Heart of Clay (8 page)

He disliked being in her office and spent as
little time in it as possible. At least being married to someone
incredibly organized made finding things simple. She had a file for
everything and everything was in its place.

Clay couldn’t keep from having a huge smile
plastered across his face as he drove out to see his mom and work
on Callan’s present. Things went even better than he’d planned last
night.

If a little effort won the
battle, he contemplated what a big effort on his part could
accomplish. As he drove down the ranch’s lane, he hummed a rather
boisterous rendition of
Holly, Jolly
Christmas
.

Callan sat at her desk, staring out the
window, marveling at what had happened to Clay. The pouting,
resentful, sometimes childish guy had disappeared and left the
husband she used to be completely infatuated with in his place.

He’d been so sweet and attentive last night,
just like the man she fell in love with all those years ago. She
still couldn’t believe he’d showed up last night, looking like he
belonged in some western advertisement and smelling like a million
bucks.

She’d already had to suffer through a
handful of teasing remarks from the girls in the office.

Once the story caught fire that Callan left
the event with some tall, gorgeous man, the rumor mill worked
overtime throughout the morning. Callan continued to assure them
the mystery man was Clay. He rarely came by the center and most of
the time when the girls saw him it was outside in his pickup.

Callan wondered, again, what brought about
the change. Baffled by his behavior, she could barely concentrate
on her work. Thank goodness, she could leave at a decent hour that
night and tomorrow was a short day. Then she had a week off.

She just had to get through Christmas with
the family first.

The next two days passed in a blur of
activity. Callan and Clay both had projects they worked on, secret
gifts they were hiding, and much to get ready for Christmas Day.
Callan made a quick visit to see Aunt Julie and Uncle Ralph before
they left for an extended holiday with one of their two boys in
sunny Florida.

After a fun Christmas Eve dinner with Steve
and Bobbi at the ranch, along with what seemed like half the
county, Callan and Clay were as ready as they could get for
Christmas.

Clay planned to wake up first and make a
nice breakfast for Callan. When he pried open his eyes at an hour
no one should be awake, he found her already dressed in jeans and a
holiday sweatshirt, elbow deep in a turkey, getting it ready to put
into the oven.

“Callan, what are you doing up this early?
It’s barely four-thirty.” His yawn nearly cracked his jaw while he
rubbed sleep from his bleary eyes.

“I know, but I’ve got to get the bird in the
oven if everything is going to be done on time.” She wrestled the
turkey into a browning bag and placed it in a roasting pan.
Expertly twisting the bag shut, she put the bird in the oven then
washed her hands.

Quickly drying them, she tossed aside the
dishtowel and walked over to Clay. She leaned against his chest and
kissed his cheek. “Merry Christmas, Brick.”

Even in his sleep-dazed state, he registered
that she used his nickname. He hadn’t heard her say it for a long
time. She couldn’t begin to know how much he appreciated hearing
her say it.

Clay kissed her softly, reverently on the
lips. “Merry Christmas, Laney. I hope it’s going to be a happy one
for you.”

“It’s off to a good start.” Her impish grin
turned his heart to mush, especially when she excitedly squeezed
his hand. “I can’t wait to see what Santa brought!”

Clay wished he could throw Callan’s brother
Bob and his family out into the snow. Bob was eighteen years older
than Callan and the polar opposite of her and their brother Josh.
Not only did he look nothing like his younger siblings, Bob was
also arrogant, bad mannered, and one of the most negative, unhappy
people anyone could meet. From what Clay observed over the years,
Bob took after Margo, Callan’s mother. She had never been happy
either. Bob’s wife, Donna, wasn’t much better. It seemed they took
pleasure in trying to make others miserable.

Their only child, Melanie, and her husband,
Ted, were every bit as awful as Bob and Donna. Known for her
negativity, Mel was whiny, rude, and demanding.

The two bright spots to come out of that
muddle were Audrey and Emma, Melanie and Ted’s children. At six and
three, they were wiggly, giggly spots of sunshine. Callan was
absolutely loopy over the two girls. Clay had to admit he was fond
of them, too. The only downside was dealing with Mel and Ted when
they wanted to see them.

Josh and Jenna, Callan’s younger brother and
his wife, were always fun to see. Since Jenna and Callan were close
and he and Josh were good friends, Clay mulled over the reasons why
they didn’t spend more time together. Probably because Jenna had to
commute to Portland for her job and Josh was busy with his
farm.

Callan and Josh bore a strong resemblance to
each other. Hard workers, they both were tall, had a great sense of
humor, and a dimple in their left cheek. Although no one seemed to
know where their height came from, Clay thought they both must take
after the Carver side of the family. Some old family pictures their
dad had once shared with him showed a few tall branches in the
family tree. Josh was nearly as tall as Clay and liked to joke
around every bit as much.

He wondered that Josh and Jenna, like he and
Callan, had not trooped down the road to parenthood yet.

Callan’s dad, Big Jim, was like a one-man
show of Christmas joy. Callan worried about him, now that her
mother was gone, but Big Jim seemed to do well. He sold the house
he’d shared with Margo for almost fifty years and moved to a
retirement village in town. In his seventies, he decided it was
time to slow down and enjoy the life left in his years. Clay could
only imagine how Big Jim kept the clubhouse at the retirement
center hopping.

