“Doubtful,” she answered, and he didn’t let the sting of that word show on his face. She studied him for a few weighted moments. “But okay. If you’re sure your family won’t mind? It would be better than a movie marathon, that’s for sure.”
Satisfaction rolled through Sam like an easy wave. “Are you kidding? My family is going to love you.”
CHAPTER THREE
BELLA COULDN’T EXPLAIN why she felt nervous as they drove deeper into the Blue Ridge Mountains on the western side of North Carolina the following afternoon. She and Sam were friends. Other than the other teachers at school, he was the person who knew her best in Magnolia.
Somehow this felt different. She realized that before today, the only time she’d spent with him outside of hanging on the front porches of one of their respective sides of the duplex was the trip to the vet’s office with Tater.
They’d never so much as gone for a beer together in the year and a half they’d been neighbors. Not that Bella went for many beers. She spent time at school and took yoga classes at the dance studio in town. Otherwise, she realized now, she was a bit of a loner.
She didn’t really date, although she wasn’t against having a boyfriend or falling in love. She wanted those things in her life. Unfortunately, most men she knew or met in the small town couldn’t compete with her fantasies of her handsome neighbor. Even if he was a serial dater who’d shown no romantic interest in her, despite his revolving door of casual girlfriends.
It was for the best, she told herself. Bella had no interest in casual hookups and hated that Sam obviously thought he had nothing else to offer.
From what she’d heard through the grapevine at school, most of the women he’d gone out with had the same opinion of him. He was a good time, always easy with a laugh or ready to make a woman feel beautiful. But no one seemed to expect more of him.
Bella would, which was just one more reason they wouldn’t be a match.
Other than in her daydreams.
“It’s only a little farther,” he told her, his eyes trained on the curving road in front of them.
“This area is beautiful,” she murmured, pressing her fingers against the cool glass of the passenger window. “It reminds me in some ways of Colorado, although the trees are different.”
“And there’s not much snow.”
“And no craggy peaks or gobs of rich tourists.”
“I promise it will be fun without all the trappings of a Colorado mountain town,” Sam told her, his voice grave. “For you, anyway. Like I said, my family will love you.”
She cut him a look and noticed that his jaw was tense, his fingers gripping the wheel like a lifeline. “Isn’t Christmas with your family fun for you?”
“Sure,” he agreed too readily. “It’s loud and festive and always something happening. My stepmom makes a big deal about every tradition, and with so many kids and grandkids running around, there’s never a dull moment.”
He gave the appropriate answer, but there was no feeling behind it. She knew Sam was the youngest of five kids, two older brothers and two older sisters. He’d been born eight years after his nearest sibling, and his mom had died when he was in high school.
“You don’t sound excited by the prospect of all the Christmas chaos.”
“You have a couple of sisters, right?” He slowed as they took a hairpin turn on the mountain road.
“One younger and one older.”
“Do you have a certain role in the family?”
“Peacemaker,” she answered immediately.
His mouth curved. “That fits you. I’m the baby of the family, and my part is the goof-off party boy. My brothers and sisters think of me as a shallow good-time guy.”
She thought about how to respond. In truth, that’s how she’d regarded Sam when they first met. He was just too gorgeous, self-assured and easygoing to be regarded in any other way. The first few times they’d crossed paths in the front yard, he’d been all swagger and no substance. He could throw off lighthearted sexual innuendos like it was his job. It hadn’t been until they’d known each other for months that he’d shown her there was more to him than a pretty face and a set of chiseled abs.
Although she appreciated the abs.
“You’re not a kid anymore,” she felt obliged to say. “You’ve got an important job and plenty of responsibility. Heck, you save lives. Surely they realize you’ve grown up.”
“Not really.” He turned onto a gravel road with the painted sign for the Ridgeway Resort greeting visitors. “It doesn’t matter. I can be who they think I am for a few days. Good for a joke and a beer. The rest doesn’t matter.” His laugh sounded forced. “Hell, there’s no denying I like beer. Beer and women and football.”
“You’re also dedicated to your work and the community of Magnolia,” Bella felt compelled to point out. “I know you volunteer at the nursing home and with the local food pantry.”
“Let’s not mention any of that,” he said, his voice tight. “They’ll only find a way to make fun of me for it.”
Bella didn’t want to believe that, and her temper spiked in response. Sam wasn’t normally the overdramatic type. He could tell her about a call at the station like he’d done nothing more than cross the street. Despite his tendency to play down the serious things in life, there was a depth to him most people didn’t see or appreciate. She didn’t like that his family fell into that category.
Before she could ask him for more details about them, he whistled low under his breath. Her gaze tracked out the front window, where the log cabins that surrounded a circle of grass had been decked out to look like an old-fashioned Christmas village.
“Oh, wow,” she murmured, her heart stuttering. She thought she was going to miss the Christmas finery of her parents’ house but couldn’t imagine a more festive scene than the one before them.
“Jayne went all out this year,” Sam said with a real laugh as he parked the car next to a row of trucks and SUVs.
