Stranded for the Holidays

by Lisa Carter

  She winked. “Sure you are, sweetie pie. Pumpkin pie’s my favorite.” She flipped her unruly hair over her shoulder again.

  Jonas rubbed his hand on the side of his jeans. He’d been doing that a lot since they came inside the bungalow.

  Ethan and Amber Green appeared to be a few years younger than Jonas. About her own age. Lucy and Stella resembled their mother. And as Jonas had warned, they swept upon Hunter like a duo of mother hens.

  Amber rolled her eyes. “One day you’re going to have to beat the girls off this little cowboy with a stick, Jonas.”

  Ethan snorted. “Any boy hurts one of my girls better think again.”

  Amber’s mouth curved. “Says Mr. Love-’em-and-Leave-’em.”

  “No more leaving them. Just Mr. Love-’em, honey.” He kissed his wife’s cheek. “Jonas and I will keep the girls in the kitchen until you’re finished.”

  Seeing the two of them beside their Christmas tree left AnnaBeth with a slightly wistful feeling. Would her turn ever come? Would God ever send her a love like that?

  She kept quiet as Amber listened to Hunter’s chest.

  Caught in a ponytail, Amber’s wheat-blond hair swung from side to side. Straightening, she removed the stethoscope and rehung it around her neck. “His lungs sound clear.”

  AnnaBeth exhaled. “That’s a relief.”

  Dwight’s daughter removed Hunter’s hat and, using her fingers, gently probed his skull. “Did he hit his head or lose consciousness?”

  “I don’t think he lost consciousness.” AnnaBeth squeezed his fingers. “Hunter, did you hit your head on the rock or the ice when you fell?”

  “Nope. AnnaBef saved me and my dad.” Hunter wrinkled his brow. “If I’m good, Miss Amber, do I get a lollipop when you’re done?”

  “We’ll see what we can do.” Amber peered into his ear. “I hear it was Hunter and Jonas to the rescue when your car broke down the night of the snowstorm, AnnaBeth.”

  “How did you—?”

  “Small-town grapevine.” Amber checked his other ear. “Miss Deirdre told Jonas’s great-aunt IdaLee. Miss IdaLee called Miss ErmaJean.” Her lips twitched. “From there I’m imagining it went to infinity and beyond.”

  AnnaBeth felt the telltale heat rising out from the collar of her cable-knit sweater. If Amber knew about her rescue, chances were the whole town also knew about the runaway-bride thing, too.

  Hunter opened his mouth, and Amber inserted a tongue depressor. Her blue eyes flitted to AnnaBeth. “Truelove’s nothing like where you’re from, I’m guessing.”

  AnnaBeth was starting to feel this wasn’t so much Hunter’s examination as a personal inquisition. But she didn’t mind. Not really.

  It was wonderful Jonas had friends who cared about them so much. She wished she had friends like Amber and Ethan. Maybe she wouldn’t have agreed to marry a man she didn’t love. And the wedding fiasco could have been avoided.

  But that would’ve also meant never meeting Hunter and Jonas. And she’d trade humiliation any day not to have missed the opportunity to know them.

  “I haven’t seen much of Truelove so far, but if the town is as special as the ranch and the family who owns it—” she lifted her chin “—I can’t think of a better place to live.”

  “Daddy wants to know if you’re finished.” Lucy popped her head around the door frame. “Are you finished yet, Mommy?”

  Amber smiled. “We’re finished.”

  Ethan and Jonas strolled into the living room. Accompanied by the twins, Ethan’s grandmother came out of the kitchen with a plastic container in her arms.

  “IdaLee says your mom is under the weather.” She handed Jonas the container. “Chicken-and-rice soup will cure what ails her.” Her blue eyes twinkled. “That and Dwight Fleming, I daresay.”

  Ethan introduced AnnaBeth to his grandmother.

  “AnnaBeth...” ErmaJean tapped her finger on her chin. “A double name. Isn’t that interesting?” A speculative look crossed her face.

  Jonas shuffled his boots on the carpet. “How’s Hunter, Amber?”

