Home for Love (An Adult Contemporary Romance) (5 page)

Bree hurried into the farmhouse. It was
hard to believe but the Alaskan cold had actually gotten colder. Not that the
cold mattered much to Amber.

The previous day, she’d stood alongside
her gran watching disapprovingly as her granddad and Amber had spent their time
frolicking in the snow. Snowmen were built in as many varieties as they could
be, snowball fights were held with her traitorous gran joining in and various
skiing and sledding activities were engaged in. Her grandparents had been
showing a huge burst of renewed energy and when she teased them about it, they
attributed it to her return. Bree’s lips curved at the lie - she was glad for
the truth of the matter, which was that Amber had given them the gift of her
unconditional love.

When Amber had skidded into the kitchen,
dripping with snow and asking for hot coffee, Bree caved and joined them. The
moment she saw Amber’s awestruck face as they threw the hot coffee into the air
and had watched it freeze, would be one that would stay with her for eternity.

Tires crunching on the snow alerted her
to a visitor; it was too soon for Amber and her grandparents to be back from
town. The wind had picked up, impacting visibility and she shielded her eyes,
staring, until the blurry figure morphed into Todd. Despite her resolve to
attempt a platonic co-parental relationship with him, she felt a clench in her
gut. Despite the many layers of clothing, there was something about him that
pulled at her - always had.

“Hi Todd,” she called out from the porch
and let him into the arctic entry. “What brings you around?”

Handing layers of clothing to Bree,
Todd, shook himself as if that would chase some of the cold away. Darn, he knew
a better remedy for cold and she was standing right there. Not that that would
help much after the way she’d been acting as though he’d been invisible since
the dance. If she weren't so skittish around him, he would’ve thought she was
indifferent.

Soaking in the warmth of the house, he
looked around searchingly, “There’s a snowstorm coming, and I thought I’d pop
by while I could to see Amber.”

“Oh,” Bree let slip. Darn it! Of course,
he was here to see Amber. She’d known that. But then why on earth had she thought
that he was there for her? “Of course,” she quickly remedied. “Amber and my
grandparents went to town for supplies. They should be back soon. Would you
like to wait?”

The banging door of the artic entry made
Bree jump and prevented Todd from responding as he went to close it. “Looks
like the storm is here,” he observed. “Are the men still working on the farm?”

“Nope,” Bree responded. “They closed the
hothouses with granddad yesterday and the chicken coop was seen to this morning
so they’re all gone.”

Bree gnawed her lip, “Amber’s never been
in a snowstorm before. Let’s call her.”

“Bree, I’m glad you called,” her
grandmother’s voice came through the static sounds of storm-whipped phone
lines. “We’ve been trying to get through to you for ages.”

“Sorry, Gran,” Bree responded, “I got in
a few moments ago and then Todd arrived. The storm's picked up here, so I
must’ve missed your call, and the storm’s interrupting calls coming through I
suppose.”

“Well,” Moira stated, “the storms in
full force here. I’m afraid, honey, that we won’t be able to come back to the
farm. The three of us will bunk with Mary. I’m glad Todd’s there - means that
he’s stuck too and that you won’t be alone.”

Yep, thought Bree. Just great. “Can I
speak to Amber please, Gran? If the lines get cut off, I won’t hear from her
for a while.”

“Sure,” Moira answered before putting
Amber on the line.

“Mom,” Amber began, “there’s a snowstorm
and the wind’s howling.”

“The wind’s howling, honey,” Bree
smiled. Trust Amber to get excited about a scary snowstorm.

“Uh-huh," responded Amber. “And
there’s even more snow than before, but we can’t go out because it’s dangerous
and Gran says that we have to stay warm and we can’t come back because it’s
dangerous and we’re staying in town and…”

Bree cut the verbal barrage off, a wider
grin on her face, “And you need to be safe. So you know I won’t see you until
after the storm and the roads are cleared?”

“Yes, mom,” Amber replied all-knowingly,
“Gran told me.”

