“They’re cutting permits. People must have them to take trees from a forest. If Uncle Barney stops me on the way home, he’ll check to make sure our trees are tagged.”
“Would he put you in jail if they weren’t?”
Jeb chuckled. “No, but he wouldn’t hesitate to make me pay some money.” He winked at Amanda. “He’s a stickler on the law.”
* * *
That night after dinner, Jeb insisted on a tree-trimming party. He turned on Sonos, a piped-in stereo system that offered different kinds of Christmas carols. They settled on Classic Holiday from SiriusXM, and music rang merrily through the house. While Jeb unearthed boxes of decorations, Amanda and Chloe made cookies.
Amanda hadn’t enjoyed trimming a tree for years, and Chloe never had. The child’s joy shimmered in her big eyes and lent a flush to her cheeks. Before stringing the lights, Jeb lifted Chloe in his arms so she could put the angel atop the tree, and everyone burst out laughing when an ancient song came on about Sweet Angie, the Christmas tree angel on the tippy-tippy-top of the tree.
More than once, Amanda blinked away tears while watching her daughter. To Chloe, who’d never had a happy Christmas, hanging ornaments on evergreen branches while laughter mingled with the Santa songs was magical. Every time Amanda looked at Jeb, her throat went tight, because if not for him, there would have been nothing magical for them this month. At best, she would have purchased a tiny tree and one pathetic string of lights, and all their decorations would have been homemade.
When the spruce boughs drooped under the weight of too many decorations, Jeb insisted that they make heaps of popcorn, and they sat before the fire to string it. Chloe ate more popcorn than she got strung, and Bozo ate his share, too.
“Uh-oh!” Jeb said.
Amanda followed his gaze to see that Frosty had climbed to the top of the tree. The spruce leaned one way and then jerked another, sending a few ornaments crashing to the carpet. Upon impact, they shattered. Amanda feared Jeb might get angry.
“It’s fine,” he said. “I have too many decorations anyway.”
He took a darling picture of the kitten peering out at them through the branches. Then he gently collected Frosty and deposited her in Chloe’s waiting arms.
“How will we keep her from climbing up again?” Amanda asked him in a whisper.
“We can’t,” he replied, “but I know how to keep her from making the tree fall over.”
His solution was fishing line, which he wound around the top of the trunk and tacked to the wall. It was nearly invisible, and the next time Frosty went for a climb, the spruce remained stable.
“A trick of my dad’s,” Jeb explained as they laughed at Frosty’s antics. “Mom always had cats, and they all had high aspirations.”
Amanda sighed and smiled. This was one of the most wonderful nights of her life.
“Thank you, Mr. Jeb,” said Chloe. “Now my kitty won’t get into trouble.”
Jeb handed the child his cell phone and showed her how to take a picture of Frosty. It turned out so cute that he grinned. “You know what I think?”
“What?” Chloe asked.
“I think we should print that picture and hang it on your bedroom wall. Frosty’s your first kitten, isn’t she?”
“Yes!” Chloe clapped her hands. “And Bozo is my very first dog. I had a tiny puppy once, but not for very long. Can I have Bozo’s Christmas tree picture on my wall, too?”
Jeb managed a half-convincing scowl. “Whoa. I thought Bozo was my dog.”
“He is your dog,” Chloe conceded, “but he likes me lots, too. I hoped maybe you might share him with me.”
With a grin, Jeb tousled her dark hair. “Now there’s a plan. We’ll split him, fifty-fifty.”
After they hung the popcorn garland on the spruce tree, Bozo grabbed an end and started to eat it. Amanda laughed until she almost cried. The expression on Jeb’s face was priceless.
* * *
After getting Chloe into bed, with Bozo stretched out beside her and Frosty cuddled in her arms, Amanda went back downstairs. She found Jeb sitting on the sofa gazing into the fire. He had poured them each a snifter of brandy. As he handed her a glass, he said, “Now it’s time for the adult version of the party.”
