Texas Pride (14 page)

“It's a miracle,” she replied, wrapping her arms around him. “Truly a miracle.”

* * *

“Merry Christmas.” Dylan rose on his elbows and glanced down at Jessica. Her skin was flushed, her eyes heavy and dark from their lovemaking.

“Oh, my gosh.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I almost forgot!”

He pressed his lips to the pulse at the base of her neck. “Do you need another memory jog?”

She laughed softly, then gasped as his mouth traveled lower. “I've never forgotten Christmas, and besides, it's tradition in my family to get up and open presents with the first ray of light.”

Her enthusiasm charmed him. He could picture her with dark-haired children surrounding her, excitedly opening stockings and presents on Christmas morning. When he unexpectedly saw himself standing beside her, he shook the image away. There was no place for him in fantasies like that.

“I've opened my present.” He wiggled his brows at her and grinned.

She smiled, then ran her hands up his chest. “What did your parents do on Christmas when you were little?”

“They went to Europe,” he said, rolling to his side and pulling her with him.

Her eyes widened. “You went to Europe every Christmas?”

“No. I said my parents did.”

She stared at him for a long moment. “They left you at home?”

“They didn't leave me at home. They left me at boarding school. After they divorced, I sometimes went to stay at my mother's place on the Cape. She had a housekeeper named Gerta who loved to sing ‘Yingle Bells.'”

Jessica ignored his attempt at humor. “Your mother left you with a housekeeper on
Christmas?
”

Her look of complete shock and sympathy almost made him smile. “Yeah, well, tradition, as you say. They'd been going to Europe every summer and December for years. Why let a little thing like a kid change their lives?”

Jessica felt her chest constrict. It was unthinkable not to be with family on Christmas. She knew hers would always be there for her—every day, not just Christmas. But obviously Dylan had never had that, and as she looked at him, she realized how little she knew about the man she loved.

She loved him.
The thought nearly took the breath from her. She'd fought it from the first, but it had been there all the time, lying in wait. Yet no matter how much she wanted to tell him, she wouldn't. He would pull away from her, and she couldn't bear that. Not now. Not today.

She cupped his face in her hands and held his gaze with hers. “I'm sorry, Dylan,” she said softly.

One corner of his mouth tilted upward. “Don't be sorry. You should've seen the presents I got.”

“Something tells me those presents didn't mean spit to you,” she said quietly.

He pulled her body snugly against his. “The red Lamborghini I got for my high school graduation was pretty nice.”

She nearly choked. “Lamborghini?”

He smiled at her reaction. “My father handed me the keys, then told me to report for work at his company for the summer until I started at the college he'd chosen. I drove that damn car until it ran out of gas, left it, then hitchhiked to Colorado.”

With a gasp, she sat upright. “You abandoned a
Lamborghini?
”

Dylan rested his head back against the pillows and enjoyed the view of Jessica's body. He frowned playfully as she quickly pulled the sheet up to cover herself. “The price of owning it was too high for me. For the first time in my life I knew what it felt like to be free. No conditions, no strings.”

“And then you got married,” she said carefully.

“Ah, yes. Kathleen. A temporary lapse of sanity at my father's sixtieth birthday party, one of my rare visits home. It didn't take long for both of us to realize it was a mistake. We argued constantly about my going to work for my father's importing business. She'd moved out by the end of the fourth month, but when she discovered she was pregnant, she tried to use the baby to get me to go to work for my dad. If she—” he hesitated “—they hadn't died, I just might have done it.”

Jessica's eyes burned as she slipped into the warmth of Dylan's arms and held him close. “I'm so sorry,” she said quietly. “She was such a fool. And your parents need a sound talking to, as well,” she added.

He chuckled softly. His fingers traced a lazy circle on her shoulder. “Now that I'd like to see you do. My dad still asks me when I'm going to grow up and come home to work for him.”