“And you’ll listen to Gran?” Bree asked.

She could feel the eye-roll Amber was
giving as she replied affirmatively. “Now honey, I may not be able to speak to
you again until I see you but I’ll try, okay?”

“Okay, mom” responded Amber, “I love
you.”

“I love you too,” Bree replied
misty-eyed.

“Can I speak to my dad now?” Amber
asked.

Bree handed the phone to Todd and
puttered around in the kitchen trying, though not succeeding, to not eavesdrop.
Regardless of their relationship, Todd had taken naturally to fatherhood and
the bond he’d quickly formed with Amber was solid. That was what kept him in
her life and made her make an effort around him though her body wanted to jump
him and her heart wanted her to run away.

xxx

The wind screamed as it whipped around
the house and scattered snow on every surface. While they still had television,
they’d watched the news and the tales of people rescued from cars, animals
brought into shelter was humbling. Bree was ever grateful that her loved ones
were safe and warm inside homes built for this weather.

“What are you doing?” Todd interrupted
her thoughts.

“I’m making hot chocolate,” Bree
answered. “All that snow out there makes me want something warm to drink.”

Todd nodded in understanding, “The snows
already a meter thicker than this afternoon and it’ll get higher still. Let’s
hope this storm is a quick one as predicted.”

“Yes,” agreed Bree, “I’ve never been
away from Amber before and I know she’s okay, but I kinda just want her with
me. I want to hold my baby.”

Todd regarded Bree, a misty-eyed mom as she
moved around the kitchen pulling cups out of the cupboard and mixing two cups.
She didn’t need to ask him - seems like she remembered that he had a fondness
for the drink. He’s eyebrows quirked when he saw her plunking a bottle of hard
stuff on the counter. “Ah, Bree,” he interrupted her. “You don’t drink.”

Bree looked at the bottle of fiery
spirits in her hand and shrugged, “I do now.”

“You’re that worried about Amber?” he
prodded. She was gnawing her lips again.

Yes, Bree, thought. I’m worried about
Amber and I’m worried about being stuck in here with you. “Of course,” she
responded. Then shrugging again, she added a few tots to their hot chocolate,
not noticing Todd’s brows rise at her heavy hand.

“Bon appetite,” she said, handing the
piping hot mug of chocolate-laced spirits to Todd.

“Let’s go sit by the fire. It’s the best
way to have hot chocolate,” Todd suggested.

Sitting opposite Todd, a deck of cards
on the table between them, she took a gulp of the liquid and choked, sputtering
everywhere.

Todd pressed his lips to stop the grin
from showing and went to gently smack her on the back. “Arms up,” he said, “and
breathe.”

Freaking hell, holding her arms above
her head with him behind her was not a good idea when it held so many
possibilities - without clothing of course. He let his hands slowly glide down
the insides of her arms and sides then nearly did a whoop when she gave up an
involuntary shiver.

Bree cleared her throat and abruptly sat
down facing the deck of cards and as far away from him as possible. “Should we
play?” she inquired.

Todd nodded broodily, an observation
that Bree forcibly ignored as she watched him reach out and cut the cards.
After nearly an hour of terrible playing on both of their parts, Bree sat back
and sighed in exasperation.

“That must be the worst game of cards
either of us have ever played,” she stated, sullenly.

Todd nodded in agreement. “I don’t know
about you, but I’m bored with playing cards. I remember us being much better at
it - must be the storm and worrying about being away from Amber in her first
snowstorm that’s causing us to suck.”

“Oh, I remember you always sucking,”
Bree responded.

“I remember differently,” retorted Todd,
“but I’ll defer to the lady in this instance as our most recent match proves
differently.”

Todd sat back and sipped his now tepid
chocolate drink. “Should we watch a movie instead?” Bree didn’t respond and he
could see the thoughts roll around in her head as she bit her lip in
contemplation.

“I’ll let you watch one of those chick
flicks,” he offered.

“You always hated those,” she said.