  “Looks like he’s suffered no ill effects from falling through the ice.” Amber ruffled Hunter’s hair. “Although, it would be wise to keep an eye out for any unusual symptoms or discomfort over the next twenty-four hours.”

  “Will do,” AnnaBeth helped Hunter pull on his coat. “I’ll set my alarm tonight and check on him every few hours.”

  ErmaJean tilted her head. “You’d do that? For Jonas’s son?”

  “Of course.” She picked up Hunter off the couch. His little boots dangled. “He and I are best buds, right?”

  “He’s too heavy for you, AnnaBeth.” Jonas moved toward the sofa. “Let me take him. He’s a big boy.”

  “Hunter’s had a scary day. And he’s not that big.” She nuzzled Hunter’s hair with her cheek. “Never too big to need cuddling.”

  ErmaJean smiled. “I can’t tell you how delighted I am to make your acquaintance, AnnaBeth Cummings.”

  And she got the feeling she’d passed a final exam. An exam she hadn’t realized she was taking.

  “Wasn’t sure how it was going to work out when you told Santa what you wanted this year.” ErmaJean patted Hunter’s leg. “But I think it’s going to be a wonderful Christmas.”

  Something akin to panic filled Jonas’s eyes. “Uh... Don’t want to outstay our welcome. We really should be—”

  “Looks like you got your mommy wish three weeks early, Hunter.” ErmaJean pursed her lips.

  “Mommy wish?” AnnaBeth swung around to Jonas.

  The color in his cheeks rivaling a poinsettia, he quickly hustled them out the door.

  * * *

  Driving away from the Greens’ home, Jonas waited with trepidation for a storm of questions to erupt from AnnaBeth.

  Instead, she gave his son a bright smile. “Would you like to play a game on my phone?”

  Hunter fist-pumped the air. “Yay!”

  After digging through her purse, she handed his son her cell phone. She showed him what to do. And other than the pings, bells and whistles emanating from the app, silence reigned in the truck.

  But then...

  “You said we were going to check on my car, right?”

  Wary as a long-tailed cat on a porch full of rocking chairs, he nodded.

  “Is your cousin’s shop far?”

  He headed toward Main Street. “Nothing in Truelove is far from anything.”

  “While we’re here, I’d love a tour of Truelove’s main attractions.”

  In his humble but accurate opinion, right now the woman sitting beside him was the best thing Truelove had going for it.

  “The Mason Jar.” He pointed. “City hall has the fire department, paramedics and the police, too.” He veered around the square. “There’s the library.”

  Hunter looked up from the game. “There’s my school, AnnaBef.”

  She snuggled against his son. “Looks like you have fun there.”

  “With my best fwend, Maisie. Over dere.” He gestured toward the gazebo on the green. “I told Santa I didn’t want any toys for Chwistmas. Just a mommy.”

  And so it began... The awkward conversation he’d been trying to avoid since they first met.

  The look she sent Jonas’s way could’ve peeled paint off a house. Hunter returned to the game.

  Maybe if Jonas made out like it wasn’t a big deal, he could head her off at the pass.

  “Funny, huh?” He dared not look in her direction. “And you were the next woman we ran across.” He forced a laugh. “Literally, almost ran across.”

  But AnnaBeth didn’t laugh.

  Wincing, he pulled into the auto-repair-shop lot. Zach had the sports car docked in the open bay of the garage.

  Somehow, despite the height difference, she managed to look dow
n her nose at Jonas. “I’m sure any female would have fit the bill.”

  He’d never met anyone who did haughty as well as she did.

  “That didn’t come out right.” He sneaked a look at her face. “It was the bow on your head. The fancy dress. You looked gift-wrapped.”

  Hunter glanced up. “The best Chwistmas pwesent ever, AnnaBef.” His eyes shone. “I want you to be my mommy more dan anyone else in de world.”

  Knuckles white on the wheel, Jonas held his breath. Please, please don’t crush him...

  “I love you, too, Hunter.” Her eyes shimmered. “Nobody’s ever wanted me more than anyone else in the world,” she whispered.

  Jonas fell against the seat. He could see how she’d feel that way after that Scott dude jilted her. He could relate. He had his own abandonment issues.