The very idea that the rugged muscular man holding her—the man who'd made love to her half the night—wasn't grown-up was almost laughable. He'd had parents who expected too much, who tried to buy love with money, and a wife who'd tried to buy money with love. Dylan not only wasn't going home, Jessica realized with a heavy heart, he had no intention of making his own home, either. It was easier to drift, to move from place to place, than risk that kind of hurt again.

But today was Christmas, she thought. And no matter what tomorrow might bring, she was going to show Dylan a good old-fashioned Stone-family holiday.

Just as soon as he stopped kissing her neck.

There was a small spot just behind Jessica's ear that he knew was sensitive. He searched for it, and when she moaned, he smiled with satisfaction, much happier with the current conversation, or lack of it, which had nothing to do with family. He hadn't wanted to even think about family, let alone talk about it.

He wanted to regret last night, but he couldn't. The morning hadn't diminished his need for her, and even now, as the heat coiled inside him, he feared there would never be enough mornings to forget last night, or to forget her.

Jake and Jared would be coming over later for dinner. And after he talked to them, he knew he'd have to tell Jessica the truth.

But not today, he decided. He wouldn't do that to her on Christmas. Tomorrow morning. He'd talk to her then. If she was going to hate him, he didn't want it to be today.

* * *

“Is that popcorn
real?
”

Jessica handed a glass of wine to Myrna, then answered her question with a patience that could only be borne on Christmas. “Of course it's real. So are the cookies. That's why the bottom is so bare. Hannibal's been snacking.” The dog wagged his tail at the sound of his name.

Jake and Jared stood beside Myrna surveying their sister's handiwork. “Good idea, Hannibal,” Jake said, and snatched a star off one branch.

“Hey!” She tried to grab the cookie back.

“Edible ornaments.” Jared stared hard at the tree, then settled for a bell cookie. “Sort of like a giant appetizer plate.”

“Aunt Savannah! Annie!” Emma yelled for reinforcements from the kitchen. “Jake and Jared are eating Jessie's tree!”

Savannah came out of the kitchen carrying a platter with a huge golden brown turkey. “Well, I guess we better feed them, then, before they start on the furniture.”

Annie's arms were equally laden with bowls of mashed potatoes and gravy. She followed Savannah into the dining room. “I hate to admit it, but that tree looked good enough to eat to me, too.”

“Everything looks good to you lately.” Jared went into the dining room and took the bowls from Annie's hands, then slipped one arm around her waist and covered her belly with his hand.

It was strange being included in the festivities, Dylan thought as they all sat for dinner and the blessing was said. Yet at the same time, he felt at home here, welcomed in a way he'd never experienced before. They'd treated him as one of the family, not as a guest, and his duties for the day had included peeling potatoes and cutting up bread for stuffing.

He'd tried several times to catch Jared and Jake long enough to talk privately with them, but there'd been too much commotion. He'd just have to wait until the time was right. As if the time would ever be right to hurt Jessica, he thought miserably. Her brilliant smile lit the room as she kissed and hugged each member of her family, including Myrna and Carlton, and wished them a Merry Christmas. The sound of Christmas songs filled the house, and the delicious smell of food cooking permeated the air.

There were toasts at dinner. Silly toasts, insulting toasts, heartfelt toasts. Jessica sat at the opposite end of the table, laughing and eating, teasing and talking. He wanted to remember her like this, every detail, no matter how small.

“So, Dylan—” Carlton interrupted his thoughts “—how's the project coming along?”

“Fine.” Dylan forced his attention to the elderly man, thinking he looked paler than he had earlier. “Other than a short in the wiring I still haven't found, the church is finished. So is part of the hotel.”

Jessica handed a nearly empty bowl of stuffing to Jared. “You have to see Dylan's blueprints. They're wonderful.”

“There's talk in town the city might revoke your permits, dear,” Myrna said, waving her fork. “There's been some complaints about minors working out here.”

Even on Christmas patience had its limits, Jessica thought with a sigh. She'd known it had been too much to hope for when the day had nearly passed and Myrna hadn't started in once.