Clay’s folks, Bobbie and Steve, were also
there, along with his aunt Maggie and uncle Tom and his cousin
Jake, who took classes at the community college where Clay taught.
Jake and Clay loved to harass each other and never missed an
opportunity to get in a teasing zinger.

Laken, Tyler, and their two kids, rounded
out the motley crew. Alex, who did not like to be called Alexis,
was fast friends with Audrey. Brant decided with a lack of other
prospects, especially boys, Emma would do for a playmate.

Aware of Bob and Donna’s efforts at
upsetting Callan, Laken and Jenna attempted to serve as buffers
between their unkind barbs and their friend. She had smiled and
ignored their hurtful comments as much as possible. Clay grinned as
he thought about finding Callan hiding out in the laundry room
following lunch.

After the dishes were finished, Callan took
the dirty linens to the laundry room and was gone longer than she
should have been. Clay found her sitting on the dryer, worrying a
helpless dishtowel into a knot.

“Callan, what are you doing?” Clay asked,
sticking his head inside the room, shocked to see her on the
dryer.

“It’s not as if that idiot Bob and snarky
Donna aren’t bad enough, but Mel and Ted are just too much,” she
whispered hotly. “They are all so mean to those sweet little girls.
I could wring their necks. Just give me a minute. I needed a
breather.”

Clay shut the door behind him and moved to
stand in front of Callan. He wrapped his arms around her and gently
rubbed her back. “I’ll hold them if you want to wring,” he said
with a teasing smile.

“You’re sweet.” Callan leaned into Clay and
let out the breath she’d been holding.

Clay felt her relax against his chest. She
turned her face up to him and asked, “Have I told you how much I
love my present?”

“Hmm. You may have mentioned it five or six
times,” Clay said, continuing to stroke her back. “But go ahead,
tell me again.”

“It is so wonderful, Clay, truly it is. It
was such a wonderful surprise and I’ll use it all the time. Thank
you so much.” She planned to give him a kiss on the cheek, but he
turned his head at the last second and made sure it landed on his
lips.

Clay was thrilled Callan liked the gift. He
put together a portfolio with photos and memorabilia she filed away
from past events she had coordinated and assembled it into a
leather-bound album she could take with her to client meetings.

On the outside of the
album, his mom helped him work
Elegant
Events by Callan Matthews
into the leather
in a nice script with some scrolls and embellishments around the
edges. It turned out well, if he did say so himself.

Callan had shown it to everyone – well,
everyone she liked. He was certain it had resulted in at least a
half-dozen kisses of thanks so far. Just to make sure there would
be plenty more, he tucked a piece of mistletoe into his shirt
pocket and pulled it out whenever no one looked their
direction.

Suddenly jumping off the dryer, she threw
down the dishtowel and squeezed his hand. “Let’s go slay a nasty
dragon or two.”

By the time she got back to the gathering,
she had a smile on her face and walked over to Big Jim. “Daddy, why
don’t you tell everyone about the time Santa got stuck in the
chimney while I set out dessert.”

Callan shot Clay a wink before disappearing
into the kitchen, knowing they wouldn’t have to listen to any of
Bob’s family for a while. Once Big Jim got started with a story,
there was no interrupting him.

Hours later, as everyone left, Steve and
Bobbi were the last out the door. Callan gave Bobbi an extra hug.
“Thank you so much, Mom, for helping Clay with the portfolio. I
love it. Thanks, too, for the wonderful gift card. I’m really going
to enjoy finding something fun to buy with it. You guys are the
best.”

Bobbi hugged her back with a big smile. “You
are so welcome, sweetie. Why don’t you come out to the ranch one
day while you’re off? I’d love to catch up on things. I haven’t had
a good visit with you for a long while.”

“Great, I’ll plan to do that. Maybe we can
bring the girls sledding one day,” Callan said, already making a
mental list of things to accomplish on her days off.

“I’d love that. It would be great fun,”
Bobbi said, tugging on Steve’s coat sleeve. “Come on, Frosty, let’s
head for home.”

“Yes, dear.” Steve gave Callan a quick hug
and Clay a thump on the back then escorted his wife out to their
car. “Thanks for a great day, kids. Merry Christmas.”

Exhausted after cleaning up all the
trappings from the gathering, Clay rested on the couch as Callan
walked into the room. He motioned for her to come over and she
stretched out with him, resting her head on his chest. He slipped
his arm around her and pulled her closer.

It was the best Christmas he could remember
for a while. He watched her look above the patio door to where he’d
hung her gift to him that morning.

Clay owned a long saw blade that had
belonged to his great-grandfather. It had been gathering dust and
rust in the barn for years and Callan thought it might be nice to
have it painted with an outdoor scene. One of her event clients was
a talented artist who agreed to take on the project. It turned out
even better than Callan had hoped. She gave the artist some copies
of outdoor photos Clay liked and Sally turned them into one amazing
collage. Callan was so excited about the gift, she had a terrible
time waiting until Christmas morning to give it to Clay.

“So you like your saw?” she asked.

“Yep. I can’t believe anyone could make that
old rusty thing look that good. It’s a wonderful present, Callan.
Thank you.”