  She hadn’t said much about her family. But surely that didn’t apply to them? What about her father?

  “Wook, Dad!” Hunter leaned forward. “Zach is waving for us to come inside.” In a flash, he undid the buckle, threw open the door and hopped out.

  “I’ve tried telling him, but he won’t listen to me.” Jonas scrubbed his face with his hand. “He thinks God sent you to us special because he wished for you on Santa’s lap.”

  She slid toward the open door. “Via a broken-down sports car and a snowstorm.”

  “I’m sorry. I never meant to put you in this position.”

  “What choices have you left me with, Jonas?” Stepping out, she slung her purse strap over her shoulder. “Tell him the truth and destroy his childlike faith or what?”

  Getting out of the truck, he laid his hands palms flat on the roof of the cab. “I don’t know. I’ll talk to him again.” He blew out a breath. “But don’t worry. I won’t let him hold you hostage. I’m sure you want to get back to your own family as soon as possible.”

  “You’d be surprised what I wish for, Jonas.” She threw him an unreadable look. “And I don’t believe with God there are coincidences.”

  He swallowed. “I don’t, either.”

  “So what’s your Christmas wish, Jonas?”

  “I—I didn’t... I don’t wish for anything.”

  Striding toward the building, she tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Maybe that’s your problem. Perhaps you should.”

  After what happened at the pond, he was convinced God had sent AnnaBeth to them. But only to save their lives, right, God? Yet his heart did an odd sort of twisty thing in his chest. For something more, too?

  Just his loneliness talking. He slammed the door. The truck rocked.

  He had God. He had his family. He had the ranch. Everything he ever wanted or needed. Until...

  Jonas watched AnnaBeth introduce her bubbly, never-met-a-stranger self to Zach. In his blue mechanic coveralls, his cousin wiped the grease from his hands before shaking hands with AnnaBeth.

  Even from a distance, he could tell Zach was fairly dazzled.

  Clenching his jaw, Jonas wandered inside the bay. Hunter had found a convenient tire on which to perch and continue his game.

  Zach bobbed his head. “Jonas, my man.”

  He stuck his hands in his pockets. “Thanks for retrieving her car, Zach. What’s the verdict?”

  Whistling long and low, Zach pushed his ball cap higher onto his forehead. “She’s a real beauty.”

  An unpleasant feeling knotted his gut. Jonas scowled. “Her name is—”

  “The car.” Eyes widening, Zach swept his arm toward the sports car. “Never saw one of these in person before. Much less had a chance to get under the hood.”

  He and Zach leaned over the engine while his cousin pointed out the issues.

  AnnaBeth shifted nervously. “So what does that actually mean?”

  Straightening, Zach closed the hood of the sports car. “It means I’ve got good news and bad news. Which do you want first?”

  “Definitely the good news first.”

  Jonas gave her a cockeyed glance. “Really?”

  She nodded. “The good news will help me bear the bad news better. As long as there’s hope, there’s life, right?”

  He wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

  “Why would you want bad news first?” She tilted her head, looking at him with those big green eyes of hers. “Once you hear the bad, it’s hard to appreciate anything good.”

  She had a point. He’d always considered himself a realist, but in light of her soaring optimism that things had to get better, perhaps he was more of a pessimist than he realized.

  He squared his shoulders. “Okay, good news first then.”

  She sucked in a breath. “What did you just do, Jonas Stone?”

  His gaze darted from his cousin to AnnaBeth. “Nothing...”

  “Yes, you did. You were bracing, weren’t you?” She poked her finger in his chest, punctuating her words. “Bracing for good news. Seriously?”

  Zach appeared as dumbfounded as Jonas felt.

  She threw out her hands. “What kind of person braces for good news? Are you always waiting for the other shoe to drop?”

  “Maybe.” He thrust out his jaw. “Maybe I am.”

  “But that’s such a sad way to live.”

  He guessed it sort of was. He didn’t used to be like that. Just since Kasey.

  Brow creasing, Zach looked from AnnaBeth to him. “Are you two done now?”

  She laughed. “For now.”