“Nope, didn’t hate them,” he argued, “I
watched enough of them with you when we were dating.”

“That’s because you wanted to get into
my pants, Mr. Hunter,” Bree retorted then immediately drew back from the
conversation. That was so not the way to go in this conversation; not when they
were stuck alone in the house with candles flickering everywhere.

“Darn it,” said Bree in fake
disappointment, “the power’s out. It was a good idea anyway though.”

“Oh, don’t throw in the towel yet,
Bree.” He made for the staircase, “I’ll make a plan. You just sift through the
DVD’s and choose something.”

Bree took her time to flip through the
DVD’s, not seeing what kind of plan he could make, and wondering what the heck
he was doing upstairs. Moments later, a proud Todd came into the room bearing a
laptop.

“I left this with Amber the other night
to play those girlie games on,” he grinned at her. “It was plugged in so the
battery should be able to give us a good few hours. You can choose two DVD’s I
reckon.”

Drat! She watched Todd happily set up
the Laptop on the card table and scoot it over to the sofa. To watch the tiny
screen they’d have to sit right next to each other. Arguing with the seating
arrangements would make a big deal out of it and might make him think that she
had feelings for him. Feeling outmaneuvered, she stated, “I guess I’ll go make
us some popcorn. You still like butter on it?”

Todd looked up, meeting her eyes and
nodded. Oh, boy. Maybe popcorn and something else, she thought, taking her hot
chocolate with her.

When Bree returned, it was with popcorn,
glasses, wine, and cans of soda. She’d left her mug in the kitchen, now empty
of hot chocolate. She saw and blithely ignored his raised brows when he spotted
the wine. Stuff it. She’d take courage tonight wherever she could get it,
because her libido was wimping out on her.

“You didn’t choose something,” Todd
said, picking up a DVD, “so I picked this one. I remember that you loved it.”

Romeo and Juliet featuring Leonardo -
just great! Exactly what she did not need - a movie about star-crossed lovers!
“Great,” Bree responded a bit too brightly. Her previously lingering fingers
now decisively headed for the bottle of wine. Handing a glass to Todd, she took
her own to her mouth for a big swallow. The stuff was as hideous as she
remembered. She didn’t have any philosophical objections to alcohol; she just
didn’t enjoy the taste. So, she just hadn’t had any alcohol since her early
experiments. Well, she was certainly making up for it tonight.

The movie was predictably sad and
beautiful and with each lover’s tryst, as uncomfortable as expected. During the
movie, Todd had scooted closer and had even gotten a blanket out to cover them.
It reminded her of how they used to do this as teenagers; only then, the
excitement was a pleasurable one. Now, it was torturous.

Towards the end of the movie, Bree had
forgotten all about her resolve to keep Todd away, her heart mellowed by the
alcohol. Laying her head on his shoulder, she felt exactly as she had with him,
in this situation, before. The feel of the warm wool covering his hard chest
was comforting, his arm steady, and creating the cozy feeling of being held
safely, lovingly. Inhibitions gone, she snuggled closer to him and snaked her
arm around his waist, loving the feel of his hard abs against the soft wool.
Wondering what it felt like beneath the wool, Bree slid a hand underneath and
me with hot, searing flesh. The ripples fascinated her and she played along the
ripples, giggling at the stirrings of desire that leapt within. She was
beginning to really enjoy this movie-watching idea of his. Her hand hit the
hard leather of his belt. Not liking it, she made her way to the buckle.

“Bree, I don’t think that’s a good
idea,” Todd’s hand stopped hers from loosening the offending belt.

“I disagree, Todd,” she answered,
leaving her hand in his and slithering up to the side of his neck. Her tongue
flicked over his warm skin. “Mm…” she groaned, “you taste good.”

Todd was frozen. He really wanted to
give into her and rid themselves of this lust they’d been carrying around and
denying, but his sense of right wouldn’t let him. He’d never taken a drunk
woman to bed and he wasn’t about to start with Bree. She deserved a lot better
than that.