“It’s incredible and—” Bella jumped as the Land Cruiser was suddenly surrounded by a dozen smiling faces.
Tater, who’d been sleeping in his crate in the back, woke up with a happy bark. His tail thumped against the wire side, and Bella felt nerves rise in her chest. This was way different than the subdued holiday she expected at her parents.
“They’re going to love you,” Sam repeated, like he could read her thoughts. He reached out and gave her arm a quick squeeze, then opened the door of the car.
This big family Christmas celebration was happening whether Bella was ready for it or not.
CHAPTER FOUR
SAM HAD KNOWN his family would like Bella—everyone liked Bella. But he hadn’t expected the way she made him feel like he fit into the fabric of his big, boisterous clan without always having to play the role of the clown.
Every time one of his sisters or brothers told a story of his childhood or teenage antics, Bella would immediately counter it with some piece of information he’d previously told her about a rescue or emergency he’d responded to at the station.
To his eternal gratitude, she didn’t go into great detail about the calls that had gone badly. The houses they couldn’t save or the story of the elderly woman who’d latched onto Sam and bawled her eyes out as his coworkers had failed to resuscitate her husband.
Sam hadn’t realized how much he’d shared with Bella over the course of their friendship until he heard her retelling the particulars of his job to his family.
And although his siblings never ceased giving him grief as the baby of the family or referencing embarrassing moments from his past, Sam thought that he caught his father looking at him with a new sense of respect, something he never would have imagined before Bella.
The first two days after arriving, they’d stayed at the resort cabins. There had been cookie baking, badminton games and charades aroun
d the fire when the younger kids went to bed. At first, Bella had seemed overwhelmed by the energy of his extended family, although Tater had loved it from the start.
The puppy made immediate friends with the other dogs. His father’s ten-year-old golden retriever, Gracie, had bonded with Tater right away and managed to keep the puppy from exerting himself too much, as if she knew he needed time and space to heal.
Bella had soon found her place as well, and Sam got a true glimpse of her gift with children. His sisters both had elementary-school-aged kids. Two boys for Heidi and one of each for Marla. The oldest of their siblings, Brian, had a set of thirteen-year-old girls, Allie and Amara, and even the teens gravitated toward Bella.
To Sam’s frustration, so did his single brother, Kyle. At thirty-four, Kyle was closest in age to Sam. He’d been engaged to his college sweetheart for a few years, but that had ended a while ago. He lived in Raleigh, which was only about an hour from Magnolia, although he and Sam didn’t hang out other than at family gatherings.
Kyle had always been a bit of a stick-in-the-mud as far as Sam was concerned. His brother had made partner at the financial advising firm where he worked a year ago, faster than anyone in the company’s history, thanks to his drive and determination. Kyle and Sam were opposites in almost every way, most of which reflected badly on Sam. He’d liked partying and living life to the fullest, while his brother acted more like a geriatric in the body of a young man.
He was the kind of steady, hardworking, stable man who would be perfect for Bella.
It just about killed Sam, even though he had no right to be jealous. Oh, he was well aware that his neighbor had a bit of a crush on him when they’d first met. But he knew she’d cast aside all thought of him as real boyfriend material once she got to know him. He didn’t blame her.
“Uncle Sam, will you put me on your shoulders?”
He glanced down at his eight-year-old nephew, Lucas, a welcome distraction from watching Bella and Kyle together. The whole family had driven down to the nearby town of Ridgeway for the annual Christmas Eve caroling event. From the moment he’d gotten out of his vehicle, women from his past had seemed to materialize one after the other. It was like his own romantic ghost-of-girlfriends-past nightmare, especially because it was happening in front of Bella.
Kyle had been more than willing to step in and lead her away. Sam had needed to physically resist grabbing her and hustling her off to somewhere private without so many reminders of what a womanizing jerkwad he’d been back in the day.
A reputation he couldn’t seem to shake, no matter that he hadn’t been with a woman in over six months. No dates. No kisses. No nights of mindlessly losing himself in a bottle and a stranger’s bed.
His coworkers at the station had caught on to the change in him, although no one made a big deal about it. They were a great group, closer to him than his family in a lot of ways. And it was easy enough to lie low in Magnolia and avoid the bar or phone calls from women looking for a good time. Sam’s preferred idea of a good time these days was reading a book and turning off the lights by ten. Ideally after spending a bit of time visiting with his neighbor.
He ground his teeth as Kyle said something to Bella that made her smile. Sam didn’t do possessive, but the jealousy that spiked through him shocked him with its intensity.
Bella loved Christmas. She took part in every tradition and activity with unbridled enthusiasm. He still felt bad that she’d canceled her trip to Colorado and wanted these few days with his family to make up for it in some small way.
At least the Anderson clan was never boring.
Holding tight to Lucas’s legs, he made his way through the crowd toward Bella and Kyle, who stood near his dad and stepmom.
“Can I get another hot chocolate, Papa,” Brianna, Lucas’s older sister, asked as she grinned up at Pete Anderson with a mouth already ringed in chocolate.
“Sure, pumpkin,” his dad answered, patting her head.
