was his father dying. She’d demanded he finish the semester before going home to straighten out the books at the ranch. Jess was still arguing when he’d packed.

  He hadn’t known it that day, but it was the end of them. At first, they talked often, then less and less. Maybe she simply got tired of asking when he’d be back. After she’d graduated without him, he’d call, and he knew she often didn’t pick up or she was working on something, or just busy. When he’d ask when she was coming, she never gave him a date. Finally, he realized she was never coming to see him. She’d made other plans, and he was no longer part of the picture of her life. By the next fall, they’d drifted apart.

  Elliot couldn’t remember the last words they’d said to each other. He couldn’t think of the last time they’d mentioned love. It had just drifted out of their conversations. Maybe that was why it had been so hard to forget Jess. He didn’t know when the last thread that held them together had broken.

  Maybe it never had.

  He took a step toward her. “Why’d you come, Jess?”

  She held up her chin slightly, like she always had when she was afraid or felt she was outnumbered. “I wanted to make sure.”

  “Sure of what?”

  “That it’s over between us. I’m getting married this spring, and I don’t want the ghost of a past love hanging around. In truth, Richard insisted I settle anything that might remain between us.”

  “I see. We work together a few days, make sure there are no sparks and then we can finally know that whatever we have is dead.”

  “Right.”
/>
  Elliot was too tired to argue. He was torn between tossing her out tonight and grabbing her and kissing her hard. Both seemed the improper thing to do.

  He took a step backward. “You settled in with a room?”

  “Yes.” Her eyes told him she was expecting some kind of trap to fall closed around her. “Your housekeeper was very helpful.”

  “Good.” He took another backward step. “I’ll see you in the morning. Breakfast is at sunup. An hour later I’ll be on my way to the hospital. If you have questions you’ll have to work them in while I eat.”

  He turned and was almost out the door when she asked, “How is your brother?”

  “He’s hurt pretty bad, but he’s going to pull through. Thank you for asking.” He knew she didn’t care. She’d never cared about his family. When he’d mentioned them, she’d always turn the conversation to what their lives would be like when they lived in the big city and had endless places to go.

  Walking out of the room, he didn’t bother to say good-night. After all, farewells weren’t their thing.

  When he reached the darkness of the hallway leading to his room, he turned back and saw her working in the circle of light around his desk. She looked so out of place there. In all these years, he’d never thought she would one day be in this house. Maybe that was part of their trouble. She wanted him in her world, but she wanted no part of his.

  He showered, feeling numb all over. Maybe it was all that had happened today, but he almost felt like he was walking outside his skin.

  As he stared out at a moon peeping through clouds, he remembered an old Apache legend about a warrior who fought long and hard in battle with his enemies. When he finally swam in the river to wash off all the blood and war paint, he accidentally twisted out of his own skin as the current flowed around him. He was a warrior, honored by his people, but once he looked back at himself, he didn’t want to go back inside his own skin.

  Elliot had done what was right. He wouldn’t change a thing. But tonight, he felt like the warrior. He was looking at himself outside his skin. Only when he’d seen Jess, all that was wrong with them came back, and he realized he didn’t want to go back to who he’d been with her, either.

  Maybe the part of them he hated wasn’t her, but himself.

  He dropped onto his bed. He’d think about his life tomorrow. Right now, he just wanted to sleep. He was too tired to even dream.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  December 18

  DANI TOOK HER time getting ready for bed. She showered and even put powder on from a fancy jar the boys had bought her one year at Walmart. Her room behind the kitchen smelled of fresh-baked bread, and she’d opened the top of the curtains so light from the moon shone in.

  Funny how she felt more nervous tonight than the first time she and Tye were together.

  Maybe tonight she’d think before she acted. The first time it had simply been a need deep down inside her.

  When she looked up and saw Tye standing at her door, she felt the urge to run. How could tonight be as magical as the first time? What if he thought she was too inexperienced, too dull, too ordinary? She didn’t even watch R-rated movies. What did she know of sex, or loving a man, for that matter?

  He didn’t say a word as he set his hat and coat atop the yellow bedspread covering the chest. Walking across the room, he never took his eyes off her face. Then, when he was close enough to touch her, he smiled down at her and kissed her softly with cold lips.

  She laughed. “You’re freezing.”

  “You’ll warm me up.” Cold hands cupped her face. “I’ve been waiting all day to touch you. Have I ever told you I love the way you feel?”

  “Several times.” His hands were warming as he slid his fingers along the cotton nightgown.

  “We’d better close and lock the door, darlin’. I don’t want to be interrupted tonight.”

  She walked over, following his suggestion, while he sat on the bed and removed his boots. The low light of the lamp by her bed was all they needed. When she returned he pulled her in front of him and rested his head against her middle.

  Dani placed her hands on his shoulders and stood still as he seemed to breathe her in. His touch was so gentle as his hands moved beneath the cotton. She leaned back her head and tried to remember every moment. The feel of his cheek pressing against her ribs. The way his hands covered her hips and pulled her closer as his legs held her tightly in place in front of him.