Gazing down at his burnished face and twinkling hazel eyes, Amanda realized that she could easily fall in love with this gentle giant of a man. Strike that. She was already in love with him. Maybe it was true that the way to a woman’s heart was through her child. He was so wonderful with Chloe, a natural-born father, the kind of dad Amanda wished her daughter had had since birth. Madness. She was in love with Jeb.
Keeping distance between them, Amanda joined him on the sofa and warmed the glass between her palms. “I can’t think how to thank you for making this day so special for me and Chloe. My daughter’s previous Christmases have been grim affairs.”
Jeb swirled his glass. “Christmas has always been a special time in my family. Even as a bachelor, I’ve decorated and put up a tree. Some years, I haven’t bothered with outside lights or putting the Nativity scene on the lawn. Mostly there’s no one here but me to enjoy the extras.”
“That won’t be the case this year. All of this is pure magic to Chloe.”
“Are you going to go all stubborn on me if I buy gifts?” He shifted closer and looped an arm over the sofa behind her, the tips of his fingers brushing her shoulder. “I’ve never had a little girl to buy for, so you’ll have to bear with me because I’m really looking forward to it.”
Amanda felt his forefinger circle over her blouse, a light, tantalizing caress. How could he set her skin afire with so innocent a touch? She tried to focus on the conversation. “You’ve already done too much. I owe you for the ten-thousand-dollar retainer fee, the phone, and so many other things I’ve lost track.”
He took a sip of brandy, continuing the almost imperceptible motion on her shoulder with his free hand. “I love that kid. Let me enjoy spoiling her a little bit.” He gave Amanda his best stab at a fierce scowl. “Quit being such a scrooge, Mandy Marie.”
She laughed and took a taste of her drink.
Jeb wiped her brain clean by saying, “I’m also in love with Chloe’s mommy. I finally slipped on the banana peel. Head over boot heels, totally in love. I hope you aren’t going to feel uncomfortable now that I’ve admitted it.”
He took her snifter and set it with his on the gorgeous coffee table. With a jerk of her stomach, Amanda realized that he intended to kiss her.
Chapter Sixteen
Sex with her husband had been such a nightmare that even though Amanda had deep feelings for Jeb, she felt a stab of panic. Her misgivings must have shown in her expression, because he framed her face with his hands and whispered, “I’m not Mark.”
He bent his head and feathered his lips over hers, initiating a kiss that was sweet, lingering, and arousing. Amanda had experienced desire once, but it had happened so long ago that feeling it again, this strong, was unsettling.
When Jeb drew away, he smiled and said, “Wow. No, let me restate that. Big wow. I’ve kissed a lot of women, but I never felt this way with any of them.” He toyed with a tendril of hair at her temple, which she recognized as an attempt to soothe her, but instead it only gave her that fluttery, hot feeling low in her belly again. “Now when you wonder how it might feel if I kissed you, you’ll have a sample to remember.”
“Don’t forget I’m still married.” That was a stupid thing to say, she thought. He was financing her divorce.
His grin broadened. “Married, but soon to be free. And as far as I’m concerned, your union with Mark was never a marriage. Instead, you spent nearly seven years in a concentration camp.”
Amanda couldn’t think how to reply, and Jeb saved her the necessity by reclaiming their snifters and proposing a toast. “Merry Christmas, Mandy. May this be the first of many we
enjoy together.”
She couldn’t refuse to take a sip of the brandy, so she toasted to their future.
* * *
The next morning, Amanda awakened with a new resolve. From this moment forward, she refused to worry about Mark or allow him to ruin this Christmas, too. After making breakfast and cleaning up, she and Chloe helped Jeb hang outside lights.
Bozo gave no indication that Mark was anywhere around, and Amanda drew comfort from that. The dog had proven that he sensed danger. Mark hadn’t made any unusual noises when he’d gained entry to Jeb’s home, yet Bozo had known someone evil was present in the house.
Jeb’s eaves were two stories off the ground and slick from the silver thaw. Amanda’s job was to steady the ladder while he strung lights over hooks he left screwed into the overhang from year to year. He didn’t seem frightened when the ladder wobbled, but Amanda was terrified for his safety.