“Marla’s going to kill you,” Kyle muttered, but Pete only shrugged and then winked at Bella. “What’s the use of being a grandpa if you can’t spoil your grandkids?”
“I want some, too,” Lucas shouted, and Sam lowered him to the ground.
Bella took a step closer to him and the scent of her lemony shampoo drifted toward him. He wanted to drape an arm over her shoulder and pull her close but kept his hands to himself.
“Your family’s wonderful,” she said, although her smile wobbled ever so slightly at the edges.
“But you’re missing yours,” he guessed.
She nodded. “A little. I’ll call them when we get back. It’s two hours earlier in Colorado.” She gestured to the temporary ice rink that had been situated in the local hardware store’s parking lot. “I love everything about this town. I can see why you feel at home in Magnolia. There’s a very similar vibe.”
“Except in Magnolia, there aren’t a dozen people calling me little Sammy every time I turn around.”
She giggled at that, and the sound moved through him like music. God, he needed to get a grip. Maybe it was all the holiday spirit or his heightened emotions being home. Surely he could get ahold of his crush on her. He wouldn’t risk losing her as a friend.
“There’s nothing little about you.” Her eyes went wide as she said the words, like the potential innuendo of them just dawned on her.
Another thing he liked about her was the lack of artifice. Add it to the mile-long list.
“I’m glad you noticed,” he answered in his best teasing tone. It was easier to keep it light than to show her his true feelings.
Her cheeks flooded with color, her mouth formed a tiny O and all he could think about was leaning in to kiss her.
Which would, of course, ruin everything. At this moment, Sam couldn’t bring himself to care.
Then the choir director, who’d been leading the local high school glee club in carols at one end of Main Street, whistled shrilly into the microphone. Bella startled and they both turned, along with almost every other person at the event, to face the bandstand that had been erected in one of the closed-off intersections of downtown.
“Let’s give a big thank-you once again to our talented students,” he boomed into the mic, and the crowd dutifully clapped and wolf-whistled. When the noise died down, the man leaned in with a waggle of his bushy eyebrows. “We have a real special Christmas treat for y’all tonight. Turns out that after his concert last night over in Asheville, country star Jake Combs made his way to Ridgeway for the holiday.”
There was a collective gasp from the audience. Jake Combs was one of the most popular singer-songwriters on the music scene, well on his way to becoming the next Tim McGraw for country music.
“Oh, I love his last album.” Bella grabbed hold of Sam’s arm and pressed against him as the people around them surged forward.
“Yeah, he’s pretty good.” Sam knew the thrumming of his pulse had way more to do with Bella than any famous singer.
The older man continued to laud Jake Combs, and finally got to the part where the country superstar would be performing three of his biggest hits for their gathering and also making a hefty donation to the local food pantry.
“It’s amazing,” Bella murmured, and then gave a little squeal as Jake took over the microphone.
He said a few words and then invited everyone to celebrate the season with an impromptu dance party before launching into a rollicking acoustic version of one of his biggest hits from the past year, “Boots on the Bedpost.”
Sam could feel Bella’s excitement and was just about to throw caution to the wind and ask her to dance when he felt himself yanked away.
“Come on, Sammy,” his high school girlfriend, Lori, who’d been following him around all night, commanded as she dug her nails into his biceps. “We know how you love to dance.”
“Yeah, Sam.” Ashleigh, Lori’
s best friend, who he’d also—regrettably—dated grabbed his free arm. “Let’s see you shake those hips.”
He felt like a piece of meat being pulled between two hungry animals. In the past, he would have eased into the feeling and the potential of not having to feel anything but physical pleasure.
Now he wanted more.
“Sorry, ladies, I’m spoken for at this particular moment.” He gestured to where he’d left Bella standing, and his gut took a swift kick at the look of disappointment in her honey-brown gaze.
She shook her head and turned away. To Sam’s chagrin, Kyle had reappeared and, with a casual thumbs-up at Sam, led her in the opposite direction.
And because Sam was a damn coward, he didn’t do a thing to stop it.
CHAPTER FIVE
BELLA DREW A thick fleece over her head—a well-worn pullover that had been left on one of the hooks inside the door to the cabin where she was staying—and fastened Tater’s leash to his collar.
The sky was dark with a canopy of stars above her. She’d grown up with a wide night sky in the mountains of Colorado, but somehow these stars felt more like a blanket covering the surrounding hills. Even though her hometown was perched at nearly eight thousand feet above sea level, the sky had seemed so faraway. Now she almost wondered if she could reach up and gather the bright points of light in her hand.
Tater tugged on the leash, bringing her thoughts firmly back to the present. It was nearly midnight, and she’d fallen asleep on the sofa as she read a book after returning to the Andersons’ resort with Pete, Jayne and Kyle.
She didn’t know what time Sam had gotten back or even if he’d returned. There was no doubt he had plenty of options for where to spend the night before Christmas based on the number of women who’d sought him out in town.
Bella was all too aware of his popularity with the ladies. He’d earned a reputation in Magnolia, although she’d noticed that his social life had taken a severe nosedive in the past several months.
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