  “Breathe, darlin’, just breathe. We’ve got a long night ahead of us and I plan to take my time getting to know you. Any objection?”

  “No,” she whispered as his hand pushed her gown up so he could kiss the valley between her breasts. Then he stood slowly, his clothed body sliding over her bare skin as he removed her gown.

  He turned and lifted the quilt. “Climb into bed, Danielle. I’ve been thinking about seeing you there all day.” He winked. “Wearing just what you are now.”

  When she did as he asked, he didn’t cover her, but stood staring at her as he undressed.

  She reached for the quilt, but he stopped her. “No. Let me see you. I want to remember how you look tonight.”

  Dani blushed, but she let the cover fall away. She felt she could read his thoughts. No matter how many others there had been in his past, he was her onetime lover and she’d be the memory he’d carry to his grave. She’d be the one he longed for when he was alone.

  And he’d be hers. The fantasies she’d dreamed had always been faceless mixtures of movie-star lovers. Now they’d all be Tye.

  When he lowered onto the bed, he didn’t lie down beside her, but gently moved on top of her, warming her completely. For a while they were still, feeling one another breathe, learning every inch they touched. Then, without words, they made love.

  When she shook with passion, he held her close as if he’d never let her go. In that moment, Dani felt as if they’d changed hearts. They might never speak of love or forever, but she knew she’d felt it completely, if only one time in her life.

  Deep in the night, when they were both spent, she smiled as she realized she was too tired to move. She was lying on her back as he pressed against her side. He whispered near her ear as his hand moved slowly over her.

  “I love being with you,” he said, his voice so low it almost seemed like a thought passing between them. “I always will.”

  She drifted into sleep smiling, knowing she was finally living in the perfect moment of her life.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  December 19

  Maverick Ranch

  A LITTLE BEFORE DAWN, Elliot walked toward the dining room and saw Jess sitting all by herself at the long formal dining table. A cup of coffee was in her hand but she seemed to have forgotten it as she turned the pages of a book.

  Boxes of Christmas decorations, marked for the room, were stacked on the far end of the table. With a week left until Christmas, the odds were not good that they’d be put up.

  Griffin had texted yesterday that they were keeping a close eye over the recovery of Sunlan’s father. Sunlan’s mother had flown in from Europe, causing more trouble than help. It seemed every time she got divorced, she came back to husband number one. Like he was the only real one she’d ever had.

  Griffin ended the message by saying he’d love to be home, surrounded by the calm of the ranch.

  Elliot had texted back, Me, too. The calm had been shattered and there was no sign of tranquility coming back.

  He had to leave soon for the hospital. Right now, no one was running the ranch. Who knew what Creed and Dallas were up to at Winter Valley, all alone in a shack? They’d probably killed each other by now. Two people so different had never walked the earth.

  Murder was a possibility if Dallas didn’t get her way, and Creed wasn’t a man to be pushed. Elliot decided he’d probably have to lug the shovel up there and bury them
both.

  But this morning, as first light sliced into the room, he studied Jess. She continued reading, either totally ignoring him or so lost in the book she didn’t even know he was there. She was his biggest problem of all. If he fired her, the taxes would never get done. If he worked with her, it would be self-inflicted torture. If he didn’t work with her, she’d be in his house twice as long.

  The sound of Dani and Tye laughing in the kitchen drew his attention.

  But before he could slip away, Jess looked up, saw him and opened her mouth.

  “Wait.” Elliot held up one finger. “I have to get coffee before we talk.”

  He turned and almost ran into the kitchen. He wasn’t quite ready to deal with his ex-fiancée.

  Dani poured his coffee and said simply, “The accountant doesn’t eat much. Must be on a bird diet.” She glanced at Tye and smiled. “Not much of a crowd to cook for this morning. Creed and that redhead are gone. The doc and the kid you brought home are still asleep. My boys haven’t returned from Dallas. The way things are going, I’ll be out of a job in no time.”

  “I’ll eat double,” Tye offered as he took an extra biscuit.

  Elliot nodded at Tye. “Morning.”

  “Morning,” the former rodeo star answered. “How is your brother?”

  “I called a few minutes ago. He made it through the night fine, and the duty nurse said he’s complaining about being hungry, so I’m thinking he’s on his way to recovering. I’ll be headed there as soon as the doc is up.”

  “What about the kid?”

  “He told me he doesn’t have a home. Wanted to know if I’d hire him on as a hand. After I talk to Coop, we’ll figure out who to call. Surely someone’s looking for him. He’s way too young to be on his own.”

  “If you like, I’ll watch over him today,” Tye offered.

  “Good idea. Tell him visiting hours are not until later. If Coop’s up to it, I’ll take the boy back this afternoon, but I’m checking in with the sheriff this morning to make sure we’re not breaking any laws with Tatum.”