“Don’t worry, honey. If it goes sideways, I’ll grab the roof and wait for you to get it back under me.” He began to sing, “‘You’d better watch out! You’d better not shout! Santa Claus is coming to town!’”
Chloe frowned up at him. “My daddy doesn’t believe in Santa.”
Jeb cast the child a warm look. “I’m not your daddy, princess. And I do believe in Santa. Heck, I’ve even met him!”
Chloe’s eyes went round. “You have?”
“Of course I have.”
“Where?”
“He comes here every December and sits in the Mystic Menagerie to let children tell him what they want for Christmas.”
Chloe’s eyes went even rounder. “Is that where the merry-go-round is?”
Jeb laughed. “You nailed that one, only I never thought of it as a merry-go-round.”
“Mommy says someday when she’s rich, she’ll take me there to eat! Do you think, maybe, if we didn’t spend any money on food, I could go there to meet Santa?”
Jeb strung another section of lights and started to descend the ladder. “Absolutely not.”
Chloe’s face fell.
Jeb reached the ground and swept the little girl into his arms. “We can’t go to the merry-go-round place without eating food! What fun would that be?”
Chloe gazed up at him with incredulity stamped all over her face. “Are you rich enough for us to eat there? We only go to Taco Joe’s.”
Jeb planted a kiss on her cheek and swung her back to the ground. Looking on, Amanda had to admit her daughter was beyond adorable in her pink snow outfit. Little wonder Jeb had lost his heart to her.
“I can afford to take you there for lunch every day of the week,” Jeb said. “That doesn’t mean I’m rich, though, only well-fixed.”
“What does well-fixed mean?”
He bent over to get eye-to-eye with her. “It means that, within reason, I can afford to do fun stuff. I know you haven’t seen me do much work, because I already finished all the Christmas orders and this is my off season unless a late request comes in. But in February or March, I’ll get heaps of orders, and people pay me lots of money for the stuff I make.”
Chloe shot Amanda a sideways glance, as if asking for permission to push for a merry-go-round meal, plus meeting Santa. Amanda didn’t have it in her to wag her head no. All she could do was smile. Around Jeb, she found herself doing that often.
Chloe loved setting up the life-size Nativity scene in Jeb’s front yard. She wanted to put Baby Jesus in the manger, but Jeb explained that they needed to wait until Christmas morning, when it was officially Jesus’s birthday. Chloe was disappointed, but Jeb distracted her by powering up the icicle lights strung along the eaves. It was nearly dusk, and with snow on the roof, the house looked like a winter wonderland postcard. Holding hands, the three of them stood at the edge of the road, Chloe hugging Jeb’s leg with her free arm. Taking the child’s cue, Jeb wiggled his fingers free of Amanda’s and curled a hard arm around her waist.
Locked together, they gazed at the house like first-time visitors to the Grand Canyon.
* * *
Moments later, as Jeb guided his ladies onto the front porch, he saw a pink slip of paper caught in a bush at the corner of his house. It was the first message he’d seen on his land since Amanda had come to stay.
“I just thought of something I didn’t put away,” he told them. “Set the system, and I’ll be with you in a minute.”
When the door closed behind them, Jeb went to collect the message. He kissed me last night, and it was so wonderful it terrified me. Jeb crumpled the note, pleased that she’d enjoyed the kiss but disappointed that she’d found it frightening.
* * *
Chloe’s birthday fell on December 22, and Amanda, accustomed to being flat broke all the time and unable to buy the child very much, hadn’t spared a thought for what gifts to get her. She wasn’t used to having extra money to spend on frivolities. After the child was in bed one evening, she joined Jeb at the kitchen table for their nightly libation.
“Chloe’s birthday is right around the corner,” she announced with a trill of panic in her voice. After mentioning the date, Amanda added, “I’m not used to having money to buy her gifts, and it just hit me like a ton of bricks that this year can be totally different. She’ll be seven, and I’d like to throw her a real party. This’ll be her very first one.”
His brows drew together in a frown. In the golden glow of the overhead lights, his hair looked nearly the same color as the liquor in his snifter. “You still have plenty of time to buy her heaps of presents, Mandy, but this is no time to invite kids over for a party. With Mark on the loose, we’d be endangering any child who came to the house.”