Determined not to let Myrna get another word in, Jessica quickly said, “By the way, I'm taking everyone to the church after dinner. I thought we'd light some candles and sing carols.”

Remembering the candlelight they'd made love to the night before, Jessica glanced at Dylan. She felt her heart skip a beat at the dark intensity that shone in his eyes as he held her gaze.

“Oh, Jessica, what a beautiful idea!” Annie said, then looked at Jared. “We should have waited and been married there.”

Jared leaned over and kissed his wife. “I waited four years for you. I wasn't waiting one more day.”

“That leaves you, Jessica,” Jake said. “Anybody you'd like us to round up and herd in for you?”

Jessica half expected Dylan to bolt from the room at Jake's comment. To her surprise, he didn't look away. If anything, his gaze only grew more intense. “I'll do my own herding, thank you very much,” she said coolly, drawing her attention back to her brother.

“Hey, don't forget about me,” Emma said indignantly. “I wanna get married, too.”

They all laughed then, and the dishes were soon gathered up. While everyone else piled into the kitchen, Carlton excused himself and went upstairs to rest. Myrna complained the doctors had overmedicated him, which was why he moved so slowly, but Jessica suspected there was a problem much greater than Myrna was willing to face. Jessica also knew that Carlton's illness embarrassed the man. He'd been a high-powered in-control executive his entire life. A man who'd raised his only daughter alone, showering her with gifts. He'd given her everything but himself.

Like Dylan's parents, she thought sadly, drying the last dish and putting it in the cupboard.

Jessica glanced at her brothers and Dylan. Their heads were bowed intently over the kitchen table; they were discussing the “easy” instructions for assembling an outdoor playhouse for Emma. A warmth spread through her at the sight of Dylan conversing so easily with her family. But then, she felt warm every time she looked at Dylan, or even thought about him, for that matter.

“Jess, can we go see the church now?” Emma asked.

“Sure, sweetie.” Jessica hugged her younger sister. She'd come to the Stone family late in their lives, but they loved her as if she'd been there from the first.

“You boys ‘bout ready?” Jessica asked.

Dylan glanced up from the table and saw the loving exchange between Jessica and Emma. That was how she'd be with her own children, he knew. Gentle and loving. He'd missed that in his life, but he never knew how much until today.

Some things a person was better off not knowing. He'd never again be able to think of Christmas or candles—or even cookies—without seeing her face and remembering how it had felt to hold her in his arms.

But he knew what he had to do, and it could be put off no longer.

“I thought I'd take a minute and show Jake and Jared the blueprints,” Dylan said, glancing at Jared.

Jared nodded in understanding. “You go ahead, sis. We'll be along in a minute.”

With a grin, she tossed a towel onto the counter. “All right, but you're all in big trouble if I have to come back here for you.” Savannah and Annie seconded Jessica's statement, then they all headed for the church with Myrna fussing about how difficult it was to walk in the dirt with high heels.

Dylan watched from the kitchen window until the women were out of sight, then explained about the fire in the saloon and his suspicions about its origin.

“It's sounding too familiar,” Jake said with a frown. “I lost my barn in a fire a few months back, then Jared's office blew up. They weren't accidents, and something tells me this isn't, either.”

“What about those kids?” Jared asked. “You think one of them might've done it?”

Dylan shook his head. “I don't want to believe that, but I'm not ruling out anyone yet.”

“That does it, then,” Jake said firmly. “That girl is going back to town. She's not safe here.”

“I already tried that argument.” Dylan leaned against the counter. “She wouldn't have any part of it.”

“That girl is too damn stubborn for her own good,” Jared said with annoyance. “Thank God I talked you into coming here and keeping an eye on her. I don't know what we'd do without you, pal.”

“That's what I have to talk to you about.” Dylan sighed and dragged his hands through his hair. “I can't keep lying to Jessica. I'm going to tell her the truth in the morning.”

“I think I'd rather hear it now.”

Dylan froze, then turned slowly at the sound of the too-familiar voice. She stood in the doorway, her eyes burning into his as she waited for his answer.