  Jonas forced a smile. “So tell us this great—” he flicked his eyes at AnnaBeth to make sure she was paying attention “—wonderful. Fabulous. Good news.”

  She smirked. “That’s the spirit.”

  Zach rolled his eyes. “The good news is that I can fix your car so you can be on your way again.”

  Rising on the balls of her feet, she clapped her hands. “Oh, thank you, Zach.”

  Didn’t sound like good news to Jonas.

  “And the bad news?” he growled.

  Zach scratched his head. “I’m going to have to special-order a part. It could take a few days.”

  Midclap, AnnaBeth came down on her heels. “Oh.”

  Not such bad news. In fact, the best news Jonas had heard in months. Years.

  “Keep us updated.” Chest broadening, he found himself smiling. “But do whatever you have to do, Zach, ol’ buddy.” He clapped his cousin across the shoulder blades. “I suppose we’ll just have to make the best of it.”

  She glinted her eyes at him.

  And since they were in town...

  Suddenly, Jonas had a great idea. He hummed the opening line to “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.”

  Perhaps this Christmas might not be so terrible after all.

  Chapter Ten

  That evening, Hunter hung his favorite Christmas ornament—a ceramic cowboy—on the tree. “It’s de biggest twee ever.”

  It was big. Huge. At least a twelve-footer and it still didn’t come close to brushing the top of the vaulted ceiling.

  She placed an ornament with Hunter’s baby picture on a higher branch. The pungent aroma of cedar and pine filled the lodge.

  Unlike the professional decorators Victoria brought into their Charlotte home every year, the FieldStone-Ranch tree was a family project.

  At dinner, ErmaJean’s chicken-and-rice soup had been delicious. Deirdre had declared she was already feeling better. But she’d soon excused herself to wrap some gifts, leaving the tree decorating in their capable hands.

  Smiling, AnnaBeth stepped back to survey their efforts. It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the FieldStone.

  Adorned with red tartan ribbons and tiny, colorful silk birds, the tree complemented the rustic decor of the lodge. But in her opinion, the FieldStone tree was every bit as beautiful as Victoria’s Christmas-on-steroids version.

&nbs
p; “‘Deck the haws wif boughs of ha-wee,’” Hunter sang, getting into the spirit of the holidays.

  Speaking of Christmas spirit, she didn’t know what had gotten into Jonas Stone.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him wrap the fragrant pine garland around the staircase banister. And would wonders never cease? He was humming under his breath as he worked.

  After leaving Zach’s shop and stopping by the pharmacy, he’d insisted they head to a nearby Christmas-tree farm, owned by one of his friends. Unlike Charlotte, everyone in the greater Truelove area apparently knew everybody else.

  “‘Fa-wa-wa-wa-wa—’” Hunter threw open his arms, caroling at the top of his lungs “‘—wa-wa-wa-wa!’”

  Biting back a laugh, she caught Jonas’s gaze. His lips twitched.

  She lifted her chin. “‘’Tis the season to be jolly,’” she sang.

  “Who wants to help put bows on the presents for me?” Deirdre called, leaning over the upstairs railing.

  “Me!” Hunter shouted and raced for the stairs.

  Deidre smiled at them, waiting for Hunter to join her. “Somebody’s happy.”

  And he wasn’t the only one.

  Though how Hunter would feel when her unexpected winter ranch vacation was over, she preferred not to contemplate. Lately, the FieldStone felt far more real than her life in Charlotte.

  If she even had another life or family to go back to. But another Victoria maxim—no sense in letting the uncertainty of the future cloud the sunshine of today. She’d enjoy Hunter, Deirdre and the ranch as long as she could. Jonas, too.

  She flicked her gaze to the man himself, who was hanging a garland across the massive stone fireplace. The familiar, melted-butter feeling quivered in her belly.

  Who was she kidding? She sighed. She’d enjoy her time with Jonas, most of all.

  * * *

  Later that night in her room, AnnaBeth finally found the courage to read Victoria’s messages. What’s happened? Why did you leave? What did Scott do? Why didn’t you come to me?

  AnnaBeth and her stepmother staged houses together. They went shopping together. They planned parties together. But talk? Victoria did the talking, and she usually did the listening.