The moment he spoke, Amanda knew he was right. Her stomach felt as if it dropped to somewhere around her ankles. No party? Poor Chloe. She seemed destined never to have a proper birthday celebration.
“It’s a really bad time of year for a party, anyway,” Jeb went on. “Adriel was born on the twenty-first, and her birthday always got lost in the shuffle. Few parents can work a party into their schedules right before Christmas. My mother finally started celebrating Adriel’s birthday on May seventh. My maternal grandmother was born on that day.”
“Chloe already knows her birth date. I can’t change it on her now.”
“We can still celebrate on the actual day. We’ll just postpone the party until later.”
Amanda bent her head to study the amber depths of her drink. Even from a distance, Mark was once again ruining Chloe’s special day.
“Hey,” Jeb murmured. “Look at me.”
Amanda locked gazes with him.
“This is really important to you, isn’t it?”
Voice taut, she said, “I know it’s risky to throw a birthday party now, but it still hurts my heart. Now that I have a little money to spend, I’d like to do it up right for her this year.” She shrugged and gazed beyond him at nothing. “When will my daughter ever have a normal life?”
He sighed and swirled his brandy. “Okay. We’ll make it happen.” He looked up at her. “I’ll call Barney and arrange for a gaggle of deputies to guard the house during the party so Mark can’t breach our perimeters. But we have to keep it small, Mandy. Please invite only her best friend. What’s her name? I forget.”
“Molly.” Amanda took a sip of her brandy, too upset to enjoy the taste. “Only one child can come? It won’t be much of a party.”
“We’ll make the most of it. I’ll even hire a clown. I can’t have a bunch of kids here. They’d be running in all directions. One or two might even slip outside. We can’t put innocent children at risk.”
Mark couldn’t get to Amanda or Chloe right now, but he wouldn’t hesitate to do collateral damage if he saw an opportunity. Amanda knew that he’d stop at nothing to get even with her. Her skin crawled at the thought of him hiding on the property and nabbing a child who happened to pass him.
Amanda glanced over her shoulder at the kitchen monitor.
“He’s not out there,” Jeb assured her. “That’s why I always sit at this side of the table. I can see the monitor as we talk.”
If any motion was detected, a red frame popped up around that zone. They often got false alerts due to their own movements inside the house or because of Jeb’s livestock wandering around their pens. With a quick study of the highlighted picture, they could make sure no danger was afoot. One evening while they ate supper, a bull elk had been the culprit, and Chloe, never having seen an elk, had been captivated.
“It’s like living under house arrest. Will we ever get past this?” Amanda asked.
A smile tugged at the corners of Jeb’s mouth. “Sure. I know you think Mark will never turn loose of it, but I believe he will eventually. We’ve crippled him. He can’t get a high by hurting one of you. And he craves that, needs it. Over time, he’ll find another victim to feed his addiction.”
“I hope you’re right.” Realizing what she’d just said, she added, “How horrible. I wouldn’t wish Mark on anyone.”
“Whatever he does in the future isn’t your fault, Mandy. If he finds himself another woman to beat on, that’ll be his sin, not yours.”
“I know. I just hate to think that we’ll be safe only at the expense of someone else.”
Jeb reached across the table to trail a fingertip over her wrist. As always, his touch electrified her skin, only now she was starting to yearn for more. “Then don’t think about it,” he said. “Focus on Chloe’s party instead. My family will show. We’ll have a clown, a cake, gifts, and all the trimmings. To you, it may seem small, but to Chloe, who’s never had a party, it’ll be a big deal.” He lifted his glass to her. “If this is all over in May, we’ll have a huge bash. I’ll hire a clown and rent ponies. Kids her age love pony rides.”
Amanda couldn’t help but smile. “How do you know what kids her age love?”
He chuckled, the rich, deep sound curling around her like a warm blanket. “I’ve seen kids going nuts over pony rides at our summer fairs. I was also a seven-year-old once and I loved my